99¢ isn't really that bad. Is it?
Written: Apr 30 '05
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| Full Review |
How many people remember Napster? How many of you hadn’t thought of it in years until I mentioned it just now? While it was fun to be able to download stuff for free, you have to admit that it wasn’t destined to last. All good things must come to an end. Right? Shortly after Napster went legal, a host of other similar services cropped up. One of them was iTunes, which is actually designed to work with the iPod.
I started using iTunes a few months ago when I got an iPod. If you don’t want to spend several hundred on an iPod to get iTunes, you can download iTunes through Apple’s Web site. However, this review is going to be written from the perspective of someone who is using iTunes with iPod. I think that the biggest difference was that I didn’t have to download the software. I don’t think that I would have used iTunes if I had to download the software.
You have to use the software to download songs from iTunes. You also have to use iTunes to listen to downloaded songs. You can’t buy the stuff directly from a Web site. I should also warn you that if you have an iPod, you have to use iTunes. If you have iTunes, you’ll have to get another program if you get a different mp3 player. However, the software will work independently of the iPod, allowing you to play the music on your computer.
The software is designed to access the iTunes store and to manage your purchases. Most songs cost 99¢, although some are available for free as samples. There are also tracks that are given out exclusively when you purchase the entire album. For instance, when I went to buy a track from a Blue Man Group single, there were two tracks that I could buy only if I got the entire thing. I could buy the others individually, if I wanted.
If you’re buying an entire album, you’ll find that most cost $9.99, although some cost more. An album will never cost more than the total price of its individual tracks, so an album with five tracks won’t cost more than $4.95. You can also get audiobooks, which is good if you listen to them. I don’t listen to audiobooks, so I would have no interest in them. My mother does like them, but would probably have no use for the iPod. It’s just as easy for her to get audiocassettes.
You’re probably wondering how you find everything. To search for anything, you have to be connected to the Internet. Once connected, you can browse, but this isn’t that easy. The best way to find something you want is to enter it into a search box located in the upper right corner. This is where iTunes fails. With a traditional store, you can look through its inventory or go straight to a title you want. If you have trouble looking for something, you can ask for help. With iTunes, you have to have some idea of what it is you’re looking for. I’ve had times where I’ve only had a very vague idea of what I want.
There are some things that make searching easier. For instance, you can import mp3 files that you’ve had from before installing iTunes. Hopefully, the song information will have been filled in, which will give you the option of searching by artist, title or genre by clicking an arrow next to the name, title or genre of any song. (If not, then the songs will simply have the file name to indicate which file is which song.)
I have been able to find many of the songs that I want, but they’re not always exact matches. I found one song, but it wasn’t the right mix. Also, I had to buy and download several remixes to find the one I wanted. It wasn’t that bad because I had a few free tracks. (I’ll explain later.)
When you download a song, it’s put in a default directory. I think you can change it, but I like leaving settings on the default. You’re responsible for backing up the files. If you lose it, you have to pay for it again. I suppose that it’s like losing a CD. Either you or your insurance company is responsible for buying a new one. It’s not the store’s responsibility to replace lost music.
The good news is that the price is for unlimited use. With Napster, I believe that you have to continue to pay the monthly fee to continue to listen to the music. I like being able to not pay for the same song twice.
The actual downloading can be a pain if you have dial-up, like I do. I made the mistake of getting a 24-minute track simply because it was free. 24 minutes of play time can translate into an hour of download time. There was an interview with George Carlin that aired on NPR. I’d like to download it, but the actual length of the track is almost an hour. The cost is only a few dollars, which isn’t a problem. What is a problem is that you can’t resume a download with iTunes. If I were to download 99% of it and have to stop the download, I’d have to start all over again.
Another thing I should warn you about is that there are no refunds. Once you start downloading a song, you can’t cancel. I wouldn’t have minded canceling the 24-minute song since it was free, but iTunes wouldn’t let me. You simply can’t cancel.
You also can’t download multiple songs, like you could with other programs. It’s not a problem, really. I have limited bandwidth, which means that the total download time will be the same. It’s just a problem if I have one of those long tracks.
Once you’ve downloaded or imported tracks, you can create play lists. A play list can contain any arrangement of songs that you like. I have one for stuff that’s under a minute in length. There are also some default lists, like recently played songs.
The sound quality of the tracks that I’ve downloaded is pretty good. Most people either won’t notice the difference or won’t care. I’m sure that there are some that will pick up on a difference, but this should be a small percentage of the population. Part of it is that they use a different file format. The files are encoded so that you can’t use them with another program. You can authorize the use of the file on several computers if you have several computers. I only have one, so it’s not an issue.
Paying is pretty simple. You can use credit cards and PayPal to pay. I don’t know about checks, but I don’t think you can. When I signed up, there was a promotion where if you signed up using PayPal, you got five free songs, so I used that first. I also got a $10 gift ‘certificate’ which was emailed to me, so I was able to put money into my account that way. I also got a few free tracks from the recent promotion with Pepsi and Mountain Dew.
When you’re looking at the store’s main menu, you will be able to view how much money you have left in the upper right corner. It will say how much money you have plus how many free tracks you have. It might say something like $10.00 + 5 tracks (or simply $5.00 or 6 tracks) and will deduct the money from your account as you go. If you run out of money, you’re billed at the end of the week.
If you’re worried about someone else buying stuff using your account, you do have to use your email address and enter a password, which you’ll be prompted for each time you go to buy something. It will also prompt you for this every time you go to resume downloading other songs.
Using iTunes does have its advantages. It’s nice to be able to buy one song at a time. I’ve come across plenty of albums that I’ve purchased because I liked one song only to find out that the other songs were crappy. The disadvantage is that you really can’t do a review of an album based on one song. You can burn your own CDs using iTunes, but I have yet to try this. Since I have an iPod, I use that to listen to the music. There’s really no point to burning a CD.
One problem that I initially encountered was a fade between songs. It would usually cut off the last few seconds of a song, but I found a way to get rid of this so that it always plays the entire song. You can also shuffle the songs, which is great. Even if you’re using your computer, you don’t have to listen to the songs in any particular order.
You can also select songs not to be played on the computer. It’s rare that I do this. If I don’t want to listen to a song, it’s because I don’t like the song, in which case I delete it. There are a few songs that don’t sound so great on my computer or that I wouldn’t want someone walking in on, so I select those not to be played on the computer. (This has no effect on what plays on your iPod.)
There are also ‘radio’ stations, which play different formats of music, such as trance or rock. I haven’t used these much, mostly because you have to be connected to the Internet to do so, which isn’t easy with dial-up. I usually end up listening to the stuff that I’ve downloaded.
You can also consolidate your library, which simply means that it puts everything into one folder. I tried this once, but it looked like it would take too long, so I canceled. I had to remove the duplicate songs manually, which wasn’t fun.
Sorting is pretty easy. There are many different file attributes that you can see, such as play count, rating and track length. If you click on the little rectangle above the track number, you can add or remove the attribute lists so that you’re left only with the information that you want to look at. You can also use this to autosize all columns.
I think that’s about it. It’s been over two months that I’ve been using iTunes and I’m still figuring stuff out. If there’s anything major, I’ll be sure to add it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Brian Kuhl
Location: Biscayne Park, FL, USA
Reviews written: 1177
Trusted by: 135 members
About Me:
I'm saving up for a D300.
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