Pod Problems
Uh oh. This may put the kabosh on my plans to get an iPod.
Apple Computer has quietly updated its iPod software so that songs purchased from RealNetworks’ online music store will no longer play on some of the Mac maker’s popular MP3 players.
The move could render tunes purchased by many iPod owners unplayable on their music players. For the last four months, RealNetworks has marketed its music store as the only Apple rival compatible with the iPod, following the company’s discovery of a way to let its customers play their downloaded tunes on Apple’s MP3 player.
Apple criticized RealNetworks’ workaround, dubbed Harmony, as the “tactics…of a hacker,” and warned in July that RealNetworks-purchased songs would likely “cease to work with current and future iPods.” Apple offered no further statement Tuesday, but confirmed that the software released with its iPod Photo will not play music purchased from RealNetworks’ music store.
All, and I do mean all, of the music I’ve purchased online to date has been purchased through Real Networks’ music store. So, does this mean that if I get a new iPod, I’m going to have to re-purchase from iTunes all the music I already purchased from Real Networks, in order to play it on the iPod? If so, that’s a real disincentive to make the switch.
December 15th, 2004 at 1:37 pm
You can always re-rip the music bought from Real by burning it as an audio CD (You have to back it up, anyway, right?) and then ripping it into iTunes.
Also note, that the article only states that the “fix” affects iPod Photo, not regular iPods. As someone on MacRumors pointed out; the latest iPod Software Update was around November 8th, and it didn’t even affect the whole line-up of iPods, which would give you time to re-rip your music, even if you do get an iPod as early as this christmas. (Provided that it’s not an iPod Photo…)
December 15th, 2004 at 2:42 pm
Ah, but here’s another question. With the iPod, is the iTunes store the only place I’d be able to purchase music online to play on the iPod?
December 15th, 2004 at 5:14 pm
iTunes + iPod. That’s the way it goes.
On the bright side, though - you won’t be missing much. iTunes has a larger audience, more tracks and better DRM than the WMA-crowd. And there’s the whole 99 cents/song thing, which doesn’t hold true for most of the WMA-stores.
So aside from the re-ripping, I doubt you’d miss much.
December 17th, 2004 at 3:26 pm
T -
I’ve been able to import all of the music I’ve downloaded/ripped from other sources over the years into iTunes. File>Add File to Library or File>Add Folder to Library should do the trick for you. It’ll take a bit to import and convert the files, but it’s worth it.
You could use the import function to bring in songs you buy from Real, but I’d stick with iTunes. It’s the same price and the last time I checked, iTunes had a much larger selection.
Good luck!
- mls