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http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/07/08/10-alternatives-to-itunes-for-managing-your-ipod/

They also missed a few others like EphPod:
http://www.ephpod.com/

A few minutes on google will find you a decent depth of choices on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

I'm not quite sure what your point is. You don't need iTunes to put music on your iPod, either.

(I would buy an iPod, but then I would have to use iTunes, and sadly I like the choice of software players and choice of music stores. I guess I'm just old fashioned in not going for the Orwell 1984 concept of who controls my songs and what I listen to them on and where I buy them.) you could use one of the alternates to itunes, if you can be bothered paying, Anapod is good, and has a good integration into windows. ephpod is a good freeware alternate, but like anything free, you have to get used to its quirks to work through the program smoothly. Hell until i offered to move all my girlfriends mp3's from her mini to her new video ipod, i had never even USED an ipod, and taking that into account, it took me a max of 3-4 hours to be able to move around efficiently in ephpod & work the damned ipod itself. So if you know what your doing, should be a peice of cake.

http://www.ephpod.com/

Were the iPod not so popular, there would not be such a choice in programs to use to upload music. Not really an issue for a mass-storage MP3 player, but there's still plenty out there that aren't.

DRM is defective by design. The iPod is not, although the provided interface, iTunes, definitely has some limitations. Try ephpod for drag and drop support. There's a host of others as well, if you're willing to look for them.

If your iPod updates are a problem, I recall some other sites explaining how to load a "virgin" iPod source onto the iPod but don't have the link to that handy.

I know this is somewhat off topic, but I see that there are ad-sense type ads on this discussion for software that allows you to get songs off of an iPod. Now, I know that slashdot wouldn't exist without advertising, however, in this case, the ads do clueless readers a disservice.

No one should have to pay to get their music off of their iPod. Hell, even Apple now has a page that explains how to do this without any additional software other than iTunes:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300 173

Also, there are plenty of free programs out there that do what the advertised programs do:

Windows:
http://www.ephpod.com/
http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+P rograms&Page=SharePod

Mac:
http://www.ilinkpod.com/
http://fadingred.org/senuti/

I'm sure there are some for Linux as well, but I've yet to connect my iPod to Linux so I haven't ever looked for any.

and it is the only way to get an iPod to work.

and iTunes is the only thing that works with it.

In answer to your second question, try using EphPod. I find that it works pretty well, and eliminates the need for iTunes.

Get Ephpod for Windows, or gtkpod for Linux.

Check out ephPod this takes all the hassle out of managing your iPod. You can sync with a folder, rename tracks directly on the iPod if the tags are wrong rather than removing and replacing and also copy songs back to your HD with a filename format of your chosing. It's much faster than both iTunes and MusicMatch. The screen updating can be a little intermitant so it pays to be a little patient when you move large amounts of data. Never liked iTunes, used MusicMatch before Yahoo! bought it and Apple dropped MusicMatch support. Stuck I found EphPod and have never looked back, EphPod does everything I need!

One thing i would change about the iPod is to get rid of the annoying dependancy on iTunes.
I've got an iPod, and I don't use iTunes. There are other alternatives, including EphPhod and gtkpod (my personal favorite) which work very well. I send my own gripped, DRM-free mp3 files to my iPod with gtkpod and am able to enjoy my device without the iTunes apron-strings (DRM, Windows, etc.).

Stop complaining about being *required* to use iTunes; Apple can't make it mass-storage compatible, because of the record labels*. (pure conjecture) There are lots of apps that will make your iPod show up in dev/mnt, My Computer etc.

See http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q =ipod+transfer&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Some of the more popular ones include:
www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod (Anapod Explorer) [Windows]
EphPod for Windows and Linux --open source
http://www.ephpod.com/
*and* the original iPod utility for Windows:
Xplay (http://www.macdrive.com/products/xplay/) [recommended by CNET and others]; I have a special place in my heart for these people.

How about EphPod?

It's what I've been using since I bought my iPod. Didn't even attempt to install iTunes.

