Why iTunes Really Really Sucks, Part 2
It’s been a while since I happily flamed and subsequently ditched iTunes in favor of Floola for adding stuff to my otherwise beloved iPod Shuffle 2G. Alas, Floola—while able to add stuff to the iPod—is neither able to update it nor not crash intermittently. So I decided to try iTunes one last time. I shouldn’t have, because I was reminded how much iTunes on Windows absolutely fucking sucks.
The task seemed fairly simple at the time: add music to the Shuffle. One could argue (and I have, on numerous occasions) that adding files should be as simple as opening the iPod as a drive and dragging files to it. It’s not, so I installed iTunes, or rather, because iTunes is not available separately, I installed QuickTime as well. The suck-o-meter chirped there, but I dismissed that as being simply an inconvenience.
Installing iTunes + Quicktime, I was given the option to automatically update iTunes and Quicktime. This was checked by default, so I unchecked; I don’t need the bleeding edge versions for copying files, and I certainly don’t need another system service running all the 99% of the time when I don’t have iTunes open. Result: fiercely unchecked along with an option to take me to the iTunes Music Store every time iTunes opens.
The installer completes and asks me to reboot. Suck-o-meter is now at 1. Two if I couldn’t probably blame some of the reboot-need on Windows.
With the computer rebooted, I plug in the iPod and start iTunes. Upon program launch, iTunes kindly tells me it’s noticed my iPod is plugged in. It even sees that there are files on it that weren’t added to the Shuffle via iTunes (correct, because they were added using Floola). Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t support adding music to the iPod from multiple computers. The (only) solution: Erase & Sync. With an insatiable urge to spew torrents of swear-words, this brings the suck-o-meter to 5. Seriously? Who the hell is iTunes to tell me what to put on my iPod, or from where?
Alright, so I erase everything that’s on my iPod in order to be able to update the firmware and add new music. Because unless I do that, the iPod doesn’t even show up in iTunes. Erase completed: okay, it shows up now. That, and a banner in the bottom called “iTunes Mini Store”. I thought I disabled that during the installer? Not so. I have to close that again. So I enter the preferences to see if I can’t disable it there, after all, I just want to update and add to my iPod. The preferences tell me dark secrets; despite my having unchecked (fiercely) the option to automatically update my software, a big checkmark remains in a box that says “Check for updates automatically”. That’s like an eighties TV-show cliché of having too many dates for the one evening; it’s bound to go wrong, hilariously so. Except when iTunes is doing it, it’s not hilarious. It’s 2 points on the suck-o-meter. We’re now at 7.
The suck-o-meter stops at 10. We still have a ways to go before everything implodes. The status is an erased and synced iPod, ready to be updated and recieve a few files. The update goes smoothly. As for the files, in this case, they are rather large audiobooks, so i simply open the folder containing the three files instead of have iTunes index my entire system to add them to my music library. Dragging them from the folder to the iPod icon in the iTunes sidebar seems logical right? Not possible. Oh right, my friend whom I had an almost heated iTunes discussion with, yesterday, told me that iTunes is all about playlists. Fine, I drag the file to the playlist area: success (albeit an unintuitive one)! Dragging that playlist to the iPod in the sidebar works. The iPod is syncing. While syncing I decide to rename the playlist “Audio Books”. Not knowing or trusting whether renaming in iTunes works like it does in Windows (select and wait or select and press F2), I right-click the playlist. No rename option. Can’t I rename? Even if the Windows standard way of renaming works, a context-menu option should be there as well to provide discoverability. Not so, but F2 works. The undiscoverable-in-the-name-of-optimizing-and-simplifying interface design still earns iTunes a total of 8 points on the suck-o-meter.
The iPod is updated and full of audiobooks now. The experience getting there has been an ugly, way-above-average 8 on the suck-o-meter. Comparing iTunes to most other media players excluding Real Player (that would just be unfair, or would it?), getting there was Adobe Photoshop CS3 Etch-a-Sketch slow, confusing and excrutiating. That’s another point on the suck-o-meter.
Now that everything is updated and added, I don’t expect to add files in a while; it takes time to listen through three audiobooks, after all, so simply closing iTunes should settle my woes and remind me that while the iTunes experience can be excrutiating, it is only brief.
