Starting in 1999, Shawn and John Fanning started developing Napster. A free way to download music to the mp3 drive on your computer. Being that this service required to share your information to others across the world and allow the computer to access your files, nobody thought this service would take off. Not even the developers themselves. At the height of development, Napster reached 80 million users. Why would people want to give up their privacy and information? Free things make people go crazy! If you are going to give someone something like unlimited music for free they are going to ignore all consequences. If it was anything like how Apple is today, they were notified before downloading that their privacy was at risk. Although they were notified, it was long small print information that was several pages. They just clicked accept happy as can be to get free music.

Anyone else listening to this story and thinking, “This can’t be legal”? Me too! Later Napster was shut down for their illegal operations and the lack of control over the transfer of copyrighted material across its network. Most would figure this operation they were running was not going to last. The RIAA was filing a large lawsuit against Napster because of their distribution of copyright material. They eventually had to shut down from losing the lawsuit. How could a company do so well and be shut down just two years after they start and do nothing about it? Napster wasn’t satisfied by crushing their expectations and 80 million users, but who would be? Napster came back years later and were under the name Rhapsody. This company is very large in Europe. Although this was Napster’s comeback, this is a legal operation.

Although it would be nice to be able to get all music for free, people have to have restrictions on the things they give out for free. Music is a great example. Though it would be nice to get it for free, it’s not right for artists or companies such as Apple, with Apple Music. They pay money to produce the music as well as the companies such as Apple, have to pay the rights to play this music. Most people would understand this but there is always people looking for handouts.

Do you guys feel like Napster did nothing wrong?

Would you give up your privacy to receive free music?

The newspaper market has been spiraling downhill fast for the past few years. Why is that? The creation of online articles and mainly the internet makes it hard for a physical paper to thrive. But how could a newspaper or news company stay in business when nobody gets a physical newspaper anymore? In the past the newspaper was the only way of seeing current events and news stories not only from your community but worldwide. Before the television and before the internet you would get the news from the newspaper. That’s why it’s called the newspaper. Everyone in America would wait till that one day that newspaper would come to their doorstep. The times when there used to be a paperboy or would come around on his bike and throw the paper to your doorstep. Now a days most people don’t receive any mail at all. They will have their bills electronically sent to them and most ads are done through emails.

In today’s society there is few newspaper companies that are still in business. The few that are still in business are those who adjusted to the times. These companies include, The New York Times, Los Angeles Time, The Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Obviously, these are some of the biggest printing companies in the U.S. if not the biggest. Smaller papers tended to fade away after time and technology game around. Some if not all of these major paper companies all started producing online articles that are read almost every day. These articles as sited by many students because these were thought to be reliable articles. In the past this may have been wrong.

At a time in history there was a problem with newspaper stretching the truth. This method was called yellow journalism. It would start by something happening that could be small and insignificant but the newspaper would stretch the truth and make it sound like a big deal. These stories can be so wild that other newspaper companies want to report it and then they stretch that story to a point where there is no truth to their story what so ever. This is how so many stories became such a big deal and there has to be truth behind a story now. Over time there has been laws put in place to prevent lies from being spread. Sometimes newspaper or news articles online might spread the truth, there is no doubting that, but legally there has to be some truth behind what they are saying. I feel TMZ, an online news reporting company and TV show, reports on the most outrageous news. Anything from nudes on celebrities to a baby duck that took its first steps. This company stretches the truth and reports nonsense and I don’t understand how this company is still allowed to make news articles. Personally, I feel the move away from physical newspaper is a good decision but when there is this huge move to electrically, there is lies that come around. Do you feel that this is a good move or the physical paper is better choice?

Over the years reading a paper book has been declining in popularity rapidly. Why is that? Some might say there are bigger and better things to be doing nowadays. Some might say its the newer inventions that allow you to read it electronically. What makes reading a book electronically better than reading the hard copy of a book? All of this comes down to preference in my opinion.

Reading can be able simple as pressing which book you want to read on the screen. As technology has developed you can download as many books as you want, or as many as you can fit on your device. But what is the benefit of doing this instead of getting tons of book and storing them in your house? Well mostly the answer to that was in the question itself. How would you store so many books? Most people can’t afford to have a library in their house. Though that would be amazing, it’s just not realistic. Although technology has the same issue if you think about it. Eventually you will run out of space to download books. So, what is the real reason that everyone uses a tablet to read a book? Portability. Have you seen someone walking down the street carrying 50 books in their hands? If they were walking with 50 books on their iPad or Kindle you would never know.

On the other hand, some people love the feel of their paper book. Having it on hand to show someone or reference something can be beyond helpful. Showing someone an article or a novel on a screen can sometimes be a hassle. Personally, when it comes to have a hard copy of a textbook for classes or a downloadable copy, I would always choose a hard copy. Being able to take my book and do homework without having to pull up the downloaded PDF is nice. It can also be a pain to navigate the PDF and find the information you are trying to write about.

Ultimately, I feel the choice is yours when it comes to reading. Some would prefer the portability and ease when it comes to reading electronically. Others enjoy that new book smell and feel when reading their favorite novel. There’s no right or wrong just preference.

I feel over time, creations of other activities have also had an effect on the joy of reading for fun. In the past there was not as much to do. Now a days you can go to a water park, go to the movies, go watch a sporting event, and so many other options. When Gutenberg first invented the printing press, there was not much to do other than working. Most of the days were spent working and after work and dinner was finished most would read books that were printed. Do you feel like over time reading will become less and less popular? Or do you feel like reading will come back around? I feel like it might be the end of a era.

Hello my name is Casey Hyer. I am a business administration and marketing major. I am a senior this year and trying to make it through the COVID problems. Just want normal classes but we will take what we can get.

I am a huge soccer fan and a PC geek. I’ve played soccer my whole life and unfortunately will only have this last year left. I’ve built two PC’s now and this is actually one of the first things I’ve done with the new one. So this little post is actually exciting for me.

p.s. had to throw in the Family Guy GIF because family guy is just too good.