Sadly, it's not open source, but here's a HOWTO get your iPod and EphPod working in Linux (with Wine).

>these "third party programs" do not take advantage of the iPod's database.
this one does....
http://www.ephpod.com/

I use Ephpod instead of iTunes, which I think is bloated and doesn't play well with my PC setup (though I fully admit I haven't used iTunes for a couple years now, so I have no idea if it has improved). I really like EphPod.

Wow, bundling iTunes (a program which lets you load MP3s onto an iPod) with an iPod. What blatant disregard for the consumer, who is powerless to install other iPod interface software or buy a different MP3 player.

What are you talking about? The iPod plays freaking mp3s not "iTunes music".

It can play MP4, AAC, and AA (Audible audio book file format) as well.

You don't even have to use iTunes, you can use EphPod (missing some features, like doesn't set the damn clock on the ipod, doesn't preserve Audiobook bookmarks (fucking required)), or that new winamp plugin.

Ephpod will allow windows users the same ability. get it here!

Ephpod runs pretty well under wine.

Yes I know apple doesn't include that ability in iTunes. But that just leaves opportunities open for third party apps. The RIAA can now be more at ease with Apple and can concentrate on suing their customers. I'll bet the number of people who download mp3's and don't own CD's of any music is pretty slim. Lawsuits can only make people more determined not to get caught.

Um, somebody hasn't done ANY research on this topic at all have they?
The only real format that the ipod doesn't support is WMA, I don't count ogg as a real format because so few people use it, except for their own personal music. I'm not aware of any sites other than allofmp3.com that allows user to purchase music in ogg format....

My ipod has nothing but mp3's that I've ripped myself, podcasts, and a few aac files I've purchased from allofmp3.com.
I don't need to use iTunes to do it either! e.g. http://www.ephpod.com/ and numerous other ipod software.

Any recent operating system, including Windows 2000, XP, Linux and OS X will see the ipod as a normal USB storage device without any additional drivers loaded..... sheesh.... do some homework before making such idiotic comments.

Maybe this is news for Winamp users - I doubt it, but I don't use it myself. But there has been software to download songs from the iPod to your harddrive for ages. The inability to do so is pretty much limited to iTunes, every other application dealing with the iPod (and there are dozens) enables you to do that. One popular example for Windows is EphPod. Lots and lots more can be found for multiple platforms at iPodlounge.

Personally, I use foo_pod, a plugin for the foobar2000 audio player. It's quite powerful, including such features as automatic conversion of formats the iPod doesn't know (e.g. ogg or shorten) and automatic generation of audiobooks. For what it's worth - Wired seems to care - foobar and foo_pod are yet half as small than Winamp and that plugin is. Hah.

You don't get it.

No, YOU don't get it.

If you need iTunes to use an iPod, APPLE controls what goes on and comes off. Not me. Not you. ONLY Apple.

You DO NOT NEED ITUNES TO USE AN IPOD. On the Windows side of things you can use Anapod Explorer, YamiPod, ml_iPod for Winamp, iPod Agent, or ephPod to name a few. OSX users have choices as well. Furthermore, even if I use iTunes, how is Apple "controling" what I put on my iPod? I buy a CD. I rip it to MP3. I put it on my iPod. End of story. Where is the control? I assume you are referring to the fact that iTMS uses DRM'ed AAC, but the fact is I am in no way forced to use iTMS. iTMS != iTunes.

The fact that you can use it how you want is ONLY due to the fact that Apple lets you.

Um, yeah. I *can* use it how I want, thanks for pointing that out.

I'd never buy a music player where someone else controls the content.

Neither would I.

I'm not sure what your question really is (or even if you're just trolling), but if you don't like iTunes, there are alternatives:

- for Linux, there is gtkpod
- for Mac OS X, there is Audion
- for Windows, there is ephpod

If you just don't like the iPod, well there's too much choice to even start discuss it. Google will be your friend for that.

You can use the iPod as a hard drive.

