MP3, the format that revolutionized the way we consume (and steal) music since the 90s, has been officially retired -- in a manner of speaking. The German research institution that created the format, The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, announced that it had terminated licensing for certain MP3-related patents...in other words, they didn't want to keep it on life support, because there are better ways to store music in the year 2017. Rest now forever, MP3.

In its place, the director of the Fraunhofer Institute told NPR, the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format has become the "de facto standard for music download and videos on mobile phones." It's simply more efficient and has greater functionality, as streaming TV and radio broadcasting use the format to deliver higher quality audio at lower bitrates than MP3.

excerpt from this article on Engadget found here

Damn, now I feel old, I saw VHS/Beta, cassettes, laser disc, Minidisc, and now mp3 die. CDs and DVDs are next.

 

Last edited: May 13, 2017

CDs have been on life support for the last 5 years..lol

 

They only lasted so long because we never had to flip them over.

 

Can't wait until they integrate wifi biologically and neurologically. Just connect to a wifi hotspot using your thoughts and browse facebook in your head.

 

Cybernetically enhanced? Did you just watch Ghost in the Shell too? lol

 

Dont worry - it is happening...

SO many other things Gibson wrote about happened decades later... read his 1984 book and see for yourself.

http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/neuromancer.asp

 

Imagine spoofing somebody's head.

 

Seriously?

twitter and facebook are already spot-welded to millenials brain stems... so I think we are there.

@savadious

re: Neuromancer
wow!.. gonna have to check that book... I've been reading through Asimov's stuff lately (the first sci-fi I have ever read)... so will check this for sure!!

 

Apple must die
all digital is stupid
let's back to vinyl centurie

 

and we need a biological audio interface/wifi hub, but that would be in ours...ASS HOLE?

 

I wouldn't call a format death just because you don't have to pay for it. If anything a small boost may occur .

Of course there are better things out there, but that never stopped people from keep using what they think is 'enough' in the past.

 

yeah def go back to vinyl and technics

 

I'm getting so old I can even remember the end of 8 track cassettes.

 

Don't know what happened there . I must be getting tired as well as old!

 

MP3 is not dead, and will not die.
What happened is that patents expired, which happens automatically after 20 years from filing. The only consequence is that using MP3 for certain technologies doesn't require licensing anymore.
Fraunhofer didn't do diddly, that's the whole point

Man, how I hate sensationalist BS like that.

 

FLAC all the way

 

oh really? was just about to purchase a belt set for my Pioneer CT-20, now I need to just drop it ?

naaaah... but better if I get a Nakamichi dragon instead ...

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2017

Lol, i can just about remember when they first started.

 

I don't know anybody who didn't LOVE cassettes - the blank ones. I remember the quality getting up to Metal Chrome, and it was great being able to record off the radio. People forget that killing off the cassette also contributed to the killing-off of the Top 40. And I don't know why Mini-Disc was discontinued. Wasn't it digital and great quality? I recorded thousands of hours of songs from MTV onto Mini-Disc. The MP3 habit started long before MP3 appeared!

 

I remember this article in FM some years ago in the Q and A section..

the Q: dear FM... we now have mp3s @ 320 kbps... what will be the "next" format?
FM A: wav

btw, working quite a lot /w vid I almst always throw H.264 + aac in a mp4. It just works on most hw..

 

I like new technology as much as the next guy. But with my audio i'm very picky.
In short i hate MP3. I've been using Flac since the day it came out, beta versions.
But wouldn't it be nice if we had tape and vinyl again.
There's no need for a thousand songs on your phone when you can only listen to one at a time.