So Long DOT.TUNES

I fired up DOT.TUNES Version 4 this morning to share some music with my daughter. I've written previously on the pros and cons of this software. It works well enough so I use it. Then today, I get this bullshit:


Which makes no sense to me because at no point during the original install was there any mention of "expiration". Since I'm firmly entrenched in the "don't fix it if it ain't broke" camp I'm irritated by this mystery arbitrary expiration. Regardless, I go to the indicated URL, because maybe there's some heartbreaking security problem and upgrading is something essential. Maybe I go there because I'm a sheep.

The page primarily references downloading an ostensibly new product called Hook Up, a Mac OSX product which is useless to me. Below the fold there's a banner for the DOT.TUNES v4 product that interests me. The odd lack of prominence for v4 doesn't give me hope they plan on continuing their free license for v4 over the long haul. They might as well have their hyperlink in the closet, buried under cleaning products, an old broom and a mop that's seen better days. I follow the link.

Right off, I'm irritated as all get out. The DOT.TUNES v4 page has music automatically playing like a shitty MySpace wasteland. Not even good music; I thought a rat was chewing on my woofer cables at first. So be it, I find the pause icon and end that nonsense.

The first thing I notice, and maybe most people don't notice these things, is that there's not a stitch of information about DOT.TUNES v4 being new in any sort of way. No new anything. I click on their blog to see what announcements might be relevant to why perfectly good software has suddenly threw up on its own shoes. The light bulb goes on.

Because it's free (as in beer), there's always been a hidden expiration as a marketing tool to force you back to the mother ship if you want to use the software. Very uncool. I could see doing this, but making it up front when you install it (so you can make an informed decision). I could see a expiration that forces an announcement to freebie users. I could see a nag screen that can only be removed by returning to their new product screen and subsequently upgrading.

But, I can't see using a hidden expiration to disable perfectly good software for marketing purposes. That's flat out sheisty. So, goodbye DOT.TUNES. I will not be upgrading. I will not be using or recommending your firm's software to anyone, ever. I know that I wasn't part of your revenue stream, nor was I going to be anytime soon - so you might say good riddance to me. But maybe if enough bloggers (who also aren't in your revenue stream) expose how devious your firm operates, your bottom line will be diminished.

Despite my already enduring love of open source software, it still takes an occasional kick in the groin to remember why.

What is the Random Album Review?

Before I post my next review, I want to chat a bit about what the Random Album Review series means to me. I love my iPod. Over the years, combining my sizable digitized CD collection and downloads left me with about 10,000 songs. It was great that I was enjoying all my music in single compact magic box, but it was maddening how much crap was in there too.

So, I sat down and listened to it all. In a grand act of self-expression and personal liberty, I deleted all the crap. That left me with about 4000 songs, still quite a bevy of tunage. But that wasn't all. I found that I generally collected music via compilation releases which left me with an empty feeling in a weird way. Compilation albums are kind of seedy and coolness killers. They are an absolute expression of being a late adopter.

I went through my entire collection again. This time I endeavored to document in iTunes: the source album, original year of release and album art. My wife calls this couple of months the dreaded "headphone era". Demonstrating ADD superpowers, I think I even cleaned up iTunes at the dinner table, during dinner with my family. That effort was completed a couple of weeks ago.

So what's left after reaching the summit? Well for one thing I noticed that the quality of some of my favorite songs isn't quite as good as I'd like. When I first bought an iPod and ripped music (circa 2004), I was too ignorant about quality and obsessed with storage. Also, I think the algorithms that iTunes uses to rip music have improved. Several iPods later, storage isn't an issue with 60GB to work with and a more selective collection. Rather than implement an ADD approach, I'm re-ripping my music one album at a time and blogging about it, doing this at whatever pace happens no longer how long it takes.

One word about the "random" nature. It is only as random as iTunes is capable, which is quite suspect but good enough for this purpose. I have a smart playlist that looks for songs that 1) aren't singles, 2) have a five-star rating, 3) haven't been reviewed previously - and then limit that list to one song. That's how I determine which album is next. When I run out of albums that have at least one five-star song, I'll knock it down to four-stars - but that will be a while.

I'm also, trying out new social means to share my collection with family, friends and stalkers. I haven't found any yet that work just the way I want. I'll keep trying out a variety of them and linking or embedding them in Random Album Review posts. Don't expect any consistency on this aspect of the reviews, as I'll be all over the map as it pleases me.