Apple iTunes / iPod lawsuits

[drogulus]

    The iPod plays mp3, WAV, AAC, and ALAC. I wish it played FLAC as well, but overall it's versatile, sounds very good, and seems to be durable. Since other players can't seem to manage gapless play (without a firmware change) it's essentially unbeatable. I won't even consider a different player until they fix this.

[Joe_Campbell]

    The iPod plays mp3, WAV, AAC, and ALAC. I wish it played FLAC as well, but overall it's versatile, sounds very good, and seems to be durable. Since other players can't seem to manage gapless play (without a firmware change) it's essentially unbeatable. I won't even consider a different player until they fix this.

I have one as well. Do you know if they play .ape?

[Bonehelm]

It seems hopeless, so many apple fanboys are around here. I never said iPod was a bad product in general (although they do scratch easily), but there are just so many better for SO much cheaper. Sadly, all those cheap and good brands are largely unknown.

[Joe_Campbell]

And you're irrationally dismissing the iPod because so many people like it. Admit it.

I thought the term fanboys only existed in video game forums

[Bonehelm]

And you're irrationally dismissing the iPod because so many people like it. Admit it.

I thought the term fanboys only existed in video game forums

So because so many people like something, it must be good?

I like to be special, thank you very much.

[Joe_Campbell]

So because so many people like something, it must be good?

I like to be special, thank you very much.

The irony is, you're implying that because so many people like something, it must be bad. That's just as lame an argument as the straw-man you're creating for other people. It sucks that the actual reasonable recommendations as alternatives to the iPod are masked inside knee-jerk reactions to perceived trendy product monopolies.

My main gripe with the iPod is its exclusive formatting for movies, which is pretty much only the quicktime formatting. Converting movies or video clips is a major pain.

[BachQ]

The irony is, you're implying that because so many people like something, it must be bad.

We know a great many people who like your post ........ Therefore __________ .........

[JoshLilly]

[BachQ]

You will own an iPod ....... someday ........

[JoshLilly]

Don't tell the Monopoly Guy what he will and will not do. He will smash you with his giant thimble.

[BachQ]

Don't tell the Monopoly Guy what he will and will not do. He will smash you with his giant thimble.

I'll run away in my monopoly car ........

[Joe_Campbell]

We know a great many people who like your post ........ Therefore __________ .........

haha...based on responses, I wasn't aware ANYONE liked my post.

[drogulus]

I have one as well. Do you know if they play .ape?

     No. If what you want is lossless, you can use ALAC. I use WMA lossless for my archive, which iTunes can convert to a compatible format for playing on the iPod. Sonically this works quite well. The files on the iPod are AAC at ~300kbps made with the Nero encoder, and I can't tell the difference between them and the WMA lossless files they were made from.

[andy]

My main gripe with the iPod is its exclusive formatting for movies, which is pretty much only the quicktime formatting. Converting movies or video clips is a major pain.

I hear ya on this. I wish iPods would support dvix and xvid. I imagine Apple doesn't to act like they don't support piracy, because those codecs are most definitely associated with piracy.

I wish iPods would play lame files as well... ape would be nice too. Apple lossless works well for me though, since I use iTunes and have an iPod.

[BachQ]

Apple hit with patent-infringement lawsuit over iTunes and iPods

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

(03-12) 17:35 PDT San Francisco (AP) --


Apple Inc. was sued Wednesday over allegations its iTunes online music store and iPod music players are illegally using a patented method for distributing digital media over the Internet.


Atlanta-based ZapMedia Services Inc. sued Apple in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accusing the Cupertino-based company of violating two ZapMedia patents.


ZapMedia wants royalties on Apple's sales of iPods and iTunes music, which reached nearly $11 billion last year. The success of iTunes has helped make Apple the No. 2 music retailer in the U.S. behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to market researcher NPD Group.


The patents in question cover a way of sending music and other digital content from servers to multiple media players, a broad description that could also apply to a wide swath of other companies selling digital media and the devices to play it.


ZapMedia applied for the patents in 1999. One was granted in March 2006, the other on Tuesday.


ZapMedia said it met with Apple to discuss licensing, but Apple rebuffed the offer.


"When someone takes our vision and our intellectual property without a license after several attempts, we have no option but to protect it through every means available to us," Robert Frohwein, ZapMedia's general counsel, said in a statement.


An Apple spokeswoman said the company doesn't comment on pending lawsuits.

[DavidW]

This moron. And iTunes Plus tracks are not DRM-"choked."

But they cost more than the regular itunes tracks.  There are many sites (like amazon) that offer drm free high bit rate at a lower price than itunes plus.

[drogulus]

    I've bought a few mp3 albums from Amazon, and I've been pleased so far. As more music labels go DRM-free, the more useful Amazon is. Hey, they have Lyrita! If you check out composers in the mp3 download section, you'll see there's already a lot available.