I think downloading music sucks. I don't understand why people want to get music this way. Forrester Research is predicting that Compact Discs will disappear in five years, and that virtually all music will be purchased from online stores. Maybe I am a Luddite, but I would hate this arrangement.

As we know, downloaded music offers no improvement in sound over CDs. You get no liner notes, no lyrics, no production details, no artwork. Instead, you are responsible for archiving the music. You will keep needing larger hard drives. I have had a hard drive failure. I wouldn't want to have to repurchase all of that music. I have 1200+ CDs.

SACD and DVD audio offer better sound quality than CDs. Surely, music lovers should prefer better sound quality over ease of downloading. It irritates me when I hear people complain that they shouldn't have to buy a whole CD for just one song. If you only like one song from an artist, you shouldn't be a fan. You've been duped.

Downloading isn't more economical. Some online stores are selling songs for 99 cents each. The last Radiohead CD has 14 tracks. 14 times 99 cents is just about what I paid for it, and I have the disc, and the artwork, and I don't have to worry that I will erase the songs, or that my hard drive will crash. And, yes, I like all of the music on the CD, not just one song. I predict that the 99-cent model will soon disappear. We will be paying a lot more than 99 cents in the future.

What I'd like to know is if on online store would sell Brian Eno's Thursday Afternoon for 99 cents. It is, after all, a 61-minute song.

I have downloaded lots of legal music, so that I can hear new musicians. That, to me, is the value of downloads. If I want the music, I will buy it.

I'll take a CD any day. Forrester says that within five years, CDs will be things that only old people have. I guess I am old.

Tags: downloading, CDs

I love cycling in winter. Today, the wind chill is -22 celsius, and the snow is blowing. However, we are in for ice pellets tomorrow morning. I may have to skip a day. It would be one of a handful of missed days in the last five or six years.

I like to cycle because I hate the TTC. The TTC is overpriced, if you ask me. It is crowded. People walk slowly. Fresh air (and exercise) is the better way.

I haven't had much to say lately. I guess I've be concentrating on playing the guitar and taking pictures. I'll be back in the darkroom on Thursday.

Tags: cycling, TTC

Spalding Gray is missing. This is sad news. This article presents the recent facts. What can I say about him, expect that he always amazed me with his humour and brutal honesty? He has made a personal industry out of describing his personal life, including an affair, something that I think was rather brave. I hope he is found in good health.

Tags: Spalding Gray

Wow, it's been ages since my last entry. I just suffered through the flu, or something very flu-like. It was a killer. I couldn't get out of bed for three days and I ate virtually nothing for four days. It's not like I need to lose weight.

I think that my Lomo LC-A is broken. Yes, I am irritated. It's overpriced, thanks to that ridiculous marketing machine in Austria. This should be a cheap camera. It is made cheaply, and it has a limited life-span. I am not going to replace it.

Tags: flu, Lomo, photography