hey all- this is just $0.02, not necessarily worth anymore than the next person's $0.02, as it is only my $0.02, and only I can give it away freely. anyhow, i held off on even participating in this whole mp3-download thing because a) my computer and modem are both slow as hell, and b) i'm lazy. but thanks to the goodness of russ (and a few others i've found) the temptation proved too great, so i'm now tying up my phone line for hours for a few songs. anyhow, i think mp3s, for me personally, are gonna be a great resource for hard-to-find and live stuff, and listening to new bands or bands that i've heard a lot about but ne'er listened to before. however, i don't see myself no longer buying albums, as even now, if i get, say a tape copy of something, if i like it enough, i'll purchase the album. the most important factor in all of this goes back to why i find it unfortunate that cds are more convenient than vinyl - i really, really, really like liner notes and artwork. i don't see myself ever downloading an entire modest mouse album (or another band that i might like a lot) and burning it to cd as opposed to just buying the damned thing, if only for the artwork, and having the album as the band/artist most likely wanted it to be presented. i know not everyone thinks like me in this respect, but i imagine a few of you do. then again, i get most of my cds used, or by "circumventing," shall we say, payment of mail-in record clubs. so i guess this is all incidental anyway. stawr