Posts Tagged ‘itunes’
Put not your trust in iTunes
December 7th, 2009 | 
Author: Even before I write this, I know what the response will be: "Dump iTunes, it's bloated and evil. Instead use [INSERT DIFFERENT SOFTWARE NAME]! It's better in a zillion different ways plus it makes kittens smile."
Which is probably true, and I probably should switch. Except I kinda like iTunes. It's easy to use, doesn't require any tweaking to get it to do what I want, and it's free. I killed the resident programs to reduce the resource hoggishness and usually it works very well for me.
Except when it doesn't, and then my world comes crashing down. Like a few weeks ago, when I updated to a new version, started it up, and clicked right on past the message that said something like "Library not found, rebuild from scratch and guesswork? Y/N" to watch it painstakingly count all my songs all over again. Honestly I didn't pay attention; I was heading off to bed and I'm used to seeing some sort of nonsense every time I update the thing as it re-evaluates my stuff in light of whatever new doodad the update added.
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Dr. Horrible on iTunes till July 29
According to TV Week, anyway.
"I'm deeply psyched to be able to offer 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' on iTunes," Mr. Whedon said. "It's a way to reach way more potential viewers than I can personally call and harass into watching it. The idea that people can carry our little opus around on their iPods and iPhones is thrilling."
Buy the first episode of Firefly from iTunes today
Folks on the FireflyFans.net board are asking everyone to buy a copy of the first episode of Firefly from iTunes today to boost it up into the top 100 videos list, and I think that's a fine ambition.
Head here to start the proceedin's and get yourself a copy for your very own, or gift it to a friend who's managed to hold out somehow. Just $1.99 for the whole 2-hour episode. Of course, if you wanted to buy the rest I wouldn't stop you…
Firefly Fortnight – iTunes Episode Round-up
Saw this over at FireflyFans.net; the unstoppable guerilla marketer and artist 11th Hour is pushing for a mass purchase of Firefly episodes from iTunes, one per day, for the next two weeks. A fortnight of Firefly! Here's the lowdown:
Playlist that funky music, white boy
The greatest thing about the Internet is not the widespread dissemination of information, or the creation of a worldwide community, or even the easy, nearly unavoidable access to naked people. No, the Internet's greatest child is the playlist.
When it comes to saving time for me personally, I mean. The rest is good, too.
Playlists allow me to arrange my music as I see fit to suit my needs, and not in the prepackaged "order" that some fancy pants "artist" thought they should be in. And it's incredibly easy! Not like it used to be (cue old timey music as the column fades to sepia).
Back in the day playlists were called "mix tapes." You pulled out all your records and tapes in huge wobbly stacks and you popped in a blank cassette and you spent a good three or four or seventeen hours dropping needle arms and hitting play and record buttons to painstakingly create the Perfect Music Compilation. Also a crippling lower back ache that would be with you always.
Paying for music? A crazy idea, but it just might work
Tell me, do you feel more virtuous these days? More law-abiding? The recording industry seems to think you are, and they've certainly never been wrong before.
According to a report from the International Federation of Phonographic Industries — those whacky kids — the number of legal music downloads during the first half of 2005 was three times higher than during the same period last year, while the dastardly efforts of illegal file swapping pirates only increased a very little teeny bit. Industry representatives are seizing this as proof that their heavy-handed legal attacks and constant anti-piracy tirades are having some effect besides annoying the bejesus out of their customers.
"We are now seeing real evidence that people are increasingly put off by illegal file-sharing and turning to legal ways of enjoying music online," said John Kennedy, IFPI chairman and lead vocalist. "Whether it's the fear of getting caught breaking the law, or the realization that many networks could damage your home PC, attitudes are changing, and that is good news for the whole music industry."
I almost hate to ruin Mr. Kennedy's dream world. I'm sure it's a happy place, where kittens and butterflies dance along babbling brooks to the bought-and-paid-for rendition of "You Are My Sunshine." And it's true that legal downloads are up a gargantuan 316 percent, 180 million songs sold compared to last year's 57 million. In comparison there was only a measly 3 percent increase in online thievery; only 900 million this year according to the same report. Maybe everyone was busy downloading "Revenge of the Sith."
The magic's in the music and the music's in… order
Finally, after all these years, I have embraced digital music.
Not that I've avoided MP3s, WMAs, WAVs, OGGs, AIFFs, MIDIs, and whatever iTunes uses. I've had tons of the things since they first became available, many of them even legally. But they've never been real to me.
See, I grew up with record albums. Big dinner-plate-sized discs of black vinyl. They were prone to scratches and warping and breakage and came in cheesy cardboard sleeves the size of museum paintings that attracted mold, and I loved them more than my dog or any given parent. But music enjoyment in those days was hard work. Not just because of the difficulties in avoiding deadly fingerprints or stacking coins on the needle arm to get past the scratches, something that required the intense concentration of a bomb squad agent with hiccups. No, what I spent my time on was organization.
