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THINGS I PAY FOR ONLINE

This I ripped off from library guru Walt Crawford, who got it from SF author and uber-blogger John Scalzi. From whom I learned that AOL still exists and that there is a paid version of LiveJournal. Who knew? And why Rhapsody? Who are these people who are willing to pay every month to rent music that could be taken away from them at any time? Those who don't want the option of making a mix CD or tape do not love music in any way I can understand. I was glad that some of Scalzi's commentors mentioned library subscriptions. Don't pay for any online encyclopedias or magazine articles if you can get them free with your library card, people! The free Encyclopedia Britannica subscription for bloggers is also awesome.


1. IpHouse for Internet with Qwest DSL. I could save by bundling with Qwest and get msn.com email (ugh!), but IpHouse has given me such great support over the years and I can always get someone on the phone right away.

2. Netflix (4 movies-at-a-time grandfathered account). I watch a lot of movies, so it's definitely worth it, and it keeps me from being tempted to get cable. What with TV shows on Netflix, from the library and on Apple TV, I can barely stand to watch commercials any more.

3. Flickr Pro. I consider it a backup option for my photos. I have over 1700 on there right now, so going back to the 200 limit on the free account would be hard.

4. Amazon Prime. It pays for itself over the holidays.

5. GoDaddy web site for $10/year. So no one else can ever have Badassjfro.com. Branding, baby!


Things I used to pay for, but dropped:

1. Live365. I listen to most of my Internet radio on AppleTV now, and there's no way to get the subscribers-only no-commercials version of Live365 radio stations on there (that I know of, at least).

2. Mac.com/MobileMe. I don't need a fancier web page than Blogger can provide, and I can access files away from home with a flash drive. We Macies pay more for a better computer, we should get this service free, dammit!


Things I might pay for in the future:

1. Librarything. It's only $25 for a lifetime membership, and I'm nearing the 200-book maximum for a free account. I really like the way they organize my library, just wish there was as good a catalog for music and movies.

2. I plan to donate to some of my favorite Internet radio stations like Radio Nigel and Japan-A-Radio, don't know if that counts.

Comments

John Scalzi said…
"Who are these people who are willing to pay every month to rent music that could be taken away from them at any time?"

In my case, someone who understands that renting the music doesn't mean I own it, so having it taken away from me doesn't strike me as monstrously unfair (mind you, not that any of it's been taken away in the six or so years I've been using it).

I, any event, I use Rhapsody to sample songs and albums, and anything I decide I like I buy outright, in a non-DRM medium. So even if Rhapsody were to disappear tomorrow, the only music I'd lose is the stuff I don't like enough to own. And I'm fine with that.
ash966 said…
So it's more of a replacement for radio than a replacement for a music collection? I understand that even less. As a replacement for ownership, there are plenty of people without big existing music collections who commute a lot, travel a lot, live in tiny places, have many different devices for playing, several people living in the same place, etc. They are very different from me, with my 5600 songs on my iPod and my Apple TV and my 300 LPs only partially digitized, no car, no long commute, but I understand that the market exists.



However, as a replacement for radio, a big corporation charging a big fat monthly fee is my greatest fear (it works so well for TV), so I'd rather give annual donations to these guys or to small Internet radio stations than money to Rhapsody or XM/Sirius which would validate their business model. According to the comments here, XM/Sirius is cutting stations left and right, so it is a legitimate fear, especially in this economy.



For finding new stuff, I have podcasts (free), SeeqPod (free), internet radio (free so far), and soon I hope to have LastFm on my iPod Touch (free-diddly-free).



Anyway, thanks for commenting.



--ASH






















JethSeux said…
You tell em Sweetie!
About the only thing I would pay for, given the right computer set up where I could conveniently listen to it all the time, would possibly be NetLibrary.
I am not sure how many titles they have yet, but the thought intrigues me of having a huge library of books on mp3 available to you with no long waits for ILLs, no one reserving your copy when you are halfway through, and no CD fritzing out in a key plot moment and leaving you with a gaping hole in the story-line when you are halfway through!
Hopefully libraries expand their subscriptions to Netlibrary as time goes on and I won't have to pay though.

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