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<A HREF="http://www.meridian.co.uk">Meridian Audio Ltd.</A> is the latest electronics maker to weigh in on the continuing DualDisc controversy.

One of the drawbacks of the new DualDiscs released by the major labels to date is a lack of consistency when it comes to portability&mdash;the ability to easily transfer the music to any device the listener prefers, such as an iPod, media server, PC, or MP3 player, or to make a back-up CD for car use.

It is often said that audiophiles enjoy a lonely hobby. Do you have a spouse who shares your audiophile tendencies?

When, on his long-running TV variety show, Jackie Gleason used to order up some "traveling music" from music director Ray Bloch, he got a live orchestra's worth. But when Gleason, a composer and conductor in his own right (he wrote his show's unforgettable theme song, "Melancholy Serenade"), actually traveled, his listening options were severely limited compared to ours. By the time the comedian died in 1987, Sony had introduced the Walkman cassette player, but Apple's iPod was still more than a decade in the future.

"You need to keep still."

While a relative trickle of copy-restricted CDs have been released in the US, European labels have been more likely to experiment with lock-down technology. Russia is battling extreme piracy, as its culture and mass communications minister, Aleksandr Sokolov, reported to his government last week, asserting that pirated wares account for 80&ndash;90% of the overall audio and video sales in that country.

Music industry executives widely believe that "ring tones"&mdash;snippets of favorite tunes&mdash;and music downloadable to cell phones will be the next big trend, perhaps one that could help restore some luster to the industry's tarnished bottom line. "Music-related products for PCs and mobile phones are on pace to deliver as much as $500 million in combined revenue in the US for 2004, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures and analysts' projections," reported Brian Garrity in a mid-December issue of <I>Billboard</I>.