iTunes alternatives?

[Slayer2003]

What do you guys use, INSTEAD of iTunes?

I won an iPod Shuffle, at a Christmas party last month, and it just arrived today.

I refuse to use iTunes, for the same reason I refuse to buy an XBOX. And, it looks like there's quite a few alternatives. Looking at Anapod Explorer for now, but can't decide.


Free programs are welcome, but if a program costing gets high enough praise, I'll consider it. :)

[Echo_]

winamp with the ipod plug in

[dfonda]

Anapod is what I checked out and was going to use....But since itunes was free I tried it.

End of story :)

[zip22]

I refuse to use iTunes, for the same reason I refuse to buy an XBOX.

which is because...

[grumperfish]

I use Musikcube for playing music, and Itunes only when I need to update my music library.

[link1305]

winamp with the ipod plug in

[InfamousHindu]

i think iTunes is the ****.

[madcow235]

I see no reason to not use iTunes to synch an ipod. To listen to music I use Foobar but to synch i use iTunes

[sulretal]

I use iTunes for everything music related! Though this could possibly be because I purchase songs on it and I own a shuffle; but nevertheless it is a good program !

[hUMANbEATbOX]

winamp with the ipod plug in

i hate itunes with a passion.

i add music that i've ripped FROM MY OWN PERSONAL COLLECTION, and it is nowhere to be found in itunes. it literally only shows about half of my music. its bloated, it runs pretty bad, and just the fact that apple ONLY wants us to use itunes for me warrants a switch to something else. winamp + itunes plugin allows you to transfer music OFF OF your ipod as well, so i can dump music back and forth between my desktop and my laptop.

oh and the newest version of itunes has spyware to boot : http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28999

[sulretal]

Just don't install new versions,

[hUMANbEATbOX]

that isn't really a solution to all the other crappy aspects of itunes. :P

and you know what? a company uses spyware, they are in my bad books. i've only got a 4gb ipod mini now, i will for sure be upgrading soon, and i will for sure buy something other than an ipod.

[zip22]

thats not spyware in a severe sense. if you use free email services, they do pretty much the same thing. it sees what you look at, and sends you an ad.

what filetypes didn't show up in itunes for you?

[hUMANbEATbOX]

it IS severe spyware in the sense that is scans files on YOUR computer, reports its findings back to apple, and then they send you ads on albums you might like. how do you know that's all they are doing with the information they collect? and just how long are they going to keep this information? and do they ever ASK you if they can invade your privacy? do they have anyone to answer to on the subject? no.....

this may seem like its "no big deal" that they are just giving you ads based on what you like, but companies such as apple have your whole lifetime to build a portfolio on everything about you. every aspect of your life. they could trade your music tastes to another company for info on your fav movies. that info in turn gets traded to another company for info on something else. tactics like this open the door down the line for all kinds of abuse. if noone puts up a fight against it now, it will be assumed in the future that that's the way we want it. but by then it will be too late...nothing will be private.

gmail giving me ads beside my emails is much different. first, it does not scan files on my computer, and second, its not installed on my machine.

about my missing music, its not so much file types, its complete chunks of my library.

i rip all my music into mp3, i've got a folder with probably 120 albums in it, all in their own folder. i add the whole thing to itunes, and only about 80 albums show. also, albums i put on my ipod often get messed up so badly (example a compilation cd with lots of diff artists), every track gets split into its own "album" and own "artist" heading so i have to go and find them all, add them to my on the go playlist, and then FINALLY i can listen to the album.

WHY do i have to sort my music into album, artist, blah blah blah...

WHY can't i just drag and drop onto my ipod from my music folder?

oh i know, cuz itunes is stupid, that's why.

since i found winamps ipod plugin, i have enjoyed my ipod MUUUCH much much more.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

sorry for the rant^^

to get back on track:

i too was looking at the Anapod explorer, it seems to me like its exactly what i'm looking for. too bad it costs $$. i think they would make a whole lot more $$ if they made it freeware, and collected donations instead.

[zip22]

you're blaming itunes for your messed up tags?

i doubt itunes scans your files. they probably scan the itunes database file. its tailored marketing. like i said, if you close it, it doesn't send anything.

also, im 100% sure they do tell you about it and that you agree to it when you install the program.

[hUMANbEATbOX]

no, i'm not blaming ipod for my tags. the other mp3 players i've owned allowed me to drag and drop a folder onto my player, and when i went to listen to it, it was where i expected it to be. i just wish it were the same with itunes.

and maybe i am getting a bit worked up over nothing, but if you take a look around, i'm not the only one who thinks they are on a slippery slope. digital rights advocacy groups are worried. perhaps it will never be abused, but the potential is there for this type of behavior to evolve and become something much more devious within the next 5-10 years.

hold onto your hats....

[zip22]

what are they going to do with it?

[hUMANbEATbOX]

did you read my post?

look, i'm no conspiracy theorist with tinfoil covered windows or anything. im just a guy who values privacy.

i have no crystal ball, i have no time machine. all i have is good sense.

*EDIT* also, i was just curious to know what is your definition of "spyware in a severe sense"? do you mean that it can severely slow down a machine? is that the ONLY concern you have with it?

[Dermen]

You shouldn't use any version of itunes after 5. There is still no way to unlock your music files with version 6 unless you burn them to a CD and import them again. My only problem with itunes is that ipods are the only mp3 players that will play music purchased with itunes. With version 5 or earlier its easy to get around that with jhymn.