People obsessed with itunes

MP3 players Sansa Fuze
1

Many who are posting here with problems seem to be obsessed with using itunes and making it work with a Fuze. Itunes and music in Apple’s proprietary formats should be forgotten about when dealing with the Fuze.

If you buy a Canon SLR camera, would you complain about it and bash it since Nikon lenses don’t work on it? Would that make sense to do? If you have spare parts for a Honda, would you expect to be able to use them in a Toyota, and would you say that Toyota cars are junk since Honda parts don’t work in them?

Message Edited by JK98 on 12-27-2008 04:02 PM

2

I totally agree with your assessment;Itunes is good though, and I use it all the time, its people that dont understand Itunes or audio formats in general that are the problem.   You can buy DRM free mp3s from Itunes, they cost more, 1.29 vs .99, but you can.  All podcasts, audio ones, on Itunes come in mp3 format and any mp3 player will play them just fine.  The video podcasts come in .mov but are already visually perfect for the Fuze as far as being in a 640 by 400 and 2’’ by 2’ size and SMC converts them just fine.

  I don’t get why so many people have issues with it at all.

3

I agree that itunes has its place and I am also tired of people who are so closed minded that cant make the switch. The big issue is that apple has made a all inclusive product for their player spesifically. It does it all. The problem that that has caused is that people began to ignore formatting and those that know only itunes know nothing of file extentions. People have just gone in and bought proprietary music and now they wanna switch to a more open and free player and they are unequipt to do so. I have only owned 5 players in my life 2 RCA 1 Creative 2 Sansa… None Require Proprietary files, FOR A REASON…

All that being said… Could Sansa Develop a product for their players like iTunes… Sure. Should they… OF COURSE NOT! The only thing I wish is that my sansas could connect to the iPod jack (My SkullCandy Backpack can control an ipod from a pad on the shoulder)

Those of you with iTunes take my advice and do what I did with my cousin and his new clip, I copyed his mp3 files to his music folder in his my documents, deleted all itunes folders, uninstalled iTunes, and then draged and dropped the files. Get over Itunes its a way of the past and it will always ■■■■ 

4

I believe the main problem all the people are having that are used to itunes is that they are used to just mindlessly pressing a button and having the software do everything for them, without having to worry about settings, configurations, formats, or any of the user-selectable settings and options that non-Apple people are used to. No muss, no fuss. Now that they are presented with and forced to deal with all these options, formats and whatnot, they are totally out of their comfort zone and are sadly ill-equipped to deal with it.

Apple in fact, prides itself on this simplistic idea and markets their products as ‘easier’ than Windows, etc. to operate. Just look at their TV commercials. Someone here recently referred to Apple fans as ‘i-sheep’. That pretty much describes the people who flock (pun intended) to Apple for it’s simplicity. They don’t want to bothered with making decisions and setting options and configuring something to work in any way other than the way Apple programmers designed it. Why else would a product like the Shuffle player still be so popular.

I haven’t even looked at an Apple computer in a very long time, so this may may out-dated, but the assumption that people couldn’t figure out or need a 2-button mouse with Macs and therefore only have 1 button is insanely laughable.

I know of a few people who use both Apple and Windows machines, but for the most part the Apple fans have the mindset, “I don’t want to know HOW or WHY it works. I just want it TO work.” Those people who share this attitude are better off with i-tunes and should stick with it. The more adventurous souls will seek out and find alternatives; Sansas being among them. I’d love to see an i-pod user try to navigate Rockbox!

He would probably stare at it for a few seconds, then put it (or throw it) down, turn & walk away muttering to himself, " Baaaah, baahhhh, b-baaaAAHHH." :smileyvery-happy:

5

@tapeworm wrote:

I haven’t even looked at an Apple computer in a very long time, so this may may out-dated, but the assumption that people couldn’t figure out or need a 2-button mouse with Macs and therefore only have 1 button is insanely laughable.

 

I have to use a mac at school and just an FYI they have a mouse that looks like 1 button but is actually 2 

6

@conversionbox wrote:

I have to use a mac at school and just an FYI they have a mouse that looks like 1 button but is actually 2 

I guess they’re not as simple-minded as they used to be then. :smileyvery-happy:

7

The biggest problem with iTunes is their insistence on the AAC format, and DRM. You can’t buy MP3s on iTunes - you can buy non-DRM AAC files (they call it iTunes Plus) for the same price as the DRM-crippled stuff. These non-DRM files will work on a few players, but not the Fuze. iTunes is also set up to use AAC by default when ripping CDs. If you just use iTunes and don’t change any settings, you’ll have a lot of music that won’t work on anything but iPods. So when you go buy another music…surprise, nothing works! Had Apple used the MP3 format in iTunes whenever possible, it would make it easier to change to a non-Apple player…but why would they want that? iTunes exists solely for the purpose of selling iPods.

Let’s also not forget that if Sansa had added support for AAC instead of OGG, this would be a much smaller problem than it currently is. 

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with wanting things to “just work”, without forcing people to understand music formats and all that. I suspect there is no way any player could have achieved the iPod’s market share without catering to computer novices.

Message Edited by bdb on 12-27-2008 04:48 PM

8

@bdb wrote:

The biggest problem with iTunes is their insistence on the AAC format, and DRM. You can’t buy MP3s on iTunes - you can buy non-DRM AAC files (they call it iTunes Plus) for the same price as the DRM-crippled stuff.

