iTunes Use Surges Past QuickTime, RealPlayer 281
QuatermassX writes "Forget increased sales of Mac computers, think media players. The iPod 'halo effect' shows its true power in recently compiled statistics from Nielsen/NetRatings and Apple. From the report on WebSiteOptimization.com: 'Podcasting is taking off and iPods are seemingly ubiquitous. Unique users of Apple's iTunes player should pass RealPlayer by mid-2006 with nearly 30 million users in the US alone. People are tuning in over twice as long with iTunes than with RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. As broadband penetration increases we are spending more time on our computers.'"
The Halo Effect (Score:5, Funny)
I've never heard of the "Halo effect" but apparently it kicks Slashdot's arse [googlefight.com]
__
Funny Porn videos from Laugh DAILY [laughdaily.com]
Re:The Halo Effect (Score:2)
It's a good thing!
Re:The Halo Effect (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The Halo Effect (Score:3, Informative)
But if it wasn't a joke I think I'll clarify - the Halo Effect is the effect that the popularity of one thing can cause increased popularity in related things - a halo being an area of light surrounding a light-source.
I wonder... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder... (Score:5, Funny)
But then, I don't have a dog.
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Must be a slimmer, smaller version of this [amazon.com].
Who "uses" real player? (Score:5, Interesting)
If the former is the case, then it is completely bogus. It is very difficult to get Quicktime without the iTunes bundle, first you need to know that they are bundled, then you need to google the link as the standalone Quicktime installer is hidden away on the site. I've never found a link to it on the Apple site.
And everyone has the Quicktime player on their PC. It's in the list of bog-standard things you do when installing e.g. Windows for someone. Quicktime, Firefox, RealPlayer (maybe) and Acrobad Reader. The reason RealPlayer is a maybe is because they have been doing some pretty shoddy tactics to get their marketshare and profits up. Things like hiding the free cut-down version on the site, so that you have to download other nonsense that you don't want.
Sounds like Apple has been reading Real's playbook. Just because someone has iTunes on their PC, it doesn't mean that they are an iTunes user. Especially when they trojaned the iTunes install in via a Quicktime download. The bottom line however is that Apple want to be able to say to the music industry that "we have X million users" when really they are saying "we have X million users running iTunesService.exe, but only a fraction of them actually use iTunes, but we want to omit that detail as the former marketing point is technically correct and way more sexy".
Re:Who "uses" real player? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Who "uses" real player? (Score:2)
Err no. The bog standard thing I do is nuke the "Quicktime Nagware" and "Real Ad-Player" and install QuickTime Alternative [free-codecs.com] and Real Alternative (from the same site).
Re:Who "uses" real player? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, walk into any Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Pretty much all new PC's have a trial version of Rhapsody pre-installed. OF course the Realplayer's going to be installed as well.
Re:Who "uses" real player? (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalon
Re:Who "uses" real player? (Score:2, Informative)
Very difficult? You gotta be kidding. Go to the QuickTime download page http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html [apple.com] and click on the link to your right that says "QuickTime Standalone Installe
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
That's 32 million iPods and 18.5 million iTunes users. What are the other 14 million people using to get music into their iPods? The only way the 18.5 million iTunes users could be true would be if people, on average, bought two iPods for themselves over the course of the year.
- Tony
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
True. But, also have you ever tried getting the free version of the RealPlayer? How many wrong turns do you have to make before you can download it?
iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:5, Informative)
But, this has certainly done wonders for the adoption of QuickTime under Windows. It's the iTunes Trojan Horse -- get them hooked on a great music player and a great portable music player. As more installations of iTunes are done, more QuickTime installations as well. Suddenly, it becomes easier to convince the big websites (and small too) to put up QuickTime versions of the media. And to top it off, because of the increased usage of QuickTime, us Mac users get a better web experience as well.
