It wasn't good enough before?
Music files shared via peer to peer networks are ordinarily saved at a bitrate
of 128 kbps. Just what this means isn't of the utmost importance (though if
you're asking ...), but it's significant to note that not very long ago we
used to be told that 128kbps offered us "near CD quality", or even "CD
quality", and that most of our ears aren't really able to distinguish between
music recorded on a store-bought CD and music ripped at 128kbps. Of late, however,
when I've taken a peek into some of the peer to peer networks I once frequented,
I've noticed that many of the items now available there are ripped at 192kbps,
and even 256kbps. The very simple meaning of this development is that in order
to download and save a music file we now need double the download time (or a faster
connection) and double the hard drive space to store it. Since this space is now
available, people are choosing to burn at higher
quality - even though not long ago they were told that 128kbps was more than
good enough.
Go to: Large storage space invites large files, or
Go to: Planning ahead, or
Go to: Me and Moore's Law.