iPods and Cadillacs

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Hi Guys.
I hope you can help.

I have an iPOD (5th gen) and a lot of other Macstuff.....iMac, laptop, iTunes, etc
I also bot a newCadillac CTS. What a car!
It has a 40 GB HD is not and has iPod integration.

But I can't figure out how to copy my iTunes library down to my Caddy.
I don't understand it.
I have paid everybody, Apple and Cadillac a great deal of money and can't even get any help doing this.
Caddy says talk to Apple, and Apple doesn't answer my support emails.....
Other people say I can't do it.
That Jobs won't let iTunes be copied to "just anything".
I don't want to copy this stuff to "just anything".
I want to copy it to my car, that has paid Apple a license fee.

There HAS to be a way to do this.
(OK I think I can copy the songs down to an audio disc and copy the audio disc in the car....but come on. I have 1700 songs (And I bought most of them from Apple) and at 10 minutes per disc of maybe 20/22 songs.......It would take more time than i have!)


Can you help?


Southern
 

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Have you considered purchasing an iPod adapter for your car? The problem is likely that the tunes you purchased from iTunes are DRM-protected in such a way that the MP3 player built into your car can't read them.
 
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I don't need an adapter

The Cadillac comes with iPod integration.
It has a USB port and an iPod mount.
The ipod plays and recharges in the cadillac and is controlled by the Steering wheel controls etc.
Cadillac licensed all of this from apple and openly refers to Ipod in all of their manuals.

However they don't address the issue of copying the ipod (or itunes music).
I don't give a darn about DRM. And I don't know a lot about it. I know that Jobs opposes DRM, right?
I know that he doesn't want me to give it away to his potential customers and I have no interest in doing that,
I just want to copy MY songs on MY iMac or MY ipod down to the licensed HD on MY car.

I have spent $1000 on old songs (more than the CDs would be worth) and don't understand how "I" can be in the wrong here.


In any event, I can't even get apple to answer their email. I am not pleased with them.

There must be a way to do this.
 
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You are simply under the very mistaken impression that the car's hard drive is "licensed" to play iTunes music. How can it be? You can't connect to the ITMS to authorize it, and they can hardly give blanket authorization to Cadillac to play any iTunes music with DRM.

When you bought DRM-laden music, you should have known what you are getting into. Simple fact is the restrictions are there to placate the music labels. Jobs can be anti-DRM all he likes, and there has been progress in getting music released DRM-free now, but ultimately it's not Apple's fault. This is why the Cadillac has iPod integration... so you CAN play all your music with relative ease.
 

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The Cadillac comes with iPod integration.
It has a USB port and an iPod mount.
The ipod plays and recharges in the cadillac and is controlled by the Steering wheel controls etc.
Cadillac licensed all of this from apple and openly refers to Ipod in all of their manuals.

However they don't address the issue of copying the ipod (or itunes music).
I don't give a darn about DRM. And I don't know a lot about it. I know that Jobs opposes DRM, right?
I know that he doesn't want me to give it away to his potential customers and I have no interest in doing that,
I just want to copy MY songs on MY iMac or MY ipod down to the licensed HD on MY car.

I have spent $1000 on old songs (more than the CDs would be worth) and don't understand how "I" can be in the wrong here.


In any event, I can't even get apple to answer their email. I am not pleased with them.

There must be a way to do this.

I think you're just a little bit confused. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It is integrated into most of the songs that have been available from iTunes Music Store for the past several years, up until recently. DRM was demanded by the recording industry as a means of controlling the distribution of music in digital formats.

Just recently, the recording industry has started to back off from the stance that DRM be included in legally downloadable music, so iTunes Music Store has started to sell DRM-free tracks.

With that said, there's a possibility that some of your music in your iTunes library has DRM protection. That DRM protected music will only play on your computer or your iPod - although GM licensed the technology that allows your iPod to be connected to your car, those tracks that are DRM protected will not play on the integrated MP3 player in your vehicle, because Apple does not license their "FairPlay" DRM technology.

