iTunes Reviewed

It seemed like sufficient time has passed since I began blogging about iPods, to talk a little bit about iTunes. It will come as no surprise to the reader that iTunes is the ubitquitious .mp3 management software. Along with all of the videos, podcasts and tv shows and movies available at the iTunes 'Store', the ipod owner will find plenty of entertainment to fill their free time.

I have just received the latest update to iTunes recently, so I will describe a few of the features that I use on a daily basis. First, music! Your own CD collection can be easily transferred into your iTunes music libray, and subsequently 'sync'd to your iPod.

The first step is to connect your iPod to your PC or Mac using the data interface/ charging cable, usually a USB-type connection on the computer-side. The other end of the cable connects to your iPod dock-connector, located on the bottom of your iPod. When you start iTunes, it will find your iPod automatically, and display it's name in the list on the left sidebar of iTunes.

Importing music from CD is easy, just insert your CD of choice into your computers CD-drive, iTunes will ask you if you want to 'import' this CD into your iTunes library, just answer yes, and iTunes will copy the music from your CD into the library. One additional step is required after the music has been copied into the library, 'SYNCING'.

Clicking on the iPod named in the left sidebar, brings up a window with some choices in the form of buttons. At the extreme-lower right side of this window is a button labeled 'SYNC'. When you click on this button, your iPod will download the music from the library, which came from the original CD. Now you will have an 'album' in your iPod screen menu, in order to locate and play this album on your iPod.

Importing podcasts, videos, tv shows, and movies is accomplished by following the same procedure as above. Videos etc. will have their own unique location in the iTunes library as listed on the left-sidebar. The iPod menus follow this naming convention, so you can easily find the media once it has been imported and sync'd.

The iTunes interface has Digital Rights Management software built-in, at the request of the music industry that wants it's artist's to be paid for their work. This can be a problem if you obtain your music files illegally. iTunes will notify you that the files you are attempting to import are copyrighted materials. No mention on whether this information is provided to the Record Companies while you are on-line, but better to be safe than sorry!

There have been prosecutions of individual citizens, as an example a teenager was accused of downloading over 1,000 files from a peer-to-peer sharing site. The record company sued the teenager for copyright infringement of protected material. The case was eventually settled out of court, but I believe the fees and court costs totaled over $100,000.00!

At the discounted prices for music and other media provided in the iTunes Store, the file sharing route would seem to be a bad choice. Artists should be paid for their efforts. I have tried to write a few songs on guitar and piano, and it is not easy to come up with something compelling enough to share with my family! The record business is a business, and the CD business has been declining of late, with the advent of digital downloads, everyone is enjoying the convienence of having their music be so very portable.

Check out iTunes and your favorite iPod today! The price of the new iPhone 3G is only $199.00, and can be used to browse the internet as well as play .mp3 files and so much more. The iTouch does all of that except provide the telephone functions.

Please leave me a comment if you liked this post, or if you found something lacking let me know!

Respectfully, Nicholas