However, using a FAT filesystem from a battery is time consuming and wasteful. If the iPod had to find all music files on your drive every time it started up, it would waste much energy.

So if you copy music, they won't play. But if you use iTunes, you will find hidden folders that have all your music in it. There are programs like ephpod that allow you to copy the music back off.

I also hated the idea of iTunes organizing things for me, until I started using smart playlists. That's letting the computer do what it is good at - keeping track of files. Now I just have to add album titles to 13,000 songs. :)

There are many ways to support an iPod under Linux, just none directly supported by Apple.

Here's an example.

You can also use ephpod under Wine, I hear.

Believe me, the iPod is really nice.

I personally liked Ephpod better. I just needed a simple interface, and I wasn't going to be buying any music from the Itunes store. For those of you who don't know, Ephpod is a free software package that is used to upload/organize/configure music on your ipod. Give it a shot, I really liked it.

My god what a ripoff. That thing is an ipod mini with the buttons moved around, 1 more GB of space and released by a demonic company.

I just got a 4th gen (click wheel) ipod and its fantastic. There are minor innovations since at least the 2nd gen. Supposedly the 4th gen is all new stuff inside and out, but I haven't noticed much difference aside from the customizable menus and new games.

Things that are new to me:
Games:
Parachute (aim a turret with the wheel, shoot parachuting men and hellicopters)
Solitare (my favorite time killing game when I'm on a calculator or other tiny device)
And best of all:
Music Quiz (It plays about 5 seconds of a song that is on your ipod and you try and pick which one it is from a list of 5 songs on displayed on screen. Your possible points counts down as well as the # of choices. The perfect game for a portable mp3 player, now if only it saved high scores & or let you "win" after so many songs or something)

I'm not an Apple fan, my iPod is the only Apple product I own & use. I don't even use iTunes, I use EphPod. But the iPod is tiny, holds 20GB, has a sleek interface, both physically and the menus, it can charge from the same cable you use to transfer music & data to it with. It's just an all around solid product. While I wish the iPod supported Ogg, and FM radio, its other features outshine the other mp3 players I looked at. Besides, creative's software is a legend among poor quality and bloatware. That and I don't have any USB 2.0 ports on my computer, but I do have IEEE 1394 (aka Firewire). Now I just wish the prices for cases/accessories for the ipod would come down out of the stratosphere.

P.S. I don't wear the idiotic looking, painful, white headphones that come with it. I'm in love with my Sony MDR-A44s.

When I had an ipod, I used EphPod to deal with my music (because iTunes doesn't run on Win ME). EphPod is pretty good on its own, and it has the "feature" that allows you to download from the ipod to your computer. You click and drag. Pretty simple..

Another was free use of my own files. The iPod, according to the Apple Store, had two modes, which I (not they) call the Free Mode and the Big Brother Mode. The Free Mode, they proudly proclaim, lets you use it as a portable USB drive, plugging in to any computer and doing anything you like with any of your files. Anything, that is, except actually PLAY THEM. That's disabled in Free Mode. This media player won't play any media if you loaded it in Free Mode.

If you actually want to use the media files you load, you have to use Big Brother Mode, using a special loader app that doubles as a storefront for exactly one store: Apple's own. Your device has to be registered with this app and there are all sorts of arcane rules about how many units of this can be registered with that on which computer and how to properly disable one before you can move to another, etc. Bah!

There's a binary database that the metadata is stored in. Apple's iTunes knows how to access this DB, as do several other programs like ephPod, GNUpod (which I personally have used without any problems whatsoever), etc.

The arcane restrictions and "registration" of which you speak apply ONLY to Apple's "iTunes Music Store", an integrated but OPTIONAL part of the iTunes program (which you don't even have to use). They have nothing to do with music that you obtained elsewhere, i.e. from CD or an MP3 that you already have on your computer. Even if you do buy music from Apple, the restrictions on how many computers you can transfer the music to do NOT apply to the iPod.

