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Chris Jacob
I think Palm's plan for keeping the Pre in the news is working. As soon as they actually give up on iTunes sync, they lose that whole aspect of coverage.
@jdale: Exactly. I mean, either that or somebody at Palm really just has it out for Apple.
Which actually may be the case. Lest we forget, they're also in a legal struggle with Apple over multitouch, too. Or, to be more accurate, a specific implementation of the technology. Nonetheless, it's not the first time Apple and Palm have had a spat. Palm seems dead set on ticking Apple off.
Please stop reffering to this as Palm fixing something. The process is a hack and inherently broken from the start. The fact that the sync wasn't working means it was working, not broken. Then Palm just goes ahead and rehacks it.
INdeed...imagine if Palm had been putting the energy they're currently putting into using itunes against the manufacturers wishes into creating better handsets/OSs for the last several years: the company might not have been in the total crapper now.
@Mitch: It's probably one guy man, I doubt it's all that much effort. Besides this (itunes sync) is something new so how would that have helped the Treo?
@dbett: So the one guy at Apple changes a string of code in 5 minutes, then the one guy over at Palm looks at the new code and makes his quick 5 minute change...
But that's not really the point. It's simply not a good look for a large tech company like Palm to keep doing something that the other big company doesn't want to be part of. That is not how companies do this stuff. It's just creating really bad blood and it makes Palm look like some guy standing outside of a restaurant that just closed and shouting "OPEN UP!" to the staff trying to clean up inside. Why be that guy?
The WebOS is an epic achievement and Palm is just coming off like they don't know how to give their quality product its own feet with this drag-out tiff with the USB folks and Apple. Who needs to do it this way when there are several other companies that do it so smoothly (Blackberry, Serato, etc.), and defensibly legally?
Palm: Just read the metadata from iTunes' database/XML file like everyone else and achieve the same result.
@pixelpushing: The vast majority of people that use Palm don't have a clue about the whole iTunes sync thing, seriously man, this isn't mainstream knowledge.
Palm has morons at the helm. Instead of producing their own software that links directly to the iTunes directory (which applications like Songbird do presently), they're dicking around trying to break into someone elses proprietary software. Is Palm so desperate and incompetent that they can't even put the time towards getting people to develop a good media management app for their own hardware? Very sad Palm, sad indeed.
@Kaiser-Machead: But with a vast majority of people using Itunes, they dont want a new media player. For my phone, I have to use the Vcast Rhapsody thing. I would MUCH prefer to be able to sync directly with Itunes. I dont want more applications running on my computer. I would prefer less. And if I could sync with Itunes it would just be easier for me to do.
@Kaiser-Machead: Palm doesn't want WebOS to be tied to desktop software. This is a break that has irritated many a PalmOS user who was used to managing data via Palm Desktop. They are taking steps away from centralized media management an towards the information "cloud" that everyone has already developed with Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Exchange, and yes, iTunes. Palm treats iTunes just like any other service they'd connect to for data. Apple didn't want to hand over the keys so Rubenstein took em. If apple were smart, they'd commoditize the entire iTunes ecosystem and get everyone's money but they have their heads so far up their "hardware company" ass they'll never do it.
btw, iTunes is a sad, sorry piece of software engineering that my pre will never have the misfortune of trading bytes with... so really I don't give a shit. Damn. I just wasted a lot of time...
@tnt-tek: Palm is the one responsible for the reliability of media management on their own device, and if they were smart, they'd try to find a more suitable, permanent means of getting content on the Pre. This looks more like an excuse to avoid expensive software development, rather than trying to move away from centralized desktop software.
@SunandiniDaedalion: Ya, that's what I want. Another memory hog program. Itunes should open up and sync with all PMPs. That would increase usage of their software immensely and also increase the amount of people BUYING through Itunes.
@grcswoosh: It being another memory hog is a bit of a stretch. What iTunes should be is really entirely up to Apple, and I can't imagine they'd have any incentive whatsoever to open up to all PMP's, when it's the iPod, not iTunes, that comprises the bulk of their profits in the ecosystem.
ahhh... Nice move, Palm. Wait until the weekend, customers dl the upgrade and then all hell breaks loose with the USB-IF on Monday.
It's funny to see people all enrahed about this issue - anyone who thought media sync with iTune would be a permanent and reliable feature had their heads in their asses.
@Lizard_King: its not that people have their heads in their asses, its people want to play music they purchased and rightfully own on their mobile media players
@influenze: There's nothing stopping you from putting your DRM-free iTunes purchases on the Pre. All Palm is doing is trying to break into the syncing utility.
