question on "default programs"

dacloo · February 28, 2005 10:54AM

Hi!

I have a collection of Mp3's stored in several folders. I'd like to change the default MP3 application for Mp3's and OGG's because I hate Itunes. How can I do this? I know how to do it for one file, but with lots of files, I need to tell "open all mp3's with MacAmp".

I am used to Windows but I only have my Powerbook recently, so that's why I don't know :-)

Thanks

mr. me · February 28, 2005 11:35AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

Hi!

I have a collection of Mp3's stored in several folders. I'd like to change the default MP3 application for Mp3's and OGG's because I hate Itunes. How can I do this? I know how to do it for one file, but with lots of files, I need to tell "open all mp3's with MacAmp".

I am used to Windows but I only have my Powerbook recently, so that's why I don't know :-)

Thanks

Many years ago, MacAmp's name was changed to MACAST. It is now dead. AOL's Nullsoft took over the name MacAmp and had the MP3 player in development. Following the release of iTunes, however, Nullsoft dropped development of MacAmp. Like it or not, iTunes is just about the only MP3 player for MacOS X that is still in development. However, if you prefer the old developmental Classic version of MacAmp, download and install it. Do a Get Info on a sample MP3 file and change its default application to MacAmp.

dacloo · February 28, 2005 11:42AM

Hi there. Thank you for the solution to my problem :-)

I find Itunes very slow (interface), intrusive and I prefer my own folder structure, and Itunes indexes everything in a diffent structure, which I don't like.

Bye!

buonrotto · February 28, 2005 11:57AM

In the Finder, select one such file and go to File: Get Info. You can change which application the file opens with there. This works whether you have one file selected or many. There is also a button in the Get Info palette that will change the default app for that file type and apply it to any files on your system.

bergz · February 28, 2005 12:09PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

Hi there. Thank you for the solution to my problem :-)

I find Itunes very slow (interface), intrusive and I prefer my own folder structure, and Itunes indexes everything in a diffent structure, which I don't like.

Bye!

I find iTunes a bit monolithic too, but I'm sure I'd love it if I had an iPod.

As for the indexing, if you're talking about the music folder organization, you can change that in the advanced preferences.

--B

vox barbara · February 28, 2005 4:35PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

I find Itunes very slow (interface), intrusive and I prefer my own folder structure, and Itunes indexes everything in a diffent structure, which I don't like.

Bye!

This is quite an answer, isn't it?

You better try to dig into itunes, get familiar

the way it works, once you understand the concept

you will understand, why this particular app is

the most succsessful app ever (macwise)

hope that helps a ... bit.

towel · February 28, 2005 5:24PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

I prefer my own folder structure, and Itunes indexes everything in a diffent structure, which I don't like.

Like bergz said, go to Preferences:Advanced in iTunes, and uncheck the two boxes that say "Keep iTunes Music Folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library". iTunes will never touch your files again.

For me, the Library Browsing feature of iTunes alone makes it worth using. Have you ever tried it? First, add all your music to the iTunes library (by dragging files and folders onto the iTunes window). Don't worry - after you unchecked those boxes, iTunes won't be doing any more organizing or copying, it just needs to know where your files are. Now click the "Library" icon at the top of the playlists. And browse to your heart's content. Isn't that nicer than surfing through Finder windows?

[aside]The reason iTunes want to copy and organize your music, incidentally, is that if you ever move the files after adding them to the library, iTunes loses track of where they are. It's near-impossible for any OS X application, in fact, to keep track of files as you move them around (I say this from developer experience). By keeping its own copies in the iTunes Music Folder, iTunes assures that you won't get frustrated at it suddenly becoming completely useless when you move your mp3 collection from ~/Desktop/Music to ~/Documents/Music. This is very helpful for most novices, but if you have more advanced needs, it's easy enough to turn off. I keep the copying feature off so I can have separate mp3 collections on CDs and network/external drives, yet still have instant iTunes-access to the music when I mount any of those drives.[/aside]

jonnyboy · February 28, 2005 6:31PM

in my experience, it should be called;

iTunes, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Folder Structure

don't worry about where the files "are", just use the software interface. worrying about the file structure is a windows hangup. trust me, i know!

dacloo · February 28, 2005 6:35PM

Quote:

Now click the "Library" icon at the top of the playlists. And browse to your heart's content. Isn't that nicer than surfing through Finder windows?

I agree that it has it is handy. I know that like 50% of my friends and relatives use this approach with Itunes or Windows Media Player (same concept).

But, I still like my folders. I *know* where each MP3 is, because I structured my Mp3's myself by putting them in folders. Homebrewn structure. I noticed my girlfriend does the same. It's a matter of personal preference.

I understand that Itunes indexes the files in a more "database way", and that this has some advantages when you are browsing your collection. And, I'm doing a lot of SQL related programming so I know what the power of this concept is :-)

I just don't want my Mp3 player dictacting me his indexing methods. I Just want "click and play" or "drag to make playlist and play" from folders.

So, I am glad that I found an alternative :-)

Also, I just never liked Itunes. Slow both on Windows and OSX and just not 'my thing' :-)

What is extemely cool about Itunes is the fact it can make playlists from a LAN network. Even the most conservative folder-addict like me has to admit that this is very cool.

Quote:

worrying about the file structure is a windows hangup.

