Balthisar, could you explain something to me? I thought if you used an iPod you had to use iTunes. And can it take WMA files and convert them to iPod readable format?
I’ve been using MP3 players since I got my little blue Diamond Rio in 1998. Heretofore I have scoffed at iPods, saying they were just well-marketed. I was proud of my daughter when she chose to buy a Dell DJ instead of an iPod - I appreciated her resistence to the herd mentality.
But now that I’ve futzed around with my friends iPod, I think I might have to go get me my own iPod.
If $ 20 is your price point your selection at retial is going to be pretty limited. Check out ebay for older chip players or a CD+MP3 player that also plays MP3 encoded CDs.
You don’t have to use the iTunes Music Store to get music for your iPod. You can arrange for any CD you stick into your computer to be automatically copied into iTunes. The music will automatically be added to your iPod next time they are connected. Likewise, any MP3 file on your computer can be added to iTunes.
So, no, you do not have to buy music through the iTunes Music Store to add music to your iTunes and iPod.
Maybe you can explain how it’s better? Last time I shopped for a music player (a while ago, I admit), the iPod had by far the most user-friendly and intuitive interface. Large buttons, highly legible displays, and the wheel thingy (ring-shaped touch pad) which is so much easier to use than arrow keys.
And this has probably changed by now, but back then iTunes was the only major music management software that actually used the Composer field of the header. I really don’t know you’re expected to organize classical music without it.
But you just hit it on the head; it all depends on what you think is easier.
Personally I hate all things that involve 'touchpad" technology. I much prefer solid buttons/mice. So any device that uses touch technology to me would suck eggs and I’d have no use for it.
The OP needs to assess what’s really important to him/her in terms of form and functionality. All else is bells and whistles.
Sorry to stray off topic, but I just wanted to say the iPod “touchpad” is completely different from those you find on laptops, so please don’t generalize. I can’t stand laptop touchpads, so I always turn it off and carry a normal mouse. On an MP3 player it works wonderfully - perhaps it’s because it’s a 1-dimensional (not X-Y) device.
They’re probably wrong, though. There was already a case against Creative when MP3 players first came on the scene, and they lost. I don’t know why they’re bringing it up again. Perhaps due to the recent cases of people selling their iPods “pre-stocked” with music, and charging a premium for it.
If you really hate touchpads, well, the wheel clicks as well. But don’t take my word for it, go to a store and try it out for yourself. After touching that wheel, I could never go back.
Let’s make sure we have our terminology right here:
An iPod is an MP3 player. Yes, it can handle other formats, but the widely-held belief that iPods can’t play MP3 files is a myth.
iTunes is a software package that runs on Mac and newer Windows computers. It manages music (and video and such) and handles all aspects of the iPod interface. You can load your music into iTunes from just about anywhere: ripping CDs, downloading MP3s, the Apple Music Store (see below), or record your own. You do not need to use iTunes to use an iPod. In fact, mine came with another program for use on older (pre Win2K) Windows machines.
The Apple Music Store is completely independent from iTunes and from the iPod device. It’s a place to buy music and get free podcasts. You do not need to use the Apple Music Store to use iTunes or an iPod.
And, by the way, Mr. Blue Sky, the RIAA was talking about ripping CDs. That article didn’t say anything about locking iTunes to the Apple Music Store. If you want to buy your music from mp3.com or allofmp3.com or napster or some other source, that’s still fine, and it still works with iTunes.
Erm, not Napster. When it comes to music download services, it gets a bit confusing.
Rule of Thumb: If it comes as an MP3, it’s okay. If it comes as a WMA, it’s not.
Most subscription based systems such as Napster and the like use WMA DRM (Digital Rights Management), in order to ensure that the music gets wiped off your mp3 player if you in subscribe. The iPod does not play WMA files, and therefore you will not be able to use those subscription services. If you could somehow convert the WMA file into an MP3 file, then it would indeed play on your iPod, but that involves futzing with format conversion and deencryption and is borderline illegal. So I won’t tell you how to do it.
Note that most cheapie MP3 players will also not be able to play DRMed WMA files. The aim, after all, is to ensure that you don’t keep the file playable indefinitely, and the cheapie MP3 players won’t guarantee that.
It’s the “iTunes Music Store,” not the “Apple Music Store.” That’s where the confusion comes from.
Is it really a popular misconception that iPods don’t play MP3 files? I thought the popular conception was that everything was an MP3 even if it were another format.
That may be the case for you, but it seems that I have to have iTunes installed if I want to use an iPod, even if I’m just hooking up my room mate’s iPod to copy files onto my computer when we’re using it as a 60GB jump drive (the only use he’s found for it, he seems to listen to most of his music on his pickup truck’s CD deck :rolleyes:
If the person is looking for a cheap music player, I’m gonna be a semi-smartass and say “Buy a Sony Walkman!”
In all seriousness, some of the $20-30 portable CD players (both the Sony Discmen and the Discmen knockoffs) look very nice. I’d swing towards a known brand (Sony, RCA) rather than a slighly cheaper off-brand though.
I’ve got a Sony NetMD Walkman that I got off eBay with a 80 minute Minidisc and some cheapo earbuds for $65 (the 80 minute disc, with the ATRAC3 compression, can store over 5 hours of music). The minidiscs are rediculously durable and only cost around $2 each at any store that sells them (and they go for slightly less online). A downside to the Minidisc walkmen is that the more advanced/expensive your MD walkman is, the more retarded the style and interface gets. This is why I’ll probably always be using the basic NetMD walkman because of it’s simple, straightforward button layout that I can use while riding a bike accross campus.
As for iPods, the Shuffle always just struck me as a weird idea. “It’s so advanced, it doesn’t even have a SCREEN!” “So… it’s a broken iPod?” The Nano is probably the first iPod I’d consider actually buying, as it combines size, style, price, and a not utterly rediculously large storage capacity (who NEEDS 80 Gigs of music storage space? Honestly?)
Just one comment: The cool thing about IPods and other MP3 players is the fact that you don’t have to carry around CDs–all the music’s in your player. So suggestions that I get a portable CD player weren’t quite on target.
But thanks anyway.
I’ll just go without. I just can’t see spending fifty bucks for the ability to listen to music while I walk around. It sounds like a nice thing to do, but not a fifty bucks thing to do.
They were suggesting MP3-capable CD players which can play MP3 files recorded on a CD-R. You can put about 10 hours’ worth of your favorite music onto a single CD-R and just keep that disk in the player. Functionally it’s the same as having a 700MB MP3 player. The difference is that a CD player is much larger than a memory-based MP3 player.
