Since the rise of the iPod as a cultural icon, writers and music fans have written countless tributes to the random shuffle function. The argument goes that human curators are no longer needed, the random switches of style to style are bracing and interesting, and albums are absolutely a thing of the past.
Will the most devoted iPod users be the first to tire of the random shuffle feature?
(Credit: Apple)Today at the barbershop, the house sound system played "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, followed by some unrecognizable metal, followed by Alicia Keys, followed by some female-fronted punk that sounded a little like X but wasn't, followed by "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin. I commented to the heavily tattooed guy cutting my hair that this was the most random shuffle assortment I'd heard in a long time.
His whispered confession: he had grown to hate the shuffle feature, and the fact that the employees running the sound system were using it was driving him crazy. "It's either black or white, there's nothing in between." He claimed he never used it anymore on his own iPod, preferring to pick songs or albums by hand.
I still enjoy the shuffle technique--including on my iPod Shuffle, which I set to suck a random assortment from all my music, rather than creating specific playlists or sub-categories of music for it to select from. But occasionally I do get a jarring transition from loud to soft or from favorite song to barely-makes-the-cut. Skipping the offending song usually gets me back in the groove, but sometimes it takes two or three skips to get another one I like. I can imagine that over time this might grow tiresome. Especially if I didn't take the time to sit in front of my stereo every weekend for at least a little while and listen to an album the old-fashioned way.
I wonder, is this the beginning of a backlash? Will longtime MP3 player fanatics tire of random shuffle first? Will they soon be preaching the joys of listening to albums straight through? Or was this a mere isolated incident? Let me know in the comments....
I had a problem. Years ago, I bought Microsoft's now-discontinued Digital Media Plus Pack for converting my LP records into digital files. Because it's a Microsoft product from back in the day when Microsoft was gung-ho about Windows Media, it only rips to Windows Media Audio. And of course, it's Windows only. (Other than that, it's a great tool--very easy to use, never messes up line leveling, and has a good algorithm for removing pops and scratches.)
Back when I used iTunes and my iPod exclusively, I'd simply rip the album into WMA, then import the folder from MyMusic into iTunes. It would ask me if I wanted to convert to AAC (the default--it can also convert to MP3), I'd accept, then delete the WMAs so as not to clutter my hard drive with duplicates.
dBpoweramp lets you convert just about any audio file format to any other.
(Credit: Screenshot)But since 2006, I've been using a Zune (review unit) as my primary music player. Zune plays both AAC and WMA files, and it automatically reads your iTunes library. I got lazy and stopped converting my vinyl from WMA to AAC.
Now I've got a Shuffle. And a library full of WMA files that it can't play. Of course, I could do what I used to do--import the folders from My Music into iTunes, convert to AAC, then delete the originals. But what if I want to convert those WMAs into MP3s to make sure they can play on any device with any software app? OK, I guess I could change the default on iTunes. But what happens when you add a bunch of downloaded FLAC files into the mix? Or Ogg files? What about converting AAC back to WMA--I can't see any reason why I'd want to do that today, but who knows where Microsoft and Apple are heading with their file format support?
I needed to future-proof my music collection, while still maintaining the best quality-to-size ratio possible. (MP3 is one of the lossiest formats.)
dBpoweramp Music Converter is the solution. $18 for the regular edition. (The $28 reference edition has features for professionals and more serious amateurs.) You can download just about any imaginable codec from the associated Web site. By default it performs file conversion within the same folder as the original files, so you can easily keep track of what's where. (Not like iTunes, which moves every converted file into the iTunes library by default.) Or, if you want to export directly to an iTunes folder, it can do that. It even adds a feature to the Windows Explorer so when you hover over a file, it'll display full ID3 tag information for that file--useful for changing mysterious file names to match song titles.
Highly recommended.
dBpoweramp shows ID3 tags within Windows Explorer. So you can find out the real title of that Track 4.WMA file you've been carrying around..
(Credit: Screenshot)
Recently, I've noticed two interesting changes at my local Apple Store, both evidence of Apple's mastery of retail.
My local Apple Store is an attraction, not just a store.
A few months ago, they remodeled to get rid of the large screen and seating area they used for in-store workshops. I liked the few classes I happened in upon during the weekend, but most of them were sparsely attended, and the workshops I really wanted to take--like Garage Band--were during normal work hours. In place of the demo area, they more than doubled the size of the Genius Bar, Apple's in-store customer support desk. The end-result: a mass of highly engaged customers at the back of the store, instead of a mostly empty space. (Engaged might mean enraged, but it seems that even customers with serious problems--like a dead iPod out of warranty--remain calm when faced with a real person as opposed to an anonymous phone support employee.)
More recently, my wife went in to buy me a Shuffle as a surprise--my 4th-generation iPod died a copule years ago, her iPod is permanently connected to an iHome clock radio upstairs, and my 30GB Zune is a little bulky for walking the dog or going to the gym. After talking to a salesperson who led her through colors and GB sizes and prices, she said she was ready to buy and started walking toward the registers at the front of the store. Not necessary--the salesperson had a handheld device with a credit card scanner, checked her out on the spot, and e-mailed her a receipt. Genius.
Sony has a lot of great products as well, but when I go to the nearby Sony Style store, it always feels a little haphazard, with PlayStations next to flat TVs next to Blu-ray discs. And it's never crowded. And I never leave with a purchase. (Although the array of flat-screens looping this Bravia commercial is refreshingly inoffensive--very little branding--and completely mesmerizes my two-year-old daughter.)
I've occasionally seen and heard rumors of a Microsoft push into retail. If so, they should be using the Apple Store as a model--nobody else does it better.
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