Crappy iTunes

[Tangwhich]

I want to start by saying this is not an anti-apple posting. I've said it repeatedly that apple makes good products and are excellent marketers. To this day I still recommend the iphone to certain people when asked for my opinion.
This posting is really for onthebottom.

That said, over many months I've said in more than one thread that one of the worst things about owning an iphone/ipad/etc is that you need to install itunes. It is in fact one of the main reasons why I sold my iphone and switched to android. It's the #1 reason why I wouldn't consider switching back to an iphone today. I won't go into great detail again as to why I dislike it, I'll just say that it's the worst piece of commercial software I've ever used and I couldn't wait to get rid of it.
During these discussions mr. OTB asked why myself (and others) felt this way. More than a few of us as I recall listed why we hated it. I cannot remember exactly what OTB said but instead of saying something like well it's a matter of opinion and I don't share your view, instead as I recall he basically dismissed it with some snide comment as he so often does when wishing to avoid giving an answer. While I have come across many people who share my feelings about itunes, I think I've met only one hard core apple nut who would concede that itunes is not a good program, but most of them are loyal subjects like OTB who always defend everything apple and never criticize anything apple.

Today it was refreshing to read the following article:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/12/superior-alternatives-to-crappy-os-x-software/

An article (which I cannot see being biased, but maybe I'm wrong) as to what default apple software is lousy and suggested alternatives. #1 on the list was itunes.

iTunes has become a bloated, slow-as-molasses music player that can hardly handle loading an MP3, let alone playing and managing a giant playlist. It also seems to enjoy doubling up files, deleting random albums, and losing track of podcasts.

If this is what an apple user is saying about the mac version of itunes (which I'm told is far superior to the windows version) maybe OTB can finally understand why so many users, most of whom are forced to use it, hate it so much.

 

[danibbler]

Article increasingly lost credibility especially with the recommendation of Rapidweaver. It's got a bad rep. Better to have suggested Freeway Pro. I've used both and prefer Freeway Pro.

 

[onthebottom]

I think these comments say it all:


Sam
December 23, 2011 at 8:43 AM
I stopped reading after you began hating on iTunes. Sounds like you really fail at using iTunes. Deleting random albums? Come on.

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Hakon
December 23, 2011 at 11:06 AM
HI agree – iTunes is fantastic, and helps me manage my vast collection of music through the usage of Smart Playlists and nice integration with my Traktor Dj software..

The only software I’ve ever had problems with on this list is iPhoto – with the occasional DB corruption, where I’ll have to restore the entire library from Time Machine.. I’m currently evaluating Picasa.

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Thang
December 23, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Agreed!!
With the iTunes statement.

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Bernie
December 23, 2011 at 9:06 AM
It sounds like the whining of a sad, sad little man. I agree you can always extend on the functionality of any systems included apps, but this sounds a bit like a troll post.

I quite like iTunes, but not on Windows. I think iPhoto is excellent as a free app, but I use Aperture. And I really prefer Mail in Lion over Sparrow. Sparrow is way to simple and limiting and has no unified inbox, which is a must if you have many addresses.

Actually, I don’t agree with a lot of the choices here, except Hyperspaces, which is great. Come to think of it, has this author even used Lion? He talks about Spaces, which I really like, but has been replaced by the confused replacement that is Mission Control. I preferred Spaces and Expose.

So in summary, I agree that any vanilla OS isn’t perfect, but they’re not as bad as posted here.

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That last bit I think speaks to the OP

OTB

 

[Tangwhich]

Article increasingly lost credibility especially with the recommendation of Rapidweaver. It's got a bad rep. Better to have suggested Freeway Pro. I've used both and prefer Freeway Pro.

No idea on that, I've never used it.
Regardless of what you think on that particular software, to discredit an entire article because you disagree with one of the points seems a bit extreme, perhaps childish.

 

[Tangwhich]

OTB, you responded exactly how I thought you would. I read those comments too and as expected you "towed the party line".
I think the message you chose to underline is even more telling. This was not a posting of an apple hater yet you highlighted a response from a devotee who acts like someone has damaged his families honour.

I was hoping for a substantive response but you gave me exactly what I expected. Pity..

 

[larry]

What do you use itunes for? mp3s? not required. what then?

