by Michael Swanberg

I am sure that if you ask 100 iTunes users that you will get at least 20 different responses on how iTunes could be improved. Everything from how it organizes music to the depth of “Smart Playlists”.

Anyone who spends any time listening to various podcasts has probably come across Macbreak Weekly and Alex Lindsay’s lament on how he wants iTunes’ Smart Playlists to function. Personally, I would welcome some sort of plugin that allowed users to go much further in setting up iTunes to work in a more personable fashion.

I recently got an email from a good friend who is on his first foray into the world of iPod and iTunes. His biggest complaint was that the iPod rearranges all of his music so that it is difficult to use it as a backup of his tunes. I gave him my advice, which is that the tracks on the iPod can be re-added to iTunes which will then rename and re-organize his tracks. As well, there are software solutions such as Senuti which should accomplish the iPod Reverse quite satisfactorily.

That same friend also had issues with DRM. Apparently he hasn’t gone down the road that says that DRM is a fact of life, at least for now. Personally, I think we are soon going to see a consumer revolt against DRM, but only time will reveal that.

But my friend’s issue with DRM is the idea that once he’s locked into a player, there is no way to jump ship and use another player. My advice to him was that he had two choices. The first was to only use CDs and then he could rip his music the way he wants to. Of course, with rootkits and other wild attempts at keeping CD music locked down, he will be taking his computer’s life in his hands. As well, he won’t be able to purchase tracks a la carte; he will have to buy the entire album.
Oddly enough, those protection schemes do not seem to affect Macs or Linux machines. Hmmm, does the RIAA only consider Windows users to be pirates without so much as a trial or any evidence? I personally have 7 PCs and 1 Mac. I guess I’m only 87.5% pirate.

The second choice is to use the “Analog Hole” to get around the DRM. Most music stores such as iTunes will allow the user to burn an audio CD from his or her purchased tracks. That CD can then be re-ripped back to DRM-free files. However, there is a loss in quality, however small it may be, perhaps even imperceptible to those without a true discerning ear. Or those that play their tracks in noisy environs such as a car.

So, this leads me to my biggest beef about iTunes. CDs do not have any established DRM scheme in place, but yet we can willy-nilly make them with our purchased tracks. DVDs, on the other hand, have CSS in place. So, why can’t we take videos we’ve purchased on iTunes and make DVDs? It only makes sense. We’re allowed to take our music to other media via CD, why can’t we do the same with DVDs? It really should not be that difficult to add this functionality to iTunes. And the DVDs can have CSS added without fail so that only those with piratical ideals can then make copies of those discs.

Furthermore, allowing consumers to make these DVDs will not hinder the DVD sales market at all. Since the quality of the videos is somewhat less than a standard DVD, it’s not like the burned disc will have any intrinsic value. Additionally, the complete lack of SAP, closed captioning, director’s commentary, special features, and deleted scenes, a true collector will still go out and buy the DVDs that he’s purchased on iTunes. The only benefit is that those that want to use iTunes as a viable source for video consumption would be able to extend that usage a good deal further and in a benign manner. I know that if this were in place, I would purchase far more video from iTunes.

So, how about it, Apple? Can we get the ability to make DVDs of our purchased video?

Related Posts on This Topic:
TV To Go, Revisited
Everything But the Sync
What is Podcasting? (part 2)
Another “I Told Ya So”
Dead Rights Management

This entry was posted on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Audio, DRM, MP3, iPod.

Gordon Fogus Says:

Sir,

1. Yes, CSS protection is available on comercial DVDs. Unfortunatly CSS is not automaticly generated by your PC. Every movie I burn to a DVD is not protected by CSS, and I have not looked into how to make a CSS protected disk.

2. Analogue Hole refers to recording the sound of a digital track while it is being played over speakers, not ripping a CD.

3. Storing an MP3 collection on CDs is the most innefficient use of time, money, and space.

4. Backing up your MP3 collection on a hard drive or on data DVDs is the surest way to go, but with 30 GB myself I do not see DVDs as a viable option.

5. You can convert ipod movies to DVDs and other usable formats. Please visit this obscure website called “google.com” and type “ipod to dvd” and search.

6. I shall mourn for all you poor sucker ipod users.

Posted December 12th, 2006 at 12:59 am Zune Says:

I got this zune download that is a blast. i am glad microsoft is catching up. I know they get a lot of flack but i like them

Posted December 31st, 2006 at 11:31 am Michael Swanberg Says:

@Gordon:

I’m not sure you understand… why would YOU need to seek out a means of placing CSS on a DVD? I would think that in the case of iTunes that Apple would need to do that. Are you an Apple employee working in the iTunes development area?

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to convert iTunes-purchased DRM’ed iPod videos to DVD. Your suggested google search turned up very little, and mostly just discussions about it where people mention trying things like the analog hole to get around the DRM, but with unacceptable results.

Finally, why do you mourn us poor iPod users? Do you have anything further to add, like why you mourn us?

Posted March 9th, 2007 at 1:51 pm