How-to: get music, videos, and photos off your iPod or iPhone
By Ross Miller 
posted November 25th 2009 2:30PM
posted November 25th 2009 2:30PM
posted November 25th 2009 2:30PM
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Holy crap that's complicated. On the Zune, you just load up the software, press device, and move over whatever you want to the computer. (On a related note, I love how on the sample Windows machine, the videos on the iPod showed up with a Zune symbol)
@MarcusMaximus i really don't understand why you get downranked so hard on nearly every post you make. what you say is usually right on.
@MarcusMaximus
+1
@MarcusMaximus
I've always used a zune, it never occured to me ipods had this limitation.
@MarcusMaximus
Wow, that is complicated. I don't have one, but just clicked this article curious why they had to write a how-to for it. I guess I see why. That's madness.
@kojo87
some bot must be after him... but i'll hunt it down and burn it with the power of greyskull.
(couldn't agree more, mark)
@eliazar Madness?......
THIS. IS. IPOD!
@MarcusMaximus
It is sad how many steps I need to go through to get a video I recorded using my Nano onto my computer. Apple is portrayed as making everything easy, I and many of those around here could easily figure it out, but you would think for as much crap as they push into iTunes that is not music related, they would have a "Copy Video To My Computer" option somewhere.
@MarcusMaximus
"On the Zune, you just load up the software, press..."
You make it seem like the Zune is some sort of example for simplicity.
The real example are the devices that act like regular removable storage (where you don't need ANY additional software), that is: pretty much any PMP or phone that's not from Microsoft or Apple.
@Endadget No, I was just saying that from my experience, since I own a Zune HD but don't have any of those other media players(except a G1, which I guess is loaded that way, but I don't really use it for music/videos).
At any rate, I would say that aside from the effort of installing it(which is arguable in either direction), it is easier to manage a music collection via the Zune Software than drag and drop through windows. You just don't have to worry about the directory structure or anything else and if you plug in the Zune it just automatically syncs up all your music, without ANY effort. You don't even have to tell it where to find the music since if you add any to any of the designated folders(which you can change/specify yourself) it automatically adds the songs to your library. It makes it much harder outside of windows and you do have to have the software but given that you have windows and the zune software installed, it's far simpler.
@MarcusMaximus
Well, whatever floats your boat..
I personally prefer to have more control and freedom in using my devices. I can connect my phone as a mass storage to any device that is a USB host. That includes all computers, but also televisions, dedicated video players, car stereos...
And I can still also use software like that of the Zune to make copying/syncing easier or automatic.
@Endadget Oh, ya, there's no question that there's more freedom in those types of devices. At any rate, this got kinda sidelined, my original point was just that from my experience with the Zune HD, it's far easier to move music to your computer than it apparently is to do from the iPod.
@MarcusMaximus
smh @ the amount of steps. We're not splitting the atom here people....drag and drop ftw!
@MarcusMaximus : It's funny it takes a whole article - split into two sections to explain how to get your own music off your own device? Sure, Zune is better, but come on! All you should have to do is plug the device, scroll to the folder/directory it is mounted to, and copy-paste/move all you want!
Why it requires anything more than just connecting your device is beyond me.
Oh, and on the G1, I just do "scp". Take that, fanbois!
@MarcusMaximus
not just, zune, it is an easy process for almost any non-apple device.
@All
Nice article found here with a few different software options that worked for me, pay and free-
http://www.onegiantmedia.com/how-to-get-music-off-an-ipod-or-iphone-3g--3gs-firmware-2x
so w8 a min this wont work on my touch that sucks
@cge10
SharePod has support for the iPod touch and iPhone
@cge10
If your touch is jailbroken, you can. SSH onto your iPod and pull off the files.
@CodeRed
As does TouchCopy. ( www.touchcopy.com )
@cge10
If you are using OS X it works just fine. I just did mine.
@cge10
Am I the only one that read that as "double-u, eight?" Ha ha, I know it's because I've been a little slow today but that just threw me off! Please try to keep text-speak off the Internet in the future.
Oh the joys of open devices :) I don't have to jump through any of these hoops. Simple USB mass storage drag and drop is all I need.
