iPod touch Help a non Mac User with the iTouch, please!

[Vigilante]

I know there are *tons* of other iTouch questions out already, most of which were already answered, so I'm sorry in advance for poisoning forums once again. Ever since I owned a Mac 12 years ago, I was disappointed and aimed to steer clear of Apple/Mac products, even Quicktime hates me. I finally gave in when I had an orgasm at the site of the iPod Touch, though, and pre-ordered one on a whim.

I don't use iTunes (yet), so I had a few basic questions. First, for the album covers, will I have to find all of them by hand or does iTunes have a built in album cover feature (so I only have to find some of the rare ones)? For changing formats for videos (all of mine are currently .divx) what format is recommended? Third one was about internet radio... could anyone sum up the capabilities or just post a link to another thread? I'll tip!

 

[FJ218700]

iTunes will automatically find the album artwork once the songs are imported into the library.

there are many freeware apps that will change divx to .mp4 or .mov files to run in itunes. there are also a few plug-ins that allow itunes to play .avi and other formats.

the iTunes radio works very well. there are probably 500 or so pre-programmed stations to choose from.

it's ashame the you were dissapointed in Apple products 12 years ago. I've had over 15 macs since 1986 and can say that they have only gotten better over time. Any Machine capable of running OS 10.3 higher will blow you away. If you like the iPod touch interface, you're basically seeing a preview of what modern macs are like.

 

[PygmySurfer]

I don't use iTunes (yet), so I had a few basic questions. First, for the album covers, will I have to find all of them by hand or does iTunes have a built in album cover feature (so I only have to find some of the rare ones)?

Not sure about your other questions, but iTunes will automatically download cover art, if it knows about your music (ie, its on the iTunes store - you don't have to purchase it through the store, it only has to exist there). Anything it can't find you'll have to add manually.

 

[Mal]

I don't use iTunes (yet), so I had a few basic questions. First, for the album covers, will I have to find all of them by hand or does iTunes have a built in album cover feature (so I only have to find some of the rare ones)? For changing formats for videos (all of mine are currently .divx) what format is recommended? Third one was about internet radio... could anyone sum up the capabilities or just post a link to another thread? I'll tip!

Sounds like you might need some help with that mistaken opinion on Apple, but hopefully the iPod touch (no such thing as the iTouch) will do it for you. Anyways, here's the answers to your questions:

Yes, iTunes will find album covers for you, on two conditions. First, the album must be available from iTunes (obviously), and second, you must have the artist and album tag set to the same thing that Apple does. This isn't a big deal, but it means that if iTunes doesn't find the cover automatically, just check that they don't call it something slightly different than you did.

I think that MP4 is the best format for iPod related things, and it'll shrink them down to a good size so that you can fit several on the iPod touch.

Internet radio is... radio. Essentially. Many of the stations available are radio stations somewhere that also have an internet broadcast, and those that aren't are similar, but with less local ads or none at all. Within iTunes at least (and all the others I know of), there's no special features like pausing or buying songs with a click, but it is a nice way to find new music or just to have a nice random selection of the type of music you like.

jW

 

[Vigilante]

there are also a few plug-ins that allow itunes to play .avi and other formats.

the iTunes radio works very well. there are probably 500 or so pre-programmed stations to choose from.

it's ashame the you were dissapointed in Apple products 12 years ago. I've had over 15 macs since 1986 and can say that they have only gotten better over time. Any Machine capable of running OS 10.3 higher will blow you away. If you like the iPod touch interface, you're basically seeing a preview of what modern macs are like.

Thank you both so very much. I was also wondering about the iTouch... the tech specs say ".m4v, .mp4, and .mov formats," would there be a possibility of an .avi hack for the iTouch in the future (does anyone other than me truly care)?

I commonly use Winamp Radio (http://www.winamp.com/media/radio), I'm assuming that won't work, correct?

And yes, about 12 years ago I had a Mac back in the day of Clarisworks, etc. I really didn't like the setup, minimal programs, and lack of being able to upgrade-- PCs were better in all those ways at the time. Since then I have owned 4 1/2 PCs. Apple must know this, because everytime I try running Quicktime on websites it gives me the strangest errors.

And no calendar option makes me cry, I was looking forward to not having to get a PDA! And I know it's the iPod Touch, but that is such a mouthful... you gotta admit it.

 

[FJ218700]

And no calendar option makes me cry, I was looking forward to not having to get a PDA!

Joswiak has said that the touch will be open to 3rd party apps, so within a few months there should be some that work well.

 

[gloss]

Thank you both so very much. I was also wondering about the iTouch... the tech specs say ".m4v, .mp4, and .mov formats," would there be a possibility of an .avi hack for the iTouch in the future (does anyone other than me truly care)?

The closest you're going to get right now is finding a program that'll transcode your avis to MP4 for you. That's what I've been doing. Just queue the suckers up and let them encode overnight.