The MP3 Is Officially Dead, According To Its Creators

[Jerjo]

Apple is not virus-proof. It's that hackers can catch more fish using the far more common operating system. The ransomware problem is caused by not updating to the security patch that Windows did send out. Most ransomware and hacking issues are caused by some idjit opening a file in a junk email.

[Plasmatopia]

Apple computers are certainly not virus proof since they are operated by human beings after all, but some of the things that make iTunes work the way it does (not being able to drag and drop as though it were an external drive) are probably helpful in providing security.

[Dave (in MA)]

Apple is not virus-proof. It's that hackers can catch more fish using the far more common operating system. The ransomware problem is caused by not updating to the security patch that Windows did send out. Most ransomware and hacking issues are caused by some idjit opening a file in a junk email.

I am anything but an Apple fan, but Windows keeps putting out release after release with "Hide extensions for known filetypes" as the default, thereby getting people to open up files like FunnyPicture.jpg.exe that appear to be FunnyPicture.jpg and all hell breaks loose. Just who are these people who demand that the extensions of filenames with extensions not be shown?

[Plasmatopia]

I am anything but an Apple fan, but Windows keeps putting out release after release with "Hide extensions for known filetypes" as the default, thereby getting people to open up files like FunnyPicture.jpg.exe that appear to be FunnyPicture.jpg and all hell breaks loose. Just who are these people who demand that the extensions of filenames with extensions not be shown?

That's how they ferret out bugs so quickly. By forcing the users to test the software inadvertently.

[jkelman]

iTunes sucks.

Don't agree. I use iTunes as my library for all my ripped CDs and high res files...though I don't use AAC, I use ALAC, Apple's versio of FLAC, to rip CD quality (or, with downloads, often better) to the library. I used iTunes when I had a Windows PC and continue to use it with my Mac, since switching nearly three years ago. There are occasional decisions they make that I don't like, but more often than not, over time, I've been very pleased.

Just to counter an anti-iTunes stance; I am not a fan of compressed files but had even switched to AAC (while still on my PC), back when I was using compressed files on my iPods, after discovering that its compression algorithm was much more pleasing to my ears than MP3.

But these days it's CD quality or better all the way (slowly re-ripping my collection...no small task!), downloaded as AIFF from online shops where possible (Apple's version of WAV) and saved, but imported and converted to ALAC for use in my iTunes library. Works great, sounds great and is very easy to use.

Just my 2 cents,

[jkelman]

I would argue that iTunes is the pinnacle of suckage. It is sufficient enough on an Apple computer/device but take that precious snowflake out of its gauze Cupertino cradle and put it anywhere else. It stalls, it's bloated, it doesn't work as well as a half a dozen other media players. Burn it with fire.

AAC didn't kill the MP3, streaming has. People don't buy/download MP3s if they can stream it.

Your last statement I agree with. But your comment about iTunes on non-Apple platforms? As I wrote elsewhere, I used iTunes on Windows PCs from my first iPod (2004-ish?) until I switched to an iMac in July, 2014. It worked just fine on my Windows PCs...performance was, overall, good (though it tended to hog memory when ripping a CD, I managed to reduce that problem) and I experienced no more crashes with iTunes than I did any of my other Windows programs. The problem, as I saw it, wasn't iTunes...or any of my other programs that, no matter what I did, seemed to crash regularly.

So I switched to the iMac and, beyond ease of use and ease of maintenance, it's eliminated almost all program crashes (not just iTunes and not just Apple programs/apps) and performance is WAY better.

There was a time when Apple was in vogue; now, it appears, Apple is the new Microsoft, at least in terms of being no longer considered the hip choice. I don't give a hoot about that shit; I just want a computer that is easy to use and is fast and reliable. I can't recall the last time I had that with a Windows PC, but given my first iMac experience, unless something goes awry, I'm now an Apple convert, without hesitation or apology.

[Yodelgoat]

So as a paranoid git, do I need to archive all my MP3's into some other format? Will I risk them suddenly getting corrupted by a virus or something? I would imagine that would be easy to do. Fortunately, I have CD's for every album I have - just a handful of exceptions. In some cases, I have the Vinyl. I have ordered a handful of mp3's via download. I like having a physical copy to ensure that its mine, and that I am not a pirate.

Hopefully, they wont "kill" the MP3, but just allow it to die on its own. I'll probably be listening to them for the rest of my life. I tend to hang on to older proven technology. MP3's may not be the best sounding, but through $20 headphones who is going to notice?

[jkelman]

A big part of the suckage is that to put music on an iPod or iPhone you HAVE to use it, you can't just use those devices in Windows explorer like you would a disk or hard drive, dragging and dropping files.

Um, actually you can. But when you can use smart playlists to create and manage existing and incoming material automatically, and then synch it with your IOS device with the click of a mouse, why would you?

My iTunes library is over 3.5Tb, stored on a RAID 1 array of two 6Tb discs (that, mirrored, look like one) and I'm surprised at how well everything works with a database that large. And, at least for me, once I got my playlists organized so that adding new smart ones was easy, it simply became the easiest way to manage my library and sync wth my various portable devices. Plus there's the added benefit that if you have to reset your portable device to facorty settings, or you get a new one, you can set it up so that it restores all your playlists automatically, which means no longer having to remember all the playlists you'd had on the device.

I organize smart playlists by artist, and then store those playlists in playlist folders that are largely genres (though within Prog, I have sub-folders by country, under which the artist smart playlists reside). The whole thing is mow a second-nature process and super-easy, so I'd see no value in changing to another music library app/program...even if it ran on IOS devices.

It was only the other day that I realized that iTunes by syncing a device means (I think) syncing your purchases from iTunes between the attached device and your iTunes account. I always thought it meant something much more ominous because I've only ever made like three purchases in iTunes and don't plan to make any more ever.[/QUOTE]

[jkelman]

i remember I ripped a bunch of my cds in iTunes with the idea that I would change em out on my phone and listen to music on my phone. but eventually my phone stopped working on my iTunes. I looked up why and it was because it wanted me to update iTunes. but then iTunes would not let me update because I was running a older operating system.

Um, welcome to the world of software...that is far from Apple-specific. When software is constantly being fixed and improved,eventually there comes a time when it can no longer work on older versions of the operating system. Backwards compatibility, in other words, only goes so far...and Microsoft has been as guilty as any (more, even), of forcing people to upgrade by obsoleting older versions.

But the truth is: new versions of software often have features that cannot be made to work with older versions of the operating system; thus the need to upgrade your OS at the same time as you do an app/program. It simply is what it is.