Bravo Apple
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:3, Informative)
I think they really meant Quicktime Player, rather than Quicktime per se. Explaining that Quicktime is a framework which comes bundled with one possible player takes some time, and it's a game I gave up playing even here on Slashdot quite a while ago. You know the kind of thing: "Quicktime sucks! It can't play full screen!". Err...yes it can, you mean that particular player doesn't use th
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:5, Informative)
Fullscreen (Score:2)
Only the Player is crippled, not QT itself. (Score:3, Informative)
I can't vouch for it personally but this one is less than 600kB with source code:
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/Freeware/Fullscr eenMoviePlayer.shtml [monkeybreadsoftware.de]
BTW, this exact same situation exists for both Windows and Mac, it's not as though Apple is doing something special to gouge PC users. Most Mac users who don't want to pay just use a different player a
Re:Only the Player is crippled, not QT itself. (Score:3, Insightful)
That's pretty much my mail dislike of Quicktime. Most of us are running at or near 1600x1200 now and any Quicktime movies in my browser are the size of a postage stamp.
At least with Real Media and Windows media you can double-click the video to get full screen. But by far the worst is the recent trend of embedding videos in Flash objects. I've not looked in to this in detail, but IMHO they probably don't have access to the vi
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:5, Informative)
QuickTime uses an open format [apple.com].
Because the maker of your main player has chosen not to support the QuickTime format.
Ditto.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:2, Informative)
It is, but I felt he asked for it.
That's interesting. I was not aware that Sorensen had allowed Apple to gain such a stranglehold on their own technology.
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:5, Insightful)
OK, lets look at the current streaming formats .
1) WMV using proprietary codec controlled by MS.
2) Real media using a proprietary codec controlled by Real
3) MP4 media is an industry standard controlled by the MPEG and used by Apple and anyone else who cares to license it.
All these formats support the optional use of DRM. As for the
iTunes Trojan Horse (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:5, Interesting)
As a web video and multimedia programmer, I have long wished for one universal standard based on QuickTime. Everyone's web experience would be so much better if we could all standardize around QT. But many times I encounter users who work in corporate IT environments with locked down PCs that are forbidden from installing QT. This seems to be a relic of olden times when online video and audio were seen as frivolous, and a big waste of bandwidth.
What do you think changed? Nothing! (Score:3, Insightful)
Man, if my machine at work was a tricked out as any of the boxez at home, I never get any real work done.
Microsoft is pushing against the grain trying to get any if this shit acepted and businesses, Microsoft's biggest client base by far, aren't interested is in frivolity anymore than they're interested in the constant fight against viri.
Apple is getting sucked up in the vacuum of the differences between what Apple delivers painle
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:2)
Here is an excerpt of some of the gross code I was forced to write. I didn't just make this up -- it is almost exactly the same as the sample code from Apple, as well as other QuickTime code I came across. Notice all the weird casts ever
Re:iTunes use surges past QuickTime? (Score:2, Interesting)
Because it would be impossible to discern any difference whatsoever betweeen WM/RP/QT - the Flash graph line would be several inches above the rest.
This is a comparison of fringe media players. I guess they've conceded the race is over as any relevant survey would embarrass all three.
Podcasts with no Pod (Score:3, Interesting)
How good a solution to general multimedia handling is iTunes? Why might a non-iPod user like me use it?
Simon Hibbs
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:2)
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:2)
To be honest it's free so why not try it and make the decision for yourself (unless you run Linux, in which case you can't)?
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:2)
It does, however, run in Wine, albeit an older version of itunes.
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:2)
My main problem with it are minor things. Like I'll type a song in the search box, release it doesn't find what I want because I'm searching a playlist, click the library and have to type the search again (no type ahead ala browser windows).
Its pretty intuitive, although I've met people who couldn't figure out how to find all songs on one album (the "browse" button seems to be a mystery to a couple of my friends
Re:Podcasts with no Pod (Score:2, Interesting)
And the thing is (Score:5, Insightful)
'Automatic updates' consists of downloading a 35Mb new iTunes setup package each month or so...
The library doesn't update itself automatically...
There's no concept of 'checking for existing entries on import' - importing the same folder will just give you each track twice...
It doesn't work very well at all with keyboard shortcuts...
No plugin facility...
