Cool stuff for your iPod

[Das war einmal]

The iPod is one of my favourite gadgets, I own a 80gb Ipod for over a year now and I take it with me everytime I am gonna travel.

Now you may notice that if you have one of the new generations of iPods, the majority of your albums has no cover art. This was annoying me, the only way was to download these from iTunes, but you need a creditcard in order to acces iTunes and outside of America, most people dont own a creditcard (atleast not in The Netherlands) so it seemed I had to deal with no cool images and lyrics....not really

After a while I found this program called iArt. Not only finds it the correct covers for your albums, but it also can locate the correct lyrics and it automatically puts them on your tracks! Now you can finally know what kind of stuff your favourite metalband is singing while you travel, you can even sing along with the revolutionary artists on your portable devise! (Do so at your own risk)

Another cool thing is the youtube downloader, with this, you can easily download all video's you can find on youtube. After you have done this, its just a simple click and the video is ready to be put on your iPod! I even converted whole movies with this program (it takes a while but its worth it if you have a long journey ahead of you).This program is entirely free

So I hope this information is useful to you. I am still looking for a cool program that can put the music on my iPod on every computer.

[MikeSC]

So I hope this information is useful to you. I am still looking for a cool program that can put the music on my iPod on every computer.

Ooh, I know this- you don't need a program. If you plug it into a computer (with auto-sync turned off) and don't do anything with iTunes you can go into the files and folders and copy them, if you have "Show Hidden" checked.

http://lifehacker.com/software/ipod/how-to-copy-songs-from-your-ipod-to-your-pc-105256.php

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2006142&tstart=120

Best to read the links rather than have me explain it, I wouldn't want to explain it wrong and erase your library :crying:

[BOZG]

You can get around the credit card issue on iTunes.

Open iTunes and switch your store to the US and then try and create the account. Just use an American address for your details and it will work no problem. I just used the address of an Apple retail store from here: http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/

[bezdomni]

You can ditch the apple firmware entirely and then your ipod is basically a portable hard drive that can play your music and has a flashy screen.

Rockbox is a free, open-source firmware replacement for iPods and other media players. There are some disadvantages (i.e., can't play video yet, won't work on ipod touch yet), but overall - it breaks the DRM crap that apple forces on you.

http://www.rockbox.org/

[Communist Theory]

You can ditch the apple firmware entirely and then your ipod is basically a portable hard drive that can play your music and has a flashy screen.

Rockbox is a free, open-source firmware replacement for iPods and other media players. There are some disadvantages (i.e., can't play video yet, won't work on ipod touch yet), but overall - it breaks the DRM crap that apple forces on you.

http://www.rockbox.org/
If you don't like the Rockbox can you switch back to the Apple firmware?

[choff]

You can ditch the apple firmware entirely and then your ipod is basically a portable hard drive that can play your music and has a flashy screen.

Rockbox is a free, open-source firmware replacement for iPods and other media players. There are some disadvantages (i.e., can't play video yet, won't work on ipod touch yet), but overall - it breaks the DRM crap that apple forces on you.



Are there any other noticable differences other than the lack of video player? I generally use Real Player to avoid iTunes when I put new stuff on my player: will I still be able to do that?

[bezdomni]

If you don't like the Rockbox can you switch back to the Apple firmware?

Yes, complete instructions are given in the manual on how to uninstall rockbox and restore your previous settings. I think you may even be able to do it through iTunes, but I'm not sure - I haven't wanted to go back to the apple firmware. However, you should carefully read the FAQ on the rockbox website, as well as the manual before installing it. Also, make sure that you are installing the correct version of rockbox for your MP3 player.


Are there any other noticable differences other than the lack of video player?
Yes, there are lots of new themes you can choose to install, lots of games, you can add/remove files and programs to/from your iPod as you desire...and apparently there even is a video player that kind of works.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/PluginMpegplayer

Sometimes, there may be undesirable things that happen...like battery life becomes shorter and you can fuck up your iPod by making a mistake with the installation or by doing something stupid later on. There is a bit of a trade off in some ways, but, at least for me, it was a beneficial trade off.


