Often when I see friends listening to music on portable players, I become curious about what they are listening to.

Sometimes I even wish I could take some of their music with me on my own player, especially if the song is somehow special or unique. It is sometimes difficult, though, to go home and find that particular song on a music network.

Either a purpose-built machine or a third-party adapter and software could allow for this kind of transfer. Just link both mp3 players together and send over the files. It might even work like a TiVo, suggesting different groups if tastes happen to match up.

There may be some legality issues with this device, but one could argue that they would be covered by the Betamax Act, provided that people used the device to share files without copyright as well.
-- discontinuuity, Oct 22 2005

Definition of "Sneakernet" http://pseudodictionary.com/search.php
Really it's any way of moving files by foot [discontinuuity, Oct 22 2005]

Betamax Case http://en.wikipedia...versal_City_Studios
Supreme Court ruling on devices that have the potential for copyright abuse [discontinuuity, Oct 22 2005]

Software: Podutil (10 quid) http://www.kennettn...oftware/podutil.php
That and a laptop are what I use to simulate this idea. Doing it directly would be neater. [jutta, Oct 22 2005]

miShare http://www.mishare.com/index.html
"miShare is a smart little gadget for sharing files and playlists between iPods. No computer or cable is needed, and it's super easy to use. Just attach the source and target iPods and press miShare's big button to start the transfer." [discontinuuity, Nov 29 2007]

Zune link http://www.zune.net/en-US
[MisterQED, Nov 29 2007]

awsome ... this could work using bluetooth. In fact it would be cool if you could pick up music from people just by walking close to them (as long as they allowed that sort of thing of course) .. you'd pick up music randomly from the air. Highly illegal .. but the reality is that I don't care [+]
-- ixnaum, Oct 22 2005


Wired magazine had an article last month about the history of the iPod. One thing the author mentioned was that a similar feature was originally considered for inclusion on the first iPod, but it was dropped because of fears that it would lead to too much piracy.
-- discontinuuity, Jan 11 2007


Someone made a little linux-based device to do this (see link), but it costs $100 US.
-- discontinuuity, Nov 29 2007


WiFi would be better than Bluetooth.

You could have software that didn't infinge copyright. Both people would need to have accounts with a paid download service. The song(s) would be transferred after agreeing to the cost, then the next time the receiver went online, he'd automatically 'register' the new songs and his account would be charged for them. The person that gave him the song(s) would receive commission.

This system is of course very vulnerable to hacked software that never pays for the songs.
-- marklar, Nov 29 2007


Sorry, this is baked by the M$ Zune. It is an interesting idea, but yes there are some copyright/DRM issues, but as they say, "welcome to the social" which is their version of the sneakernet. I still prefer my old form of sneakernet, where I would transfer files by copying them in a 3.5" floppy and then flick them at a co-worker (Our Mac had no network card.)
-- MisterQED, Nov 29 2007



random, halfbakery