Why iTunes sucks...

Before I start, let me state for the record that I love my iPod shuffle and I buy lots of music on iTunes...

However, I have a number of grievances with iTunes and I'm curious what you guys think of iTunes...

Firstly, the music selection sucks. Anything even remotely obscure is simply not on iTunes and that's BS. You can't sell music and ONLY cater to the mainstream, that's just plain discriminatory.

Second, it slows your PC down like crazy. iTunes is massive for what it actually accomplishes and slows down games, web browsers, and even basic in-computer navigation to a ridonkulous level.

Third, the new version only runs on XP or Vista... Vista? Are you ****ing kidding me? I don't know anyone who runs Vista. I know a few people who tried it out and switched back, and XP is all well and good for the richers out there who can afford a good PC, but what about us college students?

Finally, (and this isn't really about iTunes but more about Apple) iPod accessories are stupidly expensive. Replacement earbud headphones will run you almost $50 and the in-ear version nearly $70! Don't even get me started on the arm bands etc...

In short, I hate Apple and I hate the way they monopolize markets by aggressively establishing their brand and then pussying out and offering sub-par services and products in the long run...

/rant.

What do you guys think about iTunes, iPods, Apple, and Steve Jobs?

iTunes is an excellent tool to sort your music, I use it as my standard music player and I am very happy with all its functions. It doesn't slow down my PC or Laptop noticably but I guess it is a rather large program compared to foobar or similar.

The iTunes music store I never tried.

I am not a fan of any iPod, they just don't offer the same service comparable Mp3 players offer. They have style, but that's all that speaks for them. I personally got a Cowon just recently and I am very happy with that.

I think iTunes is an excellent program, but there are better Mp3 players around and if people buy iPods solely on their status as hip or cool that is their problem, really.

Originally posted by Bardock42
iTunes is an excellent tool to sort your music, I use it as my standard music player and I am very happy with all its functions. It doesn't slow down my PC or Laptop noticably but I guess it is a rather large program compared to foobar or similar.

The iTunes music store I never tried.

I am not a fan of any iPod, they just don't offer the same service comparable Mp3 players offer. They have style, but that's all that speaks for them. I personally got a Cowon just recently and I am very happy with that.

I think iTunes is an excellent program, but there are better Mp3 players around and if people buy iPods solely on their status as hip or cool that is their problem, really.

Interesting take.

Although if you've never used the iTunes store, where do you get your music?

I actually feel that the itunes library is fairly impressive. Of course they are not going to be able to offer everything for everyone, but i have found many rare albums and artists in their store. You have to understand that they are running a business, and acquiring new artists and songs is not as simple as shelling out money to sponsor their music in their store. They have to struggle with rights and if the artist isnt in high demand or very well known, they may lose money integrating them into their library, but personally, i feel as though its fine. IT is always expanding and does a good job at keeping most songs on sale or $.99 and albums at $9.99.

As far as accessibility, i would say itunes is one of the most user friendly music programs ive ever operated. Categorizing music, creating playlists, burning cd's is as easy as you would expect and the free podcasts and music is appreciated. Searching for music in your library is as easy as typing in the song or artist. I hear complaints about PC's having trouble running the program, but i think that falls more on the computer than the program. The itunes program itself is very small on my mac, but that is dependent on the music i import or purchase.

My problem with itunes are two things which nearly compromise everything good about the program. If you purchase music off of itunes, you are dependent on the program. Itunes can be a nazi at times. You can only burn ten cd's worth of a purchased album, of course this is to sway piracy, but i bought the damn thing i should be able to do with as i wish. You cannot share purchased music, not even with other itunes users. You cannot transfer songs from your ipod to other itunes programs. IF your mac crashes, and you lose itunes. there is no way to transfer the music from your ipod to another itunes program. If you own an ipod, you are almost forced into buying an ipod stereo. These are little things which add up into frustration. I think itunes is still a great program. ITs fluent, never crashes and is cheap.

iTunes is amazing.

The only people hitting out at it are those who need to find something wrong with everything. The library is intense, the organisation and everything else is great in my opinion. The only way people logically couldn't like it, is aesthetically, which is all subjective. It's factually one of the more organised and functional systems.

-AC

iTunes is pretty nifty. I was buying stuff from it last week and was kind of impressed by the selection.

bodach, I must ask - how many people do you think have bought a Windows computer in the past 8 years and it NOT come with Windows XP? It's been the standard for ages so I think you complaining that it only supports that (and Vista which just because you know no one using it doesn't mean nobody does) is a bit stupid.

I have a crappy-ass computer that was pretty much obsolete when I got it 4 years ago and yet the only time I have problems with running iTunes is when I have Photoshop open.

Oh, and only 'catering to the mainstream' is not discrimination, you fool 🙄

And some people still buy CDs, you know.

My problem with itunes are two things which nearly compromise everything good about the program. If you purchase music off of itunes, you are dependent on the program. Itunes can be a nazi at times. You can only burn ten cd's worth of a purchased album, of course this is to sway piracy, but i bought the damn thing i should be able to do with as i wish. You cannot share purchased music, not even with other itunes users. You cannot transfer songs from your ipod to other itunes programs. IF your mac crashes, and you lose itunes. there is no way to transfer the music from your ipod to another itunes program. If you own an ipod, you are almost forced into buying an ipod stereo. These are little things which add up into frustration. I think itunes is still a great program. ITs fluent, never crashes and is cheap.

