Evan Kleiman
- 2001.04.10
Q. All of my friends have been listening to music on their
computers for a while now, and I'd like to start. What do I need to
really enjoy computer music?
A. The biggest craze nowadays in the computing world, both PC
and Mac, is music. With MP3s anyone can download their favorite
music files (whether they're legal or not is another story). But,
what do you truly need to get the best out of your freeloading
music experience?
Step One: Get With The Program
The first step is to get a player for MP3s. It should have a
play list and support ID3 Tags (those are the little things that
tell your computer who sung the song, the album it's from, etc.),
as well as many more features. The best program for this is also
the cheapest one: iTunes. While Apple states that
iTunes can only work with OS 9.0.4 and up, you can also make it
work with your 8.6 system as well with a very nifty application
called iTunes Mac
OS 8 patch.
iTunes provides you with all of the basic features you'll need -
and then some. It has a really great play list feature (you can
make as many different play lists as you want), a cool way to sort
your files by artist and album, built-in burner support, a cool
screen saver, many more nice features, and, of course, the price is
always right for iTunes!
Step Two: Get the Hardware
Unless you have one of the newest iMacs, you don't have the best
sound quality out of your Mac's speakers, but this can be corrected
pretty easily. All you need to do is go to your local CompUSA or
Best Buy (or pretty much any computer store) and pick up a good
pair of computer speakers. Don't make yourself crazy trying
to find a pair of speakers that will work with the Mac; speakers
for all computers are pretty much the same, unless you're looking
at the new USB variety. The same speakers that will work with your
computer will also work in your Portable CD player, MP3 Player,
Eight Track Player, etc. The best type of speakers for you to get
for your Mac are any type that are self-powered (i.e., they plug
into the wall) and have a subwoofer. (I got a great pair a few
years back at CompUSA for 50 bucks, and they work just great.)
Step Three: Get The Good Stuff
Now that you're done setting up your computer for your
free-music experience, you now need to get your music. Napster is
the premier file sharing service (while it lasts!) and is probably
the best for getting your free music. You can download a copy from
Napster.com. Once you've
gotten it, set it up and download the latest Yanni song (or
whichever Music you prefer).
After this, you're all ready to go. Sit back, relax, and watch
the beautiful colors of iTunes swirl around the screen as you
listen to your latest music downloads.
Links
- For more on using iTunes, see iTunes, Part 1 by iBasic's columnist
Micheal Munger.
Evan Kleiman has been writing for Low End Mac since January
1999. He also runs his own site, Evansite. Evan uses an iMac,
along with some vintage hardware. You can read more about his
computing experience in The Many Macs of
Evan Kleiman.
