back to article Ding dong, the Ping is dead! Apple brings in Facebook for iTunes

Apple has quietly done away with Ping, its music-based social network in iTunes. The move came as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage at the iPhone 5 launch last night, and announced all the ways his website will integrate with the latest version of Apple's music'n'vids software. It's an admission that Apple hasn't …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Pooka

    Can anyone....

    ....suggest a replacement for iTunes to manage my iPod Classic please?

    I only need it for synching my DJ sets collection from the local hard-drive - I don't spend any money on there, and to be perfectly honest, since I no longer use facebook I would prefer not to do an integration between the two....

    ....or is the easiest option going to be to ignore the "YOU MUST UPGRADE NOW OR THE WORLD WILL END" messages I've spent the last year or so ignoring?

    1. Semaj

      Re: Can anyone....

      This is going back a bit but I remember Winamp having an iPod (classic) plugin. May be worth checking that out.

    2. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: Can anyone....

      This doesn't help you at all, but this is why any MP3 player I buy must be able to accept content using a simple drag n' drop.

      GJC

      1. Pooka

        Re: Can anyone....

        I want to replace my iPod, but I've yet to find another mp3 player that gets close to it....

        1. Mattjimf

          Re: Can anyone....

          Heard good things about Cowon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cowon-120GB-Portable-Media-Player/dp/B0047Z5ZEU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346962588&sr=8-2

          1. Pooka

            Re: Can anyone....

            "Heard good things about Cowon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cowon-120GB-Portable-Media-Player/dp/B0047Z5ZEU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346962588&sr=8-2"

            The one important question for me - if I stop a track after 30 mins, turn off the player and then later turn it back on and hit play is it going to start where I stopped it? That's the main reason I love the ipod classic and none of the other players I've seen so far do that (or have the capacity I want!)

            1. Chris Parsons

              Re: Can anyone....

              Not to the best of my knowledge. It's a pain, but I bookmark where I am. On the other hand the sound quality is more than somewhat better than the iPod.

      2. DJ Smiley
        Trollface

        Re: Can anyone....

        It would if he put rockbox on there..... alas that'd be horrific to anyone whos a fan of the shiny stuff I feel.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can anyone....

      Foobar 2000, Media Monkey, Amarok and many others.

      1. Andy ORourke
        Happy

        Re: Can anyone....

        Thanks for that, FOOBAR looks interesting, the one thing I truly despise on my PC is iTunes, it just gets in the way of everything!

    4. MissingSecurity
      Thumb Up

      Re: Can anyone....

      I dig Songbird, than again I don't buy Apple willingly.

    5. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Can anyone....

      If you don't tell iTunes your FB login, it won't use this new stuff. Solved.

      1. kdd
        FAIL

        Re: Can anyone....

        Only problem is, the use of cookies or other browser recognition may tie the two together anyhow...

    6. Gerhard den Hollander

      Re: Can anyone....

      gnupod ?

      it's command line, but if all you want to do is say ``copy all these files to my ipod'' it cannot be beaten.

    7. Archibald Trumpetbeetle

      Re: Can anyone....

      install rockbox on the ipod

    8. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can anyone....

      I remember a colleague liking "Songbird" to manage her iPod classic. Never used it myself, so no warrantees of any kind..

      Also, just by the by, I tend to rsync the masses of tracks between my two Serato machines, over wireless. Painless and reliable once you set up a tiny script or two :)

    9. Screaming Temporal Doom

      Re: Can anyone....

      I use sharepod, you drop it directly onto the IPOD drive and run it from there, effectively allowing you to transfer music from any PC you want.

    10. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Re: Can anyone....

      @Pooka

      How' about Miro, as an alternative to iTunes?

  2. Interested Party

    "And for Facebook? Well it brings a little more content useless shite into the social network."

    Fixed it for you.

    1. Steve I

      ""... useless shite into the social network."

      Fixed it for you."

      It wasn't broken - 'useless shite' can also be content. E.g. " What was the content of that last post?". "Oh, just the usual useless shite".

      1. Code Monkey
        Trollface

        ... also "what was the content of that toilet?"

  3. Greg J Preece

    Oh please Mithras, no. I already get my FB filled up every time some twonk changes track on Spotify. This is the last thing FB needs.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > I already get my FB filled up every time some twonk changes track on Spotify.

      Agreed. I remember the IRC client plug-ins that spammed the channel with whatever (usually atrocious) music the user was playing.

      If it could be done in a way that's a) not annoying and b) roughly relevant to my musical tastes then maybe....

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So now ...

    ... not only will I know when my sister's next door neighbour checks her horoscope I will also know when she transfers/buys/listens/watches/etc anything on her iCrap device.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple hasn't done particularly well on the social side of things???

