I Was Today Years Old When I Learned That Napster Still Exists

"user314" (user314) 08/26/2020 at 14:05 • Filed to: None

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Napster, the file-sharing business that devastated the music industry [citation required ] at the turn of the century, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to UK technology company MelodyVR in a $70 million deal.

The acquisition from US company RealNetworks is the latest attempt to transform the famous tech boom brand, which was cofounded in 1999 by digital pioneer Sean Parker, who went on to be an early Facebook investor.

Having found fame as a website that allowed millions of people to share music illegally over the internet, Napster was shut down in 2001 before being resurrected as a streaming platform.

Huh, I was also today years old when I learned that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is still a thing.

This is from 2001

bob and john > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:19

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fuck, i havent heard that name in a while. (well, 3 months, i re-watched the italian job remake with Mark whalbeg r in it.

facw > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:19

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If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:27

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I use Napster . It’s the same price as an iTunes or Amazon Music subscription but I find the app easier to use. It can do Stations like Pandora too.

dogisbadob > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:32

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TikTok is the new Kazaa (both known to be spyware)

facw > bob and john 08/26/2020 at 14:32

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I posted the Italian Job screencap here, but I will admit that when I read about the purchase on ArsTechnica this morning I was more like:

ttyymmnn > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:33

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I remember when Real Player was the coolest kid in school.

hillrat > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:33

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You can talk all the shit you want about Real, but they were way ahead of everyone in the 90's. Circa 1998 I was at a friend’s house and was able to pull up audio of a mutual friend’s band over a dial-up connection, he was blown the fuck away. It’s amazing how casual we got about the ability to do that in 20 short years.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > hillrat 08/26/2020 at 14:35

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r ealR hapsody was right up there with iTunes as the first (legal) streaming platforms

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/26/2020 at 14:35

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I still have Winamp on my PC, though I probably haven’t played anything on it since 2015 , if not earlier.

facw > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:36

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WilliamsSW > user314 08/26/2020 at 14:41

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Lol I read something about that today and thought the exact same thing.

Tripper > facw 08/26/2020 at 15:31

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came here for this!!!

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > user314 08/26/2020 at 15:35

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The reason why Napster still has value? Maybe there is some well written proprietary software that has some real value? 

Merkin Muffley > ttyymmnn 08/26/2020 at 15:41

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The hardware support matrix on that junk was horrific. One year "multimedia PC upgrades" sold at Christmas time had a "return rate" back to the channel over 70%.  It was bad. It just didn't work with sound cards. 

Wacko > user314 08/26/2020 at 16:37

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Wonder if icq still exists?

Cash Rewards > user314 08/26/2020 at 16:59

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It really whipped the llama's ass (or something like that)

SmugAardvark > Wacko 08/26/2020 at 19:26

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It is. In fact, it had a large update earlier this year. I don’t know of anyone that actually uses it though.

IRC is even still around, but again, I have no idea who still actually makes use of it.