Erik, I know this wasn't directed to me, and that you're being a
bit sarcastic here, <smile> but to be completely honest, I'd actually
really love a system by which TextEdit or any of the Word processing
software could organize / cross reference all of my documents on my
system. No joke! This would make my life a hell of a lot easier!
lol! -This is a major reason I'd love to see more / better access to
IPhoto as well!…
You may not know, but in addition to being a model / musician, I'm
also a published author, and an editor. So tend to have a whole lot
of documents on my system at any given time. I'm of course, in the
habit of using very descriptive file names however, a filing system
like the one you so glibly mention, <smile> would be totally awesome
for me!…
In IDE's for coding, they automatically manage entire projects in
much the same way Itunes does, in the sense that they set up somewhat
arbitrary folder structures for the user, and all of the necessary
files / libraries are imported / managed by the software
automagically, so the coder themselves, can get more actual coding
done, rather than messing about with the low-level stuff. This is not
a new paradigm, and is just part of the 'evolution' of computing.
As far as ITunes goes, I also have as large an ITunes library as
you do, and have at least that much again in 'real- space that I
haven't even imported. -One of these days, when I get a chance! lol!
I also have hundreds of podcast episodes that ITunes keeps straight
for me which I can access in literally, seconds. I don't have time or
desire to go mucking about with remembering which material is in which
folder and such. That sort of thing is simply a blatant waste of my
time. For me, if ITunes, can organize it so I can find it / work with
it easily, then I like it! <smile> The computer does the work so I
don't have to! lol!
For ripping, I simply insert the disc, and either click 'yes' to
import it or listen a bit and click the import button in the ITunes
window. -Super quick / easy. Yes, if ITunes can't find the name of
the disc, then I need to name it myself, but that too, is super easy.
I simply go to my recently added playlist, select all the tracks I
just imported, and change all of their info in one fell swoop!
<smile> -done!… ITunes then creates the appropriate folder or simply
moves the files to the appropriate existing folder. -Very simple!…
If I want to then burn a few tracks to a disc, I simply select them
from the library, either by entire album, or just a few random tracks,
bring up a context menu, and click add to playlist. I've already set
up a playlist just for this, so then all I need to do is click burn,
and it's started. How does it honestly get any simpler than this on
any platform at all?… This is as simple as anything else I've seen…
Furthermore, if I want to convert audio formats, I simply change my
encoder setting, select the file(s) and click the convert option in
the menu. -Once again, done!…
I don't need to go searching around my hd for any folders or
filenames or such. In less than a minute, I've got what I want done,
done. <smile> -No fuss, no fanfare, no wasting time! <smile>
No offense to anyone, but I'm not an uber-geek; I don't want to f#
$k around with a computer. It's there to help me get things done and
enjoy that process a bit more! <smile>
Now, this note isn't in any way, shape or form, meant to counter
the VLC is better, idea. That's not why I wrote this. <smile> This
is obviously just a difference of style / pref, and that's cool!… I
just don't like the tone that one is better, so therefore, the other
must suck! lol! That's just so puerile / adolescent!…
They both have their place, and I do use VLC from time to time for
very specific tasks when I need them. (super obscure file formats for
testing and such) It's just that for 99.9 percent of my audio needs,
ITunes really performs perfectly for me. So there ya go, that's
just me. -Well, and millions of others as well, I guess! lol!
Anyway, thanks Erik, for your very intelligent / thought-provoking
comments! Rock on and have an awesome day / weekend!…
Smiles,
Cara :)
!
On Jan 16, 2009, at 8:51 AM, erik burggraaf wrote:
Hi David, Are you using a filing cabinet software to organize your
word processer documents? That would be really handy for searching
and sorting wouldn't it? You could comment and rate them,
catagorise them by custom headings and cross-reference them. You
could embed links from document to document for even faster
referencing of information, but we could put them in a code that
only the filing software understands. Then we could custom format a
flash drive so you could cary your whole office around and use it on
any computer that has the software. That would be a lot more robust
than organizing them in finder or windows explorer wouldn't it? We
could lock you in, bombard you with features you may or may not
like, and fix it so in order to get to your documents you have to
use our software. You'd like it because it's pretty, and evry one
in the office uses it, so there's no compadibility issue... most of
the time.
I'm not sure why giving all the software on a computer equal access
to files and filing, and using pristeenly designed individual tools
taylored to specific tasks should be intimidating to any one, but
the ITunes system obviously works for you, where-as it doesn't for
me. In fact, I have never actually witnessed it to work beyond the
see the file, play the file point, always assuming you see the file
right away of course. I have three sighted siblings and they all
profess evrything from general approval to out and out love of
ITunes, and yet, they have never been able to demonstrate to me how
easy it is.
I did get ITunes to grab some podcasts for me at one point, and it
syncs my music folder to my IPod when I plug in right enough, but
that is about the extent of it. Some hard core fans really did try
to help me out with this, and they always said very encouraging
things like, "This is really easy", and "All you have to do is", and
then they would hand me a 15 to 25 step guide with 2 or 3 levels of
procedure taking me to where I wanted to go.
Apple's definitely doing something right. They hold, what, over 50%
of the mp3 player market share. Owning an IPod is a status symbol.
Then there is the ITunes store, which it seems will get a bit of a
face lift this quarter, and since you are locked in to ITunes if you
want to use either of those, it's not surprizing tha ITunes gets
more than it's share of use. There are a lot of manufacturers
besides apple, though. I couldn't tell you who the leaders are, but
with 50% going to apple, any one you pull out of the pack is going
to be pretty far behind the 8-ball, but that doesn't mean the rest
of the other 50% doesn't exist. I chose IPod personally because I
like the hardware, and I know I can make it do what I need. It
wasn't my only choice though, and may not even have been my best one
in some ways. Fortunately in our system, we do have choice.
erik burggraaf
Certified Technician
Assistive Computing LTD Support and training
Sales department: 888-828-2445
Support and Training: 888-255-5194
Email: [email protected]
Website coming soon
On 16-Jan-09, at 7:07 AM, David Poehlman wrote:
Eric, you are looking at this the rong way round. ITunes is the
ipitomy of ease of use for the average and even highly technical
user in many ways and your approach is something I cannot fathom.
I did nt get into serious audio till I got ITunes for that reason.
I can burn a cd in ITunes simply by selecting the audio I want on
it and click burn or click burn select the audio and click burn
again or something like that. I can rip a cd in much the same way
but if I want the whole cd, I can just say import and it will
import it and stack it nicely into my library. I can make an
ITunes play list if there is too much on my hd to fit on my nano.
I can use a creative zen if I want to but then I don't want to
because the nano 4g is so accessible. I use a card for my victor
reader stream. I copy the stuff I want on the card which by the
way is strangely set up according to the stream requirements. I
have to say though that the ITunes/IPod interface is the one I use
most often because it does so much for me and is so easy to use.
Capitalism only works if you have customers and they must be doing
something right because they have customers who *choose* apple over
everything else even though players have been around for a long
time before ITunes ever came out. Microsoft keeps failing in this
department and creative is loosing ground and is pretty far behind
apple so we must assume unless the consumer is really stupid tha
with all the choices out there, they are choosing what they want.
---
View my Online Portfolio at:
http://www.onemodelplace.com/CaraQuinn
