Brian! I just saw this the other day.
----- Original Message -----
From: "dennis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:18 PM
Subject: good news for winamp and ipod's
just got this story in a newsletter.
IPod users are raving about a plug-in that makes the Winamp digital
jukebox
a better way to manage the iPod than Apple's iTunes.
The plug-in, called
ml_iPod,
allows iPod users to bypass iTunes and manage music collections in
Winamp
instead. The iPod is supposed to work with iTunes only. A new version of
the
software was released Monday.
Justin Frankel, creator of Winamp and the open-source peer-to-peer
software
Gnutella, initially developed ml_iPod, but programming was taken over by
Will
Fisher, a computer science student in the U.K.
Fisher and other developers programmed a slew of features, including the
ability to synch multiple iPods with Winamp, create smart playlists
and --
the
most useful option -- the ability to copy songs from an iPod onto a hard
drive.
"A lot of the feedback I get is people thanking me for freeing them from
iTunes," said Fisher. "It shows the dissatisfaction people have with
iTunes."
Apple Computer did not respond to several requests for comment.
To prevent iPod users from easily copying vast libraries of songs from
computer to computer, Apple forbids tracks from being moved off the
iPod --
songs
can only be put onto the iPod. In addition, each iPod is associated with
a
single copy of iTunes. The association can be changed, but only if all
songs
on the iPod are erased.
Someone who keeps music on her computer at work could fill up her iPod
with
tracks, take it home and copy the songs onto a home computer using
ml_iPod
plugin
and Winamp.
"I firmly believe you should have the right to transfer your music with
any
application you like and if this requires software which circumvents DRM
(digital
rights management), then I don't believe this is ethically wrong," Fisher
said. "I trust our users to use this freedom responsibly and to not steal
music."
For songs purchased at the iTunes Music Store, which are copy protected
by
Apple's FairPlay DRM scheme, ml_iPod users must download an application
from
the
Hymn project,
which unlocks the copy protection. Then the ml_iPod plug-in must be
configured to run the hymn.exe file when it encounters protected files,
Fisher explained.
The ml_iPod plug-in has been downloaded half a million times. By
comparison,
EphPod,
a free utility that offers similar functionality, has been downloaded
43,000
times from
Download.com.
The plug-in works with all varieties of the iPod, but some users have
trouble getting the software to work with the iPod Shuffle. Fisher said
there are
plans to make the plug-in available for other digital music players.
ITunes for Windows is an approximately 21-MB download. By contrast,
Winamp
is 4.7 MB and the plug-in only takes up 130 KB of space.
"ITunes takes up a lot of resources on the computer. Winamp is a lot
faster," Fisher said. "Indeed, a lot of our users are still using Windows
98, which
iTunes doesn't work on."
Feedback about the plug-in is generally enthusiastic.
"Everything is a breeze and the interface is even easier to use than
iTunes," wrote Doug Sheffer on a Winamp message board.
"Using it with third-gen iPod and Windows ME," wrote Brian Cape in the
Winamp forum. "Absolutely superb, no problems at all. Congratulations and
thanks
-- I thought I was going to have to upgrade my PC to XP in order to use
the
iPod."
End of story
now maybe we can go to ipods new.
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