Pre-paid
I use Napster/Scour type services (Online, June 15) almost exclusively for finding tracks I already have on vinyl albums, but which have become so scratched, warped or cracked over the years that no amount of audio cleaning software is going to render them worth listening to. I see nothing wrong with downloading music I have already paid for (in the case of some "classic" albums, many times over). Why should I have to buy it again on CD just to have a snap, crackle and pop version? My conscience is clear.
Simon Pearce
siborg@bigfoot.com
Live music
I have read with interest the debate about the MP3 format.
Bearing in mind that it will be all but impossible to control the free distribution of recorded material, musicians will simply have to earn their living giving live performances, just like they did in "the good old days".
This can only be a good thing; live performances of music will be more frequent and more highly appreciated events, and musical performance as a social activity will once again become an important part of people's lives.
The only problem I can see is that musicians who rely on the recorded media to produce their music, such as hip-hop artists, may find it difficult to survive.
Richard Walley
richard@orpheo.co.uk
Why worry?
Re: Japanese craze that could wipe out Wap (Online, June 15), why exactly is this "frightening news for European telecommunications companies"?
I think your correspondent is confusing his mobile technologies. Easily done, I admit.
I-mode is based on PDC-P (personal digital cellular-packet), the packet version of PDC in the same way that GPRS is the packet version of GSM. They use the same basic technology and both offer always-on internet. A major supplier of PDC is actually Ericsson who, last time I checked, were based in Europe.
PDC is used only in Japan, while GSM had half a billion users at last count in more than 100 countries. PDC operates at frequency bands that aren't available anywhere else. Like any standard, the fewer involved, the faster you can go, especially if you don't want to roam.
In contrast to PDC, GSM has an upgrade path - GPRS and EDGE - delivering bandwidths up to 170 kbps and 384kbps respectively. That means that GSM operators can evolve their networks to offer high bandwidth data, avoiding the more expensive leap faced by Japan's operators.
The alliances mentioned are standard practice in the telecoms industry. DoCoMo is actually partnering with a Hong Kong GSM operator to run an i-mode originated game, but over Wap.
The unscary reality is that Japan is a fascinating, if slightly isolated, laboratory for the future of mobile internet. The fact that they got there first in delivering content and services doesn't mean i-mode technology will take over here.
Alun Lewis
alunlewis@compuserve.com
Bad design
For a splendid example of the medium obscuring the message, check out the redesigned Coeliac Society website at www.coeliac.co.uk. It carries updates to the Food List - a list of gluten-free products which can be eaten by sufferers of this very painful condition. I have been accustomed with the help of Netmind notification to download these updates within a few hours of their release. The entire site has now been updated to use Macromedia Flash, with no alternative for those who don't want to download the plugin.
I can't Netmind the page, and what used to take seconds now takes minutes, even on an ISDN connection. It is very poor design not to offer a straight HTML alternative.
Steve Annells
annells@annells.worldonline.co.uk
Lost chance
One of the important events on the internet in the last few months was Amazon getting a patent on One-Click ordering. Because of the ramifications of this action, a large number of people have been boycotting Amazon (see www.nowebpatents.org or www.noamazon.com for details).
Ashley Norris's interview with Jeff Bezos would have been a good opportunity to challenge Amazon on this action and to hear their response. It's a shame, therefore, that all we got was a corporate puff piece on what a nice bloke Bezos is and how successful Amazon is.
Dave Cross
dave@dave.org.uk
Break free
Yes, Microsoft does have an effective monopoly on operating systems. We know the problems this brings, and the (current) limitations of the alternatives. But MS does not have a monopoly on word-processing, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing programs (DTP) and the like.
Why do so many people complain about Microsoft's stranglehold and then hand their monopoly to them on a plate? It is possible to live/run a business without MS Office.
Bill Blackledge (address supplied)
Bounce back
Of course my PC crashes... but I discovered that by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and selecting RNAAPP (it is always there when my pc crashes) in the list of programs my PC springs back to life. I don't know whether this is a panacea but believe me when I say it has changed my life: I haven't lost a day's work since.
Simon Harding
sales@theatrebreaks.com
Jack Schofield replies: RNAAPP is the Remote Network Access Application (part of Windows' Dial Up Networking). It sometimes sticks in memory from an earlier connection, and may cause a later connection to fail. Whenever you get the message to say that "Dial-up Networking could not establish a compatible set of network protocols" or something similar, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, find RNAAPP in the task list, select it, and then click on the End Task button.
