[ABE.pm] I'm a Mac user!

[Ricardo SIGNES]

* Randy Kramer <rhkramer at gmail.com> [2006-08-18T09:18:21]
> iirc/iiuc, when you buy songs from iTunes, you get only the rights to play 
> that song on an iPod (and have a limited number of transfers (3?) between 
> iPods, if you upgrade or get a warranty replacement or similar).  (And, iirc, 
> the iPod format is "non-standard" (i.e., neither mp3 nor oggvorbis).

You are wrong.

You can authorize up to about five devices.  You can also deauthorize devices.
If you get a replacement device, Apple will deauthorize the replaced one.  In
fact, they just did that for me when I had my laptop serviced.  I have had
three laptops and four ipods on my account over the years.

My iPod is full mostly of mp3s.  It plays them.  It does not play Ogg Vorbis,
as it can't.  iTunes can, if you get a plugin.  I don't know what you mean by
"the iPod format," but maybe you mean the format in which iTunes Music Store
sells music, it is AAC.  AAC is an open format which can be used by other stuff
-- though it rarely is.  The DRM is an add-on, and is called FairPlay.  That,
like pretty much all DRMs, is not an open standard.

The only real worries with iTunes Music Store stuff should be:

  1. You are stuck using iTunes and iPod.
     This is not a problem, in my opinion, but it is a limitation on your life.

  2. If Apple decides to pull iTMS (or goes under), you may be hosed.
     This seems wildly unlikely.

  3. If you lose the actual files, you are out of luck.
     This has happened to people I know.  It sucks.

-- 
rjbs
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