Why paying for music is stupid.

[wednes]

I'm gonna be honest here, I download a fair amount of music from The Limewire. Mostly, it's stuff I used to have on LP or cassette, that of course is not playable anymore without a time machine. So I get stuff here and there. I also get the odd book on tape, since I already own the books in question. I don't think it's that big a deal.

Sometimes though, there are tunes I really want but just can't find online. In that rare case, I buy the tune on iTunes. I've bought less than 15 songs from iTunes the whole time I've had it. And I've never bought a movie from there since they are all over a Gig. Plus I think it's stupid to rebuy movies I already own just so I can play them on the iPod. But I digest...

Since I got my new logic board put in, I can no longer play my purchased iTunes songs. When I click on them, it tells me to authorize them. An authorization window pops up with my old Email address. I fill in the password and it then tells me I've used up all five of my authorizations. No es possible, as I have only owned four computers ever in my life. My first computer was n Apple IIc which didn't even have a modem. I can't imagine how I've gone through FIVE authorizations...
When I enter my current Email address, it tells me I have used 2 of 5 authorizations, but it still won't play the songs from iTunes.
I guess with that in mind...why would anyone pay for songs that give you all this trouble, when you can download trouble-free songs for nothing?
Also, why would a logic board mess up my authorizations in the first place?
And finally, if someone could Email me a mp3 or mp4 of Jonathan Coulton's Re: Your Brains, I would be eternally grateful. Got it!!

As for me, I'm at work. As I was complaining earlier, I'm working four opens in a row this week. It is hellish. I get no time to write, no time to see H, and very little sleep. Plus we're super busy and every other customer is being really annoying. It's not even 11am yet and I'm totally taxed. I've been trying to finish this post since 8:50 this morning. Sheesh!

Comments

[uterdic.livejournal.com]

You can deauthorize all the machines from itunes, but I am not sure of the process. You may have to go and look at the apple website. My guess is you are also authorized on my old computer (from when we lived together), H's machine, and the 3 laptops you have had over the last few years, and those had multiple hard drives, and it may read them as different computers. I am just not sure. Either way, you authorized 5 machines somewhere sometime, and they need to be deauthorized.

I will send you an email with instructions on how to do this. It's not a common problem, and I have never had a single problem with iTunes. I prefer it much much much more than limewire where you don't know the quality of music you are getting and then have to relabel all of it.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I thought it had something to do with me having different accounts under different Email addys. But frankly I haven't put much time into this because this is the week from hell. It seems i only had time enough to complain. ;-]

Thanks, dude.

[zenithberwyn.livejournal.com]

Amazon started selling DRM-free MP3 downloads for 99 cents a pop.

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

iTunes is also nearly 100% DRM-free now:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06itunes.html

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Nice.
They must have heard me thinking bad thoughts about them.

Thanks!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

That is awesome.
I'll have to look into that!

[sudrin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I swear to god.. Since they make it harder for good decent people to PIRATE than they do to make it so that you are an HONEST UPSTANDING PERSON.. what the fuck do they THINK is going to happen. I once bought The Dark Tower as an EBOOK, but because one of these companies didn't like the DEVICE I was trying to put it on, I had the book, but no way to transfer it. So to solve the problem was I able to talk to someone who made a sensible decision to allow me to read the book I purchased on the device I owned? No.. I had to pirate the book I had JUST PURCHASED HOURS BEFORE so I could get it onto my device. So *I* am the bad guy here? Its ridiculous to the extreme and until this DRM shit is relaxed its actually going to CAUSE Piracy.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Indeed. That kind of shenanegan is precisely why Kindle is not even on my wish list. But yeah...I expect less hassle from my beloved Apple.

See above though, it appears that they are fixing this problem and getting rid of DRM's. So that's nice, but it isn't helping me right now. I still can't play my songs.