# Napster Sucks **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 29, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316 "2003-10-29T21:25:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/1 "2003-10-29T21:25:25Z")
Unlike iTunes, Napster was a reasonable 6MB download. Unfortunately, that’s one of the few good things I can say about it. When I first opened Napster, the window was too small, so I maximized it. Unfortuantely this resulted in the window’s title bar being covered by my taskbar (which I have placed at the top of my screen), and an empty space being left at the bottom of my screen. This is not how applications should maximize. The only way to see the titlebar again is to either move my taskbar or right-click on Napster’s taskbar icon and choose “Restore”. Napster also does not conform to Windows color settings, and just like iTunes, the menus DO conform to Windows color settings, resulting in an ugly clash between my Windows colors and Napster’s skin. Bad, bad design. The main screen has a huge area with a flash animation advertising Napster Premium. Why waste space? Tell me about MUSIC. That’s why I’m using Napster! And there are too many scrollbars. When the window is at its default size, there’s a vertical and horizontal scrollbar around the main window area. Then there are two more vertical scrollbars within this area, one each for the New Releases and Advance Tracks section. The selection is better than iTunes in some areas, worse in others, which means that it sucks. The music is in DRM-protected WMA format. DRM sucks, and WMAs sound hollow. Maybe someday there’ll be a digital music service that doesn’t suck. But until then, I’ll be sticking with Amazon, eMusic, and good old-fashioned music stores. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/2 "2003-10-29T21:33:48Z")
Napster’s still around? ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/3 "2003-10-29T21:35:50Z")
Banner ad at Yahoo says “Napster’s Back!”. I saw it for the 1st time today. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/4 "2003-10-29T21:37:25Z")
[Milhouse] Remember Napster? Well it’s back, and this time in Pog form! [/Milhouse] ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/5 "2003-10-29T21:40:47Z")
Guess who’s back…back again Napster’s back…tell a friend ---
**Author:** ![Skydive101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@Skydive101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skydive101)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/6 "2003-10-29T21:50:43Z")
And they’ve got the largest most annoying ads all over the internet - just for you! Act now and we’ll include a free penis upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/7 "2003-10-29T21:54:32Z")
[Legal Napster up and running](http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5099002.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/8 "2003-10-29T22:14:32Z")
They’ve got the name, and some fairly amusing [flash shorts](http://www.napster.com/bits/) of the napster dude. Other than those two things, it’s got _nothing_ to do with the original. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/9 "2003-10-29T22:17:49Z")
I would go with I tunes, much better. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/10 "2003-10-29T22:30:57Z")
I thought we weren’t allowed to talked about Napster around here. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/11 "2003-10-29T22:44:38Z")
It’s legal now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/12 "2003-10-29T22:53:19Z")
I just pitched a bitch about Napster over in IMHO. They stiffed me on the five free downloads. You can’t find what you want because the music is listed in popularity order instead of alpha order (note to Napster: I really don’t give a rat’s ass what other people want to listen to), the jazz section is nearly non-existent, and there doesn’t seem to be any search function. ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/13 "2003-10-29T23:58:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cheddarsnax \* > \*\*Maybe someday there’ll be a digital music service that doesn’t suck. But until then, I’ll be sticking with Amazon, eMusic, and good old-fashioned music stores. \*\* It’s probably just better to get it for free from file-sharing services. Why pay for all your music if you can get it for free? UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/14 "2003-10-30T00:04:24Z")
There is a search function. On the top menu, to the right of the HOME, BROWSE, and LIBRARY buttons. You can search by artist, album, track, and member. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/15 "2003-10-30T00:08:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UnuMondo \* > **It’s probably just better to get it for free from file-sharing services. Why pay for all your music if you can get it for free?** Because it’s illegal, the quality of the files is uneven at best, and even though my individual purchase doesn’t make much of a difference, I know that I wouldn’t like it at all if people were using file sharing services to get my music, and it certainly doesn’t help the artists to refuse to pay them for their work. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/16 "2003-10-30T00:30:28Z")
Thanks, **cheddarsnaz** 🙂 Also, isn’t it frowned upon on these boards to advocate illegal activity? ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/17 "2003-10-30T02:52:29Z")
To anyone that uses the new Napster, how is the classical music selection? That really matters at least to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/18 "2003-10-30T03:13:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cheddarsnax \* > \*\*Because it’s illegal, the quality of the files is uneven at best, and even though my individual purchase doesn’t make much of a difference, I know that I wouldn’t like it at all if people were using file sharing services to get my music, and it certainly doesn’t help the artists to refuse to pay them for their work. \*\* I agree with your reasons, but I can’t see myself supporting a service that doesn’t provide the one feature every illegal P2P system has - a standard file format that will play everywhere. I wish they’d just set up a “tip jar” web site, so I could download songs in a _useful_ format from (insert P2P site here), then give each artist a quarter, which is more than they’d be getting from iTunes or Napster anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/19 "2003-10-30T03:18:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > **I agree with your reasons, but I can’t see myself supporting a service that doesn’t provide the one feature every illegal P2P system has - a standard file format that will play everywhere.** That is the reason why Napster and iTunes and MusicMatch and BuyMusic all suck. This issue is much more important than my complaints about the store’s selection and interface. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316/20 "2003-10-30T03:40:45Z")
New Napster reminds me of sober Barney. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napster-sucks/210316.md?page=2)