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  • Uisng iPod Shuffle with no internet

    My BIL, (hubby's younger brother), who is not the most tech savvy, as well as having some other issues going on, bought an iPod Shuffle and is having trouble getting his music on there.

    He has no internet (related to the "other issues" I mentioned, so installing internet is not an option). He was just trying to use Media Player to get the songs on his Shuffle.

    I know nothing about iPod. I do not have one. I got one for my daughter for Christmas, and have really just been muddling my way through so far.

    BIL thinks I am this computer genius for some reason, so he wants me to help him with this.

    I told him that he would probably have to install iTunes. He's very leery of installing anything (again, related to his issues - paranoid schizophrenic), and he is always tinkering with his computer, so I have no idea about his system at all.

    Short of having him just bring the damn thing to my house and doing it for him the next time he comes, does anyone have any ideas?
    I can't have him coming to visit for a weekend every time he needs to add music. (Neither of us drive, and he lives about 40 minutes away. His social worker drops him off on Friday night and picks him up Monday morning when he visits. His visits are really hard on me emotionally, because he is a little high maintenance at times.) I want to be able to do something so he can do things independently.

    Sadly, there is a long history of me getting his computer set just right, only to have him go tinkering and trash it again. It's very frustrating.
    Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

  • #2
    As far a I know and as far as I can Google, you can't use windows media player to get the songs on the shuffle without something extra. There seems to be a plug-in to make it work and there's a number of programs other than itunes but it seems no matter what you would have to install something.

    I also found something called iLoad that is separate from the computer and does what you want but cost $300.
    Last edited by PhotoChick; 01-17-2009, 06:40 PM.

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    • #3
      Quoth Ree View Post
      I told him that he would probably have to install iTunes. He's very leery of installing anything (again, related to his issues - paranoid schizophrenic), and he is always tinkering with his computer, so I have no idea about his system at all.
      With all due respect, an iPod probably isn't the best choice for a paranoid schizophrenic because it does "phone home" to Apple/iTunes quite a bit. Both for DRM issues and to simply try to identify each song (Gracenote). Because it does this every time without telling the user it's somewhat intrusive.

      There are other brands of mp3 players that are more simplistic and instead of having to use the iTunes service at all, can function completely on their own. To minimize issues, I suggest one of these might be a better fit for your brother. Some are simplistic enough to show up as an external/flash drive in windows and the user merely drags and drops files over. The RCA Lyra is an example of this but is by no means the only one (I believe the iPhone-looking Sony Walkmans might be this simple too). The downside to this method is that you don't have the iTunes marketplace to download new songs (though iTunes DOES support other players if needed in the future... on a model by model basis...), and the player may not not support Apple's (or Amazon's.... or Microsoft's... etc...) DRM copy protections which may be required depending on the music service being used.
      Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart!

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      • #4
        (It's actually my brother-in-law, and not my brother. )
        He bought the iPod Shuffle, himself.

        Personally, if he's not aware of that "phone home" issue, then as far as I'm concerned, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. (You have no idea what we went through with the internet when he had it. )

        Quite frankly, if I had known he was considering the iPod, I would have talked him out of it and suggested a plain old mp3 player.

        The fact is, though, that he has this one now, and I really need to be able to help him get his music onto it.

        Thanks for the other suggestions, though.
        Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

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        • #5
          http://www.floola.com/modules/wiwimod/index.php
          If you can convince him to install that, it'll work. I got the link from lifehacker, which is a good site, they never recommend anything dangerous. It looks like it runs off the iPod, so it'll go from computer to computer, so he won't be stuck if he gets a new one, or anything like that.
          Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

          http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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          • #6
            does he have a computer?

            if it's portable take it to the apple store, if not just go in and ask if they can give him a copy.

            he won't need the internet to put music on to the ipod, assuming he already has mp3 files or is taking them form the CD ... i've run my itunes without internet many times.

            though he'l have to manually add in all the names and titles of the songs.

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            • #7
              Yeah, he has a computer, but I haven't got a clue what he has on it, and there is no way I can talk him through over the phone, because I suck at tech support, and he sucks at giving details and following instructions.

              I wasn't sure if internet was a requirement to transfer music. I tried googling, but a lot of what I found said it was possible to do it without internet, but they all said iTunes was necessary.

              Thanks for all the great advice. I am going to check out links and see if I can get him fixed up.

              He phoned me 4 times this afternoon, but I let it go to voice mail because I didn't really feel like dealing with it.

              I love him dearly, but I can only handle small doses, and, as I said, I hate getting into anything technical at all with him.
              Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

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              • #8
                Having recently received a Shuffle for Christmas, I can sympathize. The less I have to install on my PC, the better (why I resisted Firefox for so long, actually, and only just installed it for side accounts on two sites so I wouldn't have to log out a whole bunch). I finally caved and installed iTunes, but as has been mentioned, you don't need the internet at all if he's already got his mp3s on his computer, or if he plans on ripping his CDs.

                Winamp, another media player for the computer, has a built-in iPod utility in the more recent builds, which allows for drag-n-dropping. I'm sure there are plugins for other media players as well, such as Windows Media Player. The trick is convincing him to install one of the programs/plugins to make it work. Sometime in the (near?) future, I may end up uninstalling iTunes so I can use just Winamp again (my player of choice).
                "Enough expository banter. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men. For Gilgamesh...IT'S MORPHING TIME!"
                - Gilgamesh, Final Fantasy V

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                • #9
                  Just out of curiosity, why not just download itunes and install it. From what I've read, it'll install just fine without internet access. Just burn it to CD or copy it to a flash drive.



                  Eric the Grey
                  In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

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                  • #10
                    I don't have a problem doing that at all.

                    I just wasn't sure how well it works without internet access.

                    The big hurdle is convincing him to install something on his computer. (Not sure if you missed the part about his paranoia.)
                    Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Ree View Post
                      The big hurdle is convincing him to install something on his computer. (Not sure if you missed the part about his paranoia.)
                      Yea, I got that. If I were in your shoes, it would be: "In order to use the ipod, you have to install this software. Install it or don't, it's up to you, but if you don't, you have an expensive but useless toy."

                      I'm kind of an ass like that though.



                      Eric the Grey
                      In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Eric the Grey View Post
                        Yea, I got that. If I were in your shoes, it would be: "In order to use the ipod, you have to install this software. Install it or don't, it's up to you, but if you don't, you have an expensive but useless toy."

                        I'm kind of an ass like that though.



                        Eric the Grey
                        Eh, it's not that far from the truth. The flaming hoops you gotta jump through to work an iPod sans iTunes...*shudder*...

                        Okay, so it's not that bad, but it does take some intermediate computer skills and the time to sit down at the target computer to make it work. Given the logistical limitations you've set, it's gonna be like pulling your own teeth.

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