Pre sadness Ping!
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Posted on 07/15/2009 4:48:23 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi
Oh dear. We can't say this was a complete surprise, but it looks like Apple made good on its earlier warning and put an end to the Palm Pre-iTunes synchronization with the release of iTunes 8.2.1.
In the release notes, Apple states that "iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices." Not wanting to believe the news, we bit the bullet and downloaded the latest version of Apple's music software to our PC and sure enough, the romance is dead.
Just as before, we connected the smartphone to our laptop and selected the Media Sync option on our Pre, but this time, it didn't automatically launch iTunes. Instead, it was only recognized as a mass storage device, and manually launching iTunes did not surface the Pre either (*tears*).
When asked for comment, Palm replied with the same response it had when Apple first issued its warning:
Palm's media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.
Obviously, this isn't the best news for Pre users, but there are alternative ways to keep the iTunes-Pre synchronization alive. For one, you could just not update to iTunes 8.2.1, or as PreCentral.net points out, there are other third-party solutions, such as doubleTwist and The Missing Sync for Pre, that will allow to sync the smartphone with iTunes.
I use all music storage devices as “mass storage device”. I don’t do playlists, libraries, etc. I find songs by title.
It’s all drag and drop for me.
Why is this exactly?
Ping
It's cumbersome, a memory and storage space hog, it's slow, the output quality is audibly worse than any other player, it always tries to link me to websites I'm not interested in, it doesn't play well with other software.....
....should I go on?
What Web sites? I will attribute the rest to you likely being on Windows as my experience on my Mac is totally different, but I have never been linked to a Web site.
And still, worse than IE 6?
No, allow me to go on. Why in the world does an "update" to iTunes require an 85 MB download? Why does Quicktime try to force it's way to being the default player for all media types after every iTunes update?
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Simple... the download contains both Windows XP and Windows Vista versions... and one installer will install both as needed. Microsoft provides different installers depending on the Windows version you have.
Why does Quicktime try to force it's way to being the default player for all media types after every iTunes update?
Also simple... every media manager asks if you want it to be the default handler for your media files after installation. "...force it's way..."? I'd say that's a bit strong: iTunes asks you if you want to use iTunes as your media file handler; all you have to do is click NO. That is hardly "forcing its way into being your default handler.
By-the-way, what sites does iTunes force you to?
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Pre-PWN3D
One thing I've noticed about Jobs is that he has a long memory. After Michael Dell said if he owned Apple he'd shut it down and give the money back to the investors, Jobs was fairly quiet until Apple passed Dell. That was something like five years later, and Jobs issued a press release noting the fact.
Michael Eisner was slamming Apple for "piracy" by not preventing their computers from ripping CDs. Jobs waited until Eisner was fighting for his job as Disney CEO, and on the date of one of the most important meetings, released a statement saying Pixar would no longer negotiate with Disney when their contract ran out.
The Pre is a blatant rip off of the iPhone, with the only distinction being the slide out keyboard. As iTunes is provided at no charge, it's Apple's business if they want it to synch with 3rd party products or not.
I think part of Apple's problem was that Palm apparently has the Pre ID itself as an iPod, and never tried to negotiate with Apple on synching with iTunes.
Installed without issue. Don’t have a Pre so I guess I am in good shape :)
I’ve seen posts on some Mac forums where they say that Palm’s ID that shows up as an iPod violates their contract with the USB Consortium. Since Apple pays to have this unique ID, Palm could very well have their USB license pulled.
What are y’all hearing?
I thought it was just the normal infighting between companies, but if Palm violated their contracts, that's beyond a Hail Mary to a "If we don't make this work, we're out of business, so let's take a shot and see what happens."
I’m seriously surprised Apple hasn’t pursued this line. Maybe they have, you know how secretive Apple is now.
Also, they could do some serious damage to the former employees who now work for Palm for violating trade secrets concerning the Apple USB ID.
This is going to be a blood bath and Palm isn’t looking good right now.
He, he, he. You’re a funny guy.
WebOS is merely web page oriented scripting... it multitasks by allowing you to switch between webpages. For the first year of iPhone availability, the only apps were Web2.0 website oriented apps using Java Scripting and were multitasking (you could run 8 tasks at once) on each web page you had open. . . just exactly like the Pre does it. I'm not certain what you mean by "a full browser" but, aside from the lack of Flash and an eight tab limit, I have not found much that cannot be handled (full page) on my iPhone.
Thank you for your interesting post.
One thing I’d want to add in response: anyone who pwns Eisner gets a nod of approval from me! Artful, say I. Steve has style.
As to the Pre, I don’t fault Apple for slamming the door on syncing it. Relying on someone else’s product to provide a significant functionality your customers expect is parasitism. I’m not a huge fan of iTunes, though I use it daily for podcast downloads, but it’s a free product and Palm has not exactly shrunk from needling Apple, down to faking an iPod “birth certificate”. Fine. Out it goes.
Palm was syncing PDAs when the iPod was but a gleam in Steve Jobs’ eye. I’m embarrassed for them that they tried this trick.
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