Friday, June 15, 2007

iTunes pt 3

pt2

Ripping the Hallam-Baker CD collection is almost complete, a grand total of around 20Gb. At this point I realize that maybe I should have used the Apple Lossless codec instead of AAC. The original point was to load up the large iPod with everything and play that through the HiFi. Now I am starting to look at a more 'whole house' solution which would be easier with MP3.

I suspect that the actual quality loss will be negligible but the situation still offends the principle that no end user effort should ever be wasted or lost. I only discovered the lossless codec after ripping was almost complete.

Now one way to look at the situation is that I should have known better, but the whole point here was to look at the technology from the point of view of the typical user who does not have a degree in Nuclear Physics. Reading the manual would ruin the point.

The other major issue I am having is managing my collection on the different machines in different parts of the house. I can copy the files across without any trouble, but all the playlist information is lost. All the albums that iTunes has cut up for no particular reason have to be reassembled.

If this was a Google program the catalog at least would be managed through the network and automatically synchronize itself.

This lack of synchronization is a recurring theme, the telephone system has the same issue: every handset maintains a separate address book as if the people I call from the bedroom are different from the ones I call from the office, library, kitchen or living room.

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