# Apple & iTunes - biggest pile of shite?



## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

About to head off for a long drive and just wanted to add a couple of movies onto the iPad for my son to watch but didn't realise how impossible it seems to be! The laptop can see the iPad in explorer but how do you transfer over a movie file? I have iTunes open with the iPad showing and various folders including movies but I'm not able to paste anything into this folder so is there a specific process or is this yet another apple software glitch? I'm running 4.2.1 on the iPad and iTunes 11.1. I've given up for now as I feel like throwing it through the window! Grrr :x


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

Cut and paste, drag and drop... that's ease of use. You just pop what you want on the device and that's that - it's there, ready to use. And you see that's where you're going wrong. You're expecting genuine ease of use and for Apple usage to be easy because of the effects of marketing and Skeletor's reality distortion field which would have you believe that they're the easiest thing in the world.

St Steve has no compulsion to make your life easier, just so long as the only way to do things is his way. Consider this: 11 versions and it's STILL that shit! :roll:


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## barton TT (Nov 13, 2004)

Naresh said:


> About to head off for a long drive and just wanted to add a couple of movies onto the iPad for my son to watch but didn't realise how impossible it seems to be! The laptop can see the iPad in explorer but how do you transfer over a movie file? I have iTunes open with the iPad showing and various folders including movies but I'm not able to paste anything into this folder so is there a specific process or is this yet another apple software glitch? I'm running 4.2.1 on the iPad and iTunes 11.1. I've given up for now as I feel like throwing it through the window! Grrr :x


You need to convert them to mpeg4 format first then go to movies add file very easy.Or use this program it converts to itunes straight away.  
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

Right so it looks like a formatting issue which I've overlooked in my hurry this morning! I'm guessing that if I now convert the movie to mp4 apple format it will then be as easy as cut and paste? Still find iTunes the most annoying software ever and scooby has hit the nail on the head with his comments. :lol:


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## barton TT (Nov 13, 2004)

If you use videora it will add it to itune automatically once its converted then all you do is sync ipad or iphone.No need to cut and paste anything.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

ScoobyTT said:


> Cut and paste, drag and drop... that's ease of use. You just pop what you want on the device and that's that - it's there, ready to use. And you see that's where you're going wrong. You're expecting genuine ease of use and for Apple usage to be easy because of the effects of marketing and Skeletor's reality distortion field which would have you believe that they're the easiest thing in the world.
> 
> St Steve has no compulsion to make your life easier, just so long as the only way to do things is his way. Consider this: 11 versions and it's STILL that shit! :roll:


Cut and paste/drag and drop isn't ease of use. It was designed for moving files around a folder structure, so whilst it's sufficient for getting music onto a player, it's hardly convenient (and I've owned a fair few MP3 players that used it as a means of putting music on them so I know what a pain it is).

iTunes has plenty of faults, but the way it syncs isn't one of them. In this instance, it's down to video file formats (a common problem with their portable players and AppleTV). Scooby's never actually used any of the Apple products he likes to complain about though, so he wouldn't have known this, hence whining about copy and paste. :wink:


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> iTunes has plenty of faults, but the way it syncs isn't one of them.


Until you want to sync with two devices.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Spandex said:
> 
> 
> > iTunes has plenty of faults, but the way it syncs isn't one of them.
> ...


I sync my library with two iPhones and an iPad (different content on each)... What issue do you think it has?


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## richieshore (May 17, 2010)

If it's still on the app store just download VLC player, no need to convert any movie files at all, will play any format. All you do is click on the iPad in itunes, click on apps then at the bottom you'll see vlc and you can add whatever files you like. Easy.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Spandex said:


> Dash said:
> 
> 
> > Spandex said:
> ...


I must admit I find no problems with synching with more than one device. Currently, we have two iPhones (3GS and 4), a 160GB iPod Classic, an 8GB Nano, a 40GB iPod (the old white one) and a 30GB video iPod all running off one version of iTunes.

No problems at all.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> Dash said:
> 
> 
> > Spandex said:
> ...


Sorry, I meant, sync one iPod/whatever with more than one computer (say, your home and office computer).


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Sorry, I meant, sync one iPod/whatever with more than one computer (say, your home and office computer).


