iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CanukStorm
I've been using iTunes for awhile now and I've enjoyed using it, and that even on Windows 7, and now Windows 8.1. Of course it isn't perfect but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as techies make it out to be. There's like what, 500 million users of iTunes now? They can't all be wrong.
This is the classic “only stupid people like iTunes” argument we get from know-it-alls. Nothing is good enough for this crowd. NOTHING! I’m one of the 500 million stupid ones, or ones who have ‘lower expectations and requirements’ that these types look down their noses at.
Give me a subscription where my family and I can seamlessly play any song from any connected device. Apple and iTunes are dated. It almost feels a bit like how Microsoft used to be, they started with a successful product and then got lazy. Apple needs to pick up the pace.
Bullshit. It has become LESS bloated in the latest version. The UI is much, much simplified, cleaned-up, and many functions (such as ebooks) have been offloaded to other apps. "Um-mitigated diasaster"? Wow, talk about sensationalism. Do you have any specific complaints, besides baseless comparisons to Microsoft software? Or ideas of how it needs to be "re-imagined"? iTunes works perfectly for me, and hundreds of millions of others.
Less bloated is like saying 'The Titanic is now taking on water at a slower rate'
eBooks is one of the few. (iTunes University drove this).
and it's still in the way in the iTunes App on the Mac.
unmitigated is a valid term (really, what have they done to fix it... UI is 'skin deep' (beauty is only skin deep, but ugly runs clear to the bone)). And disaster is also true if you look at how Apple has arguably a great ecosystem, but is getting outflanked on it's own hardware by it's competitors in a paradigm they redefined 10 years ago.
I am glad it's working out for you. I have about 10,000 songs, dozens of playlists, and have found that, with 10.9.5 + 8.1, there are an unbelievable number of little bugs. Moreover, iTunes Match does not seem to sync well with the current version of iTunes. I have often found many missing playlists, and some recently ripped albums don't even show up. Or, when they do, they suddenly pop up days afterwards.
Basically, for me, it is not syncing properly with my iPhone 6 or with iTunes Match.
I really wonder if there some other music management/syncing software out there....
I'm sorry that it's not working out for you, but perhaps you'll be pleasantly surprised if you use the latest version. I think you're overstating the "unbelievable number of little bugs" (would that be 10 bugs? 100? a billion?) but perhaps some of them have been fixed. I agree with Slurpy, iTunes has become less bloated in recent versions. It's a pretty straightfoward media library+store at this point. The cloud integration is great now. I can play songs I bought from Apple on my laptop as if they are on my laptop without even thinking about it. (And I've never signed up for their synchronization service.) I don't use it for audio books and podcasts and now those options are nicely hidden away.
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
While at first glance you seem to be just a little extreme with this comment, I also find myself avoiding itunes and agree with you 100%.
Am I the only one who enjoys iTunes, especially iTunes 11 on Mavericks? I love that I can see CD covers on my desktop, at the roughly size of real CD cover nonetheless (old habit from CD era I know, but it's such a joy especially when it changes according to the song played)..
And my library is neat. Home Sharing is awesome. Smart Playlists, how can I praise it enough. Up Next feature is God-send. iTunes Radio is priceless for discover or re-discover music, and it's free.
And coupled with Singer Song Reader, which is free, I got lyrics automatically downloaded to the songs played. Wow!
I like it so much I even bought songs from it for the first time in my life.
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
I disagree in a way. I like to use iTunes as my Music Player, and I particularly enjoy the aesthetic of version 12. The trouble with your complaint about iTunes is you offer no alternative for ?. What are they supposed to do? Request that Windows user download 3 or 4 different apps as opposed to 1?
Perhaps an interesting suggestion would be to offer an additional Jukebox app download for music, but then people would complain that they then/now have to download and "manage" two apps. At least with iOS they can preload all of the required apps. Perhaps they can do the same thing with the Mac, but they can't do that on windows. And if your suggestion doesn't incorporate Windows into the mix then you're not providing one.