I would like to tell you that story of the happy little elf who could simply close iTunes and be done with it. I really would. But this is not a happy story.
What does “closing an application” mean to you? To me it means that the entirety of that application is unloaded. Apparently Apple chose a more beatnik approach to this question, adding services that continue running long after the red X has been pressed. In fact, iTunes secretly installed three permanently memory resident programs: iPodHelper, AppleMobileDeviceService and iTunesHelper. For the computer un-initiated those might be all you’d discover running. But there’s more. Installed in the hidden service layer of Windows, we find Apples Bonjour network service. If we look for it, we even find installed a separate Apple Software Update application (despite us twice having told iTunes we don’t want to update anything, ever). Poor suck-o-meter that only goes to 10. This one goes to 11.
Let’s summarize. Wanting to update my iPod and add three audio book files, required me to reboot, uncheck update services I thought I had already unchecked and erase all my non-iTunes-added-music, all the while having to suffer through arrogantly unintuitive slow interfaces and Music Store ads until finally having to deal with unwanted memory resident applications. Be honest now: is that even remotely defensible coming from a company that’s supposed to be “big” on intuitive interfaces and easy to use hardware and software? I mean, think about it, and really get it in there. If you were not allowed to use the arguments “Get a mac”, or “App X also sucks”, could you even begin to explain why iTunes on Windows must reek like this? Because that’s what it does, reek!
I want you to imagine, for a second, a world wherein Apple did not require you to use iTunes with your iPod. I know it’s unrealistic, but for the sake of it, explore the what if. Do you see more iPods sold? I do. I see more iPods sold, and I see myself having an iPhone. And then I wake up and smell the coffee.
Update: Welcome Reddit’ers. Let’s hope the server can handle the traffic and please feel free to vent in the comments.
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Don’t you think you need some cheese with that whine, girl?
Yah, things made for Unix-flavored OSes generally suck while running on a Windows kernel. I wouldn’t recommend my own worst enemy getting Safari for Windows. It’s that bad. And now I can add Quicktime and iTunes to that list, I guess.
I use a Mac but am not a rabid cult-follower. However, it’s strange to see programs built for Windows (like Office) running so beautifully and smoothly on my box and hear about the agony of Mac programs on a Windows box. Maybe you just need to run another kernel. Besides Darwin, there are all kinds of Linux versions or Sun V or any other number of alternatives.
apple has an iron fist because jobs wants to control music sales. for that he must control the hardware and hence software to the extent he can. apple is the master of cool and couldn’t care less about quality of experience. he knows we are addicted to cutting edge and he’s not afraid to use both sides of the razor.
Itunes is the only reason I don’t own an Ipod, even though I would like to as it is a great piece of hardware.
_”Likewise not using something because lots of people like it and you consider their motive is
It’ all part of Apple’s marketing. By making the windows version suck, and the mac version better, it makes some people want to get a mac.
By deliberately making the windows version worse, people then get on the mac version, find that it doesn’t have so many problems, and instantly think that the mac is way better and they’re glad windows is gone. You don’t have to look very far to see it, look at these comments.
It’s really pathetic that people cling to companies like that. I mean, come on. You guys love OSX so much, and it’s just a BSD distro. Grow up. Apple never codes their own shit, and that’s probably why the whole iTunes thing is a giant clusterfuck. Because it’s a bunch of crap code copy pasted into one program.
But, I have a Cowon A3, and all I have to do is copy audio and video files onto the device. It shows up just as an external HD, and that’s it. I don’t need anything besides konquerer, dolphin, explorer, or whatever file browser you like.
Ditch your iPod, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever did. It was a piece of shit, played hardly any formats, had horrible sound quality, no features (EQ beyond presets anyone?), and the few features it had were a bunch of gimmicky retarded shit (who the fuck uses the notes, anyways?) that I never used.
I’ll be enjoying my insane codec support, high res screen, 10 band EQ, BBE, and not having to convert or use shit programs to use my PMP. Cowon fucking rocks, and iPods are shit.
I’m loving my Sansa e270 more than ever. Cross-OS friendly, simple drag and drop (removable drive-like functionality) — DRM-free, and, best of all, no iTunes to be seen :)
“We are all individuals”
“Im not”
@Alex good point.
cry me a river!
