ITIS 1210 Introduction to Web-Based Information Systems Chapter 37 How iPods, iTunes, and Podcasting Work

Introduction  Digital music existing long before there were iPods  MP3s & players  Prior to iPod, users were typically ones with computer experience  In 2001, with iPod anyone could  Learn to use  Afford

Introduction  Music industry was cracking down on illegal downloads  Users were afraid of being sued  Providers were afraid of being sued  Software developers were afraid of being sued  State of the market:  Massive demand for individual music downloads  No easy, legal way to acquire that music

Introduction  Publishers didn’t sell online yet  And usually only in entire CD formats  Couldn’t buy a single easily  Widespread disagreement in the industry about the best way to sell music to modern customers  People had no easy way to find the music they wanted  Or to listen to it first before they bought it

Introduction  Apple sees opportunity  Launches first iTunes Music Store  Integrated into  Listening  Ripping from existing CDs  Burning onto CDs  Directly to iPod also so iTunes and iPod were easily compatible

Introduction  Singles were available for under $1  Legal rights of authors preserved  Sales exceeded expectations of industry

iPods  On Sept. 13th 1956 IBM made history with the invention of the first Hard Drive  It weighed about a ton, and with 50-24" disks  It could store a mind-blowing 5MB  Not to mention that it cost $250,000 (in today’s dollars) per year to LEASE.

iPods  Files stored in MP3 or AAC (Advanced Audio Code) format  Compressed format  Includes metadata  Artist name  Album name  Music category  So you can organize your music

iPods  Storage capacity varies  40GB HD can store approx. 10,000 songs  Flash-based memory as well  Interface is easy to use  Select individual songs  Create playlists

iPods  OS copies song from HD into memory  Plays from memory so HD skips don’t interrupt the playing  HD is off while music is playing  Minimizes chance of a head crash  Chip on motherboard decompresses file so it can be played

iPods  Digital-to-analog converter  Changes from digital format on HD  To analog format for sound  Amplifier increase signal strength  Headphones or speakers let you listen

iTunes  iTunes isn’t file sharing software  It’s owned by Apple  You can buy and listen to music on your computer or transfer it to your iPod  Basically iTunes is a music player that recognizes many different file formats  Can rip from a CD  Burn to a CD

iTunes  iTunes Music Store has legal arrangements with publishers  Sells their music  Splits proceeds  Music is downloaded from the Music Store to your PC  Transfer to an iPod or other portable device

iTunes  DRM (Digital Rights Management)  Protects content from unauthorized copying  Limits what you can do with the music you’ve downloaded  Can’t burn to a CD

Podcasting  iPod changed not only the way we listen to music  But the way we listen to radio as well  Podcasting permits anyone  Create their own program  Attract subscribers who download that content  Do-it-yourself at first  Soon evolved into commercial world

Podcasting  Can be created by anyone  Simple – you and a mic  Complex – studio  Broadcast is first recorded  Saved in an MP3 format  Uploaded to a server  RSS feed created  Includes link to the MP3 file

Podcasting  Alternative to RSS  Uploaded to a podcasting server instead  To access, the user downloads  An RSS reader  iTunes  Something else capable of subscribing to podcasts

Podcasting  User selects content  Software downloads to user’s computer  User now has access  Can be copied to a MP3 player or iPod for mobile capability