JRiver is one of the better media managers out there, however dropping the ball on ipod support just makes it completely unusable for me.
So yet another example of why I will not continue to support JRiver. Sorta of the same reasons JRiver gives for not supporting Apple. Because it is just too ** hard.
JRiver states they "may" come back to support the Apple, while in the meantime anyone wanting one of the latest and most popularly portable media devices is left unsupported. Not really a good idea for a media manager.
I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on this subject. Please note that this post is NOT intended to cause any arguments or animosity. My feeling is that as a long time and continuing supporter of MC, my thoughts on this subject might be helpful to JRiver since iPod support is a central issue to me:
I am also extremely saddened about the potential loss of continuing support for iPods in MC. I actually discovered MC because of it's superior support for the iPod compared to the software that shipped with our first iPod (which was not iTunes at that time), and then later in comparison to iTunes. With future MC/iPod support waning, however, I'm completely unsure how to proceed. Another player? Easy to say, but difficult if not impossible to find an alternative that has all the features I need at this point. A separate program for syncing? This might work okay for regular mp3's, but not for file types like aa files that don't allow direct tagging. I will certainly continue to support MC as I have for several years now, but my iPod is a critical component of my media organization paradigm, so I'm at a loss as to what I'll do.
I hear people talking about iPod alternatives all the time, but I've searched sites like anythingbutipod.com and am unable to find even one unit that has all the features I need. I'll be the first to admit that the iPod leaves a LOT to be desired in many ways, and that Apple is at the core (ha!) of why this is a problem at all, but at this time the iPod Classics are the only players I can find that don't have any "deal breaking" omissions. Alternate players have either WAY to little storage (I need at least 120GB), or they don't support Audible file playback, or they lack some other basic feature that eliminates them from my consideration.
I actually understand JR's frustration on this front, and can't blame them for not wanting to have to constantly deal with Apple's constant firmware hassles. Make no mistake -- I definitely see Apple as the bad guys here. On the other hand, however, the iPod is by FAR the most popular portable media player by leaps and bounds, and for a lot of people, handheld support is probably "the" determining factor when it comes to what media application they use. People don't want to have to manage more than one app for their music (and other media), so support for their particular handheld will likely determine their media organizer application. Given this, my fear is that loss of iPod support could really cut into support for MC by the general public. I'm constantly advising iTunes users to switch to MC for syncing their iPods (and know of at least a few MC licenses sold because of this), but without iPod support, a big reason for them to start using MC is taken away. The thinking becomes "why use MC when I still have to use iTunes to sync anyway?"
I guess I'm writing this in the hopes that JR might re-consider the level of R&D they put toward iPod support as we move forward. Again, this is an admittedly frustrating proposition, but with the 80GB and 160GB iPod Classics quickly heading toward "outdated" status, and with new iPods continually appearing that require newer firmware and newer versions of iTunes to install it, this will become a bigger and bigger issue.
Thanks for letting me voice my feelings on this issue here,
Larry