If I want to listen to music in the most convenient way, I'll use Spotify. If I want to own and keep an album, I'll buy the CD off Amazon (especially now that you get the mp3s immediately with AutoRip).
iTunes music sits in the middle, having neither the convenience of Spotify or the sense of owning a physical product like Amazon.
Am I the only one who enjoys iTunes, especially iTunes 11 on Mavericks? I love that I can see CD covers on my desktop, at the roughly size of real CD cover nonetheless (old habit from CD era I know, but it's such a joy especially when it changes according to the song played)..
And my library is neat. Home Sharing is awesome. Smart Playlists, how can I praise it enough. Up Next feature is God-send. iTunes Radio is priceless for discover or re-discover music, and it's free.
I like it so much I even bought songs from it for the first time in my life.
No, you are not alone. Most of us enjoy using iTunes. It’s just the constant nitpickers, whiners, malcontents, and egomaniacs who think it’s a mess. But they think everything Apple does is a mess. Why they still remain Apple users is a mystery.
How do you know that? Maybe if apple let users rate the default apps, like iTunes, Apple maps etc in the app store we would have something to go on. Your anecdotal comments are meaningless.
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
Completely agreed.
What is amazing, is how awesome iTunes used to be (I was a Windows user at the time), when the only other decent players in town were Winamp and MusicMatch. I loved Winamp, but nothing beat iTunes' Rip/Play/Burn simplicity.
Really sad how Apple let what used to be a crown jewel deteriorate into the mess it has become, to the point where they needed to go buy freakin Beats to even attempt to fix it.
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
people always say this, but in what sense of the term exactly? I use iTunes to play my local music library (used to be local, but now Match; ~50gb) on two machines, sync my iPhone (entire library) find music to buy, and manage my radio stations. It's pretty darn zippy. Maybe it's because I'm on a solid-state drive, but the only issue i have is ensuring it doesn't try to download all my movies/TV purchases (made from an Apple TV. the settings aren't clear enough).
i realize it has sections for books and what not, but what makes it bloated or an unmitigated disaster? sounds like hyperbole from the techno-elite.
Bullshit. It has become LESS bloated in the latest version. The UI is much, much simplified, cleaned-up, and many functions (such as ebooks) have been offloaded to other apps. "Um-mitigated diasaster"? Wow, talk about sensationalism. Do you have any specific complaints, besides baseless comparisons to Microsoft software? Or ideas of how it needs to be "re-imagined"? iTunes works perfectly for me, and hundreds of millions of others.
I don't know how long you've been using iTunes, but please don't talk about bloat until you at the very least look at this screenshot of iTunes 6.0
Pretty much everything iTunes did (which was more than enough for an app named iTUNES) was easily available in 1 click on the main interface itself. There weren't a million modes to choose from, and iPod syncing was also handled simply and beautifully.
Ever since Apple has tried to cram TV Shows, Movies, Books, Apps, RingTones (this could be acceptable if it wasn't for the rest), iPhone management, etc. it has become a disaster. The fact that it is still better than most other players out there only speak to how terrible those other players are.
Just as an example of how much of a mess it has become, I want to go to iTunes Radio on my mac, and click on Internet Radio. Oh wait, iTunes Radio may be radio over the internet, but it isnt this. To get to iTunes Radio, you have to go to music, and then you have to click a different icon on the lower bar titled Radio, thrown in amongst other icons which control different views for my local music (Artists/Albums/Playlists, etc).
Comments
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
I've been using iTunes for awhile now and I've enjoyed using it, and that even on Windows 7, and now Windows 8.1. Of course it isn't perfect but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as techies make it out to be. There's like what, 500 million users of iTunes now? They can't all be wrong.
This is the classic “only stupid people like iTunes” argument we get from know-it-alls. Nothing is good enough for this crowd. NOTHING! I’m one of the 500 million stupid ones, or ones who have ‘lower expectations and requirements’ that these types look down their noses at.
