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The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc
40 - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, April 15, 1999
Record houses beware: MP3s
catching on, becoming norm
Top 10 Albums
(The nation's top-selling albums
for the week)
By Matt Lurie
Daily Arts Writer
Some supporters of MP3 say the tech=
nology will revolutionize the way we lis-
ten to, buy, and create music. Naysayers
say the recording industry is too strong
and powerful to let a measly file-com-
pression technology hurt it. Both, though,
are in agreement on one thing: MP3 is
RICHARDSON'S
O P T I C A L
Student discounts on
eye exams and eyeglasses
Great Brands
Polo TommyHilfiger Calvin Klein
here to stay and its use can only get big-
ger.
So, what is MP3?
MP3 is a file compression technology
that can take a CD-quality sound file and
compress it to 1/11 of its original size
with no noticeable difference in quality.
Wav files, the most basic audio files, are
notoriously large when obtained at CD-
quality, making it impossible to reason-
ably store, send, or manipulate more
than 10 tol5 typical songs on one's com-
puter. By compressing the size so greatly,
MP3 allows users CD-quality sound files
without having to take up unruly amounts
of hard drive space.
On the Internet, millions of people are
putting up MP3s on Web and ftp sites as
we speak. One quick search on Lycos's
MP3 search (wwwlycos.mp3.com) yields
several possible sites to download the
Beastie Boys' entire latest release "Hello
Nasty."
While not every artist has the promi-
nence of the Beasties, it is safe to assume
that if any artist's single has made it into
the Billboard Top 200 in the past 20 years,
you will be able to find it somewhere in
MP3. They are all free.
Around the University, one of the most
common places to find users of MP3s is
in the dorms. With Ethernet providing
extremely fast connections to the Internet,
.akes less than a minute for dorm users
to download the one to three megabytes of
space that an MP3 requires.
Each dorm has its own network, which
provides a way for all Windows users in
the respective dorms to connect to each
other. Allowing your computer to be con-
nected to, or "shared," is a voluntary
process. In South Quad, for example,
close to 60 people currently share files
from their computers. Countless others
who choose not to share their computers
can still use the network resources to get
software, watch movies, play games and
most commonly, listen to MP3s.
So, is this a revolution?
The implication of MP3 technology is
staggering. Never before has it been so
painless to obtain music, let alone CD-
quality music. While previous changes of
the guard in music technology (records to
tapes, tapes to CDs, later minidiscs or
DATs) have always had bumpy starts, the
C~ourtesy of Chevrolet
The new Chevrolet Silverado replaces the aging C/K, but unfortunately looks suspiciously like its predecessor.
CHEVROLET SILVERADO: 1500 LT
Courtesy of Capitol Records
The Beastle Boys is a band that has done well in the MP3 world. Their latest
album, "Hello Nasty" is all over the Internet waiting to be downloaded.
PLUSH POWER
sole difference in MP3 technology is that
there is no physical object involved, such
as a tape or CD. All that is needed is a
computer and an Internet connection.
Some believe this is a death knell for
the recording industry and a liberating
return to an appreciation of the music
itself. For if an artist has the wherewithal
to make their own recording and then
simply put it into MP3, the Internet allows
anyone from around the world to down-
load the file. There are numerous web
sites helping out with this task. The site
wwwimp3 .com is probably the most pres-
tigious and well-known of these sites. For
no fee they allow a band to send in a pic-
ture, a description, links to the band's
webpage, occasionally a link to buy their
CD, and, of course, the MP3s the band has
made.
The beauty of the Internet, as many
would agree, lies in its democracy. LSA
sophomore Jeremiah Sim has put up
MP3s of his band, Ego Trip, on the South
Quad network. In one sense, "I put a lot of
time into those songs and so I don't want
Jo see them just rot;' Sim said. "It's also
nice to have another (digital) copy of the
music and it's convenient for me. Besides,
this can't hurt anybody."
Others on the campus will use it to find
international artists who are not readily
available here in the states. Simon Yeh, an
ITD employee, gets MP3s of his favorite
Chinese songs through Metacrawler,
another search engine.
The entire point of signing to a 1zbel for
many bands is the opportunity for more
exposure. While more money certainly
will get you more advertising, it is just as
easy for some 14-year-olds out of Mom's
basement to set up a fancy Webpage with
their MP3s as it is for a record company
representative.
LSA first-year student Nate Forster
said he finds the MP3 phenomenon use-
ful for more than just its democracy. He
uses them for previews of albums he
might later buy on CD, because the Real
Audio examples most online stores pro-
vide are of poor quality and short. In addi-
tion, it was through MP3s that he discov-
ered one of his now favorite bands,
Depeche Mode.
"I found (Depeche Mode's) 'Violator'
See MP3, Page 12B
Trucks don't interest me. I don't have
anything to tow or any wood to haul,
most of my road trip cargo fits nicely in
the trunk of a Jetta, and I like tight steer-
ing and more horsepower than torque.
But, there's finally a truck available in
the American car market that's pretty
good at appealing to the car-lover.
Chevrolet's Silverado, formerly known
as the C/K, is surprisingly car-like with
all the appointments of a fire-breathing
pickup.
This past weekend I had the distinct
pleasure of traveling to beautiful Iowa
with the newly improved Silverado.