 

[Tangwhich]

What do you use itunes for? mp3s? not required. what then?

Iphones/Ipad/etc use it for updating software so if you have one of those then you have to install it.

 

[danibbler]

Well, then, I also disagree about the iTunes complaint. I use it all the time and don't have an issue with it. Sure, you can see that it was probably never meant to be the Swiss Army knife that it's turned out to be but that's not Apple's fault. Their "ecosystem" is growing too fast and too big for what iTunes was originally meant to be. That said, the program has done a pretty good job so far.

Regardless of what you think on that particular software, to discredit an entire article because you disagree with one of the points seems a bit extreme, perhaps childish.

 

[larry]

Iphones/Ipad/etc use it for updating software so if you have one of those then you have to install it.

i know it is used to update software. that's not an everyday occurrence. more it sounds like people are using it to manage their mp3/movie/etc libraries. you can jailbreak and do whatever you like. so those that don't like the itunes experience have an out.

 

[onthebottom]

OTB, you responded exactly how I thought you would. I read those comments too and as expected you "towed the party line".
I think the message you chose to underline is even more telling. This was not a posting of an apple hater yet you highlighted a response from a devotee who acts like someone has damaged his families honour.

I was hoping for a substantive response but you gave me exactly what I expected. Pity..

We could take the points one at a time but there isn't much meat to the argument:

iTunes has become a bloated,
It does do a lot

slow-as-molasses music player that can hardly handle loading an MP3,
It is slow but it plays media, including music and MP3s just fine


let alone playing and managing a giant playlist.
I manage massive playlists and a massive library with iTunes with no issue so I can't speak to this


It also seems to enjoy doubling up files, deleting random albums, and losing track of podcasts.
I've not experienced this either so I can't comment

So to net it out it's slow.... OK I'd agree with that

OTB

 

[WoodPeckr]

Well, then, I also disagree about the iTunes complaint. I use it all the time and don't have an issue with it.

Come on nibs.....even a few Apple salesmen at our Apple Store say iTunes NEEDS A MAJOR OVERHAUL!!!

Thank goodness I never had to put up with crappy iTunes that is forced down your throats!
Linux and Windows are light years ahead of Mac in this regards...:eyebrows:

 

[djk]

This is rich. Tang gives Adobe Flash a pass but grills OTB when he exhibits the same behavior.

Funny.

 

[Tangwhich]

Well, then, I also disagree about the iTunes complaint. I use it all the time and don't have an issue with it. Sure, you can see that it was probably never meant to be the Swiss Army knife that it's turned out to be but that's not Apple's fault. Their "ecosystem" is growing too fast and too big for what iTunes was originally meant to be. That said, the program has done a pretty good job so far.

I'm not going to argue that it might be good for some people. What I've seen however that the huge majority of non-fanboys don't like it. My big issue with OTB was that for apple (or the republicans in his other popular thread themes) can never do anything wrong and it seems like even daring to be critical is a big no no. (BTW, I've actually seen mac users attacked by the hard core users online for daring to offer criticism). On the last thread with this topic instead of just saying I disagree with you, OTB dismissed other opinions as though those that disagree don't count.

 

[Tangwhich]

i know it is used to update software. that's not an everyday occurrence. more it sounds like people are using it to manage their mp3/movie/etc libraries. you can jailbreak and do whatever you like. so those that don't like the itunes experience have an out.

Maybe, I'm sure it's changed since I had an iphone, but you still have to install it even for occasional use. That's not acceptable to me because I like to avoid bloated software whenever possible.

 

[Tangwhich]

This is rich. Tang gives Adobe Flash a pass but grills OTB when he exhibits the same behavior.

Funny.

You love to mis-read things. If you actually used that skill correctly you will notice I said, MANY TIMES that flash is a piece of shit. I also said, MANY times that the flash issue wasn't really about flash but about what are basically unknown rules for what is allowed in the app store. Hell, even OTB on a long past thread agreed with me that apple should have defined rules for it.
What I'm actually grilling OTB about is how he dismisses opinions that are not in line with his by either ignoring them and disputing them with what I can only describe as collective mud slinging.

I don't expect you to agree with me on much djk and that's fine, I don't mind civil disagreements. But please think before you make yet any more postings like this.

