{"id":551176,"date":"2006-12-24T18:55:30","date_gmt":"2006-12-24T18:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/551176-that-burning-sensation.html"},"modified":"2006-12-24T18:55:30","modified_gmt":"2006-12-24T18:55:30","slug":"that-burning-sensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/551176-that-burning-sensation.html","title":{"rendered":"That burning sensation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t usually laugh at lame-ass technology jokes. The plebeian in me won\u2019t allow it. But I did snigger like a tech-savvy git way back in September 2005 when US sociopolitical comedian Bill Maher commented on the launch of the iPod nano. <\/font><\/p>\n

He steepled his hands under his chin and, fluttering his eyelids, announced: \u201cIt\u2019s so slim Kate Moss uses it to cut her cocaine.\u201d Ha ha. Ahem. <\/font><\/p>\n

When over-the- hill comedians start talking about the iPod as if everyone\u2019s supposed to know what they are, I tend to choke up. Why? Because a) it makes me realise that the fuddy-duddies aren\u2019t as clueless as they seem; and b) if I catch the joke I\u2019m obviously not as clueless as I seem to be to my mates. But that\u2019s another story. Anyway, the Apple iPod has permeated society. <\/font><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just a popular MP3 consumer brand \u2014 it is the most popular on the market. The iPod (which takes its name from a word Apple had first registered for Internet kiosks, blah, blah, blah) was released, like, way back in 2001 and it\u2019s taken, what, five years to become a household acronym? Remarkable. <\/font><\/p>\n

What made it so revolutionary was, I guess, its function and aesthetic. It was practical, easy to use and so damn hot. I\u2019m serious: if there\u2019s anyone out there who doesn\u2019t think that its sleek white casing, roller pad and touch tones are a downright turn-on, well, let\u2019s just say that those people don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to fall in love, or to be envious, for that matter. <\/font><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not alone when I say this; I mean, Queen Elizabeth II is a lot of things, but she knew what she was doing when she gave that CBE to iPod\u2019s designer, Jonathan P Ive. And I bet her eyes twinkled when she pinned that cross on his lapel. <\/font><\/p>\n

Moving on. It\u2019s been voted Best Gadget by Tech Digest, while the iPod Shuffle has been voted top \u201cChav Gadget\u201d (don\u2019t ask). <\/font><\/p>\n

It is the fashion accessory must- have, one that I have integrated into my lifestyle with ease, and it has opened doors for others, like Creative, Axiz, Kalliba, MSI, Zling; now Microsoft is to follow suit with its own hip MP3 players. <\/font><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, iPod and the others are the future, determining the way I consume music; how I buy and listen to music and now that the hype has died down over which one to own, my focus is back on the tunes and burning the tracks I want from the Internet, instead of having to buy CDs and burn the songs from my PC to my player. Thank God music industry bigwigs have realised the possibilities of cheap web distribution \u2014 and now there are numerous places for me to visit to get the songs I want, no, need. <\/font><\/p>\n

However, the question I\u2019ve been asking lately is: what\u2019s the best place to begin burning? Sure, I\u2019m not gonna be ripping as much as the Americans and Europeans, but what sites are on offer? <\/font><\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s iTunes paved the way for the digital downloading of online music and has seriously helped curb some of the pirating out there, but Apple\u2019s still dragging its feet on launching iTunes for South Africa. <\/font><\/p>\n

Then there are the hassles with trying to burn from Napster, Wippit and TuneTribe due to bandwidth, so that got me thinking there must be some local digi-music stores. <\/font><\/p>\n

There are some, heh-heh, nasty search engines like iMesh and Kazaa that\u2019ll seriously \u201cpilfer\u201d those songs and music videos for me, but there are other \u2014 legitimate \u2014 places to download, surely? <\/font><\/p>\n

So, I went snooping around and checked out a few SA sites offering song shopping and also found an international one that\u2019s, quite simply, the pick of the lot. I\u2019ve compared their look, what tracks they have on archive, prices and whether they\u2019re navigation friendly. <\/font><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, and I also found this awesome website <\/font>http:\/\/www.100topmp3sites.com<\/font> <\/a>, which has a list of the coolest music sites, from the latest music to karaoke.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Local is lekker<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Patriotic to SA\u2019s music tastes and simple to use, albeit not so hot on sound quality <\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.samp3.com<\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been around for a while and has a great SA artist archive, which you can burn without having to register. Artists range from The Awakening to Valiant Swart. Plus it provides tunes for MWeb\u2019s entertainment section. The navigation is by-the- numbers easy. The only problem is that it doesn\u2019t have enough music for all tastes. Oh yeah, and the cover art is seriously lacking. <\/font><\/p>\n

Pricey perfection<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Looks great, but the prices will make your bottom lip tremble <\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.musica.co.za<\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

Musica is the hottest-looking local site and has most artists, some independent labels and even tracks by indie gods Belle and Sebastian. Navigation is easy, fast and supplies one with genres and label and rights information. Problem is the price: R9.99 may be a bit steep and some may argue that burning from international sites is cheaper. However, musica.co.za can be trusted and Allofmp3 can\u2019t. <\/font><\/p>\n

Black like me<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

The gateway to African soul; seriously expensive <\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.afrodesiamp3.com<\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

Created with African ex-pats in mind, AfrodesiaMP3 centres its archive around dance music from the African continent. It also prides itself on being the best platform for African record labels, artists and producers. Its archive includes Mafikizolo and Bongo Maffin, but at R13 a pop some may find it a bit of a rip- off. If you have the cash and are into reggae, trip-hop, World Africa, tribal, gospel, jazz\/lounge and Afro-pop, this is the place.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Devil\u2019s in the details<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Good sound, value for money <\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.emusic.com<\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

\\Launched in September, emusic is fantastic. There are two million songs to choose from and it plays with any portable player. Tunes burn at R2.30, but the site also offers a monthly subscription, the cheapest being R124, which is pretty good considering that you\u2019re able to download 40 songs a month. The sound is good; the site is easy to navigate and there\u2019s a prompt that will to help you register. Niiiiice. <\/font><\/p>\n

Discuss this article<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strapping on his iPod, Damon Boyd hits the information superhighway. Destination? Song shopping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}