Napster Revolutionizing Information Technology
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Napster: Revolutionizing Information Technology
In May of 1999 a college freshman revolutionized information technology and ultimately has changed the way we do business today. This freshman was a dorm resident at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts when he founded his online music service called Napster. This service is also known as peer-to-peer file sharing. Peer-to-peer programs link personal computers with one another and allow users to easily trade music encoded in the MP3 format, which compresses recording into small and portable files without sacrificing quality. Napster began as an online music service where with a click of the mouse almost unlimited artists and songs can be accessed, downloaded, and stored on your personal computer hard drive. And the best part of the whole service was that this could all be done without incurring a cost, it was entirely free of charge. Users were able to download compilations of their favorite artists and songs in the comfort of their own home and not have to pay a dime. Compact Disc organizers, shelves, and other forms of physical music storage were no longer needed because enormous individual personalized music libraries could be stored on personal computer hard drives. Napster also eliminated the time needed to go to a music distributor, find a CD, and of course the money to purchase it. Napster has created a new way of business in the music industry where travel, time, and money aren't required functions any longer...