It's weighty as hell in memory...
but yet, after all these sore points, somehow, it's way cooler than WMP, RealPlayer, and sod it...anything else I've seen.
If Apple were a woman, she'd be a sexy slim figure - and you'd buy anything shite from her, just because she was so damn fine! Not like the fat moose of a wreck a Microsoft woman would be - she could be selling the moon on a stick, and you wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!
And on that note, perhaps I should mingle with real people some more.
Re:And the thing is (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
I thought the program checks for existing tracks on folder or CD import, it's stopped me a few times and asked if I wanted duplicate tracks or replace them.
I am not sure about library updating itself automatically, you mean somehow updating the media files or the back end code? If you mean updating the media files, I don't know what you are asking to automatically update.
I thought there was a plugin system, it's just not obvious. Maybe I am thinking of Quicktime
Re:And the thing is (Score:4, Insightful)
The difference is like night and day. Both can play sound and video perfectly adequately - but Windows Media Player is just so awkward and cumbersome compared to iTunes. No, WMP isn't *hard* to use, it's just cumbersome. For example, when I watch video on my Mac, the screensaver doesn't kick in if I've not touched the keyboard and mouse. When watching video at work, I have to periodically waggle the mouse to stop the screensaver starting (or turn off automatic screen locking, which is also cumbersome). One training CD is made up of about a dozen WMV files with a menu. When you start the next WMV file, Windows Media Player forgets your last volume setting and blasts you through your headphones. By comparison, my PowerBook doesn't forget volume settings between files. (Even my Linux system doesn't forget volume settings between files - or turn on the screen saver when I'm watching video, for that matter). There are numerous other niggles with WMP that don't exist with the Apple product.
Re:And the thing is (Score:3, Insightful)
Tools -> Options -> Uncheck "Allow screensaver during playback". Been there since at least WMP 8 if memory serves, which is when I started using it.
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Re:And the thing is (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
You sort of proved his point - what situaton would you ever want the screensaver kicking in during video playback? None. iTunes just simply disables the screensaver and no option needs to be ticked. That's good design.
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Ah, yes, that "feature" in Windows. For those who don't know, Windows does indeed go around to all the running applications and ask them "is it OK to bring up the screensaver?" so that media players can indeed prevent the screensaver from starting. Unless you have "automatically lock desktop" checked. Then it doesn't, and always brings
Re:And the thing is (Score:3, Insightful)
The real killer features that iTunes brings, namely tight integration with iTMS and the iPod, are of little interest to me, as I don't *have* an iPod.
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Re:And the thing is (Score:3, Informative)
-In iTunes, select Edit->Preferences
-Click on the Advanced tab.
-Check the box for "Show iTunes icon in system tray"
Once enabled, right-clicking the icon in system tray gives you access to the iTunes controls.
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Let me rephrase what you just said: "iTunes lacks features! They should add features! And use less memory!"
These days, memory footprint doesn't matter. I don't know what iTunes does with all its space, but I suspect most of it is the Quicktime video codecs. That just gets swapped out to disk and doesn't impact the system. Although most of us can spare the RAM, certainly all of us can spare the disk space for 30 megs to get swapped out... Do you actually
Re:And the thing is (Score:2, Funny)
But you have your doubts. You have seen alot of Apple City girls, and know the pitfalls of large breasts. Sure, they are pretty, but they can come with alot of problems.
Watch out if you ask one of these walking tit-bombs to improve herself. Maby loose a little weight, learn something new at the local community college. That bitch will send every one
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
You've actually never seen a woman naked, have you?
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Not sure what you mean here - sure it does. You're interacting with your files via iTunes, right? I mean, if you're going out into your file system and moving stuff around, and then wondering why iTunes doesn't notice, you're just wasting your time complaining about it. The whole point is to use iTunes to interact with your music files and just let it worry about organizing that section of your file system. If you really must go futz with the files &
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Well, that is not the model. If you let iTunes to manage the library and drag files to iTunes to add them then there is no reason to 'update' the library - ever. Some people don't do it that way, but for most iTunes users an 'automatic Library update' would be a waste of cycles.