So, to put it simply, to play the tracks that have DRM protection, you'll need to use your iPod integration. There are ways of stripping the DRM protection off, but that is beyond the scope of your question here.
 

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Well, I have had no luck in finding a 2008 CTS owners manual online, which will make it hard for anyone to know for sure exactly what features are available or not without making some suppositions based on what we read in reviews of the system.

I have found Audible's links for downloading their Audible Manager Software and installing it to the drive in your CTS to enable listening to Audible content from your HD. This would be my primary use of the drive.

While the CTS has iPod integration which allows you to play and listen to music directly from your iPod, I have found nothing that indicates music can be transferred from the iPod to the hard drive (yet). From all the write ups and reviews I've seen, music can be loaded onto the hard drive from a USB flash drive or it can rip tracks directly from CD and store them.

Have looked at the CTS myself and haven't as yet ruled it out as my next vehicle. Naturally, the salesmen really knew nothing of that detail of the system. Really would like to find a copy of the owners manual somewhere.

Bottom line, you have full control and access of your iPod from steering wheel mounted controls... don't think there was a consideration made to be a need to transfer those files to the hard drive. To do that, Apple would have to create an iTunes software that could be installed and run on the Operating System used by the hard drive.
 
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Well, It seems that it is my fault after all.
Thanks.

Here is the owners manual on line.
Most of the relevant info is in the Nav manual.

http://www.mediamax.com/ZymurgyMedia/Hosted

It is the best car I have ever owned to this point.
And that is compared to my Infiniti and Bimmers.
This however is a huge blackeye for everybody involved.... Technology in a car is flakey. The problem is that the dealerships are clueless. And the fact that I have a Mac doesn't help.
It seems that there are ways around this if you have a PC.

It's not that that the manual says you can't record from iPod (iTunes) ....it just doesn't say anything. It does talk at length about integration, listening etc. And that all works well.

I have no idea of the licensing arrangements. I just know that Cadillac wouldn't throw these terms around without licensing something from Apple.


I guess I'll just keep the iPod in the Caddy and find out how long that little disc drive will last.......and of course, as I have found out lately, the iPod is always at the wrong place.
I suppose having two iPods would have it's own set of problems?
 
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I've read a lot about car dealers and their salespeople just not being in touch with the latest technological features of the cars they are selling. Personally I think it's inexcusable that they told you to talk to Apple. The Caddy dealer is the one selling and servicing the hardware in their car, not Apple. And the salesman should be more thouroughly knowledgable of his product.

BTW... I can't get to that manual at the moment from where you posted, but judging from your last post, I think you are confusing "iPod" integration with "iTunes" integration. I'd hazard a guess that nowhere in the manual is "iTunes" mentioned. If it is, then it's probably a very poorly-written manual.
 

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This thread brings up something that I've been saying a long time now.

It's time that all cars had a USB-like bus, period. A set of jacks, under the dash, that give you the ability to tap into the car's electrical system. Want a car alarm? Easy, plug it into USB. Want to interface a rear seat DVD player into the audio system? Plug it into USB. How about a remote starter? Plug it into USB.

I just don't see why in 2008, we need to hack into wiring harnesses and auto makers have to license technologies from the likes of Apple and Microsoft to keep up. If they provided an easy, standard way to plug in add-on modules to add adapters, none of this would be necessary. The dealers could sell a series of add on USB modules and you could pick and choose at delivery and tailor the car to your needs.

A lot of you will say that Bluetooth is the answer here, but I disagree. You need a wired bus that can supply power to devices so that you're not constantly charging batteries.

Hopefully some day they come around...
 

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Does the iPod integration provide an on screen display of what's playing on your iPod? When I did my test drive they couldn't even answer that.
 
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This thread brings up something that I've been saying a long time now.

It's time that all cars had a USB-like bus, period. A set of jacks, under the dash, that give you the ability to tap into the car's electrical system. Want a car alarm? Easy, plug it into USB. Want to interface a rear seat DVD player into the audio system? Plug it into USB. How about a remote starter? Plug it into USB.