I don't see how MacOS is different with the filesystem than Windows, when we look at the folder/file concept. The concepts on both OS-es are identical. As far as I know, Only BeOS has a true "database-ish" filesystem (even Tiger hasn't this). iTunes, just an application, is indexing my Mp3's. The same does Windows Media Player.

jonnyboy · February 28, 2005 9:03PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

I don't see how MacOS is different with the filesystem than Windows, when we look at the folder/file concept. The concepts on both OS-es are identical. As far as I know, Only BeOS has a true "database-ish" filesystem (even Tiger hasn't this). iTunes, just an application, is indexing my Mp3's. The same does Windows Media Player. [/B]

yes, but instead of accessing your files directly, use an appropriate application to access them. os x and windows filesystems essentially "look" the same, but an application gives you the flexibility to find the music/photos/documents in whatever manner is quickest and easiest at that particular time.

i've come round to this way of thinking in just 2 weeks on mac. you can too!

dacloo · March 1, 2005 6:55AM

Quote:

i've come round to this way of thinking in just 2 weeks on mac. you can too!

Hmmm I don't think this is a Mac or PC thing.

On Windows, I never like Windows Media Player doing the indexing as well :-)

jonnyboy · March 1, 2005 5:38PM

so you like to access the mp3s directly, dbl-click to open, do file functions, etc?

well when i was on pc i used to like that as well, and i also hated mediaplayer's cataloguing. however, now i've realised i can do all that much more conveniently through an application such as itunes or iphoto.

give it a try!

bborofka · March 2, 2005 3:23AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

But, I still like my folders. I *know* where each MP3 is, because I structured my Mp3's myself by putting them in folders. Homebrewn structure. I noticed my girlfriend does the same. It's a matter of personal preference.

It's just a personal habit. I used to do the same thing until iTunes came out and I realized that there is no reason to even bother with the files on my hard disk. I actually wanted iTunes to organize songs for me. It does it intelligently, precisely and automatically. And I still *know* where each MP3 is: ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/<artist>/<album>/<song>

Not that I ever go digging in there anyways. The Finder is a not a good music manager, it can't index MP3 metadata like song name, album, artist, year, etc. You are strictly limited to filenames and other meaningless metadata like Date Modified, Size, etc. Making custom names for all your songs, artists, and album folders makes CDDB useless. What if you mispell stuff? What if you forget where you put a song, or accidentally put it in the wrong place? No search method in the Finder works as well as the search box in iTunes.

But, old habits die hard. If you really want to stick to micromanaging filenames and folders instead of browsing by relevent metadata, be my guest. You're missing out on Library Browsing, Smart Playlists, Party Shuffle, My Rating, etc. but you obviously don't care.

vox barbara · March 2, 2005 3:54AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bborofka

It's just a personal habit. I used to do the same thing until iTunes came out and I realized that there is no reason to even bother with the files

...

I could have written the very same. This is so true.

Old habits, classic habits, ...nah... just get rid of them.

No big deal. IMHO

Another example of "old habits":

I know a lot of guys, who recently migrated to

MacOS X. Unfortunately they all start to browse

through their Files by clicking the "Macintosh HD"

icon. Made a lot of sense in the "classic days",

makes almost nearly no sense in MacOS X days.

best

dacloo · March 2, 2005 4:02AM

Hmmm you call them "old habit" versus "new habits".

For me it is not a case of "old habits die hard".

It's just my way of working. It is just *a* habit. It works very well for me, so why should I even consider something else?

gon · March 2, 2005 4:51AM

I also do not use iTunes' full features, anything above what Winamp has. Because I want to play disc by disc, it's easier to browse from the Finder, with a "folder equals disc" structure. Now if there only was a simple playlist that didn't take a lot of space on the screen...

I don't have time to mess with ID3 tags.

I initially used iTunes (also set up a "shared library" system for the users on my computer). I felt it was too slow, clunky, messy. I tried Audion3 to get something simpler, but it was clunky too. Now I'm back to iTunes. I actually tend to play stuff straight from the library now.

towel · March 2, 2005 12:58PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dacloo

But, I still like my folders. I *know* where each MP3 is, because I structured my Mp3's myself by putting them in folders. Homebrewn structure. I noticed my girlfriend does the same. It's a matter of personal preference.

Whatever floats your boat. But you know you can do the same thing with playlists in iTunes, right? Make as many custom playlists as you like, and you can even populate a new playlist by just dragging files/folders from the Finder onto that playlist. The greatest advantage, of course, is that a song can be in any number of playlists, while it can reside in only one folder. And while it's on so many random playlists, you can still find it by browsing Artists-Albums-Songs.

And none of that affects your Finder folder structure at all. It's all meta-manipulation within iTunes. So you still know where your files are, you just have an infitinitely more powerful way of accessing them. But, whatever floats your boat.

[Yeah, I have a bit of the zealotry of a convert. I used to religiously order my mp3's in folders, and initially resisted the siren song of iTunes. But like bborofka, I eventually came around. I also used MacAmp back in the day [shudder]. Thank $deity for iTunes.

]

tchwojko · March 2, 2005 1:49PM

It's kind of strange. The primary dislike I've heard about iTunes is how it arranges things on the file system. (Yes, some people have other dislikes about it, but this is the one I hear first and foremost.)

Every time I ask "Why do you care?" I get vague hand-waving arguments that are usually solved by saying "Just let iTunes do that."

jonnyboy · March 2, 2005 5:48PM

just set up some smart playlists in itunes for things like;

25 most recently added tunes

25 most played tunes

25 least played tunes

25 random tracks from the 90s

and then start setting up lists with random quotas of tracks from certain genres etc. THEN tell me browsing through finder is superior!

and none of those finder windows to keep opening and closing. are we winning you over yet?

question on "default programs"

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