    "It's an admission that Apple hasn't done particularly well on the social side of things"

    Well what the fuck did they expect when their audience is made up of shallow narcissists, eh?

    : )

    1. Dana W
      Meh

      Re: Apple hasn't done particularly well on the social side of things???

      Are you kidding? Shallow narcissists LOVE to talk about themselves! Facebook has millions of them.

  6. Tom 35

    Thanks for the warning

    Not to upgrade to the new iTunes (is that "the new iTunes" as in the new iPad?) for my 2g touch.

  7. Select * From Handle

    Is their going to be an option in FB...

    To turn off people iTunes recommendations? (Assuming that their will be a "joe bloggs likes Rihanna on iTunes click here to buy now" crap spamming updates feed.)

    1. Andy ORourke
      Happy

      Re: Is their going to be an option in FB...

      Probably not, i am getting worried that my wife has a gambling addiction since I get updates about how much she likes Paddy Power every day and my daughter must have an eating disorder as she seems to live in Subway yet is as thin as a rake..............

      1. MrZoolook
        Joke

        Re: Is their going to be an option in FB...

        Thats because she lives un underground tunnels, rather then the fast food filled roll outlets.

  8. Myopic Aardvark

    More to the point...

    Is there going to be an option not to get ANY Facebook prompts, links or even mentons on iTunes, because I've done quite well without them in the past and have no interest in anything to do with Facebook?

    I've been quite happy with my iPhone/iTunes stuff over the last few years, but I don't givea damn about Facebook and having to put up with nag prompts every single time I buy or view something is likely to lead to me going elsewhere - I've purchased 270Gb worth of music/games/films/books and TV progs from iTunes, but wil go elsewhere if Facebook becomes the only way to do things on iTunes.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: More to the point...

      Here here. I've ditched Words With Friends because of all the Facebook and Twitter cr** in your face all the time.

      *I* will choose the *WHAT*, *WHEN* and *HOW* of my online social interaction, thank you very much.

    2. GotThumbs
      Boffin

      Re: More to the point...

      You may need to verify that you actually "purchased" that content or just leased it from Apple. You may have to just divorce Apple and be happy getting out of the walled garden with just the clothes on your back.

      I don't know if its been confirmed and I haven't taken the time to read the Itunes agreement, but since I don't own any Apple products or use any of their software....I'm content watching from the outside.

      http://www.dailytech.com/UPDATE+Bruce+Willis+May+Sue+Apple+Over+iTunes+Digital+Ownership/article27576.htm

      1. Dana W

        Re: More to the point...

        You leave Apple your drm free tunes go with you.

  9. Khaptain Silver badge

    The Facebook crowd

    I think it is quite fitting that Apple added Facebook.

    They are simply highlighting the intellectual capacity of their users.

    They really are entering into the entrails of the earth in order to entice new end users.

    1. Steve I
      Paris Hilton

      Re: The Facebook crowd

      "I think it is quite fitting that Apple added Facebook.

      They are simply highlighting the intellectual capacity of their users."

      Sorry - are Regitards some sort of superior intellectual compared to Facebookers?

      1. Armando 123
        Mushroom

        Re: The Facebook crowd

        All three sets have a smarmy smugness I normally associate with religious zealots and Stanford liberal arts professors.

        (That's me, an equal opportunity offender.)

      2. Khaptain Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: The Facebook crowd

        If you need to ask the question, then you probably shouldn't be here.

  10. Ian 62

    Wheres the money?

    I assume Stalkerbook isnt doing this for fun. Theres money in it somewhere.

    Does facebook get a cut each time a 'Bobby Likes this' is followed and bought buy a friend?

    That'd mean less for Apple? (not likely) Less for the Label? (less likely) Less for the artists? hmmmm?

  11. Irongut

    ludicrous nonsensical rambles

    Business as usual on FB then.

  12. TeeCee Gold badge
    WTF?

    Gosh.

    As if there weren't already enough reasons not to buy Apple products and avoid iTunes.

    I think I must be the exact polar opposite of Apple's theoretical ideal customer, as every change they make to their "ecosystem" makes me even more determined to avoid having anything to do with it.

  13. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Happy

    The first step is admitting you have a problem

    All they need to do now is outsource e-mail to Yahoo and that might work as well.

  14. Da Weezil
    Stop

    Dear Apple... please note... I dont do any of this arsefaceplace networking type crud... if you try to force me to use it at any time (function creep) I will just stop using Itunes - which means no more purchases.. managing my Ipod is without Itunes. I have linux as well... so sorted that one out quite sometime ago.

    1. GotThumbs
      Holmes

      Apple believes all its followers will eventually comply as history has shown...