I generally use Real Player to avoid iTunes when I put new stuff on my player: will I still be able to do that?
No idea, I haven't used realplayer since 1999. :P

You definitely don't have to use iTunes though. If RealPlayer doesn't work, there are tons of other media players that will work.

[StalinFanboy]

You can ditch the apple firmware entirely and then your ipod is basically a portable hard drive that can play your music and has a flashy screen.

Rockbox is a free, open-source firmware replacement for iPods and other media players. There are some disadvantages (i.e., can't play video yet, won't work on ipod touch yet), but overall - it breaks the DRM crap that apple forces on you.

http://www.rockbox.org/
I dislike rockbox very much.

[choff]

Thanks for the information. I'm looking into it now. :D

EDIT: forgot you could click the 'thank user' button on this forum. Sorry for spam post.

[Fictional]

Recently bumped into this program:
tuneupmedia.com/ it's pretty nifty, helps clean up all your music, the free version only has limited use though, it's still pretty cheap for a years use.

[BOZG]

There's also Picard (http://musicbrainz.org/doc/PicardTagger) for cleaning up your music files. It's completely free.

[Fictional]

Thanking you kind Sir.

[mel]

There's also Picard (http://musicbrainz.org/doc/PicardTagger) for cleaning up your music files. It's completely free.

I just want to second this recommendation. MusicBrainz Picard is wonderful.

[Post-Something]

Anyone know where I can download good games for my ipod?

[eyedrop]

I recommend Textreader from cydia if you got a jailbroken touch or iphone, then you always got some ebooks in your pocket.

[mel]

Anyone know where I can download good games for my ipod?

If you use iPod Linux you can put doom and emulators on even older iPods. I'm not sure what Rockbox has, and there may be a couple of free games on iTunes, but I don't think you can put any unofficial games on a normal iPod without some kind of modified firmware.

[RHIZOMES]

I ad Album Artwork simply by going "Get Info > Album Artwork" then copy/paste the cover from the net. :huh:

[mel]

I ad Album Artwork simply by going "Get Info > Album Artwork" then copy/paste the cover from the net. :huh:

That's fine if you don't have hundreds or thousands of albums. If you do, an automated solution is nice.

[Fictional]

4220 songs, I tried the copy/paste method but got bored after a few minutes, I'll get that Picard tonight if I can remember.

[eyedrop]

I ad Album Artwork simply by going "Get Info > Album Artwork" then copy/paste the cover from the net. :huh:

My iTunes has a Get album Artwork button under the advanced column that work pretty well.

Ilyrics also works pretty well if you want to get the lyrics for your songs.

[mel]

My iTunes has a Get album Artwork button under the advanced column that work pretty well.

That requires an iTunes Store account, which people can't get outside of the US without a credit card, which is why you need a 3rd party solution. It also fails miserably on relatively obscure music.

GimmeSomeTune is great for lyrics on a mac, it only works as you are playing the song, but if you listen to a lot of music eventually it will find a lot of your lyrics.

[eyedrop]

That requires an iTunes Store account, which people can't get outside of the US without a credit card, which is why you need a 3rd party solution. It also fails miserably on relatively obscure music.


You can trick itunes by creating an account on an empty gift card an create your account that way without a credit card. I got an iTunes store account not connected to my credit card. Apple really suck at getting their will trough.

But I can agree that it isn´t really that good.

[DecDoom]

Rockbox is all well and good if you have an iPod that's old enough. I have a 4th Gen Nano, so no Rockbox for me.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Why use Apple hardware in the first place? You can get MP3 players with just as much if not more storage space, no DRM whatsoever, better compatibility and better sound quality, for a lower price.

