Media player for your parents
My parents emailed me the other day with a link to a song they’d found on Google. It was the lyrics page for a song but had the YouTube video embedded on the page as well. They then asked:
“We can play this on our computer right now and I would like to be able to save it to a flash drive but I don’t know how.”
Sigh. I then had to explain what streaming audio is and how even though they’re listening to the song right now there isn’t an MP3 of it hiding on their hard drive somewhere. We didn’t even get into copyright law. The last thing I need to do is introduce my parents to BitTorrent or Pirate Bay.
So it amused me to see Maggie Mason’s Father’s Day gift ideas this evening. In particular, the sanDisk slotRadio seemed right up my parents’ alley. You can purchase it bundled with a media disk of 1000 songs that can be copied anywhere seemingly DRM-free. And since my parents are still using a dial-up internet connection (don’t even get me started about that), it saves them from waiting for 1000 songs to download from the ether, regardless of price. It also comes with an FM tuner for those folks who want to tune into the gym’s TV stations while working the treadmill. Try that with your Nano.
I just have to laugh about the fact that your parents even know what YouTube is! My mom just barely got a cell phone (and I have no room to talk, I don't have one), and has no intention of ever getting a computer, so the thought of her sending me a link to a youtube video just cracks me up. My dad, on the other hand, was telling me about this great disc burner thing we have on this computer; he says "I have downloaded about 3000 songs so I can put them in my 6 disc changer in the car and never have have to listen to the radio." Again, just have to laugh.
You can do it with a Microsoft Zune – it has an FM tuner. HD radio even.
Supposedly, my iPod Touch has an FM tuner as well, but I'm waiting until OS 3.0 comes out so that it will be unlocked. (Though I'm more anxious to have the Bluetooth unlocked. Freaking Apple bastards.)
Well, actually you can, but the "Why would you do that?" point is still valid.
Because I'm nerd and can't let a technical nuance go by without harping on the details:
The applicability of copyright law is somewhat dubious, considering that barrier was supposed to be overcome before getting it onto youtube, since it has to be copied to your computer so you could play it the first time. You can store a .flv video from youtube with various tools. The "If you can see it or hear it, you could save it and copy it" rule still applies (in the physical world, not legally), and I don't think you even have any DRM self-destruct silliness providing an obstacle, in this case.