@Eternity
Can someone please clarify this for me... A band spends countless amounts of time and money to create a decent album then instead of fans buying the album, they download it for free from a "Kazaa" type website to their ipod and the band realizes they got screwed by both the record label and their fans so they break up. Meanwhile the fans complain that its not easy enough to rip the stolen songs from someone elses ipod?
dont get me wrong DRM limits are the dumbest thing I have ever heard of but why should a company make it easy to steal music? I am glad its so hard because if someone stole my iPhone I know they are going to have a ridiculous time trying to get my music off of it... karma.
@Mentat Woah, are you a Sony Music Group Rep? Maybe some people like to not keep their full music collection on their computers and instead keep it on their iPod and later copy it over if they need it? Or maybe if someone has their computer break entirely, they want to be able to get their music back from their iPod?
What about independent artists who want to get their music out there? But I do understand your concern. I'm just saying personally, I'm not willing to go through all that trouble to get MY OWN STUFF. I have more important things to do with my time. Like raiding Engadget for instance.
@Mentat
Maybe you work for RIAA, or more likely you are just slow, but we are not discussing pirated stuff here, people are simply complaining about how hard it is to get files off the iPod or iPhone. What you are suggesting is that because I paid money for that album, I should be penalized by not able to move my music files freely between my computer and ipod.
foobar2000+foodop ftw
Thanks for this. I've had music on my iPods, iTouch, and now iPhone that need to get backed up. So this will mos def come in handy. /yee!
Why can't I change my damn avatar.
@The Punisher
You can't change it? It so easy, a..... nevermind.
@ChristianTexan
Nice one, sir.
@ChristianTexan
dood, that was harsh XD
@ChristianTexan
Well its not, every time i upload a pic...my avatar remains the same.
Just sayin'.
You reference the "infamous" clickwheel. What's infamous about it? You mean "famous." Infamous means famous for the wrong reasons. Famous means famous. The click wheel is famous because it's a great invention that is space-saving and intuitive. Monica Lewinsky is infamous. See the difference?
@grammarperson
I like the clickwheel, but i think my favourite is the all-touch 3rd gen iPod. Something cool about having no moving parts. The middle button on my 3rd gen nano is getting unresponsive (I have to press it really hard), but that's probably because of all those solitaire games.
@SpuddPotatto
Dude, no. I have the 3rd gen, worst ipod ever. May seem like a cool idea in theory, but all-touch means accidental presses all the time, unresponsive presses at others, and not being able to use it without looking at it. To name some of the major faults.
@grammarperson
The clickwheel is definitely infamous based on your description. You people really need to quit thinking that spinning your finger in a circle is intuitive to go up and down. Flicking up and down is intuitive, not spinning. The clickwheel + iTunes kept me from ever buying and iPod.
So, do you get all your post ideas from Ars Technica?
http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2009/11/music-library-disaster-rip-songs-from-your-ipod.ars
@(Unverified) Ha, we've been working on this for weeks, actually -- great minds think alike!
@Nilay Patel
Haha, I also thought the timing of this was curious considering Ars posted this earlier in the day.
What a weird coincidence!
irip is probably the best paid option there is
http://thelittleappfactory.com/irip/
@D3fPo3t
I can't believe they missed that one either, especially with the amount of publicity it has had recently. Awesome app too!
@D3fPo3t
Actually nice timing for this story straight after Jobs made iPodRip change it's name to iRip.
See http://www.theage.com.au/technology/biz-tech/jobs-may-make-mat-lose-his-job-20091125-jq6t.html
I plug my Samsung P3 into any PC, Mac of Linux computer and use drag and drop. who woulda thunk it?
@electron
* or, not of... dang comment system..
@electron
Good for you. Considering that has absolutely zero to do with recovering files from an iPod or iPhone, I don't know why you bothered.
@electron
Agreed MTP and whatever stupid system Apple uses are all inferior to standard mass storage. You can do direct drag and drop or drag and drop through a decent media manager, like banshee or Azureus.
@electron
Speaking of which my daughter loves her Samsung T10
@electron
Are Linux and Mac computers not PCs now?
What are they, Impersonal Computers? Unpersonal Computers?