The Evil Overlord Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I haven't noticed any.degrading on any music I've bought, stored.on my hard drive (yet, so cannot confirm) but burned to a cd from my pc.. Yes Retails discs (even the oldest ones I have,) do still seem to be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cork1958 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 He is completely wrong of course, but he sounds like one of those people where it is better to just nod and smile then to try and argue with. When you copy a file every bit is verified; files don't degrade and lose information. Copy it a million times and the last copy will still be identical to the first. "He is completely wrong of course, but he sounds like one of those people where it is better to just nod and smile then to try and argue with" Exactly :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcfan Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 i also have a friend who is an idiot. welcome to the club spikey_richie 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riahc3 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hello, A good example would be that if Linux is downloaded the times it has been downloaded, wouldnt it be the unstable by now? Another example, legacy Windows 95 code is present in Windows 8.1 install DVDs. Technically, by his logic, those functions would not even work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Easiest way to do it. Is to say: If you write a letter or a note in notepad. If you make 100 copies of the copy.. does the text change? No, the bits remain the exact same not matter how many times it is copied. It's the exact same as an MP3. The "Text" that makes up the file is the exact same and a 1:1 copy no matter how often you do it. Now, if you were to play an MP3 and record it with a Microphone, and continue to copy it that way.. then you introduce outside environment noise/complications. Unless there is a bug in the copy code.. it will never have environment noise that interferes. Probably when the guy was asking if when you downloaded a lot of stuff if your hard drive got heavier. Yeah I rememebr this... i also have a friend who is an idiot. welcome to the club :laugh: aren't we all in that club though :shifty: Hello, A good example would be that if Linux is downloaded the times it has been downloaded, wouldnt it be the unstable by now? Another example, legacy Windows 95 code is present in Windows 8.1 install DVDs. Technically, by his logic, those functions would not even work. there's windows 95 code? what for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firey Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hello, A good example would be that if Linux is downloaded the times it has been downloaded, wouldnt it be the unstable by now? Another example, legacy Windows 95 code is present in Windows 8.1 install DVDs. Technically, by his logic, those functions would not even work. Not really. What he is saying is if you go from A->B->C->D->E->F you will degrade. You are saying: A->B ->B ->B ->B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcfan Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 :laugh: aren't we all in that club though :shifty: not if you're the friend :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAZMINATOR Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 You friend smokes high quality weed. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 not if you're the friend :laugh: Well hello there my friend :shifty: vcfan 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Method Man Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Original File -> Compute MD5 hash Original File -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Compute MD5 hash Compare hashes, ask friend to explain his idiocy. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riahc3 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hello, there's windows 95 code? what for?command.com for example. Thats even before W95! Not really. What he is saying is if you go from A->B->C->D->E->F you will degrade. You are saying: A->B ->B ->B ->B Not really. A (command.com) ->B (W95V) ->B (W95V) ->B (W95V) B (W95V) ->C (W98V) ->C (W98V) ->C (W98V) Its basically a handdown. I know he is saying "a.mp3" Ctrl+C Ctrl+V "copy of a.mp3" Ctrl+C Ctrl+V "copy of copy of a.mp3" Ctrl+C Ctrl+V "copy of copy of copy of a.mp3" Ctrl+C Ctrl+V "copy of copy of copy of copy of a.mp3" would degrade it but the W95 thing still applies in the same way. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Original File -> Compute MD5 hash Original File -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Copy -> Compute MD5 hash Compare hashes, ask friend to explain his idiocy. I doubt he would understand what an MD5 hash is :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Method Man Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I doubt he would understand what an MD5 hash is :p He should. After all he's really smart and can tell people smart, technical facts like how digital files get worse the more they are copies. Surely someone with such technical expertise would know what a hash is. :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 He should. After all he's really smart and can tell people smart, technical facts like how digital files get worse the more they are copies. Surely someone with such technical expertise would know what a hash is. