Sponsored by the CAHE Technology Help Desk • 646-3305

Digital Music, MP3 Players, iTunes& All the Stuff That’s Fun to KnowBarbara Chamberlin, Ph.D.

What is digital music?Music on the computer

Digital audio goes way back…

1989Macintosh

= ?

Digital audio required space

=

=

1 song = 27.2 MB

Storage math…

Kilobytes (KB)• 1000 = 1 MB• Used to measure

text, email, small files

Storage math…

Megabytes (MB)• 1000 KB• 1000 MB = 1

Gigabyte• Used to measure

Office documents• Floppy disk =1.44

MB

Storage math…Gigabytes (GB)• 1 GB=1000 MB• 1 GB=694 floppies• Used to measure

BIG files, like video• How we measure

hard drives now

Storage math…

• 1000 KB = 1 MB (email in KB)• 1000 MB = 1 GB (docs in MB)• 1000 GB = more space than your really

need right now

=

1 song = 27.2 MB

Digital audio required space• Storage space (hard drives)

were:– Expensive– Big and clunky– Slow Old: 1989

20 MB Hard drive$899

Old: 19951 GB Hard Drive

$849

=

1 song = 27.2 MB

=

1 GB Hard Drive($899 in 1995)Would hold35 songs

So, NOW why all of the…

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Why the fuss now?

• Storage drives got cheap• Storage drives got small• Audio compression got good

1 song = 27.2 MB1 song = 2.4 MB or less

Digital music is feasible!

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

What is an MP3?• Compressed audio file

What is an MP3 player? (iPod, Rio)

• Hard drive that plays compressed audio files

About MP3 players…

• Little hard drives• Come in different sizes, can

hold different numbers of songs• Come with different capabilities

– Listen to audio– Record audio– Store data

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Getting music on the MP3 player• Demonstration: iTunes

– Organize music into playlists– Rip music CDs– Write music CDs– Purchase music

Uses: Play Music• All players will:

– Play audio– Hook up to computer

to download• Most players will:

– Display information• Some players will:

– Record audio– Act as hard drive

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Uses: Data

• Calendar• Contacts• Notes• Hard drive backup• Presentations• Photos

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Uses: Text

• Recipes• Books• News RSS Feeds• Dictionary

Uses: Language

• iLingo: text based language dictionary with audio pronunciation

• Record and practice your own language dialogue

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and a

TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Uses: Audio

• It is really easy to capture and use audio.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Uses: Audio

• Record class notes• Conduct interviews• PodCasting• Car “stereo”

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

What can you do with digital audio?• Post to web site• Put into video

applications• Place into

PowerPoint• Share on other

MP3 players• Burn to CD

Uses: Other

• MapQuest driving directions• Probe tools• Flashlight• “Reads” text files to you• RSS feeds• Karaoke

In conclusion…

• Door prizes/evaluation• Next Popcorn Technology Series

– Friday May 20– 3:30 pm– Web Sites that will Wow You

• Talk with the Experts