Fair enough.
But that’s just silly. I just said that iTunes is perfectly willing to let you keep your own structure, and it actually asks you the first time you install it on the computer whether or not you want to. It’s not one of those things that has already happened by the time you know you hate it.
I guess Apple thinks people like me are silly then. That’s what I think about them too. And their Macs! 
And your file structure is not preserved on the iPods, your MP3 files are there but they’re put in a directory structure under \ipod_control\music\F01, F02, etc. And the files are renamed. There’s no good reason for that unless they’re just trying please the record companies and make it harder to get music OFF an iPod.
Some of the stuff iTunes does is pretty nifty but it can sometimes make me want to throw my computer through the nearest window all the same e.g.
Other than that it’s OK 
Well, that’s a given! (I hate Macs.)
That’s what I’m saying. It doesn’t do any of that unless you explicitly tell it that it can. And I’ve used iTunes for several years, so it’s not a new feature. It’s the “can iTunes organize your music” setting.
Why won’t iTunes let you put DVD videos on your iPod?
Because it’s illegal.
Ignoring for now whether it’s immoral, enforceable, or desirable, the DMCA specifically prevents the circumvention of DVD copy protection, so I doubt Apple is going to break the law for you…
The ipod_control file\F01…F01 structure on the iPods is non-voluntary, unless you have evidence otherwise.
Granted that’s sort of a “co-limitation” of both iTunes and iPods, that’s how the iPods software is programmed to work.
It’s ILLEGAL for me to coopy a video I made myself from DVD to my ipod. I created the visulas, I composed and performed the music. I own EVERY part of it? I’m sorry but no law in the world can tell me that it is ‘illegal’ for me to make a copy of my own work. :rolleyes:
No, of course that’s not illegal. But if that’s the case, you should have the original video files available, and they can be imported into iTunes with no problems. It’s the DVD Ripping that iTunes won’t do.
No I don’t actually. I made this video in college years ago and the only copy I have left is on DVD due to various house moves…
and it’s actually not illegal to make a back-up of a DVD - fair use and all that.
From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Decrypter
Like I said again the law is an ass. :rolleyes:
And you expect Apple to put this feature in for you? Just get Handbrake and quit whining.
A timely article on ZDNet for Windows users who’d like to slim down the bloated iTunes 8 installer.
Lack of a watch folder feature is an annoyance, as I hinted at in an earlier post, but the bloat is my main thing against iTunes. Also, it’s fugly.
Hey, I’m not the only one. Take a look at some of the some of the message boards on their support site. And forget about DVD ripping for the moment - if you just have video files already on your computer e.g. home videos that you want to convert so that they will play on your ipod Apple does not provide this feature with the ipod. Why not? You have to buy extra software from them (which according to the vast majority of the feedback on their own web site is riddled with problems). I’ve seen tons of recommendations on the forums on Apple’s own site from iPod users saying to just download a far superior free converter package! I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say that this is an annoying aspect of iTunes. But maybe you work for Apple or something.
Moreover people like me ‘whining’, as you put it so politely, are the ones who will eventually get the ridiculous law regarding DVD ripping changed to be made more reasonable. (At least I only know about the US law) Or have you not heard of ‘fair use’? If they are so worried about circumvention of copyright protections then CD ripping should be illegal as well. It is a double-standard! Why are filmakers afforded more protection than musicians and composers? You can sit down and do what you’re told no matter how stupid the ‘rule’ is if you want but I will challenge something if I think it is unjust, unfair and misleading advertising too.
You might find this article interesting:
or
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2008/mashups-dvd-ripping-and-fair-use
As they say, the barn door’s wide open and the horses have long vanished…
This thread isn’t about DVD Ripping and it’s legality, it’s about iTunes.
You were whining about iTunes not being able to import DVDs. I explained why that feature wasn’t included, and why it’s not likely to be included in the near future. (Does Microsoft include a similar feature in their media player?)
As far as DVDs and their ridiculous DRM, it’s pretty clear what side of the argument I fall on. But, please, don’t blame Apple or iTunes for something that isn’t their problem, and don’t hijack this thread into an fair-use debate.
Point taken, but that’s not my only problem with iTunes and video. You’re ignoring the first paragraph of my last post - try reading it again:
iTunes supports several flavors of MPEG4 video. But you correct that it won’t import every video codec in existence. I find it hard to fault this shortcoming - it was designed as a player and iPod interface, not an all-purpose video conversion tool. Such tools already exist, and are free. The line needs to be drawn somewhere.
The main difference in thinking between people who have a problem with iTunes and those who think it works just fine can be summed up by looking at control-z’s post. He thinks that installing half a dozen programs to perform the same functions that iTunes does is the way to go. There is something to be said for that approach; you might get some options or functions that you wouldn’t get otherwise. The drawback is installing and maintaining all those separate programs and learning all their quirks. I wonder if anyone who takes that approach has added up the combined resources that those programs take and compared that to the resources iTunes uses? I’d bet that it’s at least comparable.
For those who complain about bloat, I actually agree with you. I think there are rather too many functions that are gathered together in iTunes right now. As a Mac user (who also uses Windows sometimes) I blame the Windows world for most of the bloat. Look at how many people don’t want to install Quicktime along with iTunes. When Apple included video support on the iPods, the only way they could be sure that video would work was to basically include Quicktime inside iTunes. Quicktime the program is basically just a front-end for the other 80% or so of the stuff you’ve already installed if you use iTunes. If you’re one of the people who believe in having separate programs for separate functions, installing Quicktime could be seen as a good thing.
Likewise, Apple can’t be sure that any particular codec, library, or other program will be present on any particular Windows computer, and they sure as hell aren’t going to make the performance and reliability of their hardware dependent upon someone else’s software, so they have to include everything to support every conceivable function that their products have, including all the back-end support that normal users never see. Some of that stuff is included in OS X on the Mac, but they can’t be sure that any of it is on a Windows computer. If they were to include conversion tools like YoudNeverGuess wants, they’d have even more bloat; ditto Kal’s “watch folder” feature, which would probably require an application running in the background, or startup processing that would slow down launch.
I think it’s funny that quite a few people complain about how iTunes looks when a majority of third party programs on Windows have custom interfaces and don’t use the standard Windows toolkit. Most of them are skinnable, true, but that’s usually a concession to the fact that their default scheme is fugly or obnoxious. Oh, but only Mac people are concerned about making things pretty, the Windows world just cares about function :rolleyes:
I’ve only bought a handful of things from the iTunes Store. Most of my music files are ripped from CDs. I use ACC at 192 bps because it sounds better for the file size than MP3 does. If DRM is a concern and you still want to buy things online, buy iTunes Plus files. They’re higher bitrate with no DRM and can be played by anything that can handle the open source AAC format. Granted, there aren’t that many songs available in that format yet, but that has more to do with the music studios than with Apple. In an open letter a couple of years back, Jobs said that he’d rather do away with DRM entirely. The studios haven’t really been forthcoming with support for that position. In fact, they give Stevo big fat double-fisted middle fingers by doing exactly what he said would be good for their business, but doing it with Amazon instead of with Apple. Anyway, you’re only as “locked in” to iTunes and iPod as you want to be. There are lots and lots of options for making your music portable and compatible if that’s what you really want.
The inability to transfer files from the iPod to iTunes was another concession made to music companies. It’s easily circumvented if you want to do so, but it would be cutting their own throats for Apple to include capabilities or tools for doing it within their own programs. At this point, I’ll bet that changing the way music files are stored on the iPod would probably be a pretty big technical hurdle even if they could change it and actually wanted to. The lack of support for drag and drop on the iPod is probably tied to the obfuscation used to prevent music from being a two-way transfer. Also, it would mean that the iPod would need more on-board processing power and more complicated software. Doing all the processing through iTunes keeps them from having to do the same thing on the iPod on the fly.
Lots of people, even iTunes fans, have bitched about inaccurate or missing metadata when importing CDs. That’s actually not something Apple can do anything about. The information is only as good as what’s entered in the separate Gracenote database that iTunes, among many other music programs, uses for filling in that info. Pisses me off too, but there aren’t a lot other services that offer similar capabilities. I just have to clean up what I get if it’s a bit off.
Solutions for some of the annoyances:
Classical music should be designated as a “gapless album” and you should turn shuffle off for any playlist with classical music on it. Alternatively, when you import a CD, you can choose to “Join Tracks” in the Advanced menu. More details for iTunes tweaks for classical fans here.
If you like fiddling with the file structure, don’t let iTunes mess with it. When you first import, iTunes will ask if you want to let it organize your music, choose “no” if you want to do it manually. This also speeds up imports since iTunes just creates an entry in the database instead of copying the files into its library. I personally do a combination of the two approaches. In general, I let iTunes manage the library, but there are some files like recording projects I’d rather be able to move around on my own.
iTunes’ organization is only as good as your metadata because it relies entirely on the metadata — not the file name or folder — to organize entries in its database. If your metadata is screwy, iTunes will do odd things. Garbled, inaccurate, or missing metadata is unfortunately common even on big services like Gracenote; it’s worse with <ahem> downloaded files. If you want iTunes to behave better and more predictably, make sure your metadata is clean.
Any information you put into iTunes is stored in metadata. It will not change the file name or attributes, but it can change the file location if you have iTunes set to manage your library organization. If your tags were previously done in an older metadata format, you do have some conversion options. Check the Advanced menu after selecting files that appear to have encoding or other errors and look for “Convert ID3 Tags”. You’ll have some options about how the conversion is handled.
I suspect that the performance for larger libraries can vary depending on the actual size of the XML database used. I have a friend who has over 80 GB of music, somewhere around 15,000 files. He doesn’t have significant performance problems even though he’s probably beyond the level of a normal user. I have no idea what the actual top end of the optimization is for the iTunes library, though. Mine is a moderate 31 or 32 GB right now.
I was going to type a full response, but Dragwyr has said exactly what I came in to say.
I will, however, add that Apple are on my list of companies I believe should apologise for existing and then immediately go out of business. 
Different people have different philosophies. iTunes is a one-size-fits-all commercial solution. It does the basics but I think the case could be made that it isn’t the best at anything, except buying music from iTMS. And if you don’t like the non-standard interface, too bad, there are no fixes for that as far as I know.
Most of the programs I mentioned are simpler, task-oriented, open-source, and don’t keep background processes running when they’re not in use. They don’t do things like install QuickTime and keep bugging you for updates either. If I double-click a MP3 file, Coolplayer is up and playing it in less than a second. If I doube-click an AVI file, VLC has it up and running in a second. When I exit each respective application, it’s gone, out of RAM, out of the way. The right tool for the each job is the way I see it.
I generally don’t “maintain” all the different programs. I install them once, most of them are very intuitive for a Windows user, and I don’t generally upgrade unless I want some feature like playing .FLV videos that my old version of VLC didn’t do.
Wait, you’re talking about the file structure on the iPod?!? Why the hell do you care about that, especially while your files remain in your structure on your computer? It’s not like you can use anything but the standard interface on it anyway.
I’m obviously crazy for caring about that. :rolleyes:
My music is already organized in folders by Artist/Album. You should be able to copy music to/from the iPod without special software. Many other MP3 players will do that.