ipod connection for 06?

Dripps,

I also have a huge collection of digital music. Any music that you have ripped or otherwise put onto your computer is "owned by you"... and plays just fine on the iPod.

However... there is a new business model brewing that obsoletes the entire concept of "owning" any music at all. For example... with the online music services you pay a monthly fee... and you instantly have access to "all of you music in the world"... but you do not own it... you simply have a subscription access to it.

With this new model... you have a much broader access to much more music... and it will play on your computers, digital music players in your living room... or on your portable devices. So even though I personally have nearly 300GB of digital music... I feel that it is paltry compared to what is available via the online music vendors.

Unfortunately... right now Apple iTunes only supports the "buy a song for $0.99" model which is incredibly expensive. I do expect that Apple will some day move to the subscription model... and I will be quite happy when that happens. However... if you want to experience this model right now... Apple is a lousy choice.

I still buy iPods over the other brands... but this does frustrate the hell out of me. One of two things would satisfy me:
1) Apple openly liceense their DRM
2) iTunes support a subscription model

I am not holding my breath for #1. I suspect that at some point... Apple will determine there is a business incentive for #2.

/Jim

 

I read an interesting tid-bit in this mornings SJ Mercury News. The iPod accessory market has continued to grow significantly... and Q405 alone exceeded $1B.

/Jim

 

Actually, he REALLY didn't want me to have what everyone else had...hence the iRiver! See I am kind of different...hence the Prius...

I really love my Prius and my iRiver and I think that now I know how to hook them up together I will love them even more, I just had no idea what to use...thanks to everyone who gave input!

 

How is $0.99 per song "incredibly expensive" compared to the the standard $14 per CD which contains 12 songs, 10 of which you don't want? It makes no sense to compare that with a subscriber model where you just rent the music. With that model, as soon as you stop paying all your music goes poof.

 

Consider that Apple sells and markets the 60GB iPod which holds 15,000 songs. Are you willing to pay $15,000 to fill it up?

With a music subscription service at $5/month... you could have all of this music and more downloaded and available to use. If you music preferences change... you can throw it all away and download 15,000 different songs.

Which is cheaper?

/Jim

 

After 248 years, iTunes pays itself off, assuming you got exactly 15,000 songs each way ;-)

I for one prefer per-song payments, as I've only bought a few albums online. I would really hate to have to pay a monthly fee to keep listening to them! How many people really plan to buy 15,000 songs online? Also, most albums are more than 10 songs and only cost $10, so it gets a bit better.

Though remember, if you buy songs from other services, they can't be put on the iPod (without a lot of work). There may be people that prefer other players, but Apple sold 14 million iPods in the last quarter. Selling nearly 155,000 units PER DAY speaks a lot for what's the most popular out there!

 

Agree that the iPod is by far the most popular music device. They are doing an incredible job. I do predict that iTunes will come up with a subscription model eventually. That way both camps (subscription and pay-per-song) could get what they want.

/Jim

 

I love the subscription idea but not the reality of it which is that 75% of the music I listen to is unavailable through Yahoo/Napster. iTunes isn't too much better but at least I'm not paying a monthly fee for it not to have what I want.

 

RadioShack part number 42-2497 Stereo Audio Cable works fine. It's 12 inches long with 1/8 stereo mini plugs on both ends and costs $5. Good luck!

 

I think ipods are incredibly well-desiged and the easiest to use of all the mp3 players.
But I had to return it!
Our public libraries have started offering digital books for download. They seem to have chosen Microsoft's DRM technology for that.
So that means, in order to listen to that stuff, I have to go with an Mp3 player based on Microsoft's standards.. which is any Mp3 player except an ipod.
But, I don't really like anything I see out there that is not an ipod :-(
So, I don't have an mp3 player yet.
Hopefully, by the time our prius comes, I will find something remotely as cool as on ipod and that supports Microsoft's DRM stuff.

 

i've been having problems with my ipod plugged in to the aux jack -- i figured it would just work as a simple "audio out" or analog system just like a pair of headphones, but the prius somehow makes the ipod scroll through (skip) all the songs i purchased through itunes and won't play until it gets to a song in mp3 or wav format i converted from old CD's. anyone have a simple solution for this?

i did find one poor solution which was to use a casette adapter from the ipod to an old walkman which i then connected to the aux and everything works fine with this convoluted setup...

 

Huh? I don't know what you're referring to. The AUX in is just an audio input. I've played songs purchased from iTMS thru that input, thru tape adapters (in a car I no longer have), thru headphones and thru speakers hooked up to the headphone out. MP3s and podcasts (some in AAC) work fine too.

The source of your problem is somewhere else.

 

Ya, I got a shuffle given to me for Christmas. I iTuned it on my PC and loaded up a bunch of songs from my purchased cds. It was ok, but limited. Then I plugged it into my Mac to check it out for file transport. Big mistake. Before I knew what was happening iTunes took over, formatted and erased all my content. Jobs can take his DRM and stick it. I'm selling the Shuffle on eBay and going back to my well behaved SanDisk. It may not be as slick looking, but it's much better behaved and sounds fine.

 

[whoops, double post, couldn't delete this one]

 

Sounds like it's by design. AFAIK, iPods by default sync to whatever machine they have a partnership with. Plug it back in your PC or whatever machine has your content. BTW, at least w/hard drive based iPods, you have to format them differently for use w/a PC or Mac.

FWIW, I like my 4th gen iPod a lot.

 

when i connect with one simple cable with a male on each end, one to the ipod, one to the aux in -- in my 2006 prius -- somehow the ipod screen quickly scrolls through all songs purchased through iTMS without playing and only plays mp3 and wav files i converted from old CD collections. i don't have any problems with casette adapters, FM transmitters, etc... nor do i have this problem plugging the same set up into any other audio system with the same cable/aux in. this only happens with the prius. not sure where/how else to trouble shoot. helpful suggestions appreciated.

 

Never heard of this happening before. I can try again tonight but I KNOW that I have played some of my purchased iTMS songs using my iPod in my Prius via the aux in.

What if you use the Purchased Music auto-playlist or try making a regular or smart playlist w/some of your purchased music? Have you also tried rebooting your iPod via http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705? And although I seriously doubt this is related, what if you update to the latest firmware if you don't have the latest?

Update: To confirm, tonight I selected my purchased music playlist and all of them in the list played ok. I was up to song 13. I skipped a few intentionally but listened to bunch in their entirety.

 

I was having problems with the audio cable and read your post yesterday. I pick the part up (42-2497) RadioShack and it works perfectly. Thanks