iTunes Loses the Plot...Again.

Today I synced my iPod Touch with my Windows Vista PC...as I often do. It was the first time I had used iTunes or synced since my upgrade to iTunes v9.03 a couple of days ago. I accepted the license terms and then synced. Then I downloaded an app update from the Apple Store for an app I had already bought. (Click on the pics for full size)

At this point, the Apple Store demanded I authorise the PC or it would wipe out my songs and 45 apps. I thought this was a bit sad as I have already authorised this same PC twice...and this was to be the third time.

As usual......you have no real choice. You either do it or they screw you.

I have now used 4 of my 5 authorisations.....three of them on the same PC.

I availed my self of the iTunes Feedback option on the Help menu in iTunes. I fully expect to never hear a thing from anyone at Apple...but this is what I said:

Hi

I am now at 4 authorisations out of 5 and 3 of them are for the same computer. iTunes has - twice - after an upgrade required me to re-authorise the same computer.

There are several people on this Windows PC who own iPods and use iTunes, but my account is the only one that anyone can buy anything through. It is only ever used when I login to Windows and only for my iPod Touch.

The other two users never buy anything from Apple Store because one is a child and the other my wife and they only ever use externally-sourced mp3 ripped from CDs.

I all but stopped stopped buying music from the Apple Store when iTunes suddenly decided my $150 worth of songs was no longer mine...and wiped them off the PC and the iPod. 

This PC authorisation issue is just one annoyance. The menu on your web page here stops at iTunes v9.01....and I'm v9.03. That's the kind of thing that sees my songs wiped out...and the same PC authorised three times in two years.

I don't know what I expect you to do about it. What do you think you should do?

Your questionnaire below doesn't include the main reason I use iTunes: to backup my iPod and get files on and off it as there is not other way to do it.

Most of my music is ripped from CDs we buy. Buying online comes with too many restrictions about how I use it and too strings attached.

Anyway....that's my latest Apple Atrocity. I never have these issues with Android because Android doesn't impose these kinds of restriction on your in the first place! 

Seasoned Apple Survivors are very helpful and offer advice as to how to cope with the havoc this control-freak eco-system can wreak upon a person. I'm grateful to them. It's a big help. I was dumb enough to buy an Apple product, so I should be a big boy and live with the consequences. But I don't really have to. I do have other choices.

On a gut level, software like iTunes is telling me it's all about THEM......while Android on my phone and linux on my PCs does what I want and I make damn sure it's all about me.

Because I can. No one gets in my way the way Apple can. I'd rather thrive than survive.

UPDATE 20100503: I now use the "iSyncr" app for Android to sync my music and playlists from iTunes to my Android phone.  The good part here is that if iTunes decides to wipe out my music, I've already copied it from the sync folder on the phone to a music folder, so iTunes *can't* delete it. Again, looks like the best way to use iTunes is avoid using it with an iPhone or iPod.

Apple or Android? You don't have to choose. You can have both.

You don't have to choose between Apple and Android. Android's open-ness makes it possible for you to have both at the same time. A relatively cheap iPod Touch 8GB, combined with an Android phone on a data plan acting as your WiFi access point, is a cheap way to have simultaneous access to the best both Apple and Android have to offer wherever you go.

I got my Apple iPod Touch (2nd gen) last December and very quickly saw iPod Touch / iPhone  would change the face of not just mobile telephony but also personal computing. I got right into it - installing loads of apps (free and paid), buying a few songs, and generally replacing most of the functions I used to use my laptop for.

But, as I have already blogged, iTunes annoyed me. I can't even delete a song or video without without using iTunes. In the end, Apple's restrictions were enough to make me think twice, three (and the rest) times about "upgrading" to an iPhone.  That isn't to say Apple doesn't offer a lot that is good and useful and fun.

At the same time, I had been watching the progress of Google's Android OS for mobile phones. It looked to me like Android's more open platform had the potential to give me most, if not all, the advantages of the Apple-verse while avoiding the annoyances implicit in using iTunes. Maybe I would even have the ability to actually use my iPod Touch together with an Android phone. Something Apple would never allow in reverse.