Ahh... It's true that iTunes deliberately limits this, although it's one of the few flaws in iTunes that's not really Apples fault. That being said, I personally consider it a bit of an edge case. I don't want to 'sync' with more than one library and can't really understand why anyone else would want to, other than to get music from (or give music to) friends, in which case a USB key does the same job (it even has Scooby's favourite old skool interface... drag and drop :wink: )

<edit>The above only applies to music, of course. I sync my music at home and my contacts and calendar in work.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> although it's one of the few flaws in iTunes that's not really Apples fault.


I'd disagree with that statement. They wrote the software, and they went out of their way to tie a device to a computer.

Sure, a lot of people wouldn't deem that as a significant issue, but it's just one of those niggles that put me off their software.

My step-sister (the one who's macbook pro went in for a bust main board) just showed me her battery yesterday. Luckily she did because it's swollen and ready to explode. I know this is unrelated, but I like to keep the forum apprised with my family's experience with "user friend" and "quality" Apple products. Just for reference, I've never have a laptop mainboard fail, battery swell or MP3 player not to sync with multiple machines and yet I seem to get away with not paying a premium for the kit I purchase.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Spandex said:
> 
> 
> > although it's one of the few flaws in iTunes that's not really Apples fault.
> ...


You can disagree, but I know you're wrong I'm afraid. Apple have nothing to gain from locking the devices - the record labels (who Apple had to work very hard to keep onside in order to make iTMS such a success) insisted on having some locks in place to prevent people from using their iPods to 'collect' all their friends music as well. I'm sure that was doubly important when negotiating the rights to provide non-DRM'ed music more recently too.

As for the battery, I don't get your point. If I were to have any laptop battery fail (and it can happen to any manufacturer, as I'm sure you'll recall from 2006) I'd want it to be an Apple. Their stores may be full of the most annoying, wanky staff you're ever likely to meet in a UK shop, but they don't fuck around when it comes to customer service. I only know this from other peoples experience though, as I've owned a fairly large number of apple products and the only maintenance I've ever had to do is replace one HDD in an old laptop. My old 3rd gen iPod from 2003 (in my opinion, the most beautiful one they ever did, with the full capacitive touch buttons and glowing red backlit text) is still working as well as the day I bought it.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Yet, other manufacturers of MP3 players have been producing players that have no such restrictions on individual computers before Apple came along, and since. Other digital music stores have also been able to negotiate DRM-free music. And if it was just down to DRM issues then you would program the application just not to allow syncing of DRM protected (after all, this is what DRM functionality provides) files to multiple machines.

My point is fairly simple around the battery. One would hope, given the premium Apple charge for "quality" products, that quality of components used wouldn't be so prone to failure. I'm not saying all their devices fail, but they do have a fairly high issue rate given the price being paid.

Not having experienced Apple's customer service I don't feel I can comment on it.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Yet, other manufacturers of MP3 players have been producing players that have no such restrictions on individual computers before Apple came along, and since. Other digital music stores have also been able to negotiate DRM-free music. And if it was just down to DRM issues then you would program the application just not to allow syncing of DRM protected (after all, this is what DRM functionality provides) files to multiple machines.
> 
> My point is fairly simple around the battery. One would hope, given the premium Apple charge for "quality" products, that quality of components used wouldn't be so prone to failure. I'm not saying all their devices fail, but they do have a fairly high issue rate given the price being paid.
> 
> Not having experienced Apple's customer service I don't feel I can comment on it.


No other MP3 player manufacturer runs a music store like iTunes and no other music store makes MP3 players. For iTMS to succeed (and I think it's safe to say 10 years later that it certainly has) it needed every major label on there. I know what it's like to deliver technology that's not exactly what you'd want, just because of stupid restrictions enforced by greedy content owners. Sometimes you have to just accept that getting the content is more important than some of the functionality, no matter how counter-intuitive that may seem.

Apple don't make batteries, which is why they were just as badly hit by the 2006 Sony battery cock-up as every other manufacturer (and being the mug who ended up handling the return of about 6 affected batteries in work, I can tell you Apple's customer service was second to none then). Their laptop reliability record is very good though, with them often coming at or near the top of reliability charts. Having owned various laptops, including bulletproof IBMs, I can say with complete certainty that the best built, highest quality ones I've had have all been Apples. Couple that with an OS that somehow manages to be simple enough for non-techies, yet flexible and functional enough that every coder I know (who doesn't write Windows s/w) uses one and you have the reason why people pay the premium.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

I have to be honest that the reason I finally relented and got an iPhone rather than another Nokia was the sync capability with iTunes.

