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I will be blunt. A lot of the apple fan boys here do not get it and either struggle or can not see it from a customer point of view.

I the customer do not care what Apple reason are it annoys me that I have to install a 2nd piece of software to sync up my music. Or even run another piece of software to sync up with my library. I would rather plug in my phone (BB, Palm what ever) and have me be able to control what playlist/ songs go into the phone threw iTunes. I do not want to have to use some other software to do all those controls and it feels inconvenient to have to do so. I want a single piece of software than handles everything.

iTunes already links into Outlook to copy calendar events. Apple should not do that I mean they want everything in house BUILD YOUR OWN FOR THE PC. But no they link into the largest calendar program out there for PC users. Palm does it as well.

Either way as a consumer I rather have to use a few piece of software to manage my daily stuff as possible. iTunes handles music and I can do all the setting from in there.

I feel Apple does not need to support them but they should not be going out of there way to block them. But no Apple goes out of there way to block them.
Then you should have bought an iPhone.
 
I will be blunt. A lot of the apple fan boys here do not get it and either struggle or can not see it from a customer point of view.

You mean YOUR point of view.

"Customers" seem just fine with the way things are. RIM can play nicely with Appe. iPods as we know are fine. iPhones as we know are fine as well. Silly rabbit, iTunes is for Apple products.

Pre customers aren't Apple's responsbility, and unless they have iPods or iPhones as well, don't make up Apple's user base. iTunes, whether on Windows or Mac, is for customers who use Apple devices or devices that implement their own connectivity software. This has never been a problem, is not a problem now, and looks like it cetainly won't be a problem in the immediate future, no matter how many unfortunate Pre users bellyache about it and no matter how many trolls keep putting forwrad the phantom "openness" argument that doesn't seem to resonate with the vast majority of users.

This is Palm's problem, and any sort of angst, complaints, or general discontent should be aimed squarely at them.

Or next time, just get an iPhone. You're probably going to, anyway.
 
How is my Mac and iPhone affected? Apple hasn't yet released any versions specifically to break a new hack, atleast its always been rolled up in bug fixes or a major version with new features (itunes 9). Anyone who is using itunes legitimately will not be affected be it thorugh apple hardware or XML sync. Palm users should have no reason to believe that their experience should be a pleasant one :)

I'm not talking about you. :)

I'm saying the people affected by Apple's decision aren't just "Pre users", they're "Pre, and iTunes/Mac users". Apple isn't just annoying customers of another company, they're also annoying their own customers who happen to have a Pre.

(Incidentally, didn't Apple announce Pre compatibility was being broken, the last time this happened?)
 
I will be blunt. A lot of the apple fan boys here do not get it and either struggle or can not see it from a customer point of view.
I disagree. I seriously do know and understand what is going on around here.

I the customer do not care what Apple reason are it annoys me that I have to install a 2nd piece of software to sync up my music. Or even run another piece of software to sync up with my library. I would rather plug in my phone (BB, Palm what ever) and have me be able to control what playlist/ songs go into the phone threw iTunes. I do not want to have to use some other software to do all those controls and it feels inconvenient to have to do so. I want a single piece of software than handles everything.

And I want a pony. We don't live in an ideal world. Just because you want something to work a particular way doesn't mean that it will ever happen.

iTunes already links into Outlook to copy calendar events. Apple should not do that I mean they want everything in house BUILD YOUR OWN FOR THE PC. But no they link into the largest calendar program out there for PC users. Palm does it as well.

Microsoft has a framework to allow this to happen - but their business model and framework is very different from Apple's. Hey, why not ask them why nobody can use the Zune software to sync their player?

Either way as a consumer I rather have to use a few piece of software to manage my daily stuff as possible. iTunes handles music and I can do all the setting from in there.
So would I. Why not build a superior model. Nobody has and thats too bad. But that's hardly Apple's fault. They built a better widget by their own rules. Not even Microsoft can beat them. If there is market demand for a player that does everything to anybody, then where is it and why has it not taken over iTunes? Apple certainly isn't stopping anybody. It may be difficult to pull off but thats your (g) problem. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

I feel Apple does not need to support them but they should not be going out of there way to block them. But no Apple goes out of there way to block them.

The problem is that there is implied support if Apple allows it. What happens when Apple gets deluged by callers asking why their movies and TV shows won't sync. It doesn't matter if Apple doesn't advertise it - it is important to Apple and they don't want to have to deal with the burden of supporting a third party like that. Palm making their own software shifts the support burden over to Palm properly. It's not worth the extra effort to support a competitor for free software.
 
