AirTunes
I have been thinking for a while that it would be cool / convenient to be able to stream digital audio to my home stereo. Heather and I don’t own a CD changer and I don’t see the value in purchasing one since I already have the contents of all of my CDs ripped to my computer. Since the iTunes music store is so convenient we have all but stopped buying CDs anyway.
I was looking at the Squeezebox which seemed like a pretty decent solution. The only things I weren’t thrilled about were the price and not being able to natively play protected AAC files purchased from the iTunes music store (yes I know I can burn re-rip them as unprotected files but that seems like a waste of time). Fortunately I waited since Apple announced their new AirPort Express on Monday.
The AirPort Express is a wireless bridge / router, wireless print server, and a streaming audio device all in one elegant little package. While a wireless print server isn’t of much use to me (especially by my stereo) it will steam digital audio and provide a Wi-Fi bridge all in one device. Since it comes from Apple it will “just work” with iTunes and will play their protected AAC files without any hassle. Since it is priced less than the Squeezebox and does more it can’t be beat.
It is a shame that they aren’t shipping until July.
Airport express doesn’t have a display nor does it have a remote control; and you are required to run ITUNES to access your music. Squeezebox has a display, has a remote. You can access your music via the remote or you can access via any web browser session (including PALM/IPAQ devices).