Computer Review: iTunes 1.1
Reviewed by EVula
For those of you who don't know, iTunes is Apple's completely free MP3 player. Not only is it an MP3 player, but an MP3 encoder, as well as the program you use to burn audio CDs on your Mac. It even has a built-in ID3 editor, and will allow you to connect to "internet radio" servers, should you so choose.
Its got a very simple layout: at the top are the controls, a status window, and a search field. Along the left hand side is the list of playlists, and the big section on the right is where all of your MP3s are displayed.
Enjoying MP3s
You can sort and re-sort all of your songs to your heart's delight, or have the program randomize it for you. You can even pause the songs in the middle! WOW! ;)
Seriously, though, its just kinda simple, which is exactly the way it should be. Pause, play, forward, back, fast forward, rewind... thats pretty much it, and thats all there needs to be. KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Enjoying MP3s even more
Turning on the visual option makes the program do an "interpretive acid trip," which is quite fun to watch. Very colorful, very addictive, this is a kickass feature. Yes, other MP3 players have visual features as well, but this is just damn cool. People with new iBooks that have them hooked up to their TV are lucky... For an example of what I'm talking about, go
here.
Encoding MP3s
Pop in a CD, let it pull the track information off of the CDDB (CD Database), and hit "Import." Not a whole lot to it, really.
Burning CDs
Put all of the MP3s that you want to burn in a playlist, hit "Burn CD," and put in a black CD-R. Almost as easy as importing MP3s.
Internet Radio
This is a nice feature, but not that great of an option, but thats due to the medium, not iTunes. Internet Radio isn't as cool as MP3s for two reasons: its streaming, meaning that it isn't 100% reliable, and a low bit rate, meaning it sounds like shit. However, there are some independent radio stations out there, and you can use it to get more music that you like, so thats good. All in all, I suggest trying it once, and if you don't like it, shrug your shoulders and go back to listening to stuff off your hard drive.
Bundled MP3s
True, this isn't really an iTunes feature, but more of something that Apple includes with every new Mac (which comes with iTunes). It comes with over 10 hours of MP3s. Here are the stats:
Tunes Sampler: 8:01:24, 97 songs, 551.6 megs
Spoken Sampler: 3:22:32, 24 songs, 116 megs
Not bad...
But...
iTunes is a great program, but it does have some shortcomings. Namely the lack of control over the levels (ie: bass, treble, etc).
Something else that I wish it had were different types of Visualizers. Although the current one has several different types that it goes into and out of, it would still be nice if you could choose a different one (ie: one that matches the current song especially well).
All in all, a good program, especially considering the fact that it is free. If you want more from it, get a different MP3 player, but for brand-new computer users, iTunes is great (it comes loaded on everything sold by Apple with a hard drive).
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