When you ran the apple software update, safari was listed under recommended software. All you had to do was uncheck it and it wouldn’t have been installed.
If you thought updating an ipod would be as easy as opening it and dragging files onto it, then you obviously didn’t research it before buying it, which leads me to believe you simply bought it because it was ‘the thing to have’.
You bought into the hype, and made a poor, uninformed purchase instead of researching beforehand and buying something with the features you wanted. Don’t blame apple for your problems. They are of your own creation.
Meanwhile, I bought an X5 by iAudio, which was cheaper, has way more features, and mounts as a usb drive for easy updating of files. And it works on every OS with no software installed. I’ve never had a problem, because i took the time to research.
Maybe you can walk away from this fiasco learning a valuable lesson about being one of the mindless conformist herd. We live in an information age, and people need to learn to research the things they are going to buy.
And you bought an ipod. No sympathy. Time to start educating yourself.
Poor thing, you had to click buttons and open task manager and computer management! God forbid that you had to be investigative and educate yourself about what you installed on your own computer. You are so unnecessarily melodramatic about this that I could barely make it through your post. Look into some fact-checking as well; check for iPod software updates automatically is not the same thing as checking for iTunes and Quicktime updates. The mini-store is not the same thing as “Take me to the iTunes Music Store Now.” Again, unnecessary drama.
And I love how you end with the tired old remonstration about how Apple would sell more iPods if only blah blah blah. YOU ALREADY OWN ONE. Talk about a hypocrite!
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/
It allows you to sort through all of the different mp3 players and compare the features.
There is a link that can help you in the future. It is a shame that software that works so well on a mac, works so poorly on a pc. I refuse to buy any mp3 player that cannot just connect to a computer and you can copy music to. I have simple needs. I just want to listen to my music. I don’t need anything fancy.
I ended up getting a sandisk sansa e200 (4 GB, I don’t need any more) It has a user replaceable battery and a card slot, so that if i wanted to add more storage, I can.
Good luck.
Well it is not like the Zune Software is any better! Though the latest update has fixed a few problems, there are still tons. It take forever to install and if you have an old Zune it could or could not locate it. There are a lot of problems with the Zune software. But on the bright side, at least Mirosoft has allowed people with first gen zunes to update the firmware.
I do with that companies would fire what ever codemonkeys they are using and find someone who wants to sit down and create a product that works for everyone. I understand that they need job security, but damn, at the very least a program that somewhat works..
Get ready to add some more points.
If you, as I do, have your music on a NAS, iTunes really sucks. iTunes assigns a default music folder. If you change it to a network folder, the change doesn’t always stick. If, for whatever reason, iTunes can’t find your network music folder, it goes back to using the default. Then, when you change it back, it tries to resync everything all over again. And, the first time I used it, I didn’t realize it was going to start renaming and reorganizing all my crap if I didn’t change the default settings. What a mess…
I hate iTunes. Hate it.
not sure if it supports the Shuffle, but I have Rockbox installed on my 2GB Nano. You can copy files using drag n drop, it can play video`s and games (even Doom), has fully customisable themes and so many other useful features that It makes an Ipod worth owning.
If you have to resort to stealing my alias and making a homophobic slur to get your point across, you really are a sad person. The fact that you cant use a program as simple and intuitive as iTunes really says something about your intelligence. Americans really need to stop bitching about everything that doesnt perfectly do everything they want it to do and buy a real computer that actually works well.
HONESTLY, switch to a Zune. the last thing i care about is some child throwing a hissy fit about a FREE program made for a windows computer. What did you expect, it’s made for the mac market and you are on a PC.
That said i’d never run a Zune on my mac nor would i never consider using something windows on my mac. I’m apple all the way.
How much spywear do you currently have running on your computer? thats the real problem, some are even made to operate around your firewall. Get over the 3 programs that were installed, arnt there more important things to worry about(there is a war going on, poverty, people starving and moral corruption in the highest ranks of government)?
Waaaaaa – I want everything to do EXACTLY what I want, when I want, how I want.
If you don’t like the software available, use your indignation to write your own. Do more research and get a player that has the software support you want. Those are your choices: choose, get over yourself and stop whining.
Want something to be upset about? Go live in Iraq, or Darfur.
You rated the whole application based on a use pattern for someone who avowedly doesn’t want to use the features that are the whole point of iTunes. iTunes came out long before iPods, moron.
