[quote]And for playback...what? iTunes plays mp3s...so does WinAMP. I don't really see how WinAMP is better in that regard.<hr></blockquote> True, there is only so much quality that a decoder can sqeeze out of mp3s. Itunes has nice song management and OOB cd-burning, but it's nice to have winamp do just what you want. I like that it can just load the mp3 decoder and play with a few MB's of memory and ~0 cpu utilization. When that isn't what I want, just about any(maybe not ANY, but a lot) usefull feature that someone could use has a plugin written for it. If you want visualizations, there's thousands. If you want to change tracks while you're playing a game, fine. Want to tie it into your home automation/entertainment system, great. Wanna play exotic formats, can do. Wanna control it from your remote control, Palm, joystick, i/o ports, telnet; affirmative. Wanna have your christmas lights dance to the music, you can. Wanna sync multiple comps across the internet, take a guess.
[quote]It just doesn't seem like that much fun to stare at a screen that isn't doing anything interesting besides produce a psuedo-psychedelia 'on screen.' Wouldn't you rather have some real psychedelia playing 'in brain'?<hr></blockquote>
Well of course mayor Bloomberg and I would prefer 'real' psychedelia but when I'm at school or some other restricted area, I don't exactly have that option. Sometimes, I turn winamp's visualization overlay option on, so I can work and still see the imagery on my wallpaper.
a giant company like Apple that spends millions to develop applications like iTunes, which they then give out for free to help sell their machines. That is no different than Microsoft does with Internet Explorer. They spend millions on that, which is why it is the best browser out there. These premiere applications help Apple and Microsoft sell their other products.</strong><hr></blockquote>
A couple of subtle differences ... iTunes wasn't a piece of sh*t when it was first released, iTunes isn't actually grafted onto the OS, and the Mac OS doesn't intentionaly conflict with competing MP3 players.
<strong>EAC is extremely powerful and flexible. You can import audio in a ton of different formats, lossless, ogg vorbis, whatever.
If you approach it comparing it to iTunes then of course it's not the same. It's a lot more than iTunes is in that it has 1 goal, audio extraction and is a hell of a lot better then iTunes in that regard. And then WinAmp has one goal, audio playback, and is a hell of a lot better than iTunes in that regard.
Now, you may be used to the 1-for-all approach and that's fine, but don't just brush it off because you're not used to it.
I hear the same things from both sides, "Macs/ura½are stupid, they don't work right."</strong><hr></blockquote>
I don't think he's saying that it's "stupid", rather, that after using iTunes he is used to a piece of software that works very well and is easy to use. The Mac tends to spoil you that way.
I've used both EAC and WinAmp, and compared to iTunes, it's like using the command line to manage your MP3s. Both programs are (in comparison to iTunes) a PITA to learn and a PITA to use. I'm not saying you can't learn them, and it's really not hard of course, but when you're used to iTunes - which you can just "use" without having to think about much - these programs are a hassle.
Most people I would think don't need several audio formats, or to control it from a joystick. Synching multiple computers across the net? Yeah, that would be so useful.
I've got a big hard drive, and rip CDs at 320 kbps. I cannot tell the difference in playback between my MP3s and my actual CDs. I have several playlists I use - our iMac is our new home stereo, actually. Making new playlists is a snap by dragging and dropping within iTunes. This is a huge hassle in WinAmp...
Of course, it's what you like and what you're used to. If you've been using your PC for a long time doing this stuff it's a no brainer. It's only a challenge to those who get used to a computer and it's software that work so seamlessly and easily... then try to duplicate this experience on a PC. Just ain't gonna happen.
Well put murbot, I felt the same way when I first built my PC and have kept to it, then again, I don't actually have any money to spend so it wasn't much of an option, but my dad got his Powerbook G4/550 a few months ago so I still use it on occasion since my computer is downstairs.
iTunes WAS pretty shitty when it came out (remember most ppl just called it SoundJam MP relabeled), EVERY product sucks at first arrival, it should be well known by now.
Anyway, this post doesn't really have any information, first post for a long time for those of you who still remember me. Didn't even know this place was back up again until today when someone mentioned it on the MacNN forums.
Comments
[quote]It just doesn't seem like that much fun to stare at a screen that isn't doing anything interesting besides produce a psuedo-psychedelia 'on screen.' Wouldn't you rather have some real psychedelia playing 'in brain'?<hr></blockquote>
Well of course mayor Bloomberg and I would prefer 'real' psychedelia
[ 04-15-2002: Message edited by: xmoger ]</p>
<strong>
a giant company like Apple that spends millions to develop applications like iTunes, which they then give out for free to help sell their machines. That is no different than Microsoft does with Internet Explorer. They spend millions on that, which is why it is the best browser out there. These premiere applications help Apple and Microsoft sell their other products.</strong><hr></blockquote>
A couple of subtle differences ... iTunes wasn't a piece of sh*t when it was first released, iTunes isn't actually grafted onto the OS, and the Mac OS doesn't intentionaly conflict with competing MP3 players.
<strong>EAC is extremely powerful and flexible. You can import audio in a ton of different formats, lossless, ogg vorbis, whatever.
If you approach it comparing it to iTunes then of course it's not the same. It's a lot more than iTunes is in that it has 1 goal, audio extraction and is a hell of a lot better then iTunes in that regard. And then WinAmp has one goal, audio playback, and is a hell of a lot better than iTunes in that regard.
Now, you may be used to the 1-for-all approach and that's fine, but don't just brush it off because you're not used to it.
I hear the same things from both sides, "Macs/ura½are stupid, they don't work right."</strong><hr></blockquote>
I don't think he's saying that it's "stupid", rather, that after using iTunes he is used to a piece of software that works very well and is easy to use. The Mac tends to spoil you that way.
I've used both EAC and WinAmp, and compared to iTunes, it's like using the command line to manage your MP3s. Both programs are (in comparison to iTunes) a PITA to learn and a PITA to use. I'm not saying you can't learn them, and it's really not hard of course, but when you're used to iTunes - which you can just "use" without having to think about much - these programs are a hassle.
Most people I would think don't need several audio formats, or to control it from a joystick. Synching multiple computers across the net? Yeah, that would be so useful.
I've got a big hard drive, and rip CDs at 320 kbps. I cannot tell the difference in playback between my MP3s and my actual CDs. I have several playlists I use - our iMac is our new home stereo, actually. Making new playlists is a snap by dragging and dropping within iTunes. This is a huge hassle in WinAmp...
Of course, it's what you like and what you're used to. If you've been using your PC for a long time doing this stuff it's a no brainer. It's only a challenge to those who get used to a computer and it's software that work so seamlessly and easily... then try to duplicate this experience on a PC. Just ain't gonna happen.
[ 04-15-2002: Message edited by: Calvin ]</p>
iTunes WAS pretty shitty when it came out (remember most ppl just called it SoundJam MP relabeled), EVERY product sucks at first arrival, it should be well known by now.
Anyway, this post doesn't really have any information, first post for a long time for those of you who still remember me. Didn't even know this place was back up again until today when someone mentioned it on the MacNN forums.
Hello again.