Forget the Name Calling

I know it falls on deaf ears but I'm going to say it anyway, name calling helps no one and is counter productive. Stick to the facts.

1) Palm is using an Apple product ID in violation of an agreement they signed.
{Poorly worded}2) Apple blocks the use of legally purchased music on competitors' products.{/Poorly worded}
2) Apple only allows Apple devices to synch with iTunes which could result in the inability for you to listen to your legally purchased music on a competitor's device without the use of 3rd party software.
3) Both companies can afford to hire lawyers, programmers, and engineers to endlessly play this game.
4) Competition makes a market more responsive to its consumers.

Draw any conclusion you want from the facts, and add new ones as you discover them, but just make sure you don't add any flavour words, words that express opinion instead of fact. For instance I could have written #2 as "Apple UNFAIRLY blocks the use..." but that now makes it an opinion. You think it's unfair while someone else doesn't. It's opinion. But saying that Apple is blocking the use of legally purchased products on a competitor's products is not an opinion it is a fact.

You may agree or disagree with philosophy but you can't disagree with facts so let's start off with facts. Base your opinions on the facts instead of starting off with opinions and trying to make up "facts" to support them. If you can't be bothered to do that then I can't be bothered to listen to you.

Thank you for your time.
 
Brain?

I'm like 99.9% sure Apple doesn't care about Palm customers.
They care enough to keep breaking Palm customers' functionality. Therefore I'm 99.9% sure you're wrong. They're using Palm customers as pawns to pressure/punish Palm. But very important pawns. They care about Palm customers--perhaps not for their well-being, but about their existence as tools in Apple's little game.

Anyone with half a brain knows that Palm is the one in the wrong.
It takes two to tango. Any time there is a back-and-forth as has been going on between Apple and Palm, the likelihood of either party being entirely in the right or wrong is very small. Anyone with half a brain knows that. :D
 
Its fair to emulate an iPod to bypass iTunes regulation? Oh yeah.
Its Apple's proprietary system. They can and will decide who can and cannot use it. There are alternatives for media syncing.

I see what you are getting at, but imagine if sony and microsoft made a system where you could never use their console with any third party controller.
 
Remember, Apple sells computers too, not just iPods/iPhones. So when Apple alienates Mac-owning Pre users who want to synch their Pre with their Mac, do you think it's more or less likely those users are going to buy another Mac when it's time to upgrade their desktop hardware?
Synching and iTunes piggybacking are different issues. Are they going to switch to PC and synch it to Zune? :D I just don't see this subset of users having any impact on Mac sales. Would Pre owners buy more Macs if they could access iTunes on Mac and PC? Strange situation all around.
 
I know it falls on deaf ears but I'm going to say it anyway, name calling helps no one and is counter productive. Stick to the facts.

1) Palm is using an Apple product ID in violation of an agreement they signed.
2) Apple blocks the use of legally purchased music on competitors' products.
3) Both companies can afford to hire lawyers, programmers, and engineers to endlessly play this game.
4) Competition makes a market more responsive to its consumers.

Draw any conclusion you want from the facts, and add new ones as you discover them, but just make sure you don't add any flavour words, words that express opinion instead of fact. For instance I could have written #2 as "Apple UNFAIRLY blocks the use..." but that now makes it an opinion. You think it's unfair while someone else doesn't. It's opinion. But saying that Apple is blocking the use of legally purchased products on a competitor's products is not an opinion it is a fact.

You may agree or disagree with philosophy but you can't disagree with facts so let's start off with facts. Base your opinions on the facts instead of starting off with opinions and trying to make up "facts" to support them. If you can't be bothered to do that then I can't be bothered to listen to you.

Thank you for your time.

Apple does not lock you out of your music. It's there on the HD and even accessible by parsing the XML file.
 
You'd think Palm would've realised by now that all this wasted effort could've gone into a proper syncing solution.

Why would they do that? Then they wouldn't be in the tech news cycle every three days.

Notice no one focuses on Palm Pre sales anymore. Rubinstein knows what he's doing.

The more I think about it, the more I think I agree this has to be about publicity! How could Palm be so stupid otherwise? They are screwing their customers over either way, and Apple has every right to do what they are doing. Palm needs to just grow up and make a real sync client like the one BlackBerry has coming out. :rolleyes:
 
Again, technically and legally correct, but how is the public going to see it? They're going to say "This worked great until Apple went out of their way to break it" and Apple will take the P.R. hit.

