Yea I can definitely see those points. And actually that's the one thing that pisses me off about Zune the most is that its podcast support is piss poor. Eventually I am going to get a laptop, and a psp so that will kinda eliminate the need for an mp3 player all together. Al though I-tunes does kick ass in that regard. So far the only other thing that seems any better is downloading the podcasts from Digg. Even then it's still kinda a pain only because you have to do everything yourself. (kind of a newb to computers so go easy on me.)
I apologize for what may be silly questions, but I've tried to find the answer on the internet and have not had much luck:
1. Is iTunes required in order to place music or podcasts on a fourth generation iPod? 2. Do all fourth generation iPods have color screens and photo capability? 3. Do fourth generation iPods require special headphones? 4. Why, exactly, is a firewire cable needed?
I apologize for what may be silly questions, but I've tried to find the answer on the internet and have not had much luck:
1. Is iTunesrequiredin order to place music or podcasts on a fourth generation iPod? 2. Do all fourth generation iPods have color screens and photo capability? 3. Do fourth generation iPods require special headphones? 4. Why, exactly, is a firewire cable needed?
1. Yes and no. If you want to use the iPod firmware then you are stuck with using iTunes. There are some other options but they are like using a hand pump to get water out of your well.
2. Yes, as long as it is an iPod and not an iPod variant (shuffle, mini, etc...)
3. No
4. It's not. the iPod uses USB. Beware, the new iPod shuffle does not like USB 1.0 and will act funny if connected to anything older than USB 2.0.
1. Yes and no. If you want to use the iPod firmware then you are stuck with using iTunes. There are some other options but they are like using a hand pump to get water out of your well.
It's really not all that bad. There are plenty of applications that can synchronize with the iPod running iPod firmware just fine. Winamp can even do it. The thing is that if you choose to sync your iPod without iTunes, you might as well not have an iPod. You would basically be getting the same exact experience you would get with a Sansa or other run of the mill DAP(digital audio player). The iPod/iTunes combination allows for advanced features that are not available on any other portable audio platform. Choosing not to use iTunes with your iPod isn't that hard or bad. It's just normal.
Hmm. You and I seem to be in the same (sinking) boat when it comes to the ipod. My old 20G black and white did EXACTLY the same thing. When I went to the store to get it fixed, they simply whacked it against the counter (right in front of me, I might add) and handed it back. I went through about 5 ipods on the warranty, and I was getting slightly annoyed. I had taken perfect care of it, not even scratched it, and the HD kept failing. By then I was pretty pissed. They finally suggested that I just get a video, muttering something about the HD not being able to keep up with the current itunes.
When the warranty ran out, I had saved up some extra money to buy a video. I've had my video for about 6 months, and so far it has been working perfectly. I've noticed that ever since I've used my video iPod, I've also been using the different connection cord that came with it. I have no idea if this affects the ipod in any way, but you never know.
I suggest either burning the apple "geniuses" at the stake, or pelting them with broken ipods. Or you could perform an apple exorcism to get rid of the angry spirit of the dead ipod.
In case you wanted to know, I did an iPod restore about a week later and it corrected itself. However, I now get occasional freezes and non-responsiveness. I hope the iPhone isn't as unreliable as my last two iPods have been.
In case you wanted to know, I did an iPod restore about a week later and it corrected itself. However, I now get occasional freezes and non-responsiveness. I hope the iPhone isn't as unreliable as my last two iPods have been.
Oh, I'm not planning on getting an iPhone, but it just seems to me that all this hype about Apple products overshadows the issues people have with them. Maybe I'm just an isolated incident, but almost anything Apple I touch seems to break in some way, and there is little to no way for me to fix it.