[BOZG]

That requires an iTunes Store account, which people can't get outside of the US without a credit card, which is why you need a 3rd party solution. It also fails miserably on relatively obscure music.

GimmeSomeTune is great for lyrics on a mac, it only works as you are playing the song, but if you listen to a lot of music eventually it will find a lot of your lyrics.

You can get around the credit card issue on iTunes.

Open iTunes and switch your store to the US and then try and create the account. Just use an American address for your details and it will work no problem. I just used the address of an Apple retail store from here: http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/ (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/)

[BOZG]

Why use Apple hardware in the first place? You can get MP3 players with just as much if not more storage space, no DRM whatsoever, better compatibility and better sound quality, for a lower price.

I got mine free.

[eyedrop]

I got mine free.

Same here (present) (, but aside from that:

- Getting the pleasure of tricking all the restrictions apple put in place.
- Using the phone without the AT&T sim card it was sold with, therefore getting it cheaper than an likewise cell phone would have been sold for. (or 0,40 of the retail price on it here)
- The gigantic number of user created content (cydia, installer and some on apple store)

[mel]

Why use Apple hardware in the first place? You can get MP3 players with just as much if not more storage space, no DRM whatsoever, better compatibility and better sound quality, for a lower price.

By and large this was not true for a long time. For a while apple and archos were the only companies that made a player with a capacity over 60 gigs, and these days nobody makes a player comparable to the iPod touch. Oh and DRM Is only an issue if you buy from the iTunes store, there's no hardware DRM. Sound quality is more a limiting factor of your music files (mine are apple lossless) and headphones than the iPod hardware. If you're willing to sacrifice storage capacity or portability (the archos players are massive) for price and compatibility then that's your call, but for a long time appple was the only provider of a high-capacity portable solution.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

By and large this was not true for a long time. For a while apple and archos were the only companies that made a player with a capacity over 60 gigs, and these days nobody makes a player comparable to the iPod touch.

Absolute (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=Creative+Zen&oe=utf-8&cid=13577556898352104204&sa=button#p) rubbish (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?gbv=2&hl=en&safe=off&q=iPod+touch&cid=14662530176312201060&sa=button#p). The reason iPods are so popular is because of marketing.

Compare the prices. If people actually did some digging instead of falling for the hype, they would save themselves the indignity of wasting money in order to convince themselves they're tech-savvy.

What people seldom remember is that electronic goods, when first produced, are more expensive, less reliable, and bank on reputation of the brand rather than the product, since it's the big companies that can crank out the stuff in order to meet initial demand. Or not, as the case may be.
But no, people want their shiny toys nooooooow, and act all indignant when they fuck up or otherwise don't meet their expectations. Whatever the situation is, the fact remains that it pays to shop around.


Sound quality is more a limiting factor of your music files (mine are apple lossless) and headphones than the iPod hardware. If you're willing to sacrifice storage capacity or portability (the archos players are massive) for price and compatibility then that's your call, but for a long time appple was the only provider of a high-capacity portable solution.Yes, but not any more. The only reason now I can think of for choosing an iPod over a comparable player made by not-Apple is the ability to put on stuff one bought from the iTunes store, but if you're actually going to pay for your music you might as well buy the actual physical album and then rip it as you please (which is dead easy especially with analogue recordings, and even CD copy protection is trivial to circumvent). In this manner, you still have pretty much immediate access to the music you paid for if, for example, your PC or MP3 player stops working or gets wiped. Also buying physical records gets you stuff that you just can't get from lines of code - posters, lyrics, inserts, all that stuff - sure, you could have digital equivalents of such things, but the ephemeral nature of digital media is still present. Also, the money you save from not paying for the Apple brand means more cash you can spend on say, better earphones or more music.

