The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

classic...charging to be able to do things for free.

i'd almost rather buy the 7-15 ringtones than buy software that will be blocked in a week.

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My thing is this... is someone really going to make 15 ringtones for their iphone? I suppose it's possible but it seems for most that you'd only want a few custom ringtones, which makes it cheaper to pay Apples 99 cents per song vs. this $15 up front. Either way, seems like there are still free alternatives out there so I don't see this app really taking off...

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I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms about $2 ringtones. If you go to the AT&T website you will see that ringtones are $2.49, for the ringtone alone. Chances are, you already own the song (I don't know of anyone who purchases a ringtone, but doesn't have it in their own music library) so, if you purchase from AT&T you'd have $3.49 invested in one song.

If Apple is ripping people off, it's because ringtones themselves are rip offs, not because they are charging excessive amounts for them.

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@kojak - i agree to a point. those stupid ring tone ads on tv are EXPENSIVE and people do them like crazy, but then the real argument is, the thing plays music and its a phone, why cant we just make our own?

to me its less of a 'theyre trying to rip me off' and more of a 'i want the freedom to make my cats meowing as my ringtone'...of course thats not the ringtone i want, but you get it

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Some people have more than a few friends like me i use itoner and i currently have at 20 tones assigned to those who are worthy

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Yeah, I'm not really sure who would buy this, not only does cost as much as turning 15 songs you have into ringtones, but it could very well become useless in a future iTunes or iPhone update.

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You're right. I do already own the song...on CD. So I have to buy the song 3 times(!) before I can use it as a ringtone? No thanks.

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Well another reason to use an alternate method like iToner......I want to make songs I ripped myself or songs I have which I haven't purchased on iTunes into ringtones. That is not an option with iTunes.

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I for one think this is a nice app. It's true it may be cheaper just to buy the ringtones from iTunes...now. But how many people are use the same ringtone for the entire life of their iPhone? I'm constantly changing ringtones on my phone. If I were to only buy ringtones from iTunes, then in the long run I'll end up spending more. I'm sure Apple will release an update that will obsolete this version of the app, but they'll just update the app like they have twice already.

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The Ambrosia Guys are doing a good job with most of their software, and most of it is worth the price, iToner is no exception if you use ringtones on your iPhone.
One good reason for paying for iToner rather than buying the ringtones themselves is to protest against the RIAA's cartel. Artists don't get Royalties on Ringtones since they are not classed as "Derivative Works". Of that $2.49 you pay; it gets distributed between the Telecom company, Record Label and Service Provider. In the case of iTunes Ringtones, Apple is the distributor and Service Provider.

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Dan Woods: what you have said is total crap. Ringtones are annoying, and there's a good argument that if you've bought a song for 99c then you should be free to use it as a ringtone if you choose too. But the reason is not because of the 'RIAA cartel'. Cartels are illegal in the USA - ever heard of anti-trust laws? And the RIAA is a political representative and lobbying body for the record labels. It doesn't negotiate with Apple or anyone else on their behalf for commercial agreements. Finally, you are dead wrong when you say that artists get no money from ringtones. They do. The $1 (or whatever) is split between carrier (about 40%), service provider (about 10%) and labels (about 50%). Of that 50%, some will go to the recording artist. Some more goes from the label to the music publisher and the songwriters of the relevant song. (Often the same person as the recording artist, of course). None of this is necessarily to defend ringtones - although lots of people seem prepared to pay far more than Apple is looking to charge for the convenience - but get your facts right.

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I can't get the new itoner 1.02
to work with the new itunes 7.4.2

i cannot get it to Sync

I can drag the songs to the winow that looks
like an iPhone, they show up, I can play them
from the iToner window, but cannot sync them
over to my iPhone.

Bummer, I just bought iToner
so I could make ringers out of songs
not available as ringtones on iTunes.

I guess I'll wait to see if I'm the only one
having trouble.

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I just posted that I was having trouble...
after several restarts and having to force quit

then trying to set up a ringtones playlist
and having itoner sync that playlist

it's working, I can drag them into the
itoner window
I can add them to my ringtone playlist
and the sync button that wasn't working
well.... it works fine now.

Cheers.... I'm rocking now instead of Marima

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@curiouseater


so you are saying that everything in this story is BS? can you prove it?

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/TechQ307/Entries/2007/9/14_Apples_iTunes_Ringtones_and_the_Complex_World_of_Copyright_Law.html

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I bought this program and its worked great so far. I have more than 15 ringtones assigned to friends and family, so its already paid for it self. Even if Apple makes the current version obsolete, the developer seems to be frequently updating. Its easy to use, works, and cheap.

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