I think you decide early on which of the music libraries you subscribe to and you end up having to stick with it as it's so much hassle to switch.

I got fed up of having an iPod for music and a phone (which I could never hear) for calls.

The fact that I now have device (iPhone 4) that takes pictures, makes calls and holds my music is genius.

The fact that I can also now watch ripped DVDs on my way to work - and even access my Kindle library - means I don't have to fuck about with an iPod, camera, book, phone and DVD player.

I think Apple and iTunes is great. But I have to say, I think iTunes and iPhones work better on PCs than they do on Macs. I buy an iPhone, plug it in to my PC, and off I go. My mate buys an iPhone, plugs it in to his Mac and is told that unless he upgrades his OS, even the phone won't work. To me, that's unforgivable - even though it works to my advantage.


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

** Other multi-function phones are also available.


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## richieshore (May 17, 2010)

ScoobyTT said:


> ** Other multi-function phones are also available.


But none are as good. :wink:


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

Oh I think that's debatable. See thread topic for further clues :wink:


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

ScoobyTT said:


> ** Other multi-function phones are also available.


But none of them sync with iTunes. Hence my point about people subscribing to one music library and sticking with it.

I use iTunes to manage my music (and videos) - and have done sincce way before getting a music enabled phone. Nothing else works with it. Which would automatically mean having to have two devices.

Or manage two music libraries - which I can't be arsed to do. I tried when I had a Nokia N95 - but really couldn't be bothered as

a) you had to upload stuff to it separately, and
b) you couldn't (at that time) have playlists or shuffle - which meant having to listen to everything in order.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Spandex said:


> Apple don't make batteries, which is why they were just as badly hit by the 2006 Sony battery cock-up as every other manufacturer (and being the mug who ended up handling the return of about 6 affected batteries in work, I can tell you Apple's customer service was second to none then).


Well it's a shame their customer service didn't shine through this time. The aforementioned battery will not be replaced by Apple despite being a faulty component.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Spandex said:
> 
> 
> > Apple don't make batteries, which is why they were just as badly hit by the 2006 Sony battery cock-up as every other manufacturer (and being the mug who ended up handling the return of about 6 affected batteries in work, I can tell you Apple's customer service was second to none then).
> ...


Well, the battery recall was exactly that. It didn't matter how old the laptop was, if the battery was on the list, you got a free one. Sounds like yours was out of warranty.

I've had batteries fail on a Sony, an IBM and recently my 3 year old MacBook Air... I don't count these as 'faults' though, as batteries, like hard drives, don't live forever.


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## Dash (Oct 5, 2008)

Batteries no longer holding a charge or being stubborn to charge up are worn out. Batteries that explode are faulty.


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## Clintonio (Mar 24, 2011)

I love my apple stuff  I have a MBP, Mini, iPad, 3 x iPods and and iPhone along with my wifes and kids stuff our house is better equiped than the apple shop.

I have had 1 failure my daughters iPod's top button failed, it was 124 days out of warrently but without hesitation they replaced it with a new one free of charge  not many other shops would have done that !


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> Batteries no longer holding a charge or being stubborn to charge up are worn out. Batteries that explode are faulty.


Well, it didn't 'explode', so I think that's a bit melodramatic. Sounds like it overheated, certainly, but that doesn't automatically mean a manufacturing defect. Either way, if it's faulty out of warranty then you will probably have to pay for a new battery. I said their customer service is excellent, but that doesn't mean they have a lifetime warranty.


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

Oh well we'll all be in luck then if Qantas put iPads on the flight deck then, won't we?


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

And along comes another Apple fanboy... :lol: :lol: :lol:

I've used Apple products since the 90s. I've owned a whole load of desktop machines, even more laptops and several iPods right from the very first click-wheel.

None - really, none has ever given me any real problem.

I just bought a click- wheel iPod on eBay for £40. It's a classic and the battery still holds a good charge. What's more it works with my current version of iTunes.

iTunes is great. You just have to synch with how it works. It's designed like that because of DRM but there are many, many ways to workaround DRM. :wink:

iLounge is a good starting point for both PC and Mac iTunes users...

http://www.ilounge.com/

Cheers

rich


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