Apple has taken measures against third-party iPod apps by encrypting the database file so that it’s locked to one particular iPod and prevents unauthorized modifications to the file. Result: any software that was able to upload music to previous iPod generations will no longer be able to do so with the current generation, at least until someone reverse-engineers the SHA1 hash creation process.

I have a fourth-generation iPod that’s served me quite well over the past two and a half years, but this is the final straw. When I replace the iPod I own (and that day may come soon, as I can no longer upload music via Firewire), it will not be with another iPod.