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted March 11, 2014 MVC Share Posted March 11, 2014 Easiest way to do it. Is to say: If you write a letter or a note in notepad. If you make 100 copies of the copy.. does the text change? No, the bits remain the exact same not matter how many times it is copied. It's the exact same as an MP3. The "Text" that makes up the file is the exact same and a 1:1 copy no matter how often you do it. Now, if you were to play an MP3 and record it with a Microphone, and continue to copy it that way.. then you introduce outside environment noise/complications. Unless there is a bug in the copy code.. it will never have environment noise that interferes. Probably when the guy was asking if when you downloaded a lot of stuff if your hard drive got heavier. Kind of a bad example. Although the text won't change the quality might. His argument is that the quality will get worse the more you copy it. It actually might in your example. So far in this thread the best thing I saw was the MD5 hash answer. Teach him about that. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cacoe Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Kind of a bad example. Although the text won't change the quality might. His argument is that the quality will get worse the more you copy it. It actually might in your example. So far in this thread the best thing I saw was the MD5 hash answer. Teach him about that. MD5 hash is an excellent idea, but his knowledge seems to be based on half truths and assumptions, some correct information here and there that makes it sound like he knows what he's talking about to the right people but in the bigger picture, some massive holes of plain wrong ignorance, so this would require quite a lesson in some fundamentals... I typed 'hello' into a text file. I made a copy of a copy of a copy etc inside a folder. I did this until I could no longer create more copies because the file length was too long for ntfs and then started making copies of the copy folder. I did this maybe 20-30 times until the folder name length was too long for ntfs (this was a lot of copies still) I opened the first file and the last file. Both were obviously exactly the same and both were the exact same size. I explained that both the first file and the last copy were identical and could not possibly have displayed the word 'hello' any more if any of the bytes were changed. I also explained that there's 8 bits in a byte and the file was exactly 5 bytes. Both of them. He replied "yeah but maybe there's half a bit missing somewhere and that's why the file still opens, and you haven't copied it enough times anyway.".... I give up. :blink: snaphat (Myles Landwehr) and Draconian Guppy 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Method Man Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 half a bit Find new friends. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+virtorio MVC Posted March 11, 2014 MVC Share Posted March 11, 2014 His MP3 collection has "degraded" over time because he's now gotten used to higher quality audio files and didn't realise just how bad they were at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 He replied "yeah but maybe there's half a bit missing somewhere and that's why the file still opens, and you haven't copied it enough times anyway.".... He's trolling you. The guy is winding you up. But don't show him this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibble Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krome Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Dear OP, Word on the street is, your friend is retarded. Tell him that MP3 is a DIGITAL format and if one of the bit is missing, the file is completely corrupted and will no longer work. When you are "copying" a file, it is a bit-by-bit transfer not a bit-by-bit transcode. Back in the old days, many people do not understand the bitrate importance. They don't know the role of a bitrate. They just put things to MP3 with a bad and low bitrate. In the early days, their MP3 files are around 32 or 64 bitrate. Again, explain to him the difference between an analog transcoding (mentally noted as "copy") and a digital transfer. If you transcode (decode and then recoding) the file, yes then the file quality will change as the wave signal is manipulated over time. Beat this kid back to highschool or get a new friend. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrack Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think IBM has a patent on the self degrading/ageing data/photos or something like that. I don't think it is true for the current form of digital data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aergan Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Dear OP, Every conversation from now on regarding technology, direct the attention to the weather. Rather than try to explain and justify the inner workings of the universe with example stubborn friend of lesser comprehension, you can discuss something even cows in fields can grasp. There's a reason behind the stereotype. T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member Posted March 11, 2014 Member Share Posted March 11, 2014 To be fair, perhaps corruption on some drive (or flash media) of the OPs caused issues at some point with his music and he just stubbornly refuses to believe any explanation other than he previously believed. I'd pretty much chalk it up to the dunning-kruger effect. He'll only believe you if you give him real fundamental background and that's not going to happen without throwing him in a course. astropheed 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotoxic Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I wonder if the mp3s he has are vinyl rips, i have a lot of them and compared to pure digital files even though they have the same bit rate the vinyl rips sound as you expect horribly muddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Shrug and say "OK, if that's what you believe" and walk away. T3X4S 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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