Standard USB or 1394 interface. Standard filesystem. Standard audio codecs. Widely-supported metadata handling (GNUpod, for example, is in Debian.) If you're gonna bash the iPod, at least get your facts right.

Apple is setting their sights too high (the original iPod was only bought by the most diehard Apple fans)

Uh, no.

First of all, the original iPod was only meant to work with Macs, so your attempt to denigrate it by saying that "only diehard Apple fans bought them" is completey asinine-- Mac users were 100% of the target market!

Second, your assertion is also completely wrong. The original iPod was a huge hit, and plenty of Windows users were quickly clamoring for Apple to provide a Windows-compatible model. Some Windows users bought Mac-only iPods and went to work getting them to talk to their PCs. There were quite a few apps written to accomplish this, like EphPod and xPod (later renamed xPlay, IIRC).

~Philly

Musicmatch...is a touch too resource intensive...

That's like saying a floppy is a bit small for file storage.

Windows iPod users try EphPod instead.

"Nietzshe is dead." -God

Regarding software for the iPod... although iTunes is the only software officially supported by Apple, there are several other programs (free/shareware) like Anapod Explorer, Ephpod, XPlay, and even RealPlayer that will transfer and manage your iPod's music collection.

As another poster points out, the iPod WILL play any MP3 you put on there. It will also play MPEG-4/AAC, which IS a standard format, licensed from Dolby. It will even play plain-old WAV files, too. The iPod doesn't support Windows Media files, but if you're using iTunes, WMA files will automatically be converted to MP3 or AAC when you import them to your library.

Maybe you're not familiar with Audible, which is an online store for Audiobooks. Audible has its own DRM-protected format which only a few portable players support, one of which is the iPod.

As far as pricing is concerned, the iPod is probably the most expensive in terms of $$/gigabyte, but not by much. Last time I checked, other 20GB players were in the $250-300 range, too. (A 20GB iPod sells for $299 or less)

Hey, it's great you like your big old Archos jukebox. But, I wanted a portable music player that was small and light enough to strap to my arm while I go out bicycling and to the gym. And I wanted one that would play Audible's audiobooks, too. The iPod was my only choice.

I'll admit, my biggest frustration with my iPod is with the software; I wish I could just plug it in and drag-and-drop my music via Windows Explorer. But it's a pretty minor complaint; Aside from being a memory hog, iTunes really is a great media player and organizer. And I still feel that the iPod is the best MP3 player for me.

EphPod.

There, now you can have an iPod too.

just because I have an iPod doesn't mean I use Apple's (crash your usb/firewire subsystem) windows software.

Screw iTunes, use
ehppod

I found the I-tunes a little annoying, since I wasn't planning on using their store, I just wanted to load up my music library. So far allofmp3.com has been great. And ephpod works just like you expect it to, smooth.

You're only partially correct about the iPod. It does show up as a standard storage device, but the music files are stored in some weird directory structure and the metadata and playlists are indexed in a proprietary database format. You can't just copy some music onto it and expect to be able to play it. You need a program that understands the iPod database. I've personally never used anything to talk to my iPod other than iTunes, but I understand there are a few alternatives now. The two I've heard of are EphPod and gtkpod.

What about using Ephod to load your songs? Seems like there are other options to ITunes out there for loading songs on your ipod.

1.) one could say that apple 'reverse engineered' BSD to hack in the entire OSX interface. so screw apple if they have a complaint about someone else building off their work.

2.) you can buy a used ipod, no software agreement packaging there.

3.) you can open and use an ipod without ever looking at any 'agreement' as i myself did. i just opened the box, yanked out the pod, plugged the damn thing in and started using it as a hard drive, then installed ephpod to organize music. without EVER touching itunes or any accompanying software/license stuff.

Try ephpod.

Another excellent tool to do this is EphPod

http://www.ephpod.com

ephpod > itunes
ephpod > musicmatch

Sometimes you have to pre-compile a list to make something work well. That requires software. If you had some retching, frothing allergy to using iTunes just to transfer the files, whatever you use for playing them, you could use EphPod, either on Windows or Linux.