      IMO

      You really don't have a choice as long as you continue to stay in the controlling relationship with Apple.

      1. GotThumbs
        Boffin

        Re: Apple believes all its followers will eventually comply as history has shown...

        "Resistance is futile"

  15. TRT Silver badge
    Stop

    I suddenly feel queazy.

    No. No. No. Not for me. Very dislike. Pointless bloat.

  16. Wibble
    Windows

    I fecking hate Facebook and everything it stands for...

    I don't and won't have a FB account and have no interest in finding out which proxy boy band shite is being pushed today.

    I do hope that Apple haven't screwed with iTunes too much as it's already a pretty lousy application, particularly if you've a lot of music (none purchased from Apple). Itunes is utterly useless on the iPad, for instance sorting by genre.

    Its such a pity there's no better music playing applications for the Mac, iPad and iPhone.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No Facebook or Itunes account, no problem.

    I am interested in the new Itunes being easier/better. I hate Itunes, and use other software when I can to manage my Ipod, but on occasions I do use it.

    Better yet, I would like to use Itunes IF it were better. We shall see. I do not like the idea of getting a device and then having to mess with work arounds to get it to work the way it should have from the beginning.

    Sorry, typing ANYTHING is out, period. We are in the 21rst century, not 1980's, I should be able to find, manage, drag and drop my files without some cryptic limited commands.

    Itunes and FB have become very popular, It might not be a bad thing for many people and seems like a logical move for both companies. I prefer not to have someone manage my music or post my personal info online for everyone to see, so it's not for me and doesn't matter to me what they do. Kids though, they don't care, they'll eat this up. Most of them listen to the same music anyway so it won't be a shocker. These are the consumers companies are aiming for.

  18. ForthIsNotDead
    Thumb Down

    Great

    Another reason to avoid Apple products.

    The same reason I will not join Spotify: Facebook pollution.

  19. Alister

    I wonder

    If the changes necessary to implement this were the cause of the iCloud outage?

  20. Armando 123

    Oh good

    Because I want to accidentally upload kitty photos when looking for obscure grunge bands.

  21. Scott Wheeler
    Stop

    Can this be disabled?

    I don't allow my personal information on to cloud services, with the exception of Kindle reading position sync. I don't sync photos, I don't use Siri, I don't use cloud document storage. Facebook is the last company I want anything to do with. I'm quite concerned that the "off switches" for some of these activites will disappear.

    1. Steve I
      FAIL

      Re: Can this be disabled?

      *Can this be disabled? I don't allow my personal information on to cloud services...Facebook is the last company I want anything to do with..."

      So you don't have a Facebook account - how on Earth do you think it's going to upload anything and why you might need to disable it?

  22. sonophy
    Black Helicopters

    Closed ecosystem

    Apple functions as a closed ecosystem, not surprisingly the evolution of this ecosystem involves closing off any openings that pose a threat to the core mechanism. When looking at OSX Mountain Lion you will notice a lack of off switches. With the addition of Facebook integration Apple is now Apple to filter feed from Facebook whereby gaining a large customer base who will not be able to leave their ecosystem without losing access to content. It must be stated again that, when you pay for content from iTunes you do not own the music, video or content; you are paying for access to that content. Unless you convert all of your music to MP3 and burn them to CD's you will have nothing if you are not tethered to the Apple ecosystem. When you think the collection of music and video you have paid for stored on your drives is yours, you are incorrect, you must use iTunes to access and make use of that content. The Apple DRM model is strong and only allows a few generations of backup copies to be made before the files are made inaccessible.

    If you wish to move away from this model. You can purchase DRM free music and video from: amazon, bleep.com and many others. When you pay for non-DRM content you actually own the files and can do what you wish with them, store them in any way you see fit. If you feel you need to use Spotify do not allow it connect with any outside site; tracking in Spotify is always active and has no off switch.

    As for Facebook, it is either on or off.

    1. Steve I
      FAIL

      Re: Closed ecosystem

      "Unless you convert all of your music to MP3 and burn them to CD's you will have nothing if you are not tethered to the Apple ecosystem....you must use iTunes to access and make use of that content. The Apple DRM model is strong ...purchase DRM free music and video from: amazon..."

      Er, no. Fail. no DRM on iTunes music and it's freely playable outside of iTunes. Amazon movies DO have DRM.

  23. Chris 171

    Hahaha haha hah.

    Like it up bitches.

    apple are sure as hell testing the congregation.

    fb stalking, lightning adaptor and more shit headphones for what? Another row of static icons?

    Sheesh...

  24. Dana W
    FAIL

    No.

    I'm not logging back into Facebook. Not even if Steve Jobs rises from the dead and asks me to personally.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like