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iTunes 4.9 With Podcasting Support
eakthecat writes "Hot on the heels of the 4.8 release, Apple has released the next version of its popular iTunes jukebox software. Version 4.9 incorporates several new features, most notable of which is podcasting. The front page and iTunes webpages have not been updated yet, but you can get your greedy little hands on it or through the new podcasting link in the music store! !"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
Has the "advanced configuration" also been revamped? You see, in the previous versions, what was available in the advanced options was just an option of choosing what columns are displayed! This to me, was a non-starter.
Podcasting is an audio distribution system based on RSS with enclosures. This allows anyone to setup their own audio show and easily distribute it to subscribers. One of the pioneers of Podcasting is Adam Curry http://www.curry.com/
The podcasts are held on the server of whoever makes them. Slowness of teh podcasts is most likely due to the fact that Curry/Madge can't handle the bandwidth hit.
Hmm... I've never had the problems you've described, maybe you're using the iTunes + Quicktime combined installer instead of the iTunes-only one? In any case, when the "Register Quicktime" box comes up next time, set your clock forward about 4 years, click "Not Now" and then set your clock back to the real time. No more annoying pop-up. :)
(Don't get me wrong, I still like iTunes, it just seems very unpolished in Windows).
I think that may be by design, to get you to "switch".
Also, it's now available on the website: Download iTunes 4.9.
The Good:
;).
Rather nicely done. A good interface, the search function works, and the display is very iTunes-ish - to be honest, better than using iPodderX or NetNewsWire to import the songs, and you can add in custom feeds.
I like the ability to tell it "Keep the most recent X and dump the rest" - for news based Podcasts, I usually have to do that manually with listened ones. Now, once I listen to it, it will automatically be taken out. Sweet.
The Bad:
No built in support for turning MP3 to bookmarkable AAC's. I don't see any kind of support for video podcasts (such as Rocketboom, which is odd since iPodderX can export the videos to iTunes, perhaps in support for a (someday) future video iPod).
Otherwise, it's a nice addition, and it's going to be interesting to see where it goes. Kudos to Apple for getting it - now let's see how long it takes the Napster and Rhapsody folks to catch on
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
I think that may be by design, to get you to "switch".
It's going to take more than a rough-around-the-edges music player to get me to switch to Apple hardware. Specifically, it would take about a $500-$1000 price drop as well as more software companies releasing games with support for Mac OS X (Battlefield 2 anyone?)
I'm also downloading a new iPod updater which is supposed to add Podcast support to "iPod with color display," "iPod with Click Wheel," and "iPod mini." Looks like the 3G series has reached its end-of-life as far as support goes.
For more information, click here.
Perhaps more interesting.. there is also an ipod update available!
http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/
This means that your podcasts will FINALLY be organised on your ipod, and your ipod will treat it like an audio book: press pause, come back later and it remembers where you are!
If you drop the price of the Mac Mini $500, you get a free computer... Sure it needs more ram, but as an owner, it is a nice little machine...
Lower the price of a 12inch powerbook $1000 and you have a free laptop...
Are you a student? They have nice student discounts that are super easy to get.
Well, on the Mac, you're supposed to use AppleScript to work with iTunes. I wrote a little podcast aggregator using Cocoa and it uses AppleScript to interface with iTunes to add/delete tracks and manage a Podcast playlist. Quite easy. XCode makes Mac development really easy.
--- witty signature
A workaround for now (on OS X):
- Set your importing preferences to AAC
- Install this Make Bookmarable Applescript
- Select the MP3, go to Advanced->Convert to AAC
- Select the newly-created AAC, run the Make Bookmarkable script on it
Finished, and you only need to do steps 1 and 2 the once, of course. I've been using this to convert BBC radio captures to bookmarkable AAC for a while (workflow: Tivo->MP3->bookmarkable AAC).would agree that making an AAC bookmarkable could do with being integrated into the main interface though.
Cheers,
Ian
Look at this: http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts.html, scroll down to "It takes requests."
Some of it is news. Some of it's music. Some of it's audiobooks. And yeah, some of it's just personal life and ranting. But don't limit your perspective to just those. It's basically whatever you want.
My own podcast narrates science fiction short stories. We also do some reviews and commentary, but I've made a solemn promise on it never, ever to simply tell you about my day.
ESCAPE POD - The Science Fiction Podcast Magazine
In case anyone was wondering, Apple have not changed the DAAP authentication with this new version of iTunes. So my various iTunes apps for linux, etc still work.
stuff
The "normal" 20GB iPod is gone from the Apple Store.
