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iTunes Agent - Today's Free File
Let's face it: brand lock-in sucks. While nobody will refute the fact that iTunes coupled with an iPod is a
match made in heaven, for the "rest of us" that can't afford the overpriced mp3 players and are stuck with a
more regular model, the situation is not nearly as peachy. For us, moving media to and from our devices is a manual
chore, and one that does not sync up with how we listen to our music, or the playlists that we've created. In short,
the experience is lacking.
Luckily, someone is doing something about this. The iTunes Agent is a utility that will interface between your mp3 player and iTunes, and offer you most of the same features that users of iPods enjoy. Now since this seems to horn in on functionality that Apple relies on to help drive sales of iPods, I can't imagine them tolerating this project for too long. Which is really unfortunate, since no matter how well you're able to emulate the experience of using an iPod with iTunes, it's never really the same. So hopefully Apple will just let this little project continue on its merry way.
So, um, grab a copy while you can.
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsmacmaxbhMar 6th 2006 9:26AM
What confused me about this is that other MP3 players DO work with iTunes--but apparently only the Mac version, the Windows version only works with the iPod:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93548
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93377
kotj.mfMar 6th 2006 11:14AM
"For us, moving media to and from our devices is a manual chore, and one that does not sync up with how we listen to our music..."
Huh? Speak for yourself. The fact that other mp3 players DON'T require that bloated garbage to function is nothing but a plus in *my* book.
BTW, I own Shuffle, so I'm not speaking completely outta my rear. I use this excellent Python script to make it work:
http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/
TribeMar 6th 2006 11:38AM
"The fact that other mp3 players DON'T require that bloated garbage to function is nothing but a plus in *my* book."
haha...their so-called bloated software IS THE REASON THE IPOD IS SUCH A HIT. In classic mac fashiond, it's the software that makes the difference. You're not really buying their harware, your buying their software. And you may think its garbage, but there is nothing that rivals it.
JamesMar 6th 2006 5:52PM
Im gonna have to go with kotj here, iTunes made me regret buying my iPod. Why anyone would want to use it especially if they aren't forced to is beyond me.
Don't get me wrong, its a great bit of hardware, but not everyone wants to "sync" everything (and don't even try to use the same iPod on 2 different computers). Some of us like complete control over the things we own.
Stand up and take a bow, MediaMonkey.
FranklinMar 6th 2006 6:17PM
I've wanted something like this for my Olympus digital voice recorder (whichh can also play MP3 files) for a long time now, and iTunes Agent works with it perfectly. My digital recorder is a 6-year-old model, so it's a testament to how well iTunes Agent is if it can sync this old gadget of mine with the latest version of iTunes.
Hopefully, the developer of iTunes Agent has designed his application in such a way where it can't be readily broken by Apple.
bobMar 7th 2006 2:21AM
"For us, moving media to and from our devices is a manual chore, and one that does not sync up with how we listen to our music, or the playlists that we've created. In short, the experience is lacking."
Except for those of us who use NomadSync to synchronize our MP3s and WinAmp playlists to our Creative MP3 players...Poor us...We have to suffer with WinAmp's sleek, non-bloated interface...