Introduction

Communication through the Internet has boomed since the latter portion of the 20th Century.  The Internet had previously been used primarily for test-variety communications.  It has evolved over the past few years to allow for audio and graphical transmission.  With the continual increase of Internet speeds as time goes on, the exchange of music files over the Internet is becoming an important issue to society.

Attractiveness

MP3's-the premier high quality audio format-are at the forefront of the music issue.  The recent popularity of MP3's can be attributed to both positive and negative aspects.  The current copyright infringement lawsuits against illegal MP3 distributors have given this technology a poor image, which nevertheless adds to the popularity of them.  However, it is the result of the several positive aspects of MP3's that contributes to their popularity.  For instance, the sheer fact that MP3's require a much smaller storage space adds to their popularity.  In an article entitled-Availability and Proliferation of the MP3 Audio Format:  Legal and Economic Issues-Alan Brooks mentions that CD quality audio takes up a great deal of space on a computer.  However, the more compressed the audio, the smaller the storage space and the faster the transmission along the Internet.  In the available 650 MB (megabytes) of storage, a CD can hold 74 minutes of audio.  An MP3 can store the same amount of audio in about 10% of the space, that is 75 MB, a considerable drop from the amount a CD can store.  Therefore this creates a near CD quality of sound; the average music enjoyer would not notice the difference.  In conclusion, it is the quality of sound that results from the compressed audio format that causes the popularity of MP3's.

Distribution

Technically, the ability to have MP3's is merely linked to the availability of a computer connected to the Internet.  Anyone who has this type of access can enjoy MP3's.  All that is necessary is to find an MP3 player (ieWinAmp) and an MP3 distributor (ie mp3.com) and now the music of the world is simply at one's fingertips.  Endless hours of musical enjoyment is just a point-and-click away.  It is generally those with the greatest opportunity for Internet access which have the most chance of being MP3 users.  It is also for those same reasons that it is college students who use MP3's the most often.  Colleges tend to have the fastest ISP/LAN connections to the Internet, and according to Alan Brooks-it is these fast connections that allow far easier downloads and distribution of MP3's.  Several articles found from the Wired News web site suggest that over 40% of the Internet usage at many colleges is clogged by students downloading and distributing MP3's from the web (Article 1, and Article 2).

MP3's on the Go...
 
 

As technology is continuing to boom on a daily basis, MP3's are not restricted to the computer alone.  Various MP3 players have been designed and distributed to consumers.  These MP3 players are similar not only in size, but in the concept of a Walkman cassette/CD player.  Users of these devices can download MP3 files from their computers into these devices for their listening pleasure.  The recent invention of portable MP3 players has only increased the popularity of MP3's.  Not only have portable MP3 players been designed, but now Casio has designed and released to the public a watch with MP3 downloadable capabilities.  This WMP-1V can store about 33 minutes of music.  Technology has blessed the world with another fabulous invention:  the in-car MP3 player.  The empeg-car has the ability to store up to 10,000 singles, which is about 600 albums.

So after all these inventions have been introduced to the public, what's next???  Will there be a time when public transportation will come with MP3 players built right into the seats???  How about planes??  Where will the technology go to next?  Only the future holds the answers....
 

Created as part of a term project for SCEN103 at the University of Delaware All pages designed and best viewed at 800 x 600 resolution high color (16 bit) Last Updated May 23, 2000 © 2000 Joseph Brobst, Ian Cosden, Patricia Jenkins, Garry Quinton, Deborah Watson, Univ of Delaware.