If such a thing were possible, then I would not have to choose at all. I could use both side-by-side.

With this in mind, I bought my android-based HTC Magic from Vodafone NZ back in July....and today I finally made it.

Yesterday, I rooted my 'spare' HTC Magic phone (I have two), loaded Cyanogen android, and then installed tetherWiFi. This app only works if you have gained root access to your phone.

I now have my  Apple iPod Touch talking to the Internet, tethered via WiFi to my Android phone, sharing the phone's 3G connection. My HTC Magic is now an ad hoc WiFi access point, protected by MAC filtering so only those systems / devices I choose to allow to connect are able to.

It took me a few months to collect the pieces together. Once I had them (iPod Touch and spare "sandobx" HTC Magic phone) in hand, within 2 days I was able to set this up. It was worth the wait. Now I've done it once, I realise how easy it is, thanks to guys like Steve Kondin / "Cyanogen".

Apple-verse vs HTC Magic - Android phone

I've been looking at various smart phone options for almost a year. I'd pretty much narrowed the choice down to either an Apple iPhone 3G S or a phone based on Google's version of Linux, known as "Android". I considered the Palm Pre to be a wild card worthy of investigation. Blackberry's are too boringly business-oriented for the lone-wolf mobile phone user like me.

I already have an Apple iPod Touch 8GB. I have used it daily - hourly! - (minutely?) - since I got it in December. The interface is pretty good, though I grew tired of risking hand cramps from pinching and squeezing web pages constantly trying to make links accessible to my large finger tips. That magnifying glass thing when trying to place the cursor when editing text also annoyed me. The predictive text only offered one word (that I could see) and it wasn't clear how to either select it, or make it go away. The requirement to use the wretched iTunes, combined with Apple's chokehold on the platform itself put me off deepening my investment in the Apple-verse beyond the bare entry-level access the wifi-only iPod Touch affords. For example, what do I now do with the music I have bought via iTunes? It's locked up tight in the Apple-verse. I can't listen to it on anything else.

I wanted freedom.

Last Friday I took delivery of my new Android-based HTC Magic mobile phone. I got it for $519 from Vodafone on a new, two-year Smart 80 plan. I'd always been on prepay. I went for Smart 80 because that roughly matched the amount I have been spending each month on my prepay. Well....it's a 'wee bit' more...but in the zone. The Smart 80 gave me access to 250MB / month and additional 3G data at only 10 cents / MB. A lower plan would have seen additional data costing 25 cents / MB. So with this plan, I can do 500MB / month for $105. That's cheaper than the Smart 130 which gives a lot of minutes and txts I don't use anyway, beyond the time provided with the Smart 80 plan.

Since then, I've been playing with it fairly intensely, working out what it does, what it does well, what it could do better. I have to say, I'm happier than I expected to be. The Magic has some great features that struck me right up front.

I can connect to a PC, mount the phone and copy MP3 files or video files onto the phone and just play them. No iTunes. It also plays happily downloads and plays *.ogg (Ogg-Vorbis) sound files.

When editing text, I can place the cursor where I want it with a simple touch. The predictive text offers me a list of words and I can pick one before I've even finished typing my current word.

When web browsing, the trackball on the Magic allows me to scroll through page links and select the one I want without pinching or spreading my fingers again and again. Easy. The web browser also has a magnifying "square" I can scroll around the page using the trackball and then select the area to be magnified. Good.

The 3.2 megapixel (woohoo!) camera integrates nicely with any new app that can accept a photo or video as input.

The Magic is a nice, handy shape. It's thin and slips easily into any pocket I use. It's light. The 3.2 inch screen is big enough.

The phone is stable. No crashes so far. (My old Vodafone 715 used to crash frequently, especially handling image data.)