-> There's no concept of 'checking for existing entries on import'
Your iTunes works differently than mine. If I drag a file or folder to iTunes twice, absolutely nothing h
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Yes, that does suck. The best it can do is "Edit -> Show Duplicate Songs". After that your on your own to remove duplicate tracks. Seems like it wouldn't be that hard to have the SW do that for you.
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
The two plugins that I have installed on my PB are LAME ("encode selection with LAME") and a batch ID3 renamer (eg: "Myartist - Mytrack.mp3 w/ no ID3 info" -> ID3:artist:Myartist, ID3:track:Mytrack). I downloaded both since there seems to be a large-enough dev
Re:And the thing is (Score:2)
I've had the opposite problem. If I import a folder again, iTunes will gladly skip over the files already in the library, however, it will leave the files that are no longer there in the library.
iTunes (Score:2, Funny)
Re:iTunes (Score:2, Insightful)
I think the popularity of Macs on Slashdot really has shown how many users have abandoned the idea of having a usable Linux desktop system when they could have a UNIX workstation on a laptop or desktop by just buying a Mac running OS X. When I first got an iBook several years ago it was a dream compared to the headaches of trying to run Linux on a Dell Inspiron notebook while trying to get my wireless and sound working. In its defense, Linux support for my 6 ye
Not needed on Linux (Score:3, Informative)
WMP still No 1 and growing but slower than iTunes (Score:5, Interesting)
iTunes is growing faster though, so if this trend continues, in a year or two, iTunes will be the No 1 media player on the market. Not bad at all. God bless those iPods
Reminds me of Netscape when they launched version 4 and announced that Windows will become irrelevant as people will spend most of their time in Netscape. Is it possible that iTunes will do that in the near future as people will increasingly use their computers for entertainment (and not TV, radio, DVDs, outdoor activities, etc.)?
Re:WMP still No 1 and growing but slower than iTun (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple prevented MS from leveraging their desktop monopoly to gain a monopoly on media players (and DRM).
MS failed miserably on their own when attempting a monopoly on mobile phones by stabbing their partners in the back (I guess they couldn't help themselves).
It still remains to be seen if firefox, openoffice, linux etc will be able to break monopolies MS already has in place. lets all hope so for the good of mankind.
Apple of my eye (Score:5, Funny)
Broad penetration, however, has been decreasing as we are spending more time on our computers.
Re:Apple of my eye (Score:2)
So, when should podcasts ditch MP3s for AAC? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm really eager to ditch MP3s for a couple reasons. First, I understand that AAC sounds at least twice as good at comparable bitrates. Second, I'm no more trusting of the MP3 coalition than I was of the JPG owners, whereas I can't picture apple ever seeking royalty backpayments from podcasters using the AAC format.
An obvious solution is to provide both MP3 and AAC files, but I'm lazy and would prefer to offer only one format. Any thoughts on whether it makes sense for a podcaster to switch entirely to AAC? I'm sure most of my listeners would appreciate the enhanced sound quality. But what percentage of my listeners would be likely to disappear?
Re:So, when should podcasts ditch MP3s for AAC? (Score:4, Insightful)
You would be an idiot to drop mp3 in favour of mp4.
Mp3 is still the king. There is no format out there that comes close. You don't want to alienate all your listeners with old mp3 players (or the multitude who've bought the $20 256MB chinese cheapies)
Dropping it for mp4 would make about as much sense as dropping it for ogg.
First, I understand that AAC sounds at least twice as good at comparable bitrates.
I don't know what sort of audio files you're distributing - but do your own listen tests. Different codecs perform wildly differently depending on the source audio type & most reviews are using pretty standard music with vocals.
Re:So, when should podcasts ditch MP3s for AAC? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:So, when should podcasts ditch MP3s for AAC? (Score:2)
is much of a downside of going this route.
To see an example of this, that I recently created check out
http://www.bloosqr.com/the%20essence/the%20Podcast
-best
Should surpass realplayer? (Score:3, Insightful)
I know plenty of people who use itunes, but none who use realplayer.
Still, both are irritating adware & nagware (along with WMP of course)
We need a firefox for media....
