itunes · MaisonBisson

AppleScript: Get Every Movie In iTunes

AppleScript can be frustrating, but it’s an easy way to get info out of iTunes. The following is a fragment of a script I’m working on, this part simply gets a record list of every video in the current iTunes window that is a “movie” (the alternatives include music videos and TV shows, among others). […] » about 200 words

iTunes 9: Closer To An API?

Will Norris has discovered that iTunes 9’s interactions with the Store are more web-happy. I’ve been asking where the iTunes Store API was for some time, now I think I’ve got what I need to build one.

Turning A Podcast Track Into A Music Track in iTunes

I subscribe to a few song of the day podcasts, which makes it easy to get the tracks, but difficult to enjoy them as music in iTunes. But podcast tracks can’t be simply moved over to the music section of your library, it takes a little finagling. There’s a lot of advice out there suggesting […] » about 300 words

stand alone AppleTV?

New 160GB AppleTV. How far away are we from a standalone unit that can download from iTunes store directly, sync iPods, and write to USB-attached burners?

EMI and Apple/iTunes To Offer DRM-Free Music Downloads

Following Steve Jobs’ ant-DRM post, people began to wonder if Apple was just pointing fingers or really willing to distribute DRM-free music via their online store. Yesterday we learned the answer. Apple and EMI announced yesterday they would offer DRM-free 256bit AAC premium downloads, priced at $1.29 each. Apple, DRM, DRM-free, EMI, ITMS, digital restrictions […] » about 100 words

Steve Jobs’ Thoughts On Music, Music Stores, and DRM

Steve Jobs’ Thoughts On Music is surprisingly open and frank, almost blog-like, for the man and the company especially know for keeping secrets. Jobs is addressing complaints about Apple’s “proprietary” DRM used in the iTunes Music Store. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses […] » about 2400 words

Shuffling iPods

I couldn’t help but want one when they were released. I still wanted one after reading the reviews. And I couldn’t help but think about buying one when I finally got to play with it in the store. My wife, loving me and knowing me as she does, got me one. Yes, I got a […] » about 200 words

iTunes Music Store API?

I can’t explain why, at least not yet, but I’m looking for a way to search the iTunes Music Store catalog outside of iTunes. Rumors of an iTunes-Google partnership have been flying lately, but what I really want is a webservice/API I can use. Yes, Apple offers an affiliate program that supports direct links, but […] » about 400 words

Napster’s Hard Road

Napster — the legal, reincarnated music download site — essentially invented the concept of incumbent campus download services. They loudly touted deals with schools “anxious” to stop the p2p music sharing problem. Trouble is, according to this story at The Reg, it’s not working well. A survey at one client university paints a sad picture: […] » about 200 words

What?

I’m not sure what to think about Steve J’s WWDC announcement (video stream) of Apple’s switch to x86 processors. Coverage at MacNN, Mac Rumors, Ars Technica, etc. I’m not sure, but it would be easier to take if I wasn’t the only one who saw conspiracy in it. Does this relate to Intel’s recent shoehorning of DRM onto the CPU?

It wasn’t long ago that I was praising Apple for making devices that served the remix world that exists in the void between fair use and copyright infringement, but moves since then have concerned me. I live with iTunes DRM, but can I tolerate DRM throughout the OS all the way down to the hardware? Can I tolerate something that eliminates the (entirely legal) me2me sharing that I expect (and is revered in the analog world)?

Anyway, there’s some mixed news about PPC on X86 emulation that will be part of the next OS release, and I expect the jabbering about the effect of this announcement will last all summer. Here’s some now from MacNN, and PowerPage{#14641}. And here’s something I can laugh at.

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