Have you ever done game programming? Here's one example: multimedia iOs apps, like games and enhanced books are severely memory constrained. Every kB saved can make a difference. Even in a large console game, memory becomes an issue. Most AAA games have hours of prerecorded music, sound effects and voiceover. If console developers can squeeze their audio by an extra 5%, without degrading the audio too much, that makes a big difference to the the memory footprint (or the amount of audio). I do audio at a flash development company that works with giant media corporations and 48kbps mp3 audio embedded in flash swfs is more common than you might think, due to the desire to keep loading times down.

Also, one of the biggest uses of AAC is within mp4 and quicktime movies and video streams. I'm betting that the average 360p youtube video is probably encoded at 96kbps aac. Another use might be high participant video/audio conferencing where one has to download multiple simultaneous streams over the same connection.

Another example might be streaming to remote locations in developing nations. I'm sure there are countless other applications.

So... you mod the parent 4, funny, for making a tasteless joke about rape, that's not even funny, and you mod down the person that calls them out. Not cool, guys.

> but in the long run they hurt real science

Hmm... maybe. On the other hand, how many astronomers first got interested in space as youngsters because they saw Star Wars? For a certain age group (born after the lunar landings), I'd bet it was a pretty high percentage.

Wrong! Legally, it is most definitely a performance when a radio broadcasts a song. It's been that way since the beginning of radio. It's internet companies that changed the definition.

Woah, hold on here. The real story here doesn't have anything to do with 30-second sound samples. Artists and publishers want to be paid royalties on songs used in downloaded movies and TV shows. TV networks have to pay, so should Amazon, Hulu and Apple. This is a huge issue for composers that make their living from scoring TV shows. As viewers migrate away from TV to online viewing/downloads, that will decimate an extremely important revenue stream for working composers.

I agree though that paying for 30-second samples goes too far and that should be taken off the table. I would like to see a reference for where the reporter got that information. No artist or publishing company I know wants that nor is lobbying for it. Sounds like Apple spin, to me.