Apple promised big things for the launch of iTunes 8 last September, and what did we get? A music recommendation engine and another layer of UI glossiness in the Grid view. Genius? Not really.
What we really hoped for and expected was a complete ground-up revamp that prepped iTunes for the future. Why?
Because iTunes, as we've known it so far, is really starting to show its age. Its underpinnings are becoming increasingly creaky thanks to the weight of features, files and expectations being shovelled upon it - and it's fast turning into bloatware of almost Redmond-like proportions.
Here are 10 things we think Apple should do for iTunes 9:
1. Clean up the user interface
Once upon a time iTunes UI was one of the best things about it. True, it looked a little bland, but the old List and Grid views at least made it easy to find your way around.
We still have List view, luckily, but last year's Cover Flow was always more novelty than genuinely useful addition. We can't forgive its inclusion in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard's Finder either.
The new Grid view in iTunes 8 presents you with even more ways to slice the same content, adding more layers of complication and frustration at every turn. Don't believe us?
Check out the Artists tab. Here you'll see a Grid view of the all the Artists in your library. Move the cursor over the icon and you can side-scroll through the album art, just like you can in iPhoto '08.
Not only is the whole idea of being able to do this rubbish, but clicking on a piece of album art presents you with another version of the UI, this time the old style Grid complete with track listing and album artwork. Confusing? Gimmicky? Useless. Yes, yes and yes again.
2. Bar the Genius
OK, so it's a fairly easy way to auto-generate playlists, but at the expense of what? Your musical tastes get automatically submitted to Apple, which then hits you back with money-gouging recommendations based on content found in the iTunes Store.
This is the kind of hardcore sell we expect from pile-'em-high-sell-it-cheap merchants. We thought Apple thought differently.
And what about the iTunes Store arrows that sit next to every track in your library? You used to be able to turn them off. Now you can't. Grrr.
3. Better file handling
Like the little plastic donkey in Buckaroo, iTunes' burden keeps getting heavier and heavier - it has to be able to handle music, movies and TV shows for enjoying on your computer; ditto for your iPod, iPod touch and iPhone; and ditto again for Apple TV. Oh, and let's not forget about HD content, audiobooks, PDFs, applications and artwork. Plus the whole shopping thing. Sheesh.
The problem is, iTunes isn't very good at handling this at all. Ideally you want lean, mean versions of your music, movies, and so on for toting around on your iPod or whatever; and then full-fat alternatives for enjoyment at home.
In a sensible world, iTunes would enable you to seamlessly convert from the full-fat version to the skinny version as needed, and not leave your hard drive or your library in a confusing jumble afterwards. iTunes isn't sensible, it's downright moronic - it either has to separate versions for every device you own in your library; or you have to plump for a one-size-fits-all file that doesn't work particularly well anywhere. This needs to change.
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Your comments (16) Click to add a new comment
lenk
October 29th
16. I don't think this review is negative. I more read it as coming from someone that likes iTunes and the iPod, but is not so happy about how things are progressing.
And to be honest, especially because I'm a Mac user, I agree on nearly all points. After all, I know how well things can be done, just like the writer of this article. Only point 2 and point 10 I disagree with - Genius warns about the submit thing before you're even able to enable it, and I don't really see any need for iTunes Pro.
Also, you *can* turn off the Apple Store links. Go to 'Parental Controls' and disable the store - this will remove any traces from the store from your library.
I'd like to add a few things to the list. The performance and file handling points may most likely be referring to the Windows version, however, that doesn't mean it ain't a problem. Unlike the Macintosh version of iTunes - which is just snappy with a 30 GB 400 CD library + cover art as it is when empty - the Windows version really feels sluggish and bloated. It doesn't help either that it's interface attempts to look similar to the Mac version. Every time I start the program on Windows it just feels out of place. And on top of that, the interface is lagging too - why doesn't iTunes use Vista's DWM? So yeah, I think the Windows version needs a big speed increase and that it needs to look more like a Windows application instead of something that's neither a Mac of a Windows tool.
The Macintosh version is old too, and it shows. Odd bugs turn up every now and then, and it has it's own way of doing things instead of using system standards. I expect Apple to do a complete Cocoa rewrite for iTunes 9 or 10 (X?), just like they are doing for Quicktime.
If they do so, I hope the update the audio code, and rethink of what should be enabled by default. The equalizer degrades sound quality even when flat, and is 'on' by default. Not good and totally unecessary. "Sound Enhancer" is on by default, but it doesn't enhance sound. It just applies some out of phase effect to smear it out which may be nice in some cases, but it's horrible in most cases. Then there's the 'sound check' function. iTunes should ask wether this needs to be on or not on the first run or just turn it off by default too. Sound Check works nice when leveling music that's been equalized flat, like much modern pop music. If you have good recordings (and thus dynamic) in your library it fails.
Yes, I know, these are all little things that don't really justify whining about them and you can turn it off just fine, but hey, it adds up! Besides, as a snobbish Mac elite, I pick on every flaw, so why exclude Apple iTunes from the picking?
At last, I liked the iTunes 7 list view with album art much better than the new iTunes 8 one. The reflection effect was cool, and the lack of some lines made your library appear less cluttered than now.
Oh well, we can only hope hope Apple reads this and fulfills our wishes.
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reedm
October 25th
15. "That would finally put an end to the grumbles about sound quality / pricing, especially if we could also say goodbye to DRM too. Of course, we'd expect to pay a slight premium - we do so already with iTunes Plus."
Might want to double-check your facts:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/10/15/itunes-plus-drm-free-tracks-expanding-dropping-to-99-cents
iTunes Plus tracks have been 99 cents, the same price as every other track, for over a year now.
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sillyboy
October 9th
14. @coolfactor:
yes it is so painfully obvious. The author is running iTunes under windows. He should clearly state that.
sad really. Not an apple fanboy, but iTunes works SO much better on a mac of any age, than it does on a brand new windows machine. Attribute that to what you will..
Also look into the "allow itunes to keep itself organized" preference. will solve half the problems the author just discussed. It is enabled by default on mac, while it is off on windows.
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dougscripts
October 9th
13. Thanks for the mention of iTunes Library Manager. The link you have posted is incorrect. This is the correct link:
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php
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t08ch
October 8th
12. I would dearly like to be able to play media from my apple tv in the living room on the one in my bedroom or on other computers in the house.
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johngee
October 8th
11. Gotta tell ya, Genius is the perfect way to get out of the rut of skipping songs you don't like.
With Genius, I get an easy (the easiest?) way to make a playlist that is relevant to what I want to hear, using all the music I've got. I sync the playlist to my iPod, and find it in my car while I commute. And it's just what I've wanted, being bogged down in playlist-making, etc. So many have been there too, I assume, as Pandora grew more in popularity just months ago.
It's a perfect, or near-perfect, answer to my desire to hear what I own!
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