Most of the stuff you say there is untrue. You can authorize up to five computers to play most stuff that you've purchased, and thus you CAN share it with other people (though technically they've not purchased it and you buying a copy of something does not give you free license to do what you please). I seem to recall iTunes saying that most stuff you download can be burned an unlimited amount of times.

Oh, and try plugging your iPod into a different computer. You'll notice an option known as "transfer purchases".

My only issue with it is that it doesn't allow you to transfer ALL of your music between computers and so far my attempts at having iTunes use my iPod as an external harddrive to play music without transferring has failed.

Though anyone who's got two brain cells should be able to figure out how to go around iTunes not directly transferring your stuff for you anyway.

Originally posted by bodach
Interesting take.

Although if you've never used the iTunes store, where do you get your music?

😐

How old are you?

Originally posted by bodach
Before I start, let me state for the record that I love my iPod shuffle and I buy lots of music on iTunes...

However, I have a number of grievances with iTunes and I'm curious what you guys think of iTunes...

Firstly, the music selection sucks. Anything even remotely obscure is simply not on iTunes and that's BS. You can't sell music and ONLY cater to the mainstream, that's just plain discriminatory.

Second, it slows your PC down like crazy. iTunes is massive for what it actually accomplishes and slows down games, web browsers, and even basic in-computer navigation to a ridonkulous level.

Third, the new version only runs on XP or Vista... Vista? Are you ****ing kidding me? I don't know anyone who runs Vista. I know a few people who tried it out and switched back, and XP is all well and good for the richers out there who can afford a good PC, but what about us college students?

Finally, (and this isn't really about iTunes but more about Apple) iPod accessories are stupidly expensive. Replacement earbud headphones will run you almost $50 and the in-ear version nearly $70! Don't even get me started on the arm bands etc...

In short, I hate Apple and I hate the way they monopolize markets by aggressively establishing their brand and then pussying out and offering sub-par services and products in the long run...

/rant.

What do you guys think about iTunes, iPods, Apple, and Steve Jobs?

as far as accessories... I know that stuff is expensive ---but, you can buy iPod stuff dirt cheap on eBay...

Never had a problem with my computer slowing down...but I also have a 400 GB hard drive

my only real complaint about iTunes is ... there is a band I really like that comes out of Sweden & since they aren't mainstream in America, I could only buy their stuff if I lived or registered out of Sweden... their music isn't available on the American iTunes site... and actually there's lots of music in other countries that I would love to have but just can't

Also, the weekly free music (and other stuff) really sucks... they use to have really good freebies

iDont have it.

Itunes actually has some pretty obscure stuff. One of which they had was Black Bonzo. That's pretty obscure...espeically in America.

Good points all around, but I definitely find the selection very limited.

Sure, they're running a business, but that can't be used as an excuse for poor performance.

Some of you guys are pretty ridiculously rude, but hey, to each his own...

Also, my computer is over 8 years old, it's a Thinkpad from back when they were new and shiny... If I had the money, I'd buy a better one, but I have a car to run and I'm at university and I have to pay rent and utils, etc....

Originally posted by bodach
Good points all around, but I definitely find the selection very limited.

Sure, they're running a business, but that can't be used as an excuse for poor performance.

Some of you guys are pretty ridiculously rude, but hey, to each his own...

Also, my computer is over 8 years old, it's a Thinkpad from back when they were new and shiny... If I had the money, I'd buy a better one, but I have a car to run and I'm at university and I have to pay rent and utils, etc....

Im generally satisfied with iTunes. I do however agree that it it slows down my computer more than a program of its type should.

Originally posted by Bardock42
I'd really just buy CDs. They are cooler, better and likely cheaper.

Yeah, I got a pretty stupidly huge CD collection, too.... Don't get me started on my DVD "collection" (see: fetish).

Originally posted by RedAlertv2
Im generally satisfied with iTunes. I do however agree that it it slows down my computer more than a program of its type should.

Yeah on the whole, iTunes is fine, but it has problems on the PC. Why Microsoft hasn't thrown their hat into the arena is beyond me at this point...

Originally posted by Lana

Most of the stuff you say there is untrue. You can authorize up to five computers to play most stuff that you've purchased, and thus you CAN share it with other people (though technically they've not purchased it and you buying a copy of something does not give you free license to do what you please). I seem to recall iTunes saying that most stuff you download can be burned an unlimited amount of times.

Oh, and try plugging your iPod into a different computer. You'll notice an option known as "transfer purchases".

Maybe these are new features, because ive tried numerous times to transfer a few songs from my ipod to the itunes of friends. Every time i would connect my ipod to their mac. A notification would appear telling me that itunes could not recognize my ipod and that it is because (according to a Mac tech) Itunes can only identify and authorize one ipod at a time.

So, about authorizing up to five computers, im thinking you mean a new computer or an itunes program not already familiar with an ipod.

I exceeded burning ten cd's worth of one album and received a notification telling me so. Hopefully this has changed, but i doubt it. I have heard that there is now a way to transfer music from ipod to ipod and itunes to itunes, pertaining to purchased music. I have not had these rumors verified by mac techs though.

So, if my mac crashed, i could transfer the music form my ipod to another itunes program on a new computer?

Originally posted by Morning_Glory

Never had a problem with my computer slowing down...but I also have a 400 GB hard drive

holy crap...,i only have 1GB worth of memory, 250 GB hardrive and i never have any problem running 5 programs along side of itunes.

Originally posted by Bardock42
😐

How old are you?

22. Why?

J-just buy the Cowon D2 and be happy forever.

Why iTunes doesn't suck: