The James Kilgour BlogA Life Blog.

Napster once was the spawn of the music industry, a downloader’s delight, and enemy of retailers. But now, Napster is the golden child. Boasting Over 6 million, mp3 tracks available, is Napster still the best option for downloaders who want the best deal?

I’ve only just started using Napster; enticed by the offer of a free 7 day trial. The software is very cool, functional and quick and the selection is fantastic. The basic package, £9.95 per month provides unlimited downloads, of WMA tracks. These can be played on your computer, but not put on your MP3 player or iPod. For £14.95, you get the option to transfer to a Play-For-Compatible device (No iPods though).

Another great feature is the ability to stream any track. This allows you to sample it before you download. And downloading, trust me, is lightening fast (I have 4mb broadband). Also, Napster have hundreds of different “radio stations”, in any genre, plus CD Compilation playlists.

My really big concern though is the fact that you don’t actually own the music you download. If you stop paying, your music stops. At least with the likes of iTunes, you own what you pay for. Any that doesn’t expire. For the price as well, you would expect some sort of return from your investment.

JK

So at the Apple event that took place a few days ago, Genius was released, a new feature that allows users to quickly find Songs matching the one they are currently listening to.

But is the service much help?

I’ve been using it for a few days so far, and although it shows promise, I really haven’t found it that much of a revolution.

Also, it’s not like it doesn’t take effort. It can be quite slow to update itself, and on automatic, you have to wait a week. For a Genius, it isn’t always that effective either; half of the songs it picks out of my Library of 1600 are nothing a like!

I can see scope though for it; especially on the iPod where it can be time consuming to flick through endless songs to find similar ones you’re in the mood for. However it seems that Apple won’t be releasing the update for older iPods, including my 80gb iPod Classic, which is practically identical to the new 120gb version. Why not? Is anyone really going to upgrade for one small feature like that????? If anything, it rather puts me off…

You can see the new iPod range at Amazon (UK/US).

JK