Palm isn't trying to break into the syncing utility. Palm is fixing the Pre to sync with itunes. If it was trying to break into the itunes syncing utility then that would be something that apple could sue for. BUT it's not.
@Slayd: Umm, yes they are trying to break into it. Apple locks it down further and further, until apparently iTunes looks for a vendor id that only Apple can provide (maybe some others that work with iTunes legitimately). So, iTunes will only sync with an Apple or Apple-approved product.
What has been suggested is that the latest Pre update spoofs an Apple vendor id (violation of the USB-IF, a standard which IMO, doesn't mean shit, no one checks to see if devices pass USB-IF) and therefore forces it's way into iTunes ("break into" as Kaiser-Machead put it). Apple does not want Palm to have access to iTunes.
Sneaky, yes; in violation of USB-IF, maybe; illegal, probably not. If the feature of iTunes syncing is at all important to you, do not buy a Pre - it may go away at any moment.
Also, it's not like they are modifying Apple's product in any way (as in a patch), they are meerly modifying the way the Pre works so that iTunes is tricked into syncing with it.
@Slayd: Fixing would suggest that Apple had this intention in mind, and a defect kept it from working. As iTunes is designed to work only with iPods, iPhones and the AppleTV, any code written for unsupported devices designed specifically to use the software in the same fashion that supported hardware does, would effectively be "breaking in". Hacks are not fixes.
@(Starman) AnalysisDialysis: They have to stand in line behind me - I can't get the Photosmart crapware to work with my HP printer. Garbage, all of it.
These phones sound like more trouble than they are worth. Basically they are hackingtosh phones that are unreliable .... no wonder all the major chains are reducing their retail prices. I couldnt imagine having a phone that would work properly for a few weeks until each new patch was made. Whats the point in paying for a contract ?
@Mark Pettersson: I agree that at this point, on again, off again, itunes compatibility is more of a problem than an asset. Who buys a phone for drama?
@frigg: Honestly I find it amusing... we own 2 Pre's and it really hasn't been much of an issue. I used a 3rd party app originally to sync and haven't synced media since. Contacts/calendar/etc sync OTA essentially and thats about it. I'm not a heavy media user on my phone however.
Compared to Nuevasync, it would seem that this is MUCH slower. I'm guessing it's just because Google's servers are getting destroyed right now, but....still.
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Which actually may be the case. Lest we forget, they're also in a legal struggle with Apple over multitouch, too. Or, to be more accurate, a specific implementation of the technology. Nonetheless, it's not the first time Apple and Palm have had a spat. Palm seems dead set on ticking Apple off.
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But that's not really the point. It's simply not a good look for a large tech company like Palm to keep doing something that the other big company doesn't want to be part of. That is not how companies do this stuff. It's just creating really bad blood and it makes Palm look like some guy standing outside of a restaurant that just closed and shouting "OPEN UP!" to the staff trying to clean up inside. Why be that guy?
The WebOS is an epic achievement and Palm is just coming off like they don't know how to give their quality product its own feet with this drag-out tiff with the USB folks and Apple. Who needs to do it this way when there are several other companies that do it so smoothly (Blackberry, Serato, etc.), and defensibly legally?
Palm: Just read the metadata from iTunes' database/XML file like everyone else and achieve the same result.
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btw, iTunes is a sad, sorry piece of software engineering that my pre will never have the misfortune of trading bytes with... so really I don't give a shit. Damn. I just wasted a lot of time...
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I think that if I owned a Pre, I'd appreciate that a lot more.
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It's funny to see people all enrahed about this issue - anyone who thought media sync with iTune would be a permanent and reliable feature had their heads in their asses.
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Palm isn't trying to break into the syncing utility. Palm is fixing the Pre to sync with itunes. If it was trying to break into the itunes syncing utility then that would be something that apple could sue for. BUT it's not.
10/03/09
What has been suggested is that the latest Pre update spoofs an Apple vendor id (violation of the USB-IF, a standard which IMO, doesn't mean shit, no one checks to see if devices pass USB-IF) and therefore forces it's way into iTunes ("break into" as Kaiser-Machead put it). Apple does not want Palm to have access to iTunes.
Sneaky, yes; in violation of USB-IF, maybe; illegal, probably not. If the feature of iTunes syncing is at all important to you, do not buy a Pre - it may go away at any moment.
Also, it's not like they are modifying Apple's product in any way (as in a patch), they are meerly modifying the way the Pre works so that iTunes is tricked into syncing with it.
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Google's site does a good job of it already:
[www.google.com]
09/22/09
Maybe the servers at m.google.com are taking a beating right now.
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