Itunes Experiement

Author: jawapro
Date: Sat 03/05/2008 12:45 AM




 

Itunes is either a great idea - or a flawed concept, depending on who you ask. Personally I think the idea is great - but the execution is really lame.

Plus - with the Apple logo on the software, things arnt exactly looking good for it.

I had toyed with the idea of using Itunes a few times over the years. But the stupid thing wont let you browse the catalouge without installing the software - so you can't tell if it's even worth it before you install it.

And one the occasions I did install the software - they didnt have any songs I wanted anyway.

The whole point of Itunes SHOULD be to be able to access old or odd songs. If its only used for the current popular stuff - that's pointless - you can get that at the supermarket on CD! The best thing about Itunes SHOULD be getting rare stuff - but sadly it dosnt do too well in that regard.

I have odd tastes in music.

Anyway - I cant say I hate everything Apple has ever made - the Quicktime format/player is great for trailers (dont like it for anything longer though). So I decided to give Itunes another shot.

I installed it, and finally found something I wanted to get that I couldn't get easily on CD.

It's an album of kids dinosaur songs by "Brian Dullaghan & The Funky Fossil Band".

I had this album on cassette when I was a kid (still do).

The ablum is full of songs about dinosaurs. Its pretty cool for a kids album. We used to listen to it a lot and dance around to the songs.

In fact - I remember one day when Marcus (from up the road) was down and we were dancing to the tape. Marcus got a little over-the-top and was shaking the whole house. Mum sent him outside - so he had to dance on the other side of the window. Well - it was funny at the time.

I havent had much success transfering it to digial though - and I cant find it on CD anywhere (even ebay hasnt helped yet).

So I decided I'd give Itunes a whirl and get the album (cost $11 or so).

I tried to make an account - and it demanded my credit card details. I didnt want to give those details to apple - so that was as far as I got.

I gave up for a while.

Eventually a half-friend/half-arch-enemy of mine told me how to sign up using a gift voucher instead of a credit card. So I bought a $20 voucher today, and tried to sign up.

Once again - it demanded a credit card.

After a bit more hunting - I finally managed to sign up using only my voucher - but they dont make it easy.

So I bought the album and a few other songs to use the money.

The download process is nice and easy - but thats about the best I can say for it.

As a store, Itunes isnt too bad - but as a player, it's hopeless.

 

Sure - it can do the basics - but it's ugly and difficult, and I hate it.

But Itunes in it's wisdom, encodes all music with DRM (Digital Rights Management). It's designed to stop you sharing your songs with the internet - and thus prevent piracy.

What it also means is that only Itunes or Ipods can play your songs. I dont own an ipod, and I hate itunes as player - so that's not acceptable.

The other option is to burn the songs to a cd as audio. So I did that.

The first CD burn failed and Itunes carked itself (good old quality Apple software).

A reboot later I was able to convince Itunes that it wasnt still burning the first cd (which was in the bin by that stage).

So a new blank cd - and this time it worked.

So from there I called upon the services of Winamp - my media player of choice. Winamp ripped the tracks off the audio cd to MP3s.

I finally had straight MP3s of my music.

Then I had to rename them correctly.

But it's done now - I can listen to my songs in comfort.

Sadly for Itunes - piracy is so much easier. Just find and download - and it's there as perfect MP3s with correct names and everything. The attempts to stop piracy are the single biggest reason to pirate stuff.

Of course, the money factor is a reason to pirate stuff - but the ease of piracy compared to jumping through hoops to be legal is probably bigger.

But for now I can listen to "Triceratops Rock" and wonder why on earth we used to dance to it.

 


Comments: 6

 

Comment: 1

Author: DarthOblivion
Date: Sat 03/05/2008 08:32 AM




Yeah, not all apple stuff is screwed. My sister and I got Ipod Shuffles a while ago. Theyre really cool/good and theyre not too espensiv. Although, after this story, I think Ill stick to ripping and uploading. By the way, cud u send me the music? I remember those songs, you used to play them when we came to your house. 

 

Comment: 2

Author: LittleSis
Date: Sat 03/05/2008 03:39 PM




I remember that tape!!
And I remember Marcus dancing on the other side of the window : ) I still find it funny now.
Can you email me some of the songs so I can be amazed at how lame they seem now?

Oh, and who is your half friend half arch-enemy (you can email me that too if you don't want to publish it to everyone).

 

Comment: 3

Author: turkeybrain
Date: Sat 03/05/2008 09:46 PM




So, it appears somebody has finally understood why I hate iTunes. Good to see you've finally jumped on the bandwagon, even though it took you so long. Anyway, the half-friend/half-enemy is benny. Half friend because I'm friends with him, and half enemy because he works at the mac shop in Hobart, and of all things, loves Apple and games on a mac!

 

Comment: 4

Author: mlipsy
Date: Sat 03/05/2008 10:58 PM




It's always fun to find music that was special to you in childhood! I remember these Wee Sing America tapes my family used to listen to - they do have CD's of those cassettes out though, so the options are not as limited. We'll have to check out these dino songs for our kiddo, though. Sounds fun. :)

 

Comment: 5

Author: jawapro
Date: Sun 04/05/2008 07:55 AM




I dislike any media player that takes up as much screen real estate as Itunes. The first photo was scaled down from a full-screen shot. The winamp one is life-size.

But sure - winamp might not be beautifull to look at - but its a joy to use. Itunes is just frustrating.

Seems everyone wants to listen to my dinosaur songs :)

 

Comment: 6

Author: DarthOblivion
Date: Sun 04/05/2008 09:10 AM




Well, of course! Theyre cool! :)