NAPSTER: GETTING WITH THE PROGRAM

There are some technical drawbacks to using Napster.

No matter what kind of connection you have to the internet, when you download MP3s from other users' harddrives, you are limited by the connection speed of the person at the other end. Cable modems typically upload at a maximum of 128K, but this can be slower when there's web traffic. When I tried to download files, I found that a large proportion of the sources listed were slower than advertised. Some connections timed out or simply weren't available. And many people who offer folk MP3s tend to be older, low tech folks with 56K modems - or worse. I often found myself going through three to five sources for the same song, trying to find one that could send it at a reasonable speed. Also, of the 12 files I've downloaded so far, one was corrupted - full of drop-outs.

So, if you're expecting this Pandora's box to be a genie bottle, you may be in for some frustration. But by and large, playing with Napster is like finding yourself in the middle of the world's ultimate record library - with no one sitting at the checkout desk. In the end, the fate of Napster and the availability of this kind of service to others down the line depends on how many of us stuff our pockets and simply walk out the door with whatever we can carry.

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com