Happy Days are here again with a wide selection of easy-to-use jukebox software, reports Angus Kidman

Published in AustralianIT, September 16 2003

BE honest with yourself. The last time you used a jukebox, you were probably sitting in a pub that was too cheap to actually supply any music, thus forcing you to search your pockets for a $2 coin before choosing between classics such as AC/DC, Dido and Total Hits 97.

Despite this unpleasant reality, many computer owners feel a nostalgic yearning to convert their machine into a jukebox, perhaps because they've sat through the credit sequence for Happy Days just one time too many.

Fortunately for the collective sanity of the world, this is no longer the complex task it used to be.

In fact, you don't even need to buy anything for your PC other than a pair of speakers (assuming your machine didn't come with some).

Windows Media Player, which is bundled with all current versions of Windows, is a perfectly adequate tool for ripping your music collection.

It can then pumping it out in random order at your next soiree.

If you don't like the idea of using a Microsoft sanctioned tool, or just can't stand Media Player's slow loading times and occasional bugs, there are plenty of freeware alternatives.

Winamp's combination of play-anything drivers and customisability has made it popular.

For CD ripping, CDex offers good performance and won't cost you a cent.

Many manufacturers install their own entertainment software on PCs destined for the home market.

Of course, it's not really necessary to even have a PC to achieve jukebox-style functionality.

Devices such as Apple's iPod, and its many rivals, allow you to pump out sound from a device not much larger than the average computer mouse.

Enterprising DJs have even begun offering retailers a monthly update service for the music on their in-store iPods, ensuring that they offer cutting-edge tracks rather than the usual elevator dreck.

Given the equally revolting nature of many cutting-edge tracks, whether this is actually an improvement is a matter of some debate.

One unexpected outcome of all this pseudo-jukebox activity is that even though conventional jukeboxes are largely based on completely outdated technology, they now cost far more than the PC equivalent.

A restored Seeburg jukebox was recently offered on eBay for $US3200 ($4865), which is enough to buy a very well-equipped PC and a truly deafening set of speakers to match.