I *hate* iTunes, but I guess I have to use it

After upgrading to 3.0 recently on my 2nd gen iPod Touch, MediaMonkey would no longer recognize the device. I installed a beta driver and it recognized it, *but* it corrupted the files. Ugh.

I’m feeling kinda like someone with a hacked iPhone and have decided that instead of fighting them, I might as well join them. In doing a restore I ended up having to install the 3.1.1 firmware upgrade, but it didn’t look like I had to pay =) Maybe because I only upgraded to 3.0 a few weeks ago. I dunno, but I won’t question a free upgrade. Also installed iTunes 9. Seems more like 8.1 and maybe even 8.0.1…HAHAHA I also had to re-install all my apps! THAT was a pain. Fortunately, the iTunes store keeps track of everything, even the free ones, so I just had to follow my purchase history.

I will continue to use MediaMonkey to manage my music, album art, ID3 tags, etc. I just don’t fully trust iTunes with my entire music collection, so I think I’ll just create a special folder with all my iPod music, even though it will mean I’ll have duplicate files. I have plenty of extra storage space.

I like keeping a special playlist of all my iPod music that is ordered by the date added to my Touch so I can quickly listen to music I’ve just added. I know I can use the automatic Recently Added playlist, but I’ve restored and started over so many times, that auto-playlist is unreliable. It is going to be sort of a pain to use both apps, but guess the alternative is even more evil.

UPDATE 2009-09-10:
OK, I’m *totally* giving in. I set iTunes to “keep my media organized”, that is, it’s going to keep stuff in artistalbumfolders. I did this so I could take advantage of, and be in sync with, the new “Automatically Add to iTunes” feature which automatically adds media put in that folder to the iTunes library. Of course, unlike other media managers, it doesn’t just monitor and add entries to the library, it renames and moves the files into the iTunes media folder. Apple always has to be different! See why I don’t trust iTunes with my entire media library?!

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