 

[djk]

You love to mis-read things. If you actually used that skill correctly you will notice I said, MANY TIMES that flash is a piece of shit. I also said, MANY times that the flash issue wasn't really about flash but about what are basically unknown rules for what is allowed in the app store. Hell, even OTB on a long past thread agreed with me that apple should have defined rules for it.
What I'm actually grilling OTB about is how he dismisses opinions that are not in line with his by either ignoring them and disputing them with what I can only describe as collective mud slinging.

I don't expect you to agree with me on much djk and that's fine, I don't mind civil disagreements. But please think before you make yet any more postings like this.

Sure, you said that flash is a piece of shit. And left it that. You don't devote whole paragraphs to critiquing flash like you did here. It is possible to sync without iTunes. Where's your whole "it's all about personal choice, iTunes is shit but if OTB wants to use iTunes, that's ok" rhetoric?

iTunes is bloated. But if I use it, I don't lose 2 hours of battery life (http://www.pcworld.com/article/209856/dump_flash_get_2_extra_hours_of_macbook_air_battery_life.html), it's not one of the top reasons I've encountered crashes on my Mac, it doesn't cause memory leaks, etc.

I'm surprised you're so passionate about iTunes which is bloated, opposed to Flash which is a steaming pile of shit. Both are bad but one is clearly much worse.

 

[Tangwhich]

Sure, you said that flash is a piece of shit. And left it that. You don't devote whole paragraphs to critiquing flash like you did here. It is possible to sync without iTunes. Where's your whole "it's all about personal choice, iTunes is shit but if OTB wants to use iTunes, that's ok" rhetoric?

iTunes is bloated. But if I use it, I don't lose 2 hours of battery life (http://www.pcworld.com/article/209856/dump_flash_get_2_extra_hours_of_macbook_air_battery_life.html), it's not one of the top reasons I've encountered crashes on my Mac, it doesn't cause memory leaks, etc.

Maybe you can sync without itunes now. I conceded that in posting #14. It wasn't an option when I owned an iphone. If in the future the iphone was available with a replaceable battery and was able to have MP3s/Videos transferred from my computer without any need for itunes to be installed (and did not require a jailbreak) I would certainly consider purchasing one.

I don't have any issues with OTB using itunes. Again your reading skills are lacking. I said it was a piece of shit in the past and gave my reasons. OTB dismissed them as basically being anti-apple. I'm not anti-apple and wanted to show OTB that hey, even some apple users think this software is dog shit. I don't care if he disagrees with me but I don't like they way he debates by either ignoring what's been said or dismissing differing opinions as being biased. He does the same thing in the politics forums.

If you search through my past postings you'll have no problem finding me being critical of google and android. You will also have no problem finding me being complimentary of the iphone and apple.
I don't believe you can find any postings from OTB being critical of apple (and probably yourself too).

I can't comment on your 2 hour battery life thing because I don't have a macbook. It works fine on my PC, phone and tablet however. But I'm not going to defend flash (nor have I ever defended flash), so if removing it helps you, good for you.

I'm surprised you're so passionate about iTunes which is bloated, opposed to Flash which is a steaming pile of shit. Both are bad but one is clearly much worse.

Yes. Itunes bogs down the computer and is extremely confusing. Flash allows a significant amounts of web sites to be viewed correctly. Itunes is clearly much worse.

 

[Cobster]

OTB, you responded exactly how I thought you would. I read those comments too and as expected you "towed the party line".
I think the message you chose to underline is even more telling. This was not a posting of an apple hater yet you highlighted a response from a devotee who acts like someone has damaged his families honour.

I was hoping for a substantive response but you gave me exactly what I expected. Pity..

lol..

 

[WoodPeckr]

^^^^ bottie is probably an Apple salesman....FFS!.....

 

[larry]

I stopped using iTunes the first time I switched computers and tried to sync my library. i may be dumb, i may have done it wrong, but it deleted everything that was on my itouch and put the stuff from the second computer only! That's not how I want things to be. Anyway, people who buy apple are buying into a proriatary system that works a certain way. if they didn't like that, there's windows and linux. takes a little more knowledge but opens up all possibilities. choices...