The new iPods have features like the former iPod photos (but apparently lost the "photo" part of their name), i.e. color display and photo capabilities, and in addition 15 hours of battery life and podcast support.
There are only 20GB and 60GB models, which sell for $299 and $399, respectively. The 30GB model is no more.
Do not be alarmed. This is only a test.
OK, the video DOES play, in the artwork preview pane. You can click on it for full size.
Short answer: No.
The goal of BadApple is clearly stated in their FAQ:
Why was BadApple created?
The goal is to make iTunes and iPods interoperate with other piles of media. I'm worried that when and if Apple adds podcast support they will only list a few podcasts that they approve. Remember this is a company that sues web sites that say good things about their upcoming products - bad Apple! Podcasts are significant because they offer a wide-range of diverse topics and ideas, not just those endorsed by one company. BadApple gives you access to all podcasts, - even ones which Apple might disagree with and never list in iTunes software. (emphasis mine)
If you look at Curry's blog it mentions that Apple is supposed to be distributing the podcasts they index on Akamai. They just haven't gotten that going yet.
People may be interested in my write-up on Badfruit's BadApple which I posted to LiveJournal here.
In short, this tool modifies your HOSTS file to point the iTunes Music Store link in iTunes to a local copy of IIS. That copy of IIS serves a python app which hosts a fake music store to offer Podcasts. This copy of IIS is open to the entire world (listening on *:80) running some rather untested software, and the redirection (via the HOSTS file) essentially 'breaks' iTunes Music Store functionality. This behavior (still) does not appear to be documented on BadFruit's site.
It also appears to have some hooks into mp3tunes.com, but I wasn't able to completely determine what. BadFruit may be selling music or collecting referrals, I'm not sure which.
In short, please use lots of caution before installing this software. It makes some rather drastic changes to one's machine, and these aren't documented on BadFruit's site.
There is: Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast...
If podcasting exists then it stands to reason that it already had such support.
It was enabled by third-party software. Check out this site for links for some software and the podcasting feeds.
Isn't it just downloading someone's audio and playing it?
Yes, but it's also more than that. The podcast's website typically is set up with an RSS-type feed (coded in XML, I believe) which your podcasting-enabled software automatically checks each day or so, downloads the new and/or updated content, transfers it to iTunes, and then to your iPod. The third-party software does all this for you, once you "subscribe" to a podcasting site. This way you don't have to manually download a podcast, it's done for you, usually in the background.
I haven't downloaded or tried the new iTunes, but I imagine that Apple is building this feature into iTunes so that users won't have to download and run the third-party apps to accomplish all this.
When you're not looking, this sig is in Latin.
Adam Curry and the guy behind Coverville, at the very least pay ASCAP licensing fees.
See this topic on Podcast Alley for details.
Podcasts of news (and other) shows are also offered by public radio stations such as the BBC, CBC and SRC.
eMac: $799
iBook: $999
Wow! You want Apple to pay you for buying their computers! That would be awesome!
Basically it ties more people to the iPod [which is good for Apple].
Podcasting doesn't tie people to the iPod in any form.
-mkb
Love him or hate him, Rush Limbaugh just recently started publishing a Podcast for his 24/7 subscribers. He had a team of lawyers look into all the 'issues' and ended up not playing any music whatsoever on his Podcasts. That includes his musical parodies.
The concern was how would they handle paying royalties, etc. They already pay them for radio broadcast but to put it into an MP3 and distribute it over the net allows anyone to edit it out and literally steal the song. So there is no model in place to handle the licensing, at least not one that is as reliable as the radio broadcasts.
So to avoid getting your butt sued, especially after that Supreme Court P2P decision you ought not distribute licensed music within your Podcast without written permission and even then it's not entirely clear if you are 'safe'.
I know I'm picking nits here, but technically, Marketplace is not an NPR product. It's American Public Media (and used to be Minnesota Public Radio IIRC) and is distributed by Public Radio International.
True, almost all the outlets for it are considered "NPR stations". However, it's not really accurate to call it that.
If you want to hear Marketplace without using iTunes, you can get the streams from their site:
http://www.marketplace.org/
Plant a tree in a developing country.
Replace "podcasting" with "web pages" in your post, pretend it's 1994, and you'll understand.
Sure, there are a lot of people just telling others about their days. But many big media companies are making their products available as podcasts. It's a medium, and the content is following. There will be professional news, sports...
Think of it as having the wide variety and "niche" presence of satellite radio crossed with the time-shifting of a Tivo or a web page.