That’s funny, iTunes is one of the reasons I like using iPods.
It is actually an excellent way to store and manage very large music collections. I’ve been using it since before it was even called iTunes, back in the Soundjam MP days, and it has never failed me. I’ve accumulated about 100 GB of music, and the smart playlists, etc really help manage it all and get what I want on my various iPods. I think the problem most people have, is not actually using it for what it’s good for. If you don’t actually want to organize a large music collection, and just dragging folders back and forth is what you want, why did you get an iPod? There are hundreds of players that allow you to do that (none of which sell anywhere near iPod numbers by the way). It sounds to me that your biggest problem is with Windows. Windows always needs to be restarted, Windows encourages ridiculous numbers of background processes, etc, etc. iTunes is certainly way better on the mac, but it’s still the best free music library management app on Windows. Seems to me that you set out wanting to hate the experience and never really gave it a chance to shine, whatever though, good luck.
Now Windows users will know what it’s felt like lo these many years running Office (or any MS product – Outlook anyone?) on a Mac. What, MS doesn’t offer the same experience on Mac that it does on Windows? Surely you jest!
You’re having, like, an impedance mismatch.
Macs are becoming, pretty much as far as possible, dissociated from the concept of files. So, iTunes holds your music – that it does it with files is an implementation issue. iPhoto holds your pictures – same thing applies. Macs are also all about things just working for with the reason why they are just working also being an implementation issue. Hence the bonjour service – needed to discover other iTunes instances. The iPod helper – needed to start iTunes when you plug the iPod in.
The problem is you have to buy into it. If you keep thinking in terms of files and (shudder) actually being in control of the box in front of you, you’re going to hate it. But if you realise that the whole of Apple is based around a ‘consumer device, that does this thing’ then it all starts to make sense.
It’s not for everybody, sure, but it’s how it is. You might have been better served by a more file centric MP3 player. There’s certainly no shortage of suppliers :)
Ugh, I thoroughly share your distaste for iTune’s arrogance. I find it horrendous on any operating system, even its native OS X. I used to use vPod to move files onto my iPod, but then Apple updated their firmware, added a checksum to iTunesDB and the maintainer of vPod hasn’t kept up.
I use Amarok on Linux these days, but seeing as how my iPod’s battery has died and iPod’s don’t support DIY battery replacement (although it is possible), it’s now nothing more than a glorified USB hard-drive.
Come on, you didn’t know how iTunes and iPods worked before you bought yours? I have no patience for people who complain about features they knew perfectly well they were buying into.
I bought a Zune because i disliked iTunes so much… imagine my “glee” when i discovered that the Zune software was almost as awful.
(from now on it’ll be Creatives and their drag-n-drop awesomeness for me.)
Have you thought about synching your ipod using mediamonkey.
this might seem like spam but i promise i hav no affiliation with mediamonkey (except that i absolutely love it).
Not only is mediamonkey a stellar, feature-rich media player and organiser, its fully skinnable (it looks good) (very good) and syncs to ipods!
I used it for a while while i was forced into using an ipod nano (3rd gen) which wasn’t the most pleasant experience admittedly but using mediamoney made it sooo much better.
what you need to do with shuffles is make space for data. so that you can copy files into the data space to add when you get home
Fuck iTunes.
I used to use ephPod to add/remove files from my 1G iPod (still have it), but when I got a Nano, suddenly I was forced to use iBufoons.
To me the worst part is the whole “syncing” crap…. who the fuck needs fucking “sync” for fuck’s sake?!?!?
If I drag a motherfucking file onto the player, it should add the motherfucking file to the player. Also I should be able to drag motherfucking files the fuck off of the player onto my computer.
Fuck sync. Fuck playlists. Fuck Safari, fuck QuickTime, fuck this Apple backchannel phone-home bullshit. Those fucking black turtleneck-wearing shitbags force you to install iTunes for an iPhone, or just to browse the cocksucking “App Store”, the holy grail of shit.
People rag on Gates/MSoft about being a monopoly. Fucking Jobs wants to own your soul.
Fuck Apple and the gurgling babbling zealots who worship at the altar of Jobs.
(Other than that — yay Apple!!!)
I dumped iTunes and iPod’s sometime back. Apple anything makes my skin crawl.
