Originally downloaded 2/20/06. There are a slew of apps for getting content off your iPod and into iTunes, but this is the first I’ve seen that puts the iPod in your menubar. You can not only copy files to your computer with it, but you can navigate your iPod and play the music on it from here. Worth a try for $10.
Update 12/17/06. Well, I couldn’t run the trial of Podstat because it kept crashing shortly after launch. The Podstat icon would show up briefly in my menubar and then promptly disappear with a crash report error message. I tried the software first in my usual account and then in a “clean” test account, to make sure it wasn’t a software conflict problem. However, I got the same error in the “clean” account. It looks like the software hasn’t been updated since 2003, which is probably why it’s broken in Tiger. I wrote to the developer, letting them know of this problem. I also pointed out that they don’t have anything on the Podstat page about compatibility and suggested they should add a notice. In case they want to try to fix the problem, I sent a copy of the crash report.
Podstat still looks like a very cool utility to me, and I’m not aware of any other app that does quite what it does. Podstat would give you access to your iTunes playlists and music without even having iTunes running, and you could also use it to copy files from the iPod to folders on your hard drive. Maybe someday it’ll be fixed, but in the meantime, it’s going in the reject bin.
Version as tested: 1.0.