I don't know, maybe I'm just a skinflint who wants as much control as possible over the media that I enjoy. I like being able to freely copy my music as many times as I want, without some fat-cat bastard in a suit twisting my arm at a digital remove. I like paying for an actual product to hold in my hands, stick in a CD player, pin up on my walls or place on my shelves. If you're going to be listening to music on a portable player, why pay any more than you absolutely have to? Don't you want to listen to music, rather than line some already-rich fucker's pockets?

[mel]

Absolute (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=Creative+Zen&oe=utf-8&cid=13577556898352104204&sa=button#p) rubbish (http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?gbv=2&hl=en&safe=off&q=iPod+touch&cid=14662530176312201060&sa=button#p). The reason iPods are so popular is because of marketing.

That's true, iPods are only as popular as they are because of marketing, but you provided no player comparable to the iPod touch (unless you completely ignore all of the applications, the only reason to get an iPod touch) and it's still true that for a very long time, the only two companies to make an 80gb player (or higher) were Apple and Archos. The archos player was huge and bulky, and the iPod was a good fit for me. I got my first iPod because I had more music than I could fit on a Zen Vision:M (which maxed out at 60gb) and all of the other major manufacturers had moved away from Hard Disk players (iRiver/Rio).


Compare the prices. If people actually did some digging instead of falling for the hype, they would save themselves the indignity of wasting money in order to convince themselves they're tech-savvy.

Indeed, if most people who needed a flash-based player or a lower-capacity hard disk player had done more research, they could have gotten a cheaper player and saved a lot of money. That said, the iPod was the only mp3 player option (besides the clunky archos) for people who wanted a high-capacity player a few years back.


What people seldom remember is that electronic goods, when first produced, are more expensive, less reliable, and bank on reputation of the brand rather than the product, since it's the big companies that can crank out the stuff in order to meet initial demand. Or not, as the case may be.
But no, people want their shiny toys nooooooow, and act all indignant when they fuck up or otherwise don't meet their expectations. Whatever the situation is, the fact remains that it pays to shop around.

Of course it pays to shop around, and after shopping around, some people decide to get an iPod for a variety of reasons ranging from its interface (some mp3 players I've used were absolute garbage to interact with), to its capacity, to its size (Apple still makes smaller players for their capacity than most of its competitors) or their warranty/customer service.


Yes, but not any more. The only reason now I can think of for choosing an iPod over a comparable player made by not-Apple is the ability to put on stuff one bought from the iTunes store, but if you're actually going to pay for your music you might as well buy the actual physical album and then rip it as you please (which is dead easy especially with analogue recordings, and even CD copy protection is trivial to circumvent). In this manner, you still have pretty much immediate access to the music you paid for if, for example, your PC or MP3 player stops working or gets wiped. Also buying physical records gets you stuff that you just can't get from lines of code - posters, lyrics, inserts, all that stuff - sure, you could have digital equivalents of such things, but the ephemeral nature of digital media is still present. Also, the money you save from not paying for the Apple brand means more cash you can spend on say, better earphones or more music.

There are still only 3 companies that produce a HDD player above 60gb, and they are Apple, Microsoft, and Archos. Microsoft is at least as bad on the DRM front as Apple. Archos is still bulky, and still expensive because it has a massive screen and isn't really meant to be an "mp3 player" so much as a "handheld media player", and that leaves the iPod Classic at 120gb for somebody who wants a high-capacity digital music selection.


I don't know, maybe I'm just a skinflint who wants as much control as possible over the media that I enjoy. I like being able to freely copy my music as many times as I want, without some fat-cat bastard in a suit twisting my arm at a digital remove. I like paying for an actual product to hold in my hands, stick in a CD player, pin up on my walls or place on my shelves. If you're going to be listening to music on a portable player, why pay any more than you absolutely have to? Don't you want to listen to music, rather than line some already-rich fucker's pockets?

Yeah, I want to listen to music. All of my music. That means that I need an iPod or a Zune, and the Zune doesn't work on Linux or Mac, which leaves me with one option: an iPod.

[bezdomni]

I dislike rockbox very much.

Congratulations?