iTunes 4.9
An iPodderX user and a podcast fan gives his
impressions of the new iTunes
Overall, it is decent. If iPodderX hadn't been
getting increasingly yicky as it adds unnecessary features and interface I
probably wouldn't switch, but the new iTunes does a decent job at handling
podcasts without too much fuss. The new podcast directory in the iTunes music
store is pretty decent (although it lists some invalid or old podcast feeds) and
it looks like Apple has even convinced some new people to make some podcasts (I
don't remember there being a Nightline podcast before).
Subscribing is pretty simple for a
single podcasts, but subscribing to multiple podcasts is a pain. The UI switches
you to your new podcast tab and then you have to go back to subscribe to another
podcast. Also, it is kinda crummy that iTunes can't import OPML files which
meant I had to re-subscribe to each podcast. I like that through the advanced
tab I can add a feed that doesn't appear in the directory (excellent for the
personalized feeds from ITConversations and
Audible.com).
At first I was annoyed
that podcasts appear in a separate area from the rest of the library and that
they couldn't be rated or anything. Then I found that I could drag an episode of
a podcast into my library and then it would appear there and I could treat it
like the MP3 it is. Nice.
If you've got
iTunes, this is worth upgrading for. I can't compare it to other podcasting
aggregators (iPodder lemon never worked for me), but as it is and for free, you
don't really need another if you have
iTunes4.9
I forgot one very important
thing:
The update settings are kind of weird,
you can update on the hour, by day, by week or manually. If you update daily, it
is set to update at 5pm and there is no way to change it. This could be really
bad because everyone with iTunes will all try and grab their podcasts at the
same time. Most aggregators will do stuff to avoid this, apple should fix this
ASAP.
Posted: Thu - June 30, 2005 at 04:25 PM
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