Multiple iPod users on a Mac & iTunes?

[hifisoup]

Just curious if more than one ipod can be used with the iTunes loaded on my Mac. Example...I have iTunes loaded with all of my CDs. I have connected my iPod and download songs to it.

My question is, can my wife and daughter also connect their iPods to my 'puter and download my CDs into their iPods?

[semidetached]

I don't have a Mac, but it shouldn't be a problem. As long as the files are on your hard drive, you will be able to transfer. Transferring FROM one iPod to another is a little trickier, and can't be done through iTunes (unless that has recently changed).

[PsychFan]

My question is, can my wife and daughter also connect their iPods to my 'puter and download my CDs into their iPods?

Yes. My wife loads up her iPod Nano on the same Mac and iTunes installation that I use for my 80GB 'Pod.

All you have to do is make sure that you give each iPod a unique name the first time you hook it up to your Mac. It works great for us; we each have our own autosync settings so she gets all her playlists loaded and updated on hers, and I get my playlists on mine.

[hifisoup]

excellent! Thanks, guys!

[RicP]

They can even maintain their own libraries and choose them at startup if you'd like. Hold down "Option" (Mac) or "Shift" (Windows) when starting iTunes to choose which library to load.

[Vidiot]

My question is, can my wife and daughter also connect their iPods to my 'puter and download my CDs into their iPods?
They can, but my suggestion would be that you make sure each of their iPods has a different name than yours. That way, there'll be no confusion, assuming they each want only some of your songs.

Note that iTunes will insist on wiping each iPod drive whenever it sees an iPod for the first time. It'll ask permission first, but you can't add part of someone else's iTunes library to an existing iPod. (At least, not with iTunes.)

[DaveN]

They can, but my suggestion would be that you make sure each of their iPods has a different name than yours. That way, there'll be no confusion, assuming they each want only some of your songs.

Note that iTunes will insist on wiping each iPod drive whenever it sees an iPod for the first time. It'll ask permission first, but you can't add part of someone else's iTunes library to an existing iPod. (At least, not with iTunes.)

I am not sure that I agree with the above statement, although it makes logical business sense. I have three different computers running iTunes and I can take my ipod from computer to computer without losing its contents. Perhaps I just got lucky.

As an example, my home computer has the master library of music. However, my laptop has all of my podcast subscriptions. So I load up the ipod with music from the home pc. Then, when I am on the road, I sync-up the same ipod with the laptop to get my 'Fresh Air' and 'Sound Opinions' fix.

I am running Windows XP if that makes a difference.

[Vidiot]

I have three different computers running iTunes and I can take my ipod from computer to computer without losing its contents. Perhaps I just got lucky.
When you plug an iPod into a computer with iTunes (Mac or Windows), and iTunes has never seen that specific iPod before, it gives you three options:

1) transfer purchases

2) erase and sync [meaning, wipe the drive and copy all the selected songs and playlists from iTunes straight across]

3) cancel.

There's no other option that I know of with iTunes, and there's no way to tell it, "keep all the songs on this iPod, but add these new songs you've never seen before," not with a new copy of iTunes on another computer. Apple did this deliberately do appease the record companies, who were concerned that (mostly teens) would take their iPods to friends' houses and easily swap libraries. You can always do this with the drives, but not the iPods themselves (not with Apple software, that is).

There are ways of working around it with optional software, but it's a little involved. If you're working with the same copy of iTunes for all three iPods, no problem.

I myself juggle five or six iPods and lots of different iTunes libraries, but I keep it straight by having multiple drives and multiple copies of the program. Works fine, as long as you don't let iTunes take control.

This is all with iTunes 7.2x and iPod software 1.2x.