I believe I read in another thread that the I-tunes store does offer non-DRM .mp3’s on some songs for $1.29 instead of  $ .99

9

I had to invest 99 cents in the iTunes world (with copy protected m4p files and limitations on number of machines that could be used, etc) before I realized what a complete scam the whole thing was.

I could have all those limitations for 99 cents a song or I could go to amazon and get free-and-clear mp3 files for the same price.

I asked the “kids” who worked in my office what they thought of this.  I got dumb looks; no one seemed to thik about it or care.  converse to my image of young students ripping up the internet with Napster and free- music-sharing, these guys were content to pay market rate for all their music and not even be able to share it at ALL.

 Two told me that thye take the m4p files, burn to a CD, and then rip the CD back to mp3 files!

You have GOT to be kidding me!

This, to me, is classic “Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Apple has probably the most sucessful marketing campaign in the history of the world.  Absolute Top Dollar for the hardware, very little discounts, top dollar for copy-protected music and a huge fan base!

Except for me.

Talk to friends with kids and they won’t even try to GIVE their kid something besides and iPod.  Even kids younger than teens!  They just won’t take it, whether it’s a Zune, a Sansa, an Iriver, anything; it’s that uncool!

I have a two-year old and I categorically state I will not cater to that BS.  I will give him a gift and if he is ashamed of it- he is going to be s*hit out of luck.  It’s also true that I do not have the money to constatnly be laying out for “cool” iPods, Burton snowboards and packs and Nike and North Face clothing!  For that, they will have a job and learn how challenging it is to pay for the things we NEED nevermind the overinflated cr*p that is flooding the market.

We, however, are avoiding TV 100% with him so that should be about 75% of the battle.

the curmudgeon

10

Itunes does have mp3s for an extra cost. It kinda ■■■■■ but it exists

11

What bitrate does Apple use for its mp3 download service? Just curious. I like buying my music on CD though, and choosing the bitrate I want to use.

12

Hi all:

I’m one of those that would like Fuze to synchronize my podcasts under Itunes. A lot of radio stations have automatic links that will download and sync the new podcasts. Very handy. Obviously there are other but I really don’t listen or burn CDs enough to bother with learning the various other programs. Itunes for me is good enough for now.

However, there’s Open source Itunes program called Songbird that once it works with the Fuze I might consider transfering all of my Itunes stuff and removing Itunes. 

xavier 

13

@fuzeuser1 wrote:

Hi all:

I’m one of those that would like Fuze to synchronize my podcasts under Itunes. A lot of radio stations have automatic links that will download and sync the new podcasts. Very handy. Obviously there are other but I really don’t listen or burn CDs enough to bother with learning the various other programs. Itunes for me is good enough for now.

However, there’s Open source Itunes program called Songbird that once it works with the Fuze I might consider transfering all of my Itunes stuff and removing Itunes. 

 

xavier 

Try Media Monkey. It works like itunes in many wayswith regard to songs and podcasts. It might jsut work out for you

14

Conversionbox:

I took a look at it; while I appreciate it, I’m not really in the mood to spend yet more money for more advanced functionality that the free version merely hints at. Either make me pay up front or make a good  free version.

xavier 

15

I mostly just hate iTunes because it’s a huge resource hog.  It uses more memory than some of my games. 

16

Capo:

So true and when it crashes, I have to reboot; that’s annoying.

xavier 

17

@jk98 wrote:
What bitrate does Apple use for its mp3 download service? Just curious.

There is the typical iTunes music, which is DRM-crippled (I will never call it “protected” ). That is 128kbps AAC. Although that’s a pretty low bitrate, it actually sounds much, much better than a 128kbps MP3.

Then there is iTunes Plus. This is 256kbps DRM-free AAC. It came out shortly after Steve Job’s pretentious “open letter” about how Apple is against DRM (many suspect the “open letter” was just a marketing ploy to get European regulators off their back). Initially it was $1.29 a song, but they changed it to 99¢ shortly afterward. Very little of their music is available in this format.

Message Edited by bdb on 12-28-2008 09:36 AM

18

@fuzeuser1 wrote:

Conversionbox:

I took a look at it; while I appreciate it, I’m not really in the mood to spend yet more money for more advanced functionality that the free version merely hints at. Either make me pay up front or make a good  free version.

 

xavier 

 I am only using the free one right now. It works great for music and podcats. I do intend to purchase the other version this month but havent gotten around to it.

19

The free version of MM is excellent.  After using it for a while, I did get the Gold version for its advanced searching and ability to create dynamic playlists that automatically change to include new tracks.

20

In an attempt to get back on-topic here, as many have pointed out, there has been a flood of new members and posters on this forum recently because of Christmas and people receiving Sansas as presents (sometimes for themselves). As also noticed, a great many of these new posters are looking for the Fuze (or whatever model they received) to operate like what they are used to, the I-pod and I-tunes specifically. They are generally, very frustrated that it (the Fuze) works differently.

Has anybody thought about this? . . . WHY?

If the ‘pod’ and the ‘I-world’ are so superior and easier and intuitive and is the greatest thing since sliced bread, then WHY are so many former ‘pod-heads’ suddenly turning to SanDisk & the Fuze? If they really think that the grass was greeneer on that side of the fence, then WHY are they now all of a sudden coming into our pasture? WHY didn’t they just get another I-pod? Hmmm?

Discuss . . .