Yesterday I read the amusing yet disturbing article Apple to iPod owners: "Eat shit and die" (http://www.boingboing.net/2004/10/30/apple_to_ipod_owners.html) at BoingBoing. It appears Apple is trying everything to stop you from moving your OWN music data stored on your iPod back to your computer. This is what you get when you "upgrade" to the latest iTunes V4.7.

Remember when Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer stated that most iPod users were thieves using stolen music? The Apple fan community was aghast (http://www.ipodlounge.com/ipodnews_comments.php?id=5158_0_7_0_C) and had certainly no nice words left for Balmer:

This from a company that knows nothing about "Fair Play".

Balmer is trolling and is also a ****ing retard. Monkey Boy.

This is very typical from Microsoft. They think that if you competitior is doing better than you, you should buy them. If you can't buy them, create bad publicity.

I have a couple of words to say to Mr. Balmer. Unfortunetly, MacRumors' filter would turn them into a bunch of *s.

Microsoft must be ashamed.

Can we say "Inferiority Complex" or "Why didn't we steal that too?".

How ironic, in retrospetive :D Balmer was perhaps trying to make some bad press about his competitor, but Apple is now the one who is, in BoingBoing's words, devoting time, money, and lawyer- and engineer-hours to breaking your iPod and selling it to you as a "fix." I feel sorry for all loyal Apple lovers, who must feel like being stabbed in the back! (not without a big smirk in my face)

Aren't there iTunes alternatives available that still allow you to copy files back from your iPod?

Aren't there iTunes alternatives available that still allow you to copy files back from your iPod?

There certainly are. I use Anapod from Red Chair Software (http://www.redchairsoftware.com) and can't recommend it too highly. And you don't need iTunes to play AAC files on your pc either, you can download a plugin for Real Player. Having said that, I do still use iTunes, for ripping CDs, since AAC is sonically superior to MP3.

Maybe one of the dictates of those big monkeys at RIAA. But as long as they don't fiddle with the transfered mp3s, you can use ipod as external harddisc to copy them back. Sony's latest mp3/video playback device (from Gadgeteer's review) even wrap DRM around the mp3 it transfers to the portable device and that mp3 (not ATRAC, take note) will not play when transferred back to PC.

If Apple does keep limiting the users options, there will be other who will be happy to fill the void, even if will have to be second-tier generic players (top tier players are more likely to follow the monkeys at RIAA). It's stupid to penalize us, the legal music lovers who pay for their music through CDs and legal music store just because a handful trade them illegally off the internet.

Hey,

I use podutil and it works great for me. I have a 2nd gereration ipod. If my computer fails again all of my music is retrievable. It also lets you modify contacts on it. This utility works for os9 and osx. Get it here http://www.download.com/PodUtil/3000-2232_4-10292843.html?tag=lst-0-7 .