RELIABLITY VERSUS

Given the, the number of tracks I have ripped from CDs to various portable audio formats (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Atrac, WMA) and subsequently lost due to computer crashes and malfunctioning back-ups, you will forgive me if I don’t share Stephen Islip’s confidence in having a virtual reality collection. Add in the number of mp3 players I have already gone through (including the large paperweight that is a dead iPod), the faffing about to get tracks to play gaplessly, the reduction in sound quality, the (general) lack of album art/ sleevenotes compared to CDs and you can see why I’m hellbent on retaining my physical collection despite the storage issues.

I agree having hundreds of albums on one device is convenient and I do use my mp3 players heavily (when they work) but at the moment I’m not prepared to commit myself to a fully digital world. However, more importantly, perhaps there’s something joyless about collecting music digitally. I do download music but the excitement I’ve experienced when buying records, prerecorded cassettes and CDs just isn’t there. And don’t get me started on the issue of backing up downloads that don’t come with a safety net. Maybe Stephen should reflect on the fact that RC itself isn’t a virtual publication. It’s a real physical entity, so why does it have a place in his brave new digital world?

by Peter McCormick
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