While the device itself is great, the software I used to use to transfer tracks to it (Anapod) no longer works. It's registered against my old iPod and you need the software developers to reset your registration key so you can use it with a new iPod, so I'm waiting to hear and to see if it still works with the iPod's updated database. So in the meantime to be able to transfer music to my new toy, plus get the ability to load those all important firmware upgrades, there was only one solution... to dance with the devil !! Enter iTunes....
Now I dabbled with iTunes a few years back and got frustrated with it very quickly - it was a case of nice interface but I don't want it trying to 'manage' my music collection; too many horror stories about it trashing people's files, plus as a tagger and database it just didn't cut it. Sure the new iTunes 7.4.something is as sexy as ever to look at and the Coverflow feature is a stroke of genius, but it's still the same old iTunes underneath with this Apple mentality of "you'll do it my way or not at all"!
For those of us who already have a collection of music outside iTunes, the software seems to give you two choices. First is to let iTunes take over and manage your collection. All your files are copied to it's "My Music" folder and you then have to use it's (rather weak) tagging and database functions to look after your tracks. Errr, no... Helium manages my music collection and that isn't going to change any time soon, so I opted for the alternative. Leave your mp3s where they are and simply point iTunes at them, in which case it scans the tags and then maintains a database of pointers back to the original files. All well and good but as soon as you change any tag data outside iTunes then you're stuffed because iTunes doesn't have a 're-sync' function to pick up the changed tags. I eventually found that to get updated tags, artwork, etc. into iTunes I had to shut it down, delete it's databse, reload it then use "Add Folders" to get it to re-scan my entire collection from scratch!!
So, I have resorted to using WinAmp 5.5 to transfer files to my iPod which is not ideal as it has a few bugs in it, plus I have to load the desired tracks into WinAmp's database before I can transfer them. Now I've seen numerous requests from people in the past - myself included - for a way for Helium to be able to manage your iPod, but all this made me stop and think. Apple, like Microsoft, like to keep changing things and a lot of the software that's out there that did work with the older generations of iPod has been broken because of the way Apple does things (as I guess is their right). So, you slave away re-writing your code to work with the new iPods, but then who's to say that the next iPod firmware upgrade won't break your code again. Great, you're trying to improve your own software, add features, schedule releases etc., but then you're also having to playing catch up with Apple at the drop of a hat when they decide to change something. Sounds like a thankless task. Good for Apple I guess because if more people are forced to use iTunes then that's a bigger potential audience for their Music Store (nice idea, shame about the DRM, pricing and 192Kbps limit).
I'm sure I had a point to make when I started this post, but old age and the need to go fetch a beer have got the better of me!
All the best...
