Recently, a few of my friends have switched over to Songbird, and I am really tempted to use the program now. I have my own reasons for switching, and I really would prefer it if people did not tell me that iTunes has all the features i need, etc. Why does Apple force me to use iTunes? I love my iPod touch, but I'm beginning to see that there are other programs, such as Songbird, that suit my needs, unlike iTunes. Does anybody know if Apple will get rid of this restriction any time soon?
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Why Am I Stuck With iTunes?
- Thread starter Nadav
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You are not stuck; you have to choice to use Songbirf if you choose. However in buying an iPod, what you seek is compatibility, and in that regard it would be up to the makers of Songbird to ensure syncing capability. Its the same if you would buy another media player that doesn't drag-and-drop and limits you to syncing with, say, windows media, or even proprietary management software.
You are not stuck; you have to choice to use Songbirf if you choose. However in buying an iPod, what you seek is compatibility, and in that regard it would be up to the makers of Songbird to ensure syncing capability. Its the same if you would buy another media player that doesn't drag-and-drop and limits you to syncing with, say, windows media, or even proprietary management software.
i know the feeling
i wish i could sync movies from a folder NOT in itunes
i have looked into doubletwist and it seems pretty promising imo
i wish i could sync movies from a folder NOT in itunes
i have looked into doubletwist and it seems pretty promising imo
Apple will also link their software and hardware together. They have and always will go hand-in-hand. Just like you can't get a OS X Leopard disk and legally install it on a PC, you can't get an iPod and use a different software on it.
I think Apple does this to ensure quality for their software and hardware. If you were using another program with your iPod Apple could not guarantee it's quality, which may reflect on the quality of the iPod itself.
It's not just the iPod that makes the iPod work so great and seamless, it's the software too.
I think Apple does this to ensure quality for their software and hardware. If you were using another program with your iPod Apple could not guarantee it's quality, which may reflect on the quality of the iPod itself.
It's not just the iPod that makes the iPod work so great and seamless, it's the software too.
glad you like itunes but that is really not the point of this thread
it would be nice if apple didnt force one to use itunes with ipods and what not
The whole software and hardware argument makes sense, except for the fact that Apple only restricts the newer iPods. One of my friends has a 3G iPod, and it easily syncs with Songbird, he has experienced no problems as of yet. I don't want to break the law and find a way how to use my iPod with Songbird, so I think I might just buy a used iPod video from eBay soon.
Nice for you, but not for them. In doing that they have to make it multi compatible, offer support for that multi compatibility and then release a billion updates each time one of those "programs" you want to use changes in a way that is detrimental to the running of the iPod (or whatever device).
Using their own in house software (and extreemly powerful software, it's not like iTunes is a crap app put together in the last five minutes of development) ensures the least amount of problems and vastly increases reliability.
They can't please everyone, but you're in a minority of people, most people don't even consider using anything other than iTunes, let alone wanting too.
I know people that have reformatted their iPods to run different software. they also used something other than iTunes. It is in no way breaking the law. The law comes in to play with the actual media. As in pirating music and video. You can do what you want with the hardware.
Personally, I like the user experience that Apple brings. I think it is easy to use and I can get it to do anything I really want it to do. But that is my opinion and what works for me.
Good luck though.
Personally, I like the user experience that Apple brings. I think it is easy to use and I can get it to do anything I really want it to do. But that is my opinion and what works for me.
Good luck though.
I keep movies on an external disk - i hold the option key down when dropping the files into iTunes. They don't import - just reference them.... those then sync just fine the kids 3g Nano's.
This isn't what you are trying to do??
I find iTunes to be "bloated" like many do, but the convenience of syncing my Apple TV (which is acting wonky since the 10.5.7 update this week), iPod Touch & iPhone keeps me from even looking at anything else. Really, other than slow start-ups (relatively speaking), I don't mind iTunes at all..
I also keep my movies on an external. I tried holding the option key down but it still copied the movie into iTunes. I just synced it then deleted it. More annoying than anything...I will have to try it again though.
Here is the topic name in iTunes help (because i have no clue if it is different on a Windows based machine. I'll attach a shot of the Mac help screen.
Adding items to your library without copying them to your iTunes folder
What you are looking for (on the Mac) is to NOT get the green plus circle when you drop it on the library. It does do something to the file - that might appear as if it's being added, but if you check the "get info" on the file it will show the proper file location on the external. I keep the music on the kids computer on the computer drive, but there is no way there is room for the movies.
hopefully that helps!
Attachments
No problem - i know i had a hard time finding it the first time i went looking for it!
I also thought that it was importing something the other day - it still "processes" them (showing a progress bar up in the timeline area - no idea what that is called!), but a check of the get info showed it really was on the external. One of them i even threw out of the library because i *knew* it had imported because it was processing it slow. It hadn't - the computer was just being slow.
I'd be in trouble if i couldn't have the movies off the regular disk... might have to gasp, put a bigger drive in the computer for the rug rats! LOL!!
Apple is anti-competitive because its a business... That being said, I wish I had something with as pretty or prettier interface to use because iTunes is a
process/memory hog and it chugs along when trying to load 5000 songs. I also wish i had something that played .avi files outside vlc (if only it could index the movies it would be perfect)
Sorry if I don't make any sense. I'm super sick and just woke up.