Can the iPod touch be used as a disc like other iPods?

[puckles]

I am working on a project that requires loading content on 30+ iTouches for a client (rough work, i know)

because the recipients will loose the content (internally produced podcasts - no copyright issues here) when/if they synch to their home computer, we had planned on including the content as data on the itouch as well, so they could restore those items.

I tested the process on two iTouches yesterday and noticed there was no 'Enable Disc Use' option - has this been blocked for iTouches???

Thanks!
Caroline

[Code Monkey]

The touch for whatever reason does not support use as a drive - you're not missing anything.

[DerekVOF]

The iPod Touch and iPhone use a different operating system (not the typical firmware of other iPods). As such, it doesn't use the same kind of USB drivers for connection. It's like the difference between connecting to an external hard drive (like old iPods) and a mini computer. Apple hasn't made it possible to connect in disk mode.

Probably to keep people from playing with the file structure and operating system...

[jhollington]

That's essentially correct. Note that the touch does support manual management, however, so you could pre-set them to "Manually manage" and at least users would not automatically lose the content when connecting to their home computers.

They'd still need some means of transferring the content into their iTunes library, unfortunately, and this isn't really possible without third-party software.

[puckles]

Thanks all!

I figured as much, on the test run i set all to "Manually Manage" before disconnecting.

We'll include information about 'you'll loose everything when you switch to automatic synch mode, but you can find all the content included on your iTouch here'

And information on how to subscribe to the podcasts.