If run Mac OS X and absolutely refuse to use iTunes to transfer the mp3s, whatever you're using to play them, you'd probably better send that Mac to me. It's probably not really your kind of thing.

gtkpod or ephPod will sync your iPod without having to use the horrible MusicMatch software.

The iPod works fine with Linux. Looks just like an external USB or Firewire drive. The only time I've connected my iPod to a Windows machine was to format it - I wasn't brave enough to manually back the firmware up and repartion it for FAT32.

I purchased a 30GB iPod back in May.

And almost returned it.

MusicMatch is such garbage that I had a very, very hard time getting it to see my iPod. Once I did, I had a hard time getting any of my personal music in it. I too had the problem with my iPod being 'full' with only a few songs in it...

Then I found EphPod. This piece of software kept me using my iPod under Windows for a few months. After that I got a used PowerMac G4 Cube, switched to iTunes, and never looked back.

With iTunes for Windows I think that Apple finally has a complete system in place for users to rip and sync music properly. Not the MusicMatch hack...

This is a good thing, in my opinion.

And how exactly did you get the iPod DB updated with a simple batch file?

http://www.ephpod.com/

Crippled songs and DRM aren't my cup of tea. Obviously that isn't the only thing that iTunes does. Its main purpose as far as I could discern is to 'conveniently manage music'. As well as providing an iPod management interface.

However I hate management software. Especially USERFRIENDLY management software that 'knows what I want'. What I want is to copy music to my iPod, and listen to it. I for example didn't want my friend's itunes (mac) to sync his music database (4 songs) with my ipod (1800+ songs) i.e. delete all my songs.

If you just want to send music to your iPod, use:

ephpod (latest version 2.73), freeware, supports AAC/MP4
Sveta Portable Audio, shareware, encodes AAC/MP4 as well, $19

Plus, both now have features that do not render the music files on your ipod inaccessible(hidden dir and renamed) in normal firewire harddisk mode.

While I might be feeding a troll here ...

He does compare the user interface of the ipod to the user interface of the zen, comparing it to palmos and wince. I am right there with him/her on this comparison.

And with the ipod, you'd be amazed to discover there are other software solutions for it. While I can't speak for the mac side of the house (and everyone I've talked to about itunes has been fairly happy with it), I know for certain on the PC side, there's EphPod and Media Jukebokx, both of which I've used. Granted, I believe both use the base driver that apple provides ... but that driver seems to work perfectly fine for me.

I've owned a number of creative's portable mp3 products (zen, nomad, etc). I must say, this ipod and its interface have them all beat, hands down (so long as you skirt the cost issue =)

Actually, you don't have to use MusicMatch (which sucks as an iPod interface, IMHO). I've been using the free ephpod package with my new 30 gig iPod, and I'm very happy with it. MUCH easier to use than MusicMatch, with lots of great features.

No one's forcing you to use MusicMatch with the iPod, there are a number of superior solutions available, one being free.

- Ephpod
The free one, designed for transferring to the iPod and nothing more. A lot of people use it and love it, it has a simple interface, and allows you to download the weather and other fun things to your iPod.

- XPlay
Another product designed specifically for iPod management. It integrates with Windows Explorer and allows you to drag-and-drop your music into a special virtual folder on your iPod's hard drive in order to transfer music, a feature that a lot of people love. Optionally, you can choose to use Windows Media Player to synchronize by using a plug-in included by Mediafour, the developers.

- Media Center
My personal favorite solution, Media Center. It costs $40, but it's a fantastic media management program, featuring smart playlists, video playing, and a whole bunch of other features that are too many in number to attempt to mention here. Check out the 30-day trial that they have and see if you like it. It's also the fastest program on the Windows platform when it comes to synchronizing with the iPod.

By the by, Audible files could be transferred to a 1st or 2nd generation WinniePod by using Ephpod or Media Center, and now Audible has made a program available to transfer audiobooks as well.