The self-sustaining iPod

Anyone with an iPod knows that being locked into your iTunes library can be a very annoying thing. And though there are a lot of solutions for working through this, I’ve never been entirely happy with the results.

What’s more, if you’re not a big fan of iTunes in the first place (or you’re just not a fan of firing up that memory hog just to sync your iPod), it can be that much more annoying when iTunes puts its stranglehold on your iPod.

Unfortunately you can’t really get that far with your iPod if you don’t use iTunes, right?

Wrong! By the end of this little tutorial, you’ll be able to rip a CD, sync the MP3s to your iPod, then play any music off your iPod from any computer without ever having to install anything on that computer – and not once will you have to open iTunes to do it.

That’s right – add MP3s from any computer. For example, if your SO insists on ripping MP3s on her laptop rather than straight to your shared library, you can still easily sync her MP3s to your iPod. Or maybe you’re on a public computer and you’re eager to rip and import the CD you just bought to your iPod. Without installing any software on that computer or ripping any MP3s to its hard drive, you can rip and sync your new CD to your iPod.

Read on: Hack Attack: The self-sustaining iPod – Lifehacker