Android multitasks. You can have several diverse, 3rd-party apps open in the background doing their basic functions. Twidroid notifies me of new tweets. Earthquake tells me of the latest earthquake anywhere. BuddyMob tells me about new posts. Or I can shut any or all of them them up and check manually. I can move away from Skype for a few minutes and when I come back, I'm stilled logged in. It does time out though. Not sure how much time I have, but it seems to be at least 3 minutes.

The wifi on the Magic is more sensitive than my iPod Touch. Yesterday morning I found myself connected to the wifi at work while on the next street over from the office. By comparison, the iPod Touch would lose the connection if I crossed the street. Similarly, parked at the local shops near the offcie I was on the office wifi, whereas this just isn't possible with the iTouch.

I'm not saying no other device does these things. I'm saying the HTC Magic, running Android, does do them.

The apps for Android aren't as many or diverse as for the Apple-verse, but most of the core apps I want are there and good enough and judging from the Android Market's list of apps, there are new apps every day.

But I still have my iPod Touch. It's not going anywhere. After I turn my HTC Magic into a wireless AP (because I can!), my iTouch will be even more useful than it is now...and I'll have simultaneous access to both the Apple-verse and the growing Android community of applications.

Freedom. Loving it.

[2009-11-24 - Update: I rooted my phone and got wifi tethering running. The tethering part was as easy as installing an app (either "tetherWiFi" or "Tethered wifi for root users"). No tricks or fiddles. I'm now using my Apple iPod Touch anywhere, tethered via wifi to my HTC Magic and sharing its 3G data connection. That happily works in the background thanks to android's multi-tasking ability. I'm currently running Cyanogen Mod 4.2.5 as the android version on my phone. Yay! ]

iPod Touch and Skype

Today I received the Apple iPhone Stereo Headset I ordered on Sunday. I bought it because this headset has a microphone as well as the two earbuds. Google searches had suggested the mic worked fine with an iPod Touch 2nd generation.

Yes! They worked perfectly with Skype, allowing me to use Skype Out to call any landline or cellphone. I was also able to receive a Skype-to-Skype call. The sound was good, though perhaps a little on the quiet side. People I spoke to on their phones said they could not tell I wasn't using a normal phone. None guessed I was using an iPod Touch, Skype and WiFi.

So along with all the other things my iPod Touch can do, it is now also a telephone if I'm in an area with WiFi available.

The only limitation is that Skype can't run in the background as iPod Touch (and iPhone) optimise the user experience by limiting multitasking. Skype must be the foreground program running if you want to receive any calls.

UPDATE 2010-01-18: I now use my iPod Touch anywhere by wifi-tethering it to my HTC Magic android phone. Skype from the iPod actually works over the phone's 3G Internet. This is cool because I don't have to choose between Apple and android. Instead, they work together to make each other better. Android has the freedom to access any file from anywhere and the iPod has access to the Apple Store apps....though that is less important each day as more apps come out for android.

iTunes and iPod

Play-time is over and I'm back at work. Since Xmas Day I've learned a lot about my iPod Touch and iTunes and discovered once again why I like Open Source and Linux so much. It's the freedom. You can't beat it.

My iPod Touch is a beautiful thing. The style, the size, the Wifi. All very cool.

But then the marketing needs of the vendor kick in and they don't match mine. I can only bring anything onto the iPod via iTunes. That means I can't just copy MP3s from my Linux system. I have to go to a Windows system. The files have to be available on that system. If I use a Windows system other than the one my iPod knows, then I can't get the files OFF the iPod onto any other system. Once they go onto the iPod, that's it. No way back.

I'm glad I ripped all my music well away from iTunes and THEN imported it.

YouTube works provided Apple's YouTube to Quicktime server is available. Apple won't let flash run natively on iPod or iPhone because Flash apps could let users by-pass iTunes. For the streaming video content they do provide, Apple don't use http for that function (Googling indicates). Instead, they feed iPods and iPhones Quicktime content they translate from YouTube flash content. Whether that is true or not, I can't play YouTube video content when behind the proxy servers I find myself behind. I can see the list of vids, search on them - whatever - but can't play them. The same applies to Facebook, WeatherNZ and many other apps. The cached content is there, but I can't update it. Yes, Facebook works through Safari, but that mode doesn't support the additional functions of the iPod facebook application......and so on.