That reminds me of an idea I had a few days ago. Imagine if Apple made a car stereo. Put wi-fi on it, a 16Gb+ flash drive, the iPod Touch's OS, and you'd have a real mobile PC. Use the wireless to sync up your iTunes music, download mobile apps; the stereo could double as a real GPS system, and more. I know I'd be in line to get one (maybe I'd wait 3 months though for the $200 price drop... LOL!). Anyways... a stereo like THAT would be along the lines of how the OP thought his car's stereo should have worked.
 

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That reminds me of an idea I had a few days ago. Imagine if Apple made a car stereo. Put wi-fi on it, a 16Gb+ flash drive, the iPod Touch's OS, and you'd have a real mobile PC. Use the wireless to sync up your iTunes music, download mobile apps; the stereo could double as a real GPS system, and more. I know I'd be in line to get one (maybe I'd wait 3 months though for the $200 price drop... LOL!). Anyways... a stereo like THAT would be along the lines of how the OP thought his car's stereo should have worked.

I'll take one also..:D
 
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Does the iPod integration provide an on screen display of what's playing on your iPod? When I did my test drive they couldn't even answer that.

Yes. It even has something called Gracenote that fills in artist etc if you have recorded some cds to Itunes without tags.

It IS a mobile PC. It is running MSFT CE.
 
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Yes. It even has something called Gracenote that fills in artist etc if you have recorded some cds to Itunes without tags.

It IS a mobile PC. It is running MSFT CE.

I've been reading over the Navigation audio manual, as well as the links that bob provided regarding Audible. I can see how it could be easy to get confused over exactly what your car's system is supposed to support, especially if you are cross-reading info from various sources.

First off, from your manual, it makes it very clear what audio formats it supports. What it doesn't make clear, but perhaps should, is that it doesn't support DRM-protected music. And just to be clear... it's not just that it doesn't support DRM-protection, it simply CAN'T be authorized to support them.

Now one of the supported formats the manual lists is Audible.com. When I looked at Audible's website, the first thing I noticed is how they claim to be compatible with iTunes. I thought this seemed odd, and even now I think it's misleading. What they mean by "compatible" is that the content that they provide can be played back using iTunes, which is only available on a "regular" PC or Mac (or the iPhone/iPod Touch). That's all. This has nothing to do with your car.

And while your car's system is running on Windows CE (which is quite the joke of an OS), there is no actual iTunes app for it. If there was, and if your system had a method of connecting to the Internet, you could theoretically authorize it to play back your DRM-protected music. Unfortunately that's not so.

I think it's safe to say we all share your pain. Things SHOULD be easier than what they are, and this late into the 21st century they should be. Part of the problem here is DRM. It's overly complicated and forces too many compromises and hoops to jump through. Just to play some music. The other problem is lack of real innovation in the user interfaces of these devices. Nothing is truly easy to use, and with no one really TRYING to make things better, nothing will.

I think the car stereo industry is in need of a real shakedown. Just look at the cellphone industry... everyone was comfortable with cheap phones and kludgy interfaces until Apple came along and shook things up. Several months ago, Apple was rumored to be working with Volkswagen to make a special edition of the Beetle that was to feature several Apple technologies as a showcase for how things "should be". It supposedly has since been called off, but I'd bet good money that Apple still has something brewing in that area.

Anyways... what you should do is look over your music and see what is DRM-protected and what isn't. Copy over the stuff that isn't DRM-protected to a USB stick and then plug that into your car system. At least you can have that much on there. There are ways to strip the DRM off your music files, but unfortunately they can't be discussed in this forum.
 
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If you're worried about the HD in the iPod dying an early death, don't. You drive a cadillac, so the ride is gonna be smooth. I've been using the same iPod in my car for over a year now and its still working fine. I have a friend that has a 3rd gen ipod that still works (other than having no battery life) that has been in his truck for over 2 years, and he flies down the backroads and dirt trails hitting bumps.

Your iPod will probably see alot less abuse than his, so should last for quite some time.
 