We were discussing the problem with Apple products last week. Basically, Apple products are awesome and easy to use because they allow you do perform useful and powerful tasks with very few buttons. The iPod has 5 buttons and a wheel, yet it can do more than other players that have much more complicated interfaces. The problem with Apple products is that when something doesn't work, or you want to do something out of the ordinary, it is a nightmare. With only 5 buttons, there are only so many things you can do. When the thing you want to do is not an immediately obvious option, you're done. There is no way to figure it out. It's either going to happen easily or not at all.
Windows, Gnome, KDE, Zune, Sansa, etc. all have more complicated interfaces compares to iPhone, iPod, OSX. They are perhaps harder to use because you need more buttons to accomplish common tasks. However, the benefit is that any task is possible. You can also use logic to figure out how to accomplish a task that might be slightly out of the ordinary. With Apple you either know where the button is to accomplish your task, you find someone to tell you where the button is, or there is no button.
If you want to use their product to do something it wasn't designed to do, just stab yourself instead. It will be more pleasant. And god help you if you try to do something normal, like sync your iPod, and it doesn't work as expected. When your only options are reset, restore and sync again, you can't fix the problem no matter how smart you are. This is part of the reason I am a Linux fan. I can use a very simple GUI interface, like Gnome or Xfce, for all of my normal tasks, but I know that anything I can imagine is possible via the shell.
1. Yes and no. If you want to use the iPod firmware then you are stuck with using iTunes. There are some other options but they are like using a hand pump to get water out of your well.
Is it beastly terribly difficult to convert WMA files?
1. Yes and no. If you want to use the iPod firmware then you are stuck with using iTunes. There are some other options but they are like using a hand pump to get water out of your well.
Is it beastly terribly difficult to convert WMA files?
It depends if they are DRM'd or not. If mencoder can decode your wma, which it can for many, then it is no harder to convert to any format than any other file using mencoder.
Comments
1. Is iTunes required in order to place music or podcasts on a fourth generation iPod?
2. Do all fourth generation iPods have color screens and photo capability?
3. Do fourth generation iPods require special headphones?
4. Why, exactly, is a firewire cable needed?
2. Yes, as long as it is an iPod and not an iPod variant (shuffle, mini, etc...)
3. No
4. It's not. the iPod uses USB. Beware, the new iPod shuffle does not like USB 1.0 and will act funny if connected to anything older than USB 2.0.
It's really not all that bad. There are plenty of applications that can synchronize with the iPod running iPod firmware just fine. Winamp can even do it. The thing is that if you choose to sync your iPod without iTunes, you might as well not have an iPod. You would basically be getting the same exact experience you would get with a Sansa or other run of the mill DAP(digital audio player). The iPod/iTunes combination allows for advanced features that are not available on any other portable audio platform. Choosing not to use iTunes with your iPod isn't that hard or bad. It's just normal.
When the warranty ran out, I had saved up some extra money to buy a video. I've had my video for about 6 months, and so far it has been working perfectly. I've noticed that ever since I've used my video iPod, I've also been using the different connection cord that came with it. I have no idea if this affects the ipod in any way, but you never know.
I suggest either burning the apple "geniuses" at the stake, or pelting them with broken ipods. Or you could perform an apple exorcism to get rid of the angry spirit of the dead ipod.
Windows, Gnome, KDE, Zune, Sansa, etc. all have more complicated interfaces compares to iPhone, iPod, OSX. They are perhaps harder to use because you need more buttons to accomplish common tasks. However, the benefit is that any task is possible. You can also use logic to figure out how to accomplish a task that might be slightly out of the ordinary. With Apple you either know where the button is to accomplish your task, you find someone to tell you where the button is, or there is no button.
If you want to use their product to do something it wasn't designed to do, just stab yourself instead. It will be more pleasant. And god help you if you try to do something normal, like sync your iPod, and it doesn't work as expected. When your only options are reset, restore and sync again, you can't fix the problem no matter how smart you are. This is part of the reason I am a Linux fan. I can use a very simple GUI interface, like Gnome or Xfce, for all of my normal tasks, but I know that anything I can imagine is possible via the shell.