Bullshit. It has become LESS bloated in the latest version. The UI is much, much simplified, cleaned-up, and many functions (such as ebooks) have been offloaded to other apps. "Um-mitigated diasaster"? Wow, talk about sensationalism. Do you have any specific complaints, besides baseless comparisons to Microsoft software? Or ideas of how it needs to be "re-imagined"? iTunes works perfectly for me, and hundreds of millions of others.
Less bloated is like saying 'The Titanic is now taking on water at a slower rate'
eBooks is one of the few. (iTunes University drove this).
and it's still in the way in the iTunes App on the Mac.
unmitigated is a valid term (really, what have they done to fix it... UI is 'skin deep' (beauty is only skin deep, but ugly runs clear to the bone)). And disaster is also true if you look at how Apple has arguably a great ecosystem, but is getting outflanked on it's own hardware by it's competitors in a paradigm they redefined 10 years ago.
I am glad it's working out for you. I have about 10,000 songs, dozens of playlists, and have found that, with 10.9.5 + 8.1, there are an unbelievable number of little bugs. Moreover, iTunes Match does not seem to sync well with the current version of iTunes. I have often found many missing playlists, and some recently ripped albums don't even show up. Or, when they do, they suddenly pop up days afterwards.
Basically, for me, it is not syncing properly with my iPhone 6 or with iTunes Match.
I really wonder if there some other music management/syncing software out there....
I'm sorry that it's not working out for you, but perhaps you'll be pleasantly surprised if you use the latest version. I think you're overstating the "unbelievable number of little bugs" (would that be 10 bugs? 100? a billion?) but perhaps some of them have been fixed. I agree with Slurpy, iTunes has become less bloated in recent versions. It's a pretty straightfoward media library+store at this point. The cloud integration is great now. I can play songs I bought from Apple on my laptop as if they are on my laptop without even thinking about it. (And I've never signed up for their synchronization service.) I don't use it for audio books and podcasts and now those options are nicely hidden away.
.... perhaps you'll be pleasantly surprised if you use the latest version.
What makes you think I am not?
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
While at first glance you seem to be just a little extreme with this comment, I also find myself avoiding itunes and agree with you 100%.
What makes you think I am not?
Perhaps, it is you saying, "I simply avoid it whenever I can."
Am I the only one who enjoys iTunes, especially iTunes 11 on Mavericks? I love that I can see CD covers on my desktop, at the roughly size of real CD cover nonetheless (old habit from CD era I know, but it's such a joy especially when it changes according to the song played)..
And my library is neat. Home Sharing is awesome. Smart Playlists, how can I praise it enough. Up Next feature is God-send. iTunes Radio is priceless for discover or re-discover music, and it's free.
And coupled with Singer Song Reader, which is free, I got lyrics automatically downloaded to the songs played. Wow!
I like it so much I even bought songs from it for the first time in my life.
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
I disagree in a way. I like to use iTunes as my Music Player, and I particularly enjoy the aesthetic of version 12. The trouble with your complaint about iTunes is you offer no alternative for ?. What are they supposed to do? Request that Windows user download 3 or 4 different apps as opposed to 1?
Perhaps an interesting suggestion would be to offer an additional Jukebox app download for music, but then people would complain that they then/now have to download and "manage" two apps. At least with iOS they can preload all of the required apps. Perhaps they can do the same thing with the Mac, but they can't do that on windows. And if your suggestion doesn't incorporate Windows into the mix then you're not providing one.
It will be interesting to see how Apple Pay will make up the difference for iTunes decline.
More “Apple is doomed” bullshit. Stick a sock in it will you.
If I want to listen to music in the most convenient way, I'll use Spotify. If I want to own and keep an album, I'll buy the CD off Amazon (especially now that you get the mp3s immediately with AutoRip).
iTunes music sits in the middle, having neither the convenience of Spotify or the sense of owning a physical product like Amazon.
