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Can itunes work with non-ipod mp3 players? (1 Viewer)

Jon_Are

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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

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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.
 

Scott Merryfield

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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 .
 

Kimmo Jaskari

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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.
 

MarkHastings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.
 

MarkHastings

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Apple doesn't licenses a lot of their stuff and that's exactly why I love it. I know that everything works with everything else.
 

Darryl

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Obviously I realize that. But if my wife uses that gift certificate to buy some undies she can wear them with jeans from K-Mart if she so chooses. With an iTunes gift certificate I am understandably restricted to buying an Apple product, but that purchase can only be used with other Apple products due to an artificial limitation built into the system. It's as if Victoria's Secret said that my wife could only wear her new undies with a particular pair of pants, and had some way to enforce it.

I'm honestly surprised that this doesn't bother people. People complain about DRM so often, yet refusing to license a DRM solution is more restrictive than DRM itself. If we give DRM the benefit of the doubt (which I do), DRM's primary purpose is to prevent illegal use of media, and unfortunately some legitimate uses get denied in the process. Refusing to license DRM technologies, however, has the single purpose of curtailing legal, legitimate uses of media for the sake of stifling competition. If I compare this to some of the anti-monopoly litigation that's occurred in the software industry in recent years, and consider Apple's online music market share, I can't see Apple's practices as anything other than monopolistic.
 

MarkHastings

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But I don't see it that way. I see it like DVD's - Why can't I play a DVD in a VHS deck?

I know what you're thinking, your thinking that a more fair comparison would be a particular DVD only working in (for example) Toshiba ONLY DVD players, but what I'm saying is, Apples iTunes purchases are AAC files. AAC files are like DVD's - Where you might see MP3's as the same thing (because they're both music files) I see it differently. VHS and DVD's are both movie files, it's just that they live inside different 'vehicles'.

AAC files aren't MP3's. They are Apple files and only work with Apple products. Just like Apple software only works on Macs.

That's why I'm not too upset with it. As a LONG time Mac user, I have come to understand that Apple stuff works with Apple stuff and that's it. That's the way Apple has always operated and that's the beauty of it - and that's why I'm such a huge Mac lover. I love their "Only Mac stuff works with our stuff" philosophy...they don't license their stuff out and I'm SUCH a happy camper with that.

But yes, I am not extremely happy with the DRM (don't get me wrong), but it's just that I am totally fine with iTunes purchases only working on iPods.


p.s. After re-reading my post, I thought I might add something if it was confusing. AAC files are based on MP4 technology and MP3's are based on MP1 technology.

The difference between MP1 and MP4 is like the difference between VCD and HD. That's why I don't see the problem with AAC files only working on iPods.
 

Thomas Newton

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You shouldn't.

It is not acceptable for the Government to quarter soldiers in your house to treat you as a criminal. Nor should it be acceptable for J. Random Company to quarter electronic soldiers in your possessions to treat you as a criminal.
 

Bryan X

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That's an interesting analogy Mark, comparing MP3/ACC to VHS/DVD. The problem with that analogy is that my iPod can play BOTH MP3 and ACC files. I've never seen a DVD player that you can slip either a DVD or a VHS tape in the tray. Nor have I ever seen a VHS player that will accept a DVD.

A better analogy would be VCD/DVD to MP3/ACC-- but most DVD players play VCDs and DVDs.... hmmmm..... ;)

Other than picking on your analogy, Mark, I agree with you, and I too have no problem with ACC files only working on iPods. Sure, it would be nice to have more choice regarding iTunes compatible players, but I love my Nano. ;)

Besides, if you really want to play your iTunes music on your non-iPod player, it's very easy to do. Sure, you may lose a little quality, but come on, if you are listening to your tunes while running, biking, riding the subway, or whatever, you're going to have a lot of outside noise making a greater impact on your listening than whatever you may have introduced during conversion.
 

MarkHastings

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Yeah, I realize any analogy is never solid, but it was just to make a point about AAC and MP3 being totally different beasts. The problem lies when you start thinking they are the exact same thing because they're both compressed music files.

People are so used to the 'universal-ness' of MP3, that they expect the same from AAC. AAC is not MP3, it's like a proprietary format in a way.Agreed, but I'd also add, if you're really concerned about the slight loss in conversion from AAC -> MP3, then buy the CD instead of going to iTnues.


Darryl, as far as that iTunes gift cetificate being considered 'worthless'...

When iTunes first came out, I had a Creative MP3 player for my PC, but I still bought AAC files from iTunes and converted them into MP3's. My reasoning was:
A) The AAC quality was superior enough that the conversion to MP3 was not unlike converting to MP3 from a CD.
B) The AAC files work on my computer regardless of the MP3 player I have, in fact, you don't even NEED an MP3 player to listen to iTunes purchases.

Being able to upload to only an iPod is a side note. They still work with your computer regardless, so the gift certificate isn't really that useless.
 

Kimmo Jaskari

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AAC is actually a successor format to MP3, not a completely different beast.

AAC is an ISO standard, and the A's stand for Advanced and Audio... not Apple. Apple have cobbled on their C.R.A.P. onto it, but it's not an Apple only format by any stretch of the imagination. Anyone can use AAC and it was clearly meant as a more advanced format to replace MP3.

AAC is just as universal as MP3, and only in the case where Apple has "frankensteined" it together with their so-called FairPlay C.R.A.P. is it not universal.

As an aside, I like that naming. The US Govt is also good at that... they take a law which is designed to put 19-year old kids with handheld cameras in movie theaters in jail for two years and call it something like "The Family Entertainment and Cuddliness Bill".... ;)
 

MarkHastings

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You know what, I apologize, I completely forgot about something...

The reason Apple is able to use the AAC with DRM is that the DRM comes into play with QuickTime. Since iTunes AAC's are played through QuickTime, it is the QuickTime software that manages the DRM. That's how Apple is able to use DRM with AAC. QuickTime is Apple's product and that's how they can restrict their AAC files to only work with Apple products.

So in that respect, iTunes AAC's are similar to SONY's memory sticks...The internal workings are probably similar to any other flash drive, it's just that SONY puts their own casing around the components and that way they only work with SONY products. You can't use anyone else's flash drives because they don't fit.
 

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