What really annoyed me was that I had some video of my own that I had made and imported into my iTunes library and put it on my iPod. I then wanted to copy it from the iPod to my other Windows PC's iTunes...and I couldn't. It's a one-way trip.

In short, Apple's need to control all content means I can't use my iPod the way I want to. Hmm. The bottom line there is that as soon as there is a comparable device available that IS open......then I'll be buying that and consigning the iPod Touch to the "crippled relic" category.

I still really like the thing. Having a micro-netbook - even crippled - with such great software isserious  goodness. But my affection for my iPod Touch is now very much qualified. The sort of affection that is now situational and not very loyal. I'm on the lookout for something that better meets my needs. 

I really just use the wifi and play the odd video or movie on the iPod. I have an mp3 player that lets me load whatever, from wherever, and have reverted to it several times simply because I find it easier to use in so far as I'm able to do what I need to do on the PC on front of me instead of the single "home" iTunes allows.  

Handheld coolness

One of the great pressies I got this Xmas was an iPod Touch 8GB. This device is basically an iPhone without the phone. It has almost all the same software as the iPhone and you can download a lot more from iTunes, either for free or for cheap. Within a short space of time, I've added WeatherNZ, Facebook, WifiTrak, WordPlus and Plasma Ball.

After it it for only a few hours, the key to this device for me, the thing that lifts it out of the ordinary and into the sunshine, is the wireless connectivity. I have a wireless network at home and at work and there are wireless access points at the local cafes. Home and work are free of charge, while the cafe's tend to want $8 / hour, which is dear, but I tell myself it's not tooo bad if it is very occasional and I'm sipping a cup on your own.

The Safari browser works well, though I can't find any way to download files or to view flash content (like the graphs in Google Analytics). All you see is little blue boxes where the flash conent should be. You are able to watch YouTube videos easily enough. I also tried dailymotion.com, and had no problems playing flash videos there, either. Livevideo.com was a no-go. Just little blue boxes where the video player should have been.

On a busy web page, if the text you're reading is too small, you can zoom on the page easily by placing two fingers in the centre and spreading them apart. Repeat as required. To shrink a page, you do the reverse, pinching two fingers together. Easy as.

For my own purposes, I'm able to do my Gmail either via the Safari browser or via the IMAP mail client. Google Maps is good, too...and the 3.5" screen means the satellite view photo mode and the Streetview mode are worth using. Safari lets me see my Google Docs, but I didn't appear to be able to edit them. The iPod Touch screen is big, clear and provides sharp images and colours with good brightness by default.

It's a good music and video player, too, though it is a wee bit of a pain to have to import files into iTunes first, then drag / drop them to the iPod Touch. hat means you MUST have a Windows or Mac system. I usually use Linux, but the laptop also has Vista, so I had what I needed. But I'm used to just copying files over onto my phone or other cheap MP3 players. Still, the 'new coolness' means adding graphics and other nice stuff to the content, so iTunes isn't a completely useless path to acquiring these pretty things. The Apple Tunes store in New Zealand appears to be thin on content. Many of the TV shows based in the US and UK I might like to pay to watch simply aren't available. When content owners simply won't sell it to you at ANY price, then that's what Bittorrent is for, I guess. No biggy.

The 8GB is big enough for me. That's more songs than I can listen to in over a week without hearing the same one twice. I'd watch short fideos on it, but can't bring myself to the level of deseration required to attempt a feature length movie like Dark Knight or Iron Man.

The way I see it, you already have a decent cellphone (I do) and all you want is the 'new coolness', then get an iPod Touch. I'll be able to leave my laptop home more often it does pretty much everything I end to use my laptop for when away from the house. At NZ$389 all up, the iPod Touch delivers all the coolness of an iPhone without the ball and anchor around the wallet connected to a telco.