Sansa Clip + Winamp appears to work for me on Win.
Admit it, this was a ploy to stir up some business for your poster shop. Although I can’t blame you. Pointing out the obvious flaws with anything Apple is always good for a sudden spike in traffic thanks to all of the fanboys – not to mention the humor in reading their responses.
While I haven’t tried out the iPod connectivity, I’d definitely suggest giving Songbird a try as they’ve been working heavily on that lately (of course remember that the software is still only v0.6). Personally I’m still searching for the best solution for a music player on Ubuntu now that I’ve grown so accustomed to foobar2000 on Windows.
Why are pro-Apple people derisively called ‘fanboys’ and vehemently anti-Apple ‘…’ not held in the same contempt? I thought about my hardware/software and chose appropriately.
I didnt go with what I think could fairly be called the plain-vanilla or default route of Windows just because “I used it at school”, “we use it at work”, or whatever.
Reading through these comments I do find some people’s strong and extremely bizzare aversion to Apple and hatred of Apple products and their customers very very strange. Even in the darkest depths of Apple’s black days when most of these people (if they were even born) wouldnt have even heard of Apple and when Apple users disliked Microsoft with an almost pseudo-religion zeal I heard nothing like that coming these days against Apple from people whose only experience is maybe the iPod or maybe even a really balance site like anythingbutipod.com (sarcasm).
Strange, strange, strange. My advise (for what its worth) find something more constructive to do with your time.
Thom,
If you think a controversial Apple rant will gather me any new poster customers, you’re as bad (or even worse) at marketing as me! So that would be a clean and honest no. In fact, I believe I might have scared away a few.
Are you serious? You are obviously as you put it “computer initiated” enough to find the files on the hidden services in windows. But are not tech savy enough to realize that by buying an iPod you are going to have to, for better or worse, use iTunes. If you are not willing to use iTunes then buy a Creative. You can drag and drop files in Explorer to your heart’s content.
You are wonderful writer! You took a process that takes minutes and made it sound like you spend two days to get these three audiobooks on your Shuffle. Such drama!
I have six computers in my house(4 windows & 2 Macs) and have no trouble with iTunes on any of them. But I enjoy iPods and use iTunes as my media library so everything works. You can not try to use windows mindset with Apple products. You are bitching about the software because it doesn’t work like Windows. Duh, it is Apple software. That’s like buying a Playstation and bitching cause it doesn’t play XBOX games.
If you want open players then buy an open player. There are plenty of them out there. If you don’t like iTunes then why did you buy an iPod? I do believe it say right on the box that iTunes is required.
Right now I’m busy hating iTunes so much that I want to kill some apple engineers who knowingly allowed this product to hit the market.
I just want to say that iTunes SUCKS big time and quicktime is the stupidiest program. I use vlc player, its lighter and has much more codecs for watching videos… anyway, my solution is WINAMP with the ml ipod plug-in.. i synch videos, album arts and mp3s
LIVELONG WINAMP AND FU%$/ ITUNES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello. And Bye. :)
Was ist das?
I am really shocked at some of the idiotic responses here.
First, to the fellow that claimed that Windows loads a bunch of unnecessary services, Really? How much do YOU know about how the Windows OS and the way it was architectured? Are you claiming to be an expert on how the OS is built? Any idiot with the slightest clue of how “good” Operating Systems are built will tell you things should be modularized, and services do a great job with that concept.
That being said, REGARDLESS of whether or not Apple has some “Evil” plan to lure us over into Macs by making their Windows version crappy is simply unfounded and stupid. I refuse to pay a 75% premium and support a company who doesn’t even have the decency to write an application that IT forces me to use properly.
Oh and on a final note,. It is NOT acceptable to cram Quicktime down our throats. I am perfectly happy with Quicktime Alternative. Why the hell does Apple assume the right to install Bonjour + Quicktime + Services on my Windows machine? I also did not like the sneaky “checked by default” box next to Safari.
No thank you.
Apple cannot hope to turn us all into fanboys and zombies just because iTunes works (err cratch that: DOESN’T WORK) so terribly on Windows.
You know there is a REASON the Windows platform owns a good 80% of the market. Its called not nhaving to pay 75% more for a total pile of crap and get something that actually works without handcuffs!