iTunes is one of those apps I tend to have a love / hate relationship with. On the one hand, I have used iTunes for many years now and have as such built up a a very well organized iTunes library. My music is meticulously named and organized, new songs go through a smart playlist where I can quickly rate them etc. All in all a very familiar music player to me.
Across the web people seem to be happy with iTunes 10, but there is still a few people out there who are not impressed. Windows guru Paul Thurrott has over time become more and more negative towards Apple products in general, and has now finally gotten to the point where he thinks people should give up Apple. I have always respected his opinion, I believed it was objective and well thought out, but this time around I have to say I do not agree with his sentiment. He bases his article on the fact that iTunes is not as good as the Zune music player. Now I have played with Zune music player, and it is impressive. But giving up Apple because of iTunes? Please.
But I must agree with one thing – iTunes has become a dog. It is such a big mess of seperate components now, that it really is time for Apple to fix it. Now, many of us hoped iTunes 10 would be that release. While the speed boost is nice, its otherwise pretty much same old, same old. So I decided to think of ways Apple could fix iTunes.
1) Stop making iTunes bigger and bigger
Apple, last time I checked iTunes is more than 90 megs to download. True, broadband is becoming better and better so its not really the size that bothers me. Its the fact that Apple insists on installing every iTunes feature on my machine. If I do not have a Apple TV, why is the components already installed? If I dont have an Airport Express, why would I want Airplay? True, you migh argue that Apple tries to simplify things by making one thing that you download, and that many of these devices use the exact same framework. Thats fine – but then at least give me the option te remove certain components, especially considering that Apple’s iDevices portfolio is increasing every year (iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleTv etc). Why is this an issue? That brings me to my next point.
2) Improve performance – a lot
First off, thanks Apple for improving things somewhat in iTunes 10. Hell, even my scrolling works properly. But the rest is still dog slow. But lets try to keep it that way please? You might also want to try writing the next iTunes in Cocoa. Objective-C will speed things up a lot. But I reckon its the porting to Windows that is the problem. The Windows version of iTunes is consistently worse than the Mac version.
Firing up large videos still take a lot of time, especially HD files. If HD files fire up instantly when using quicklook, why does iTunes take that long?
3) Wireless Sync
The very fact that Apple’s latest wifi enabled iDevices need to sync with a cable is beyond me. I think Apple needs to shift away from the idea that we have to tether their devices. I meet a lot of people who have never plugged in their iPhones once into their computer, seeing as they were activated at the store when they bought it. This means when they loose their phones, they have no backup anywhere. Now you might argue that is the result of their own stupidity – but how easy would it be for Apple to fix that with an automatic incremental backup over wifi? I am not saying Wifi should replace the USB cable (battery life with very large syncs is of course a concern), just give us the option?
4) Brighten up the interface
iTunes is becoming quite a ugly application to run. With all of Apple’s user interface design chops, do we not deserve a better looking application? Hell, if you squint your eyes its starting to look a like a spreadsheet. In iTunes 10 you removed the colours from your menu on the left – so it is now a big gray blob. Well, except for the album art. Take a look at the Zune player interface – while I might not agree with the design guidelines, you have to admit its a lot more attractive than the gray bohemeth that iTunes has become.
I also think Apple should make its Front Row interface part of iTunes (for PC’s as well). Yes, yes I know it goes my first point, but hear me out. Most people these days are getting bigger and bigger monitors, and as such are getting higher resolutions as well. On a full HD screen iTunes becomes quite a finicky guy to use from more than a meter away. Why not give us a 10 foot interface for iTunes as well?
But to be honest, I am a very happy camper with iTunes. Considering the number of features it is sporting these days, Apple has managed to keep the inteface remarkably refined – but not perfect. I reckon iTunes is up for a big rewrite in the future, with performance being issue number 1.
Related: If you want to be able download Apps, Music, Movies, TV Series etc from the US iTunes store, even if you live in SA, here is how to do it.
