It's a mirror of a master database. It's a design that has existed in computing times since backups have existed. People just don't read the dialog boxes before clicking ok.

Of course, if you put that third party music in iTunes then it will sync just fine, or you simply put the iPod in manual mode.

Since the release of the iPhone (so, 2007), iTunes now features the ability to copy back changes on the iDevice to the master library during a sync, but the original form of the software did not do this when it was in "auto" mode.

Ah, then I know what happened because that happened to me too, except it was during the change over to non-DRM tracks. I had purchased an album and it was showing as such, but I couldn't download the non-DRM versions of the songs for just that particular album because the album had a new ID/had a minor change or had some reason that it was no longer linked with the version for sale on the store.

Apple customer support simply gave me a copy of the "new" album despite it being the same and I carried on as before.

That you could turn it off, just like you can with Apple.

If you didn't want it to work this way, you could turn it off and sync manually. How do you think the people concerned got the tracks on there in the first place? The problem came if they subsequently used an automatic sync (without reading the message - it does tell you it will delete anything not in the main library [how very "vague"]) without adding those tracks to the main library on the computer.

Assuming it was a two way sync when in auto mode was the problem, but it's not a Machiavellian design, it's simply a database set up to mirror a master database *that was optional*.

You were not forced to use it in this mode.

Sheesh.

Also, the "opinions that disagree with me must be paid shills" stuff is getting old. It just makes you look silly. You think that anyone with a contrary opinion to yours, or one that is supportive of a company that you personally dislike is being paid? Just listen to yourself.

No, it's what happens if you leave the sync settings on auto and ignore the "there are files on this device that are not in your library, these will be deleted? Continue? [Cancel Sync] [Continue Sync]" dialog box.

Set the iPod to manual (or don't factory reset it without a backup) and the click bait goes away.

This entire thing boiled down to "I factory reset something and didn't have a backup. Wah! Apple deleted my stuff!"

What would you say to someone who formatted their device without a backup, expecting everything to still be on it afterwards?

Songs from where? Songs that were on your iPod but not your computer? Or songs that were on your computer?

If it is the latter than I would be *very* interested to hear about what happened there.

You just put it in manual mode. Problem solved.

When it was in auto sync mode it was a mirror of the iTunes library, but putting it in manual control mode allowed you to selectively sync from multiple different libraries and computers. It always worked this way.

It also warned you if it was going to delete anything, but most people (based on this lawsuit) seem to be incapable of reading dialog boxes.

Not true.

A sync that involved deleting anything on the iPod that wouldn't stay after the sync was always accompanied by a warning message.

Whether you read or understood this message is entirely an exercise in the IQ of the user.

The iPod sync doesn't work that way. The library on the iPod is a mirror of the one on the computer. The computer is the master device, and if you make changes to the library on the iPod, they will not be kept unless they are also made on the master library.

When the iPod is synced, the master library is what is used to determine what is on there - it's purely a mirror of the computer, not a two way sync/merge. After the release of the iPhone (and other touchscreen iDevices) the option to consolidate tracks you had downloaded elsewhere was added as part of the sync process, but in the early days when it was designed to be used with a single master library when in full auto mode, it did not do this - it simply told you that it would delete the tracks if you selected "yes, delete the tracks and sync".

Where this would trip people up is if they would load music onto their iPod manually (manual control was always an option) on one computer, then later connected it up to a computer that had automatic sync set up (iTunes warns you if it will delete files, but who reads dialog boxes, eh?), and thus any changes made to the iPod are then lost.

Adding those "third party" tracks to iTunes and syncing them to the iPod worked as it always did, or if you wanted to run with multiple different iTunes libraries you just turned off the automatic sync and just manually controlled what iTunes would copy to your iPod.

Of course, that doesn't make for very click-baity headlines or nonsense lawsuits.

I'm really not assuming too much at all.

Have you ever been on slashdot?

I mean, it's hard to tell how long you've been around so maybe you're not aware of the context here.

You don;t seem to understand that "best" in this context doesn't refer to a literal superlative material, but to the best material currently available from a glass manufacturer at the time the product was made.

Ah yes, that well known Corning-hate on slashdot, with the frequent trope of being excited to upgrade your corning product on a short, repeating cycle like sheep.

I hardly think the original coward's target was non-obvious.

Today I learned that people with opinions counter to anonymous cowards are Apple employees or stockholders of Apple. Man, there must be a lot of them!

About time Apple did what? Made their phones deliberately out of the best material available at the time and now out of a subsequently even better material made by a third party supplier that they don't control?

What did you think they are "about timing"? Making new phones out of a material that has only just been announced?

I'm not following.

What do you mean? I was directly replying to a brave coward who went for a cheap apple bash.

Is replying to that comment with an opposing opinion "getting defensive"? Isn't this a discussion forum?

Oh, right. I understand.

News just in! Products get better incrementally, somehow only controversial when Apple does it. Film at 11.