But compare I will.
We travelled extensively on Perth's train network, travelling at least some distance on every TransPerth line. We travelled to Warwick on the Joondalup Line, Guildford on the Midland Line, and to the ends of the Armadale, Fremantle, Mandurah lines. Mandurah is around 70km from Perth, the trip took 55 minutes.
Perth's trains are modern, clean and convenient. The only graffiti on the train I saw was scratched into glass. They come at least every fifteen minutes all day and run until late at night. The ticketing system, once figured out, is easy to use and cheap. Almost all train stations we saw were modern, included toilets and working ticket machines and were often staffed. Stations included electronic time table signs that told you which stations express services stopped at, and electronic voice overs that informed you when the train passing was an express, well before it arrived (so don't get your hopes up).
The trains run very fast. The newer services are built next to or in the middle of freeways, and usually the trains were running faster than the cars. The few rail/road crossings that I remember crossing were crossed at great speed.
Perth has seven zones, however tickets are bought for the number of zones you intend to cross in your travels. If you want a return ticket for a trip that includes more than two zones, it's cheaper to buy a "DayRider" which lets you on the whole network, all zones, all day. Almost all trips (including Fremantle and Armadale) were within two zones, so it was cheaper to buy two one-way tickets.
The ticket machines mostly worked, but usually only took coins which was intensely irritating at times, particularly as often they would give no change, and wouldn't allow you to buy a ticket for even five cents over the price.
Most travellers seemed to use the SmartRider electronic tickets, which appear to work as the Melbourne myki system will work (eventually, maybe). You "tag on" when you arrive and "tag off" when you leave. The system then works out at the end of the day the cheapest fair and takes it from your account. Train stations and buses were full of "Did you tag off?" signs. Tagging on/off was almost instantaneous and seemed easy enough, however the cards had a setup fee and had to be topped up in $20 amounts which couldn't be refunded. We had no actual plans so had no idea how often we'd use public transport, so we didn't get any. Also, we'd have needed two.
We were ticket checked once, and weirdly almost everyone seemed to have a paper ticket. I didn't see how they checked the electronic SmartRider tickets. I saw a lot of people let off by ticket inspectors. I didn't see anyone booked. Transit police in Perth look like real policemen which worked well with me.
In the local paper there were a few letters from Perth residents who had visited Melbourne to say they were happy that youths on the trains in Melbourne gave up their seats for them, something that apparently never happens in Perth. In fact, while there the government had brought in rules that if students didn't give up their seats for the elderly or lame, they would lose the student discount on their SmartSaver cards. An interesting use of the electronic card system... one to remember.
The trains we first saw were only two carriages, but we saw some with as many as six. There were two types of carriages we saw. One had seats facing inwards down both sides of the carriage and standing room (with poles to hold on to) in the middle. The other had pairs of seats, with half the train facing forwards and half back. Almost no seats faced each other.
Only once did we see a packed train, and that was around 5:30 on the way back from Fremantle. We were leaving around the same time as the gates were to open on a Fremantle Dockers football game and the train was packed with purple wearing Dockers fans on the way to Subiaco. It was just like peak hour in Melbourne, with the driver asking everyone to move in. Everyone smiled and laughed like it was a novelty. Everyone was polite.
The weirdest thing that stuck with me about the trains were the exit buttons. In Melbourne, the doors open when you push the button, otherwise they don't. The button doesn't work until the train is stopped (when it turns green). I always feel like a space-monkey waiting for the light to turn green so I can press it. In Perth you can push the door open button at any time on your trip. If you push the button, the door will open when the train next stops. Much less space-monkey.
Much of the network is very new. I don't know the details but the Mandurah line was very new, and we saw some train stations being rebuilt. There are various plans to improve the network, including extending the Joondalup Line further and a planned extension to Perth airport.
There are two main train networks that pass through the Perth CBD. One is Perth station which has most lines and is above ground in a multiple platform rain-covered station, entered by first going up stairs then down to the platforms, much like Spencer Street, only without the wanky roof. The other is Perth Underground which I believe is very new. It serves the Joondalup line (north) and the Mandurah line (south). It has only two platforms, and was almost always freakishly empty (but as I said, we didn't go down there in peak).
We saw the state budget reports, and many were upset that it didn't include any money for sinking the train lines that pass through Perth. The above line trains split Perth in two, with Perth CBD to the sounth and Northbridge to the north. The split is harsh, and Northbridge suffers because of it. Perth CBD is full of tourists and flourishing shops, while Northbridge was dead during the day, except for pubs and closed nightclubs/restaurants, and the museum/library/art gallery.
Perth train station and Forrest Chase mall are no fun to walk through, populated mostly by homeless and commuters on a mission. You have to pay 50 cents to use the toilets! Pay toilets are uncool.
Sinking the whole train line and station as it passed through Perth would make a massive difference to the whole city, joining Northbridge and Perth together, removing the "wrong side of the trains" feeling it seems to give off, not helped by the string of closed stores on the Perth/train facing side.
But then, the last thing Perth needs now is more construction.
On the whole, I found Perth's trains to be absolutely fantastic and I think about them every day on the way to work. In combination with an beyond excellent bus network that actually works (another post coming soon), it's like public transport nirvana.
Melbourne has a very very very long way before it can even get close.
My suggestion was to talk down the quality of digital music and talk up the permanent nature of CDs and emphasise their quality, both in audio quality and as an archive/collection.
My main suggestion was to use DVD as the new "CD". I've also suggested in the past that labels should start releasing pre-ripped-from-the-master digital versions of their albums with the albums, acknowledging digital media players and saving everyone time ripping an inferior digital file from the mass produced plastic disc.
RollingStone ran an article today in which artists call for higher quality formats. Their perception is that CDs aren't good enough, while the higher quality abilities of standard DVD players might be a good replacement.
Burnett has started a new venture called Code, which aims to do for music what THX did for movie-theater sound: set standards that ensure the best possible quality. The first Code album, John Mellencamp's Life, Death, Love and Freedom (which Burnett produced), will be released July 15th in a two-disc package: a standard CD and an audio-only DVD with superior sound quality that will play on any standard DVD player. The package will also include iPod-playable AAC files ripped straight from the masters, which Burnett says results in better sound. He expects Elvis Costello to release his next album with Code and is talking to numerous other artists.
No mention of cost of course, but CD/DVD double packages are almost the norm now and they only cost a couple of dollars more than the cheapo single disc import versions. The "Code" suggestion appears to be everything I called for (except MP3 would be a more sensible format than AAC). I strongly suspect the AAC files will not be able to be converted to WAV.
The article does include some pretty stupid quotes... including Neil Young's suggestion that CDs are "very low resolution" and only a "step above MP3". Yes, CDs are low resolution compared to what is now possible, but to suggest they're only a step above MP3 shows great misunderstanding.
SACD and DVDA (recent attempts at "better-than-CD" quality formats) failed because they needed special players. I wouldn't be surprised if more people these days have DVD players than they have CD players. Any DVD technology is now so cheap that an old style CD-DiscMan that played DVDs (as audio only) would cost almost nothing to make.
And that is perhaps the biggest obstacle. Today it seems you listen to music on the move, either driving, walking or on public transport. Digital music played from a flash/hard-drive is the perfect solution for portable music. Single album discs just don't cut it for portability.
And who, these days, puts a CD on at home and listens to it?
Just.. listens?
When, I ask, rather meekly, will AmazonMP3 or similar service come to Australia?
Frankyly I'm rather sick of the iTunes-Plus tease. I've made a decision to only buy from iTunes in the Plus (non-DRM 256kbps) format, which means I'm not buying anything.