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:3, Informative)
You mean something like Songbird [songbirdnest.com]? :)
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
Yup, something like Songbird, but complete, cross platform and with the licensing clarified [songbirdnest.com]
Songbird looks cool, but with no linux client its useless to me.
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
Nope, Songbird isn't ready for production yet. It does however plan to do everything you mention (and be extensible like firefox)
You're probably best off sticking with itunes for now - and if you want to use a generic mp3 player, give th
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2, Funny)
But how could you afford to leave every song in memory?
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:3, Informative)
I know plenty of people who use itunes, but none who use realplayer. Still, both are irritating adware & nagware
Um, which iTunes adverts are you referring to? There's no version that requires payment that they try to nag you to buy. If you're talking about the MiniStore, try going to Edit > Hide MiniStore (this may be different in Windows; I'm using OS X).
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
You say you use osx - I'm not sure if it does it too, but under windows, itunes installs quicktime which is irritating nagware.
If you're talking about the MiniStore, try going to Edit > Hide MiniStore
Errr right, I didn't say you couldn't turn it off, I just said (and thanks for confirming) that it is adware & nagware.
Haven't used itunes for a while (and that was on my gf's laptop),
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Should surpass realplayer? (Score:2)
I have little sympathy for real player (Score:3, Insightful)
Real player has really wore out the good-will of its users. It is now a pretty good player, but for years they annoyed the hell out of everyone that downloaded from them.
You know...
* having to click through and read 10 webpages to get to the free realplayer whose link was always hidden in a corner somewhere. What were they thinking? That users would accidently click on the non-free version and then give up and just pay for it?
* Nag screens, annoying forms, when installing-- no real player, you will never fucking get my home phone number.
* Remember the instability and the crashes...
Sadly, I see some traits like this in iTunes. Recently, I had wanted to download JUST QUICKTIME. I was rudely surprised that I can't do that anymore. I HAVE TO download iTunes+quicktime-- whether I want iTunes or not. Screw that. It looks like iTunes has failed to learn the hard lessons of Real Player.
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:5, Informative)
What? [apple.com]
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:2)
Congratulations. You _found_ the standalone player. You have proven that the standalone exists.
I admit that I just went to the apple website. Clicked on "Quicktime" and was brought to here... http://www.apple.com/quicktime/win.html [apple.com]
Clicking on the download takes me to a place where it says "QuickTime" and "Free download". It then proceeds to download itunes+quicktime-- for me, it is very annoying to have something you don't want "bundled with" your download.
I don't care if a standalone exists, if they bury i
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:2)
My time is valuable. My task was to get quicktime.
But in a way, you are right, if I had bothered to read all of marketing copy on the page, I would have seen "quicktime standalone" in a bullet-list with other items such as "features", "FAQ", "learn more about quicktime pro".
So, yeah, for people with the luxury of time to pore over marketing copy, I guess it obvious how to get the standalone version.
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:2)
Re:I have little sympathy for real player (Score:3, Informative)
Guess you missed the "QuickTime Standalone Installer" link on http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html [apple.com]?
ObFreebies (Score:5, Informative)
Completely Un-Shocking (Score:2, Insightful)
What's RealPlayer (Score:3, Funny)
-M
Re:There are three kinds of lies (Score:2)
But Mac users do have that glazed over, SJRDF (*) blankness when it comes to talking about their OS.
Reminds me of that Lovecraft story:
Presently the old man drew back his hood and pointed to the family resemblance in his face, but I only shuddered, because I was sure that the face was merely
Re:There are three kinds of lies (Score:2, Insightful)
I got modded troll for suggesting that iPods are not as prevelant (at least in the world I live in) as the report suggests, and that anyone that doesn't want DRM might well be better off with a non-DRM'd MP3 player.... apparently, you've been breathing the special packets that they put in shipping crates at Apple for far too long. I'm sure you are quite happy with Apple, and statistically, there are lots of people that are happy with broadcast radio... so what?
My point is that the statistics saying that the
Re:Try installing Quicktime 7 ... without iTunes (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/standalon