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Not quite sure why you got down voted. I bought an iPod nano several years ago, because I quite liked the hardware/software that Apple made. However when I foun

Not quite sure why you got down voted. I bought an iPod nano several years ago, because I quite liked the hardware/software that Apple made. However when I found out that they intentionally broke compatibility with 3rd party music software that isn't iTunes, I made the decision to never buy Apple products again. I don't feel that I'm particularly missing out by making this decision (although I am aware that many other vendors probably have similar ethical problems associated with them).

axotty 12y ago
So the 2007 version of the iPod refused to work with some random 3rd party software you had, and you've sworn off all Apple products for life? That's just childish. Not only can companies change but one product doesn't necessarily reflect everything a company has to offer. You should stop being such an ideologue and learn to use the best tool for the job. Which is sometimes an Apple product.
ggreer 12y ago
Can you link to an explanation of how Apple intentionally broke 3rd-party syncing with iPod Nanos? I don't know what kerfuffle you're referencing.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- wfjackson 12y ago
  http://boingboing.net/2007/09/14/new-ipods-reengineer.html http://boingboing.net/2007/09/14/new-ipods-reengineer.html
- makomk 12y ago
  It's long enough ago that a lot of the technical information has dropped off the web (or in some cases been DMCAed offline by Apple[1]), but the short answer is they started authenticating the iPod Nano music database using a cryptographic MAC with a per-device key derived using a secret algorithm. Without the key, third-party software couldn't add or remove songs. They've got more aggressive about it with each generation too; for the 5th gen iPod Nano the code to generate the key had the same kind of obfuscation as their actual DRM code[2], and there's no open source support for the 6th gen because it's just too hard to reverse-engineer. [1] http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/11/20/201246/apple-dmcas-ipodhash-project http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/11/20/201246/apple-dmcas-ip... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20080901013029/http://www.bluwiki.com/go/Itunes_obfuscation https://web.archive.org/web/20080901013029/http://www.bluwik...

axotty 12y ago

So the 2007 version of the iPod refused to work with some random 3rd party software you had, and you've sworn off all Apple products for life? That's just childish. Not only can companies change but one product doesn't necessarily reflect everything a company has to offer. You should stop being such an ideologue and learn to use the best tool for the job. Which is sometimes an Apple product.

ggreer 12y ago

Can you link to an explanation of how Apple intentionally broke 3rd-party syncing with iPod Nanos? I don't know what kerfuffle you're referencing.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
wfjackson 12y ago
http://boingboing.net/2007/09/14/new-ipods-reengineer.html http://boingboing.net/2007/09/14/new-ipods-reengineer.html
makomk 12y ago
It's long enough ago that a lot of the technical information has dropped off the web (or in some cases been DMCAed offline by Apple[1]), but the short answer is they started authenticating the iPod Nano music database using a cryptographic MAC with a per-device key derived using a secret algorithm. Without the key, third-party software couldn't add or remove songs. They've got more aggressive about it with each generation too; for the 5th gen iPod Nano the code to generate the key had the same kind of obfuscation as their actual DRM code[2], and there's no open source support for the 6th gen because it's just too hard to reverse-engineer. [1] http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/11/20/201246/apple-dmcas-ipodhash-project http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/11/20/201246/apple-dmcas-ip... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20080901013029/http://www.bluwiki.com/go/Itunes_obfuscation https://web.archive.org/web/20080901013029/http://www.bluwik...