Legal listening

(No, this is not about letting telecoms get away with illegal wiretaps.)

You Are a Mac
You are creative, stylish, and super trendy.
You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

OK, obviously, if you don't even have Internet Explorer, you're most likely not on a PC, but what really cracked me up was the question, "How much of the music on your computer is paid for?"

That reminded me of the discussion at work after we all got our iPod Shuffles. Whether on a Mac or a PC, you have to have iTunes to set up the iPod. And iTunes also offers a web store for buying music. I shop there a lot. (Buying music is my one addiction. Listening to it and ignoring the clock/housework/whatever is my other addiction.) So I told my co-workers that you can either rip your own CDs or buy music for NOK 8 a song (or albums for the price of 10 songs, usually). The youngest ones and those with teenagers at home, instantly wrinkled their noses and started talking about free downloads. I suggested diplomatically that unless the website states specifically that it's free, one should assume that all music should be paid for.

The following day I got a cautious question from another co-worker who'd been listening in: Do the songs really cost only NOK 8 each? And can you listen before you buy? Yes and yes.

I prefer to be honest and be fair. I have no trouble paying for what I want and if I don't have the money, I simply do not buy. But there are quite a few people who get instantly greedy if offered the choice between "free" and "cheap". NOK 8 a song is cheap (as is 99 cents, the US price). I see no reason to wrinkle my nose at that price. I wonder if iTunes, with its quality and pricing, makes it easier to be a law-abiding music lover?

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