Iowa is full of long stretches of two-lane
highways that lead to other long stretch-
es of two-lane highways. Each highway
starts off a quick turn, then there's just
flat, straight road
for miles until the
next sharp turn, :
then more of the
same.}
Imagine a wall
covered with knot-
ted, latticed
Charleston Chews
- you have your-
self a map of Iowa'sf
roadways. The
Silverado's biggest REILLY
improvement is its BRENNAN
on-road prowess, so
1,600 miles of
highway driving was a good environ-
ment for some testing.
The best thing about the new
Silverado might be the interior. It's big-
ger than the older C/K model, and there's
a gigantic collaboration of stuff going on
in between the two front seats. A huge
center console, big cupholders, and two
ample armrests make the front passen-
gers feel like they're in different environ-
ments. In fact, my passenger had a hard
time hearing me speak during the trip.
My test model was the ultra-luxurious
LT trim with the optional Z71 off-road
package, which comes shod with plush
leather 4-way adjustable seats with elec-
tronic lumbar support and two-stage butt
warmers, cassette and CD player, the 5.3
liter 16-valve V8, and power everything.
Of note should be the 4-wheel disc
brakes with ABS standard on every
Silverado.
A ride in a truck will never be exactly
like a car,, and we did get bounced
around a bit on the road. However, the
ride is softer, and when the bumps are
transferred through thick leather seats,
they affect you less. Step-in height was
lowered an inch for the new Silverado,
which makes the experience less big-rig
like, but ground clearance is a decent 8.5
inches.
Somewhere before our Silverado's
final assembly in Pontiac, Mich., the
passenger side weather-stripping was
overlooked. It was there, but poorly
attached and producing a loud howling
sound nears the top of the window.
Noise was actually reduced by opening
the window at 90 mph. This is one of
those sounds that isn't noticeable on a
quick test drive at the dealership, but cer-
tainly a thorn in your side for a long road
trip.
While I do not normally have any-
thing to tow, I did indeed thisweekend.
Iowa isn't exactly a hot destination
unless you're there to pick someone or
something up, after all. I picked up a
gigantic, 2,500 lb. trailer for a vintage
racecar. The length of this beast was
about one-and-a-half times a Silverado,
and probably a foot wider on each side.
This red behemoth proved a weak
challenger for the Silverado's big 5,300
V-8 with toe/haul package, which tops
out towing capacity at 8,000 lbs. in the
4x4 model. The toe/haul feature is a but-
ton on the end of the shifter. When
enacted, it allows towing in overdrive
and also makes for smoother shifts and
acceleration if you've got a heavy load
behind you. I couldn't really notice the
difference on shifting, but the ability to
drive easily in overdrive is nice for the
long haul.
The 4x4 package is quite nice to shift
on the fly when conditions can change
on the road. There are four settings -2-
wheel drive, auto 4-wheel drive, 4-low,
and 4-high (the latter two are not shift-
on-the-fly, and require stopping the car
and putting the transmission into neu-
tral). Normal driving is rear-wheel (2-
wheel), and the auto 4-wheel drive is for
1500 LT
/ Base Price: $30,939
/ Price as Tested: $32,413
/ Et e: 16valve 5.3 liter V-8
/ Power: 270 hp @ 5000 rpm
/ Performance: 0-60 in 8.8 sec.
/ torque: 315 @ 4000 rpm
variable road conditions like snow or
rain. We came across some serious wind
and rainstorms on I-80 on Friday, and it
was nice to know 4-wheel drive would
kick in if we got into trouble.
I've been scratching my head since
the new Silverado launched as to why
they didn't change the styling that much.
The exterior is a bit more rounded, but
essentially it's the same boxy design as
the old C/K. However, it seems to fit
right in between the monster Dodge
Ram and the soft Ford F-I5O. Chevy
reports that their customers wanted it
that way, but when you redesign a big
selling unit like this only every 10 years,
why only go halfway? Can you imagine
this same model competing against the
F-150 and Ram when they're redesigned
in a few years?
My roommates were shocked when I
told them the sticker price for this thing:
More than $32,000. I can't imagine
choosing this over a German sedan for
the same price, but I guess if you've got
the need to tow and haul a bunch of stuff,
it's nice to do it in style. Then again, if
that were the case I'd wait around for the
Lincoln Blackwood for a few more
bucks and have the best of both worlds.
- I hope you've enjoyed reading this
column all semester Most people will
agree that cars and trucks are far too
interesting to be ignored, and I'm
thankful Ihad the chance to be the man
to delfver the information to you. I
won't be back next semester in this
space, but you'll see my fat head and
wide tie pop up in car magazines in the
coming years. Thanks for reading. You
can reach me at brennanr@umich.edu.
1. Britney Spears, . ... Bab
More Time"
2. TLC, "Fan Mail"
3. Eminem, "The Slim Sha
4. Andrea Bocelli, "Sogno
5. The Offspring, "America
6. Shania Twain, "Come or
Over"
7. Various Artists, "Family Val
Tour"
8. Lauryn Hill, "The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hi
9. 'N Sync, "'N Sync"
10. Dixie Chicks, "Wide 01
Spaces"
Source: Bilb
Top 10 Books
(The week's best-selling hardcover
1. "Bittersweet," Danielle
2. "The Testament," John G
3. "Vittorio the Vampire," A
4. "Tara Road," Maeve Bin
5. "River's End," Nora Rob
6. "Ashes to Ashes," Tami1
7. "Single & Single," John
8. "Abide With Me," E. Lyn
9. "Hush Money," Robert E
10. "The Poisonwood Bible
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