make mine mp3, please

this is nothing, really. not even worthy of mentioning, other than to give a minor heads-up to the handful of itunes users out there who hadn’t noticed something. you know how apple is having a field day with their online music store? well, the tracks you buy online don’t come down the pipe as mp3s. instead, they’re mpeg-4 files (also known as aac-encoded). they sound just like an mp3 and take up about as much room. great.

but did you realize that the import (aka cd-ripping) function in itunes defaults your imported tracks to mpeg-4 format? this might not mean much if you’re just going to stick to listening in itunes or on an ipod, but a lot of third party audio editing proggies and cd-burning apps don’t know an mpeg-4 from a mango. sure, you can change it to mp3, but it seems a little sneaky that it assumes you’ll want the newer, less flexible option.

September 19, 2003 – 9:33 pm | By Thomas | Posted in iBook | Comments (2)
  • http://www.pennyanddarrell.com Darrell

    Actually, the AAC files take up quite a bit less space (it’s all relative really, I guess). But Apple has installed two other interesting bits of security:

    1) Each purchased song can only be authorized on 3 different computers at a time (it can be de-authorized as well, thereby freeing up a computer slot). This can be circumnavigated by burning it onto a CD (in mp3 format, don’t forget to check that option) then ripping it back into iTunes. Just be sure you note which is mp3 and which isn’t. And this leads to the other security issue:

    2) Each playlist can only be burned to CD a total of ten times. A small step to keep people from simply mass-producing CDs without putting any clever thought into it. To get around this all you have to do is delete the old playlist and create a new one. Even if you use the same name.

    Ultimately I’ve found iTunes to be one of the most elegant pieces of software I’ve ever had… the pleasure with. And the integration of the Music Store only helps this feeling.

    Don’t steal music.

  • http://www.grabbingsand.org Thomas

    I agree that iTunes is (like most of the iApps) brilliantly executed, incredibly friendly and very smart. There is no better system of organizing your mp3s because iTunes does all of the sorting and filing for you. If I connect to the shared hoard of mp3s on my PC and grab a handful of random tracks, all I have to do is drop the whole mess right on iTunes and let it create nested directories for artist and album.

    But still… while I understand the limitations placed on music purchased via the Apple Music Store, if I pull tracks from a purchased CD, I should be allowed to use every aspect of the resultant file. Yes, I’d like to hear it in iTunes, but I might also choose to open that file in Peak or Audacity (both audio-editing programs) to manipulate them or eventually mix them into a compilation CD of my own choosing. If AAC is a format that is more efficient and has less lost sound (as mp3s are notorious for being a convenient, yet lossy format), then the industry should support the development of tools to employ that format, not limit its use through licensing and restrictive controls.

    Of course, maybe this is just me defending my mispent, mixtaped youth…