Am I the only one who enjoys iTunes, especially iTunes 11 on Mavericks? I love that I can see CD covers on my desktop, at the roughly size of real CD cover nonetheless (old habit from CD era I know, but it's such a joy especially when it changes according to the song played)..
And my library is neat. Home Sharing is awesome. Smart Playlists, how can I praise it enough. Up Next feature is God-send. iTunes Radio is priceless for discover or re-discover music, and it's free.
I like it so much I even bought songs from it for the first time in my life.
No, you are not alone. Most of us enjoy using iTunes. It’s just the constant nitpickers, whiners, malcontents, and egomaniacs who think it’s a mess. But they think everything Apple does is a mess. Why they still remain Apple users is a mystery.
Most of us enjoy using iTunes.
How do you know that? Maybe if apple let users rate the default apps, like iTunes, Apple maps etc in the app store we would have something to go on. Your anecdotal comments are meaningless.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4557327?start=885&tstart=0
Am I the only one to HATE the new iTunes?!
iTunes has become a bloated mess in every sense of the term. It has become the kind of unmitigated disaster that Microsoft was famous for. I simply avoid it whenever I can.
Way past time for Apple to thoroughly re-imagine and re-create what is still perhaps the most important, valuable piece of software in the iOS ecosystem.
Completely agreed.
What is amazing, is how awesome iTunes used to be (I was a Windows user at the time), when the only other decent players in town were Winamp and MusicMatch. I loved Winamp, but nothing beat iTunes' Rip/Play/Burn simplicity.
Really sad how Apple let what used to be a crown jewel deteriorate into the mess it has become, to the point where they needed to go buy freakin Beats to even attempt to fix it.
people always say this, but in what sense of the term exactly? I use iTunes to play my local music library (used to be local, but now Match; ~50gb) on two machines, sync my iPhone (entire library) find music to buy, and manage my radio stations. It's pretty darn zippy. Maybe it's because I'm on a solid-state drive, but the only issue i have is ensuring it doesn't try to download all my movies/TV purchases (made from an Apple TV. the settings aren't clear enough).
i realize it has sections for books and what not, but what makes it bloated or an unmitigated disaster? sounds like hyperbole from the techno-elite.
Bullshit. It has become LESS bloated in the latest version. The UI is much, much simplified, cleaned-up, and many functions (such as ebooks) have been offloaded to other apps. "Um-mitigated diasaster"? Wow, talk about sensationalism. Do you have any specific complaints, besides baseless comparisons to Microsoft software? Or ideas of how it needs to be "re-imagined"? iTunes works perfectly for me, and hundreds of millions of others.
I don't know how long you've been using iTunes, but please don't talk about bloat until you at the very least look at this screenshot of iTunes 6.0
http://guides.macrumors.com/images/d/dd/Heromac20051012.jpg
Pretty much everything iTunes did (which was more than enough for an app named iTUNES) was easily available in 1 click on the main interface itself. There weren't a million modes to choose from, and iPod syncing was also handled simply and beautifully.
Ever since Apple has tried to cram TV Shows, Movies, Books, Apps, RingTones (this could be acceptable if it wasn't for the rest), iPhone management, etc. it has become a disaster. The fact that it is still better than most other players out there only speak to how terrible those other players are.
Just as an example of how much of a mess it has become, I want to go to iTunes Radio on my mac, and click on Internet Radio. Oh wait, iTunes Radio may be radio over the internet, but it isnt this. To get to iTunes Radio, you have to go to music, and then you have to click a different icon on the lower bar titled Radio, thrown in amongst other icons which control different views for my local music (Artists/Albums/Playlists, etc).
How does that make any sense at all?
I am not a Windows user, so I honestly wouldn't know.
Perhaps, it is you saying, "I simply avoid it whenever I can."
That's not the same thing as saying "I don't update my software."
i realize it has sections for books and what not, but what makes it bloated or an unmitigated disaster? sounds like hyperbole from the techno-elite.
See Post #17.