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Originally posted by: Count Dushku
I'd buy the new U2 ipod...but I've heard that iTunes makes you delete your entire harddrive and then reload it just to add one song to your iPod...is this true?
No, not that I'm aware of. I didn't have to. Who told you that?
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Originally posted by: TheSessler
I was under the impression that you don't have to go through itunes to download mp3s onto your players and can you take any old mp3 and put it on an iPod?
Yes, you have to use iTunes if you want it to play through your iPod (as opposed to using your Pod as an extra harddrive). But the software is free and available on both PC and Mac. My brother in law uses the PC version and has no problem with how it works. This is only because iTunes and iPods are designed to work together. As for iTunes being the only source of MP3s for your Pod, not true. 98% of the songs on my iPod and in iTunes on my Mac are from CDs I either own, got from a friend, or checked out from the library. I rarely buy songs from the iTunes music store. The iTunes software even has a file converter to convert WMA files to MP3s so they can be used in iTunes, and, therefore, on your iPod. My friend sends me MP3 data CDs and I just put the CD in my SuperDrive and drag the files into iTunes and it automatically loads them into the comprehensive playlist.
The files that you buy from iTunes Music Store are in a protected proprietary file type called M3A. Much like any software package out there, they are specific to this program. Sony's MD Jukebox software creates proprietary file types that don't even work in other PC software which really pisses me off. When I pitched my MD player, the files were useless. No converter would deal with them. So I pitched a year's worth of files I'd been collecting.
Then I discovered in iTunes that you could decompress the prop files you get from the Music Store and burn to an audio CD and then redownload them and they come out as MP3 files that are unprotected. Wonderful thing.