IPods and all connected new-fangled technology

[liz]

Im afraid i know absolutely nothing about about iPods and all connected new-fangled technology. Anyone care to enlighten me? I'm going to get one soon but i don't have a clue about downloading music onto my computer and stuff like that, i don't even know if my computer can handle it (it's so old, and I'm still on dial up, for gods sake). How much does downloading music cost, what websites are there, etc, etc? pleaee help!

liz xxxxxxxxx

 

[Moonbear]

It's going to be slooooooooooowwwww trying to download music while on dialup. However, as long as you have a CD drive, you can always upload your current CDs to it to listen to them without carrying CDs everywhere you go. On a site like iTunes, which is the easiest to use with an iPod because it is run by Apple, single songs are US $0.99. Usually buying a whole album saves you a little over the cost of buying individually, maybe $1-2.

I have no idea what the cost would be for Brits, as I see you're from England

Keep in mind that you don't need to buy an iPod. That is a brand. You can buy any MP3 player you like.

Of course, once you have it and have your songs on it, there are also lots of other doo-dads and thingamaflinkies you can get to go with your iPod, like speakers and transmitters to play it over the car stereo, etc. (I don't own one yet either, but I've been drooling over them for a while trying to make up my mind just which one I want).

I'm sure folks around here know plenty of other places to find music and can recommend more.

If you tell us what kind of computer you have and what operating system it has on it, it will help folks verify if you are going to be able to use it for music and with an iPod or similar device.

 

[mattmns]

What Operating System are you using? Check out the system requirments for iTunes (I am not sure if you need iTunes to upload your music to your Ipod or not).

iTunes is expensive imo: 99cents per song is way to much. I personally buy cds from Amazon, or if they are a good price, locally.

 

[motai]

Doesn't the iPod have a copyright circumvention thing programmed into every iPod? As in, you can buy music from off the internet and upload it onto the iPod but you can't transfer that music to your computer... or a similar situation where you can transfer songs from CDs onto the iPod but not the other way around?

I remember my former band director talking about that, but said he found a way to bypass that (probably through less-than-legal software).

 

[z-component]

Yes, a lot of people have found a way to 'unlock' the iPods so that you can upload regular MP3's.

 

[Pengwuino]

Im afraid i know absolutely nothing about about iPods and all connected new-fangled technology. Anyone care to enlighten me? I'm going to get one soon but i don't have a clue about downloading music onto my computer and stuff like that, i don't even know if my computer can handle it (it's so old, and I'm still on dial up, for gods sake). How much does downloading music cost, what websites are there, etc, etc? pleaee help!
liz xxxxxxxxx

You don't know anything about new technology...:!) :!) :!) I envy you. Soon you shall learn to hate it and want to kill everyone who walks around with any electrical device.

 

[Pengwuino]

Yes, a lot of people have found a way to 'unlock' the iPods so that you can upload regular MP3's.

Wait... so i can't just put any ol mp3 on an ipod? What the crap, most of the music i listen to is older/hard to find music and crap from music scores!

 

[ron damon]

Buying music online is a BIG scam. You pay about the same than for a real CD, but get greatly reduced audio quality and no physical CD.
A portable MP3 player is a sensible choice if you are going to put in it music from your existing CD collection, or that you have downloaded, ehem, for free from the Internet.
Buying downloadable music is really, really dumb.

 

[dduardo]

Also, music that you pay for online is encumbered with DRM (Digital Rights Management). These can mean many things:

1) If you use a subscription service, once you stop paying, you can't listen to your music anymore. Example: Napster
2) You can't convert music easily. Ipod can't play wma files, thus your stuck with the itunes store.
3) If a few years down the road you change computers you might not be able to take the music with you.

 

[z-component]

Wait... so i can't just put any ol mp3 on an ipod? What the crap, most of the music i listen to is older/hard to find music and crap from music scores!

Sadly, you cannot with an unmodified iPod. I'm not sure of how to make it use MP3's but I do know it's possible. Maybe try a quick Google search.

 

[loseyourname]

Sadly, you cannot with an unmodified iPod. I'm not sure of how to make it use MP3's but I do know it's possible. Maybe try a quick Google search.

What is the limitation you're referring to? All of the songs on my iPod are in mp3 format, and they're either from CDs that I copied onto my hard drive or music that I downloaded, and I've never downloaded anything from the iTunes music store.

 

[loseyourname]

2) You can't convert music easily. Ipod can't play wma files, thus your stuck with the itunes store.

iTunes will convert any file that isn't encumbered by DRM, though. I've imported plenty of .wma's from torrented downloads of complete albums.

 

[moose]

Wait... so i can't just put any ol mp3 on an ipod? What the crap, most of the music i listen to is older/hard to find music and crap from music scores!

You can put your own mp3's on it, but you can't take the mp3's which you got through iTunes out of the ipod onto another computer.

 

[loseyourname]

You can put your own mp3's on it, but you can't take the mp3's which you got through iTunes out of the ipod onto your computer.

Are you sure you're stating that correctly? The files you buy from the iTunes store aren't in .mp3 format and they download directly to your computer to begin with. Do you mean that you cannot copy them to another computer?

Note: Again, I've never actually bought from the iTunes store, so maybe I'm wrong. I'm just repeating what I'm pretty sure I've read in tech mags.

 

[moose]

Are you sure you're stating that correctly? The files you buy from the iTunes store aren't in .mp3 format and they download directly to your computer to begin with. Do you mean that you cannot copy them to another computer?

Note: Again, I've never actually bought from the iTunes store, so maybe I'm wrong. I'm just repeating what I'm pretty sure I've read in tech mags.

Yes, that is what I mean. I should have been more clear...

 

[liz]

You don't know anything about new technology...:!) :!) :!) I envy you. Soon you shall learn to hate it and want to kill everyone who walks around with any electrical device.

I deliberately avoid new technology as it is too damn complicated. but iPods are so pretty, especially the iPod nano. I think I'm going to have to give in and get one.

i have a friend who has loads of songs downloaded onto her laptop, could i just get them onto my iPod somehow (and therefore not have to actually have to learn how to download stuff from the internet, or have to pay for it, etc)? oh, i should really ask her permission as well...

i don't know if i should get one either as I am so broke , but the last time i actually got some new technology was a huge grey brick of a mobile phone many years ago. Are they any good? I've heard that loads break after just over a year, which is rubbish, anyone had similar problems?

l

 

[dduardo]

The ipod video just came out today. $1.99 for music videos and tv shows.

 

[ron damon]

Plus, I'd recommend getting a brand other than iPod, since those are overpriced and underfeatured. But you mention you like them because they're pretty, so you'll probably end up with one of them anyway.

I'm not sure you can put your friends MP3s into your prospective iPod. These things are like a straightjacket in terms of versatility.