Quote:
Originally Posted by terces
ooo... I like that idea. Seems everyone wants to get on the computer to access the music. Is Itunes software on each computer and just access the network storage for the music files? That way anyone can update their Ipod from whatever computer they are on?
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Right... so in an ideal environment, I would say, "Yes, that would work." Unfortunately, you may run into some DRM issues. With individual iPod syncing, you may be forced to use individual computers for indivudal iPods. Again, that's a copyright issue not a technology issue.
But copyright aside, it is most certainly possible to have a central repository of MP3 songs that all of your computers can access. You may have to kind of DIY it with your own mp3 music and maybe separate mp3 players. Actually, I'll bet iTunes can do it too, but again, it's the iPod syncing and DRM I'm not sure about.
Oh, and you'll also want to centralize your play list. Usually, it's an individual file on your local hard drive, so you'll need to change the settings and have it point to the central network version. This is the same with iTunes as well.
You can do something similar with DVD and home movies as well. Imagine that, instead of swapping DVD discs in and out of one computer to another, you can access a folder filled with up to 400 DVD or home movie files (on a terabyte drive), click on it, and watch it pretty much any time on any computer.
On some NAS products, they have ready-made software solutions for this (such as the HP media server solution for example). I read somewhere that some have even hacked the Hulu client to work as the front end. Or, you can just DIY it with simple folders and files.