Posted by Davoud on 04/26/06 15:24

Per Gary:
> >Is this the way the iPod works, also? What function does iTunes add
> >to this, aside from giving you access to their library of stuff they
> >want to sell to you?

PeteCresswell:
> Yes and no.
>
> An iPod does appear to your system as a disk drive and you can copy stuff
> to/from it.
>
> However the music resides in a special folder and the iPod can only get to it
> through a proprietary database that it uses - and which is maintained by
> iTunes.
>
> Bottom line: you can't just drag/drop a tune to the iPod and have the iPod be
> able to play it. You have to add it to iTunes on your PC first. Also, when
> iTunes copies the songs to your iPod it renames them to four-character names
> like DCLY.m4a and HPUS.mp3 - so even if you browse that directory you cannot
> tell what is what.

It is worth noting explicitly that an iPod user *never* has to buy
anything from the iTunes Music Store (ITMS) in order to use an iPod.
I've had people tell me they would like to have an iPod, but they don't
want to have to buy all their music from ITMS!

The ITMS is probably the most elegant way to download /free/ podcasts,
however, regardless of whether one has an iPod.

I like the ITMS for its vaunted means of getting everything I want from
some CD's for one or two dollars. I'm not into stealing music, so the
DRM doesn't bother me in the least. I'm not even aware of it until
someone mentions it.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

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