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# Liquid media
- URL: https://www.lorcandempsey.net/liquid-media/
- Published: 2006-01-24T23:32:20.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-28T20:58:28.000Z
- Author: Lorcan Dempsey
- Tags: Systems

[![logo_hearmusic.gif](https://www.lorcandempsey.net/content/images/wordpress/lorcan/logo_hearmusic.gif)](https://www.starbucks.com/hearmusic/inourstores.asp?category%5Fname=In+Our+Stores&ref=lorcandempsey.net)In my [last entry](https://blog.oclc.org/lorcand/archives/000799.html?ref=lorcandempsey.net) on Starbucks I suggested that it provides, in addition to coffee, *on-demand place*. People use it for meetings, network rendezvous, downtime, … I also suggested that we would see Starbucks selling music by the track.  
And, hey, where did I end up while briefly in San Antonio the other day? In a new HearMusic store, brought to us by Starbucks.

> Music is a vital companion to your experience at Starbucks. We program music that you want to hear as you sip your espresso. A choice selection of great CDs are available for purchase and, in a growing number of Starbucks, media bars afford an opportunity to explore and burn selections from a vast library of songs. \[[In Our Stores](https://www.starbucks.com/hearmusic/inourstores.asp?category%5Fname=In+Our+Stores&ref=lorcandempsey.net)\]

Tracks could be burned to CD but not apparently downloaded to an MP3 player or other memory drive. I presume there are reasons for this.  
Whatever one thinks of Starbucks, I think this is an interesting development. Liquid media indeed 😉  
It made the notion of liquidity very real: people come in, swipe their Starbucks card, and make off with a CD of just the songs they want.  
Recently, I have been making a detour once a week on my way home from work to pick up a copy of the (UK) Observer newspaper from a bookstore which makes a print-on-demand newspaper service available. They carry many papers from around the world. It is better than the erratic delivery schedule for a print version at my local Border’s.  
It is interesting to see how the network intersects with the physical in this way.