Mildly iPod annoyed...

I love my new iPod. It's crammed full of goodness, especially now that iPod Fully Loaded has taught me how to get videos on there. There's one thing that annoys me though.

I still buy CDs. And why shouldn't I. CDs are cool, and while I see the practicality of digital downloads, I still enjoy sorting through piles of records and impulsively buying one or more.

With my iPod though I've lost a crucial component, and that's the instant gratification of the CD purchase. I can't go out of the shop and feverishly rip the protective film, push it in the player shakingly and enjoy my latest purchase. It's a little bit frustrating, but I can live with it...

What's more annoying is that content protection and Apple's compulsive closeness makes it impossible for me to load music onto it from any computer, and since my music collection is hosted on my home computer and I'm abroad, I'm now sitting with four CDs I purchased yesterday and won't be able to listen to on the train home tonight.

I understand there's a good piece of software for Apple Mac that allows you to circumvent that (Senuti, I think it's called) but no equivalent for PC as far as I know. I wish Apple would apply the care they devote to user-experience beyond the device itself in a slightly less proprietary way...

Oh, and the four CDs?

• Warpaint by the Black Crowes
• Post-Industrial Blues by Bob Brozman
• Pointless Nostalgic by Jamie Cullum
• Bokoor Beats, a compilation of Ghana Afrobeat from the 70s (with tons of harmonica!)

I'll let you know what they're worth when I've been able to give them a good listen...

Comments

[Jp]

Ah, technology. The easier she makes things, the more annoyed we are that isn't even easier. ;)
Oddly enough, on the radio today I heard some explanation about why you can't, for example, play iTunes music on other MP3 players, which is apparently not Apple's fault, but that of the record companies, which don't allow more open DRM.

As for your issues, I can't help much. I don't have a PC. On my Mac, I can add music to my iPod from any other Mac. It's not hacked or anything, it just works that way. Always has. If you haven't already, do some Googling. You might be able to find a way around this problem so that you can, for example, add files the iPod by using the iPod itself as portable iTunes library (I do this with photos).
Oh, and you can, if you have a computer at home, make your files available to yourself via the internet. Look up "remote access" and your operating system/router. Not that that helps your current situation... Sorry ;)

-Jp

[Mike]

It is true - it is not Apple's fault that you can't use other computers to load up your iPod from anywhere. It is all about the DRM that was imposed by the record companies. Thankfully, many of them are realizing that offering their music digitally and DRM free is not prone to the piracy issues they claim it would.