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If you're worried about the HD in the iPod dying an early death, don't. You drive a cadillac, so the ride is gonna be smooth. I've been using the same iPod in my car for over a year now and its still working fine. I have a friend that has a 3rd gen ipod that still works (other than having no battery life) that has been in his truck for over 2 years, and he flies down the backroads and dirt trails hitting bumps.

Your iPod will probably see alot less abuse than his, so should last for quite some time.

Agreed.

I've owned 3 iPods. Right now, both my wife and my cars have iPod integration kits, paired with 30GB 5th gen iPods. Her's is a 2003 Corolla, mine is a 2007 Honda Accord (prior to this vehicle I had it in a 2006 Mazda6 and prior to that a 2005 Pilot). The third iPod was a 20GB photo that I sold to a friend.

All three units were exposed to temperature extremes as well as the bumps associated with being kept constantly in the car - and all three are still ticking just fine.
 
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I've been reading over the Navigation audio manual, as well as the links that bob provided regarding Audible. I can see how it could be easy to get confused over exactly what your car's system is supposed to support, especially if you are cross-reading info from various sources.

First off, from your manual, it makes it very clear what audio formats it supports. What it doesn't make clear, but perhaps should, is that it doesn't support DRM-protected music. And just to be clear... it's not just that it doesn't support DRM-protection, it simply CAN'T be authorized to support them.

Now one of the supported formats the manual lists is Audible.com. When I looked at Audible's website, the first thing I noticed is how they claim to be compatible with iTunes. I thought this seemed odd, and even now I think it's misleading. What they mean by "compatible" is that the content that they provide can be played back using iTunes, which is only available on a "regular" PC or Mac (or the iPhone/iPod Touch). That's all. This has nothing to do with your car.

And while your car's system is running on Windows CE (which is quite the joke of an OS), there is no actual iTunes app for it. If there was, and if your system had a method of connecting to the Internet, you could theoretically authorize it to play back your DRM-protected music. Unfortunately that's not so.

I think it's safe to say we all share your pain. Things SHOULD be easier than what they are, and this late into the 21st century they should be. Part of the problem here is DRM. It's overly complicated and forces too many compromises and hoops to jump through. Just to play some music. The other problem is lack of real innovation in the user interfaces of these devices. Nothing is truly easy to use, and with no one really TRYING to make things better, nothing will.

I think the car stereo industry is in need of a real shakedown. Just look at the cellphone industry... everyone was comfortable with cheap phones and kludgy interfaces until Apple came along and shook things up. Several months ago, Apple was rumored to be working with Volkswagen to make a special edition of the Beetle that was to feature several Apple technologies as a showcase for how things "should be". It supposedly has since been called off, but I'd bet good money that Apple still has something brewing in that area.

Anyways... what you should do is look over your music and see what is DRM-protected and what isn't. Copy over the stuff that isn't DRM-protected to a USB stick and then plug that into your car system. At least you can have that much on there. There are ways to strip the DRM off your music files, but unfortunately they can't be discussed in this forum.

Well, your post seems to be the answer. Maybe not the one i wanted to hear......


HOW do you know which songs have DRM on them?


Thanks guys for reassuring me about the iPod disc drives.


BTW the OS is not CE, it is Microsoft Automotive 5.0
The NAV and radio, are Alpine.
I believe the HD is an Automotive hardened Toshiba.
 
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Well to see which songs have DRM, you can use iTunes to sort them by "Kind". If you don't have that as one of the sorting options up on that bar with artist, album, etc, just add it by right-clicking anywhere on that bar.

The DRM-protected songs will be of the "kind" labeled something like "Protected AAC", with the extension .m4p. If you got the DRM-free version, it'll say "Purchased AAC". It's only the protected ones that you can't copy to the car unit.

If you haven't yet, you can connect to the iTunes Music Store, click on the iTune Plus option, and it will tell you which of your protected songs, if any, are eligible to be upgraded to the DRM-free ones. Yeah.. there is another charge to do that... the labels want yet more money for DRM-free ones.

There's no easy way I can think of to actually mass-copy only the usable ones to a thumb drive. You may have to settle for making a list and copying one at a time. Or just copy them all over and pick out the ones that the car unit won't play.
 

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