I don't think so. People will say "Wow, Palm is clever, they use Apple's iTunes for downloading music to their player, so Apple had to do all the work. I'm sure Apple won't like that". A week later "Oh, it doesn't work anymore. Bugger. Maybe Palm should have written their own software". A week later "Palm made it work again. I wonder for how long". A week later "Oops, broken again. I think I should have bought another player".
 
Apple is a hardware company, and the software is there simply to help the hardware sell. If they give access to other companies to use their software, why would someone buy an Apple product over the product of a different company? It's fair game, Apple created it and they can control it as they wish - what Palm is doing is pretty wrong. I'd be annoyed if I was a Pre user but err, I wouldn't buy a Pre in the first place..

If you want to use the iTunes ecosystem with the whole syncing and such, get an Apple product to go with it, that's how it works and that's how it'll always work probably. The same goes to Mac OSX being exclusive to Apple hardware.
 
1) Palm is using an Apple product ID in violation of an agreement they signed.
2) Apple blocks the use of legally purchased music on competitors' products.

Draw any conclusion you want from the facts, and add new ones as you discover them, but just make sure you don't add any flavour words, words that express opinion instead of fact. For instance I could have written #2 as "Apple UNFAIRLY blocks the use..." but that now makes it an opinion. You think it's unfair while someone else doesn't. It's opinion. But saying that Apple is blocking the use of legally purchased products on a competitor's products is not an opinion it is a fact.

You may agree or disagree with philosophy but you can't disagree with facts so let's start off with facts. Base your opinions on the facts instead of starting off with opinions and trying to make up "facts" to support them. If you can't be bothered to do that then I can't be bothered to listen to you.

Thank you for your time.

Number 1 is correct.
Number 2? not so much.

Link to where Apple uses a proprietary database? Or wait, is it merely a jumble of folders sorted (for the convenience of the user) by artist and album, stored in an unprotected format (for plus purchases)?

It's the latter.

I believe you need to take a look at this (Where are the iTunes library files?), this (DoubleTwist), oh and this (Blackberry Media Sync) before you confuse any more fiction with fact.
 
Pony

Just because you want something to work a particular way doesn't mean that it will ever happen.

It did happen. Apple went out of its way to make it un-happen. That's the uncool part.

The problem is that there is implied support if Apple allows it. What happens when Apple gets deluged by callers asking why their movies and TV shows won't sync.
Don't answer the questions. Give out Palm's support number. Whatever. But fear of "having to answer the phone" is a very lame excuse for removing in-use functionality.
 
2) Apple blocks the use of legally purchased music on competitors' products.

Well except DRM content (which is not something that Apple can be blamed for so we will limit this to iTunes Plus music here), Apple offers at least three ways on the Mac to get at iTunes content the most popular being SyncServices which they advertise on their own developer page. Heck, any developer can get at the XML file that iTunes uses which contains all the information on file locations. There are tons of products on the internet that use this (I again mention The Missing Sync - which was actually promoted by Apple). Apple has never stopped these developers. Your claim that Apple is blocking the use of legally purcahsed content on competitors products is absolutely false.
 
It did happen. Apple went out of its way to make it un-happen. That's the uncool part.
Only because Palm hacked the USB standards - thats like cheating and complaining you were ejected from the game.

Don't answer the questions. Give out Palm's support number. Whatever. But fear of "having to answer the phone" is a very lame excuse for removing in-use functionality.
It doesn't work out that way in real life.
 
Don't answer the questions. Give out Palm's support number. Whatever. But fear of "having to answer the phone" is a very lame excuse for removing in-use functionality.

that approach never worked for Gateway. anytime my former boss had problems with his Gateway machines, they would always blame it on MS OS, or on XYZ drive manufacturer, etc.

at the end of the day it was still gateway's machine. same for apple. at the end of the day it's apple software. when a user has a bad experience with it, whether it was an officially supported function/feature or not, apple will take the heat. this isn't the only reason, but apple is simply not wanting to officially support a direct competitors product on its own software.
 
Apple does not lock you out of your music. It's there on the HD and even accessible by parsing the XML file.

Thank you for your reply but I did not say "lock" I said "block." Semantically totally different things.

A lock implies total control, if you don't have the key you aren't getting through, while a block is an attempt to stop you but you can get around a block. It may not be easy and it may take you a long way out of your way, like taking a detour at a road block, but you can do it.

I've actually written software myself to get around the block so I could use my iPhone with multiple iTunes libraries so I'm moderately familiar with the process.
 
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