Going digital

[ddubois]

I recently got an ipod shuffle for listenting to ebooks with audible.com, but having the device has spurned me to start ripping CDs into MP3s. So I'm third-way through my 500+ CDs with windows media player. This is kind of new teritory for me; I never did the whole napster/p2p thing, if I wanted to listen to something, I just stuck a disc in. But it seems pretty slick to have all my music on a hard drive, sorted into folders by \artist\album, playing songs at random on the ipod, etc. My CDs take up so much farking space, and I can't let my 2 year old in my bedroom because it's the first thing he goes for (and now I have discs without jewel boxes and jewel boxes without covers, driving my nit ass up a wall). So I'm thinking I might like to put all my discs into a digital format, and then get rid of them entirely - sell 'em all on ebay or whatever. Is this plan crazy?

I started reading about some audio forum regarding MP3s versus AAC versus WMVs yada yada and my eyes glossed over. I've been burning them at MP3 192 bitrate, but which I vaguely understood to be sufficient, but now I wonder if I eschew the source media, if I might in the future regret not having higher quailty rips? What issues should I be concerned about with this plan - besides a hard drive crash wiping out thousands of dollars worth of music, of course. I'm thinking about getting a 60gb MP3 player so I can put everything I own and then some onto one 4 inch box (not because I need it, but because it seems cool). But I need it to be compatible with audible.com, which I think works best with itunes. So I wonder: Does itunes imply ipod necessarily?

As for downloading new music to broaden my newly digital collection... I kind of like how when I rip a CD it structures the folders. I tried to download the 'Sound of Music' soundtrack for my wife using something called 'eDonkey', and I ended up with one long-ass MP3 of the whole disc. Being a nit, not having downloaded music fit the \artist\album mold would bug me. Am I abnormal in this regard?

Any advice, links, or thoughts, is much appreciated.

Here's the requisite pic for making a self-serving post: