I started playing the Fame soundtrack on my computer, a soundtrack that I downloaded legally from EMusic.com a couple years ago. This led me to the EMusic site, which hasn’t changed much from its (perfectly functional) old design. From this I followed a link to MP3.com, which is completely redesigned (finally, although sadly they’ve changed their logo yet again, for no good reason)…and from that I checked out the hardware reviews.

Why am I writing this again? Ah, yes. I worked at MP3.com last summer, and one of the things they actually let me to (as opposed to promising and then forgetting about) was write reviews of new products. Soon after I got into the swing of things, my boss was laid off, and they really didn’t like my reviews anyway (I was…how do you say? Ah yes, negative. Honest, I’d say. They’d say negative.) So anyway, my reviews are still online, and you might be suprised with the amount of vitrol emanating from those pages of the otherwise-cheery MP3.com site. This review in particular I really like, as the product was really very very bad, but I kept emphasising that it was good while at the same time dissing it at every turn.

For kicks, you can compare my (wonderfully written) review with their review of the first version of the product, a suck-up review if I’ve ever seen one.

That (non-me) review is symptematic of the whole problem with MP3.com. It quickly turned from its vision of the water company of music, a monopoly conglomeration of all music in the known universe in an easly-usable system that could be tapped by every program and internet device and whatever, to a marketing organization pandering to anyone for a buck. Ah, money. Someone should really start a non-profit alternative to MP3.com. Or should have 5 years ago. No point now, we have peer-to-peer. Less powerful and pretty, but perfectly usable.