Hi Jonathan. Thanks for your reply and the link to your great blog post. In fact, I’ve read that already, and have already commented on it. Since then, my custom-built NAS is already providing all the storage I could possibly need going forward (15 TB user-accessible). That is where my iTunes library and everything else lives now. It’s awesome, for storage and a whole bunch of other home server duties like backups, mail and web servers, gateway that supports IPv6, etc. which OS X server is not so great at doing.
I’d considered the iTunes server component (DAAP), but decided against it because it only works for music and only for Macs and PCs running iTunes. It’s only equivalent to turning on the “Share my library on my local network” option in iTunes, rather than “Home sharing”. If only it supported iOS devices too, it would probably be adequately useful. But alas. I understand your NAS has tools specifically for integration with the iTunes library. I didn’t know of any app on the App Store that replicated that functionality, and the one everybody is recommending for this purpose (SimpleDAAPClient) is sadly inaccessible, so for now I’m using bog-standard tools to browse my music library, like FileExplorer. The AirPlay component is nice, but again, I can just use iOS to relay, and it doesn’t feel (to me, at least) the least bit inefficient. I will keep looking for a nice media browser that can either speak DAAP or browse network shares directly, and go forward with as much DRM-free content as possible. If you have suggestions, I’d love to hear them. The major problem is that this all falls over with DRM content, including my audiobook library, which is sadly now quite large. I think I just have to accept that this is something I can’t fix. Worse yet, the clever workarounds to the problem that I’ve found, such as using one’s iOS device as an AirPlay receiver and commanding a remote iTunes to play to it, are impossible because of Apple’s self-interested refusal to allow AirPlay receivers on its stores. Downloading and streaming from the devices themselves, even on my metered 80/20 link, is not really a sustainable option either, although of course it’s better than nothing if there’s a need. So, I’m still having to sync in order to play my audiobooks and take my TV shows with me. It’s all very unfortunate, really. I will, as I said, be revisiting this situation as my time allows. I’ve already decided against any approach that costs more money to implement. The whole experience has left me a bit chastened, and although I suppose it’s always been too much to hope for miracles where iTunes is concerned, it’s nevertheless been rather a disappointment. Oh yes, and I’m getting the new Apple TV now. :) You may find this Apple Support Communities thread interesting: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4967024?start=0&tstart=0 Cheers, Sabahattin -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
