iTunes Meets Windows in October! (1 Viewer)

[John-Miles]

Chris, yeah i know this is for the one song group of people, but you knwo it dosent seem like value to me if theya re charging damn near the same price per song as they do when sold in stores, and the only upside is you get to choose what you buy by indivudal song. i mean we supply the burners and blank cd's and well everything down to the internet connection. the middle man ahs been cut out here and there are much lower manufacturing costs ie servers instead of cd's.

I think they really could ahve cut the consumer a better deal on this, likely they are makign more money per song off this deal than they did with cd's, plus this removes local employment in music stores and such.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I think they really could ahve cut the consumer a better deal on this, likely they are makign more money per song off this deal than they did with cd's, plus this removes local employment in music stores and such.

They gave consumers convenience. I don't need to go to a record store to pick up the atoms - all I need is the bits. If there is something I truly want in the highest quality availabe, then sure, I'll buy it.

As for it being the same price - I downloaded the latest Jayhawks album for $9.99. I've never seen it lower than $13.99 in a store - and it sounds fantastic.

 

[Ted Lee]

i had to download quicktime and guess what...it "auto-installed" itunes. hmm...not sure if i like that idea. but it did get me to check it out.

i'm confused as to what the format is though?

am i downloading a .wav file? a full digital copy? or some compressed format? i don't think i'd pay .99 for a compressed copy?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

am i downloading a .wav file? a full digital copy? or some compressed format? i don't think i'd pay .99 for a compressed copy?

It's compressed. But while an MP3 at 128 kb/sec sounds pretty decent (especially if compressed with the LAME codec), it's still MPEG-I technology. Apple's closed format is MPEG-4 based, which is a far more efficient compressor. Is it lossless? Of course not, there's no such thing as lossless compression. But to the average listener, it'll be indistinguishable.

P.S. Another thing I've enjoyed: the high bitrate internet radio! The only problem is the relatively low number of stations.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Not quite true Adam, there is lossless compression, but it's far bigger then MP3 or AAC. I think the best lossless compressors can achieve a file 1/2-2/3 the size of the original uncompressed file. Apple's barely turning a profit on 128 kbps, so I think bandwidth costs are one of the primary reasons a higher bit rate or lossless format isn't being used.

 

[Ken Scott]

i dunno what the big deal about itunes is. winamp does the trick for me.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

i dunno what the big deal about itunes is. winamp does the trick for me.

if all you want is a player, its fine. in fact, mac users used to use MacAmp. But itunes is totally integrated into the OS, works with iPod flawlessly, and of course has access to the Music Store.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Not only does iTunes have integrated burning, the music store, and ripping but the organization of the player is just so cool. The Library makes it really simple for me to find a song or to allow others to quickly browse to see what artists/albums I have. iTunes started out as Soundjam(Apple bought the rights to the Soundjam app) and I can definately say that the only thing soundjam had that iTunes doesn't was skin support, but frankly I'm willing to give that up for the awesome experience iTunes provides.
As I always seem to find, you can do alot of the same things you do on a mac on a PC, it's just that Apple's programs let you do it in fewer steps and in a more logical fashion.

 

[MickeS]

I dunno, have you used WMP9? It has a similar interface, but with way less bugs.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Maybe on the windows side, I'm talking about the Mac version. I've used the windows version a few times on my parents machine and I didn't encounter any noticeable bugs.

 

[ChrisChap]

I am having trouble getting downloaded songs from itunes to my Archos 20gb jukebox. If I drag an "aac" or "m4p" file to the player, it does not play. Do I have to actually burn a cd then rip it back to mp3, ir is there an easier way?

I definitely will not pay for music that I can't listen to on my mp3 player.

 

[NickSo]

Does the Archos compatibel with AAC file codecs?

Edit: Oh my god what was i smoking when i wrote that post...

 

[ChrisChap]

apparently not...

Also, the itune help file says that you cannot burn an MP3 cd using itunes for any song that is not already in mp3 format. It won't let you convert a purchased song to mp3 format. Therefore, I guess you cannot even burn an mp3 CD from songs you buy from the music store?

 

[Thomas Newton]

It won't let you convert a purchased song to mp3 format. Therefore, I guess you cannot even burn an mp3 CD from songs you buy from the music store?

You can burn Red Book audio CDs.

 

[ChrisChap]

What is a red book audio CD?

Itunes appears to me to be worthwhile only if you have an ipod. I can't see paying for a compressed file with so many restrictions on how I use it.

 

[NickSo]

Redbook audio CDs means just a basic AudioCD playable in any CD player.. a 'standard' audio CD.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Itunes appears to me to be worthwhile only if you have an ipod.

iTunes, or the iTunes Music Store?

I'm sure Apple's motivation in porting iTunes onto Windows was to sell more iPods, and more iTMS downloads. However, you don't need to use iTMS or iPods to use iTunes for extracting / encoding / organizing music from your CDs.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Just burn to an audio cd, rerip. I keep a highspeed CD-RW on hand just for that purpose. This way I can still use purchased songs in my car MP3 headunit and on my portable MP3 cd player.

 

[ChrisChap]

Thomas - I was speaking of the store. I like the program quite a bit.

Dave - I realize you can burn to a CD then rip it back to mp3, but that is a lot to do just to listen to a song you paid for on your mp3 player. It just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Sathyan]

With TotalRecorder ($11) you can record software playback (I don't use iTunes so there could be an incompatibility) and save as WAV or MP3. Then burn or transfer than file if you wish.