I feel compelled to express my annoyance at today's technology corporations. This has been spurred on by my recent experiences with my new iPod. It seems that Apple for one are cutting their noses off to spite their faces when it comes to iPod and iTunes compatibility. Allow me to digress...

Recently I treated myself to a new iPod, an iTouch in-fact after rolling with the iPod photo 20GB for pushing 4 years. Regardless of what critics say, the iPod IS the best MP3 player in my opinion and works brilliantly with it's software partner iTunes. I'm absolutely thrilled with the functionality of the iTouch. However, as I soon came to find, this awe of shining brilliance was soon to be extinguished when I proceeded to sync it with my home machine.

I run Ubuntu. For the non-geeks out there, Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux (a free alternative operating system to Windows) which has grown massively in popularity over the last few years. Now I hear your sighs, but on the contrary, my old iPod worked with Ubuntu with no problems, often operating with less fuss. I could use any one from a range of media players to manage my iPod. Stupidly I assumed that my new sexy iTouch would work in the same way. How surprised I was to find out that it in fact wouldn't. Apple in all their brilliant wisdom have decided to encrypt the data on the iTouch making it currently near-impossible for any alternative media managers to access the iPod. In order to sync my iPod with my vast music collection on my home PC I had to install a virtual Windows XP machine, install iTunes on that, create a samba share on my Linux box and sync my iPod using the diminished USB 1.1. Not ideal.

So I hear you ask, why bother? Just install Windows on your machine and stop whining. Hmm.

I use Ubuntu partly because of my line of work and partly because I'm sick of Microsoft's crap. My point is that I am growing ever increasingly surprised that companies such as Apple haven't yet figured out that Linux is here to stay. With the recent complete self-ownage Microsoft performed with the release of their damn-right awful Vista operating system, a lot of the technology community have laid down their Windows Activation Keys and have ventured forth towards the white light that is open-source. Apple (and the rest) need to realise that as the Linux community grows (which it is, and fast) people will no longer stand for petty and childish acts of sabotage on their products. Encrypting the iTouch only seeks to piss people off. Apple are only delaying the inevitable as encryption simply means time. The iTouch will be cracked to work on Linux (it may already have been).

What Apple and other vendors should be doing is embracing the potential audiences that they are currently alienating. Why haven't Apple released a version of iTunes for the open-source community?! People will find a way to use your technology with or without your software, so why not cash in on them by providing them with your software? By locking down your hardware and not releasing alternative iTunes installs for Linux you're missing out of a lot of potential iTunes store sales. All you are doing at the moment is forcing Linux/iPod users to question whether perhaps an alternative media device is the best solution.

Apple and it's iPod have been used as an example because it's easy to pick on them. But this is relevant to all vendors that don't yet recognise that Linux is here, it's not going anywhere and you need to support it. So get on with it!

• Mr Magoo wrote ...

• at 23:25, Sunday 8 February 2009

"I agree! Using an open source OS seems to be a burden for people who want to use a stable and secure platform for their everyday computing. Why cant we choose which application stores and manages our audio? DRM should be a thing of the past if people are going to share audio they will find it else whether acquired legally or not!"

• NewbieDoo wrote ...

• at 09:46, Monday 20 April 2009

"I am a complete non-geek. I have absolutely no understanding (or much interest) in how techy things work. All I care about is that it does work and, if it doesn't, my techy minded friend can sort it out. However I will no longer use microsoft. I only use Linux (please don't ask which system - I have no idea). I have never liked microsoft. I have never liked that they have completely duped the general public (and most businesses) into believing that they are the only viable option. If their products worked even half as well as their marketing hype then maybe they would be worth considering. If it weren't for my tech minded friend, I too would have no choice but to use microsoft because I just wouldn't know there were other viable option."