[Jon_Are]

I'm posting here in computers because this is more a software issue than anything else.

We have two ipods and two other mp3 players in our house, and we use all of them. The ipods are new, so I'm new to itunes (previously used Musicmatch Jukebox). I'm trying to organize and coordinate my music files. I'd like to use itunes exclusively, but I have a feeling it won't play well with the other mp3s.

Is there a way to make this work?

If so, how do I go about loading tunes (mp3 format) onto the non-ipods via itunes?

Thanks,

Jon

[Paul McElligott]

Right now, iTunes will only sync with iPods. Officially. There are supposedly hacks that can get around this but I haven't heard anything solid about them.

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Also beware any converting back and forth. If you convert AAC stuff to MP3, you do another round of lossy conversion - transcoding. This will have an impact on sound quality (and I think most of us realize it won't be for the better.)

Here is a link that discusses Apple and it's C.R.A.P.

[Scott Merryfield]

Quote:

Also beware any converting back and forth. If you convert AAC stuff to MP3, you do another round of lossy conversion - transcoding. This will have an impact on sound quality (and I think most of us realize it won't be for the better.)

iTunes does not require that the music files it manages to be in AAC format. It handles MP3 files natively, too. All 9,000+ music files I've encoded and manage within iTunes are MP3 format.

Like Paul, I seem to remember reading of some hacks to iTunes to allow it to see certain non-iPod MP3 players, but I cannot remember all the details. You may want to do a search of the iTunes forum on www.ilounge.com .

[Michael_K_Sr]

Quote:

Here is a link that discusses Apple and it's C.R.A.P.

Imagine that...a website devoted to peer to peer file sharing whining about DRM.

[Kimmo Jaskari]

C.R.A.P. is bad for everyone. Like now, when Jon would like to be able to use his legally aquired music on all his devices, not just one type at a time. That the site happened to be a P2P-friendly one has nothing to do with anything.

[Marko Berg]

Quote:

whining about DRM

...is something everyone should do.

[MarkHastings]

Quote:

when Jon would like to be able to use his legally aquired music on all his devices, not just one type at a time.

But the only DRM music you have to worry about is the stuff you've purchased from iTunes. Other than that, iTunes and iPods still work with MP3's (from other sites) and will also compress CD's into AAC without DRM.

So it's really only a big issue if you allow it to be.

[Darryl]

It's an issue if you want to have a non-iTunes based setup. Anything you purchase from the iTunes Music Store will only work in iTunes or on an iPod. Anything else and you're out of luck unless you transcode. So don't buy from ITMS you say? Well, it's kind of rude to tell my brother to un-buy the $25 iTunes credit he gave me for Christmas. I've also gotten free songs from iTunes from buying anything from batteries to cheerios. I've got about 50 songs I consider worthless because they are iTunes based.

Other than freebies and gifts I'll never buy a song from iTunes. I'll never buy an iPod, ever. Apple not only uses DRM (I can't fault them for that), but they make every DRM annoyance worse by closing off their software AND their hardware. They could sell the ability to play their songs in other software, much the way Microsoft does with WMA, but Apple refuses to make this possible. They could enhance their iPods to support DRM-protected music purchased from other sources, but they refuse to. They can afford to be uncooperative because they have a near monopoly. Their approach locks people into their products and services. Or in my case it locks me out.

[Kimmo Jaskari]

C.R.A.P. only inconveniences honest people. The pirates just wait until someone cracks whatever protections there are and then get the C.R.A.P.-less material off the Net.

With the current climate (where the Bush administration wants to sharpen the laws now to the point where movie copying can land you in jail for 10 years) however I don't think we'll see the end of the insanity in a while yet.

They should just make all forms of copy protection illegal instead. Does anyone think that the content producers would quit selling their stuff? Heck no. They'd still make billions as they do today...

[MarkHastings]

Quote:

So don't buy from ITMS you say? Well, it's kind of rude to tell my brother to un-buy the $25 iTunes credit he gave me for Christmas.

Why are you upset with Apple? That's the way the stuff works. It would be like someone buying me a gift card to Victoria Secret. I can't use anything there.

[Thomas Newton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darryl

Apple not only uses DRM (I can't fault them for that), but they make every DRM annoyance worse by closing off their software AND their hardware.

Virtually every manufacturer closes off their hardware and their firmware. Or did you think that the makers of (to pick a device at random) the iRiver were going to give you and their competitors the blueprints on how to build clones, for free?

Quote:

They could sell the ability to play their songs in other software, much the way Microsoft does with WMA, but Apple refuses to make this possible.

That's not how Microsoft's stuff works. Microsoft's DRM is as proprietary as Apple's -- the fact that they sell it to a lot of hardware vendors does not imply that Microsoft helps anyone build competing implementations.

Quote:

They could enhance their iPods to support DRM-protected music purchased from other sources, but they refuse to.

DRM is bad for customers and bad for the public. If the music industry and the other vendors were so eager to make sales, the other vendors could sell non-crippled MP3s, AACs, etc. After all, the iPod doesn't search for some magic tag that says "This MP3 was sold by Wal-Mart" and refuse to play the file.