iTunes - awful

OK, well the reason for this post is because I've just bought an ipod... a shuffle to be precise.

Unlike most players however, this one cannot just be treat like a disc, where you can drag and drop in explorer, or use the send to context menu... no if you want to copy music to it, and have it work, then you must use the godawful program that is itunes.

So, I insert my CD to install all the necessary software, which afterwards demands a reboot...

Then it runs, catalogues my MP3's, fair enough, and then asks if I want to download an update for itunes (a 33 Mb download).

Then, once I've ran that update, it asks if I want to update to the latest ipod software (another 55 Mb download).

After its then rebooted (again), I run it, and it asks again if I want to install the update (which is the same fricken one that I've just updated).

So its catalogued my files, and I know exactly which tracks I want to put on, but i have to use this slow, bloated, godawful program, and I cant even find the god damn tracks I wanted

If this is a taste of the "Apple experience", you can stick it where the sun dont shine....

Luckily, the player itself is nice enough to use, and sounds alright as well... luckily i say, because if it didnt, after this debacle, I'd be taking it back for a refund.

 

Yes Paul, 26 million people are wrong, iTunes is rubbish, its not you.

 

Anyway once you have calmed down, what exactly are you on about?

The itunes update and iPod updates are optional, you could have clicked no.

When your computer is connected to the internet insert your CDs, they will populate itunes will all the correct info, names, genras etc.

If you want itunes can randomly populate your shuffle this can be done from the preferences.

Or you can create a playlist, call it what you like. Populate it with what ever tunes you want in there. Again from preferences set the ipod to only update specific playlists, choose you playlist.

If you already have MP3s or whatever on your harddrive simply drag them onto the itunes window to import them, make sure they are tagged though.

 

It takes 10 seconds to load, on a fast machine. WMP does not take anywhere near that long, and thats every bit as bloated.

I added songs to the library (I have thousands), then I could not find some of the songs I added no matter how hard I tried.

In order to get some music on, I've had to download a package called anapod to get some songs on it, that iTunes simply did not "see".

I've spent the last 3 hours ****ing on with it. Please dont tell me I'm stupid, because I am not, ok?

26 million people are wrong based on what I've seen so far - either that, or they are prepared to accept half working, bloated, mediocre software.

 

BTW, try reading it, it looks perfectly clear to me.

 

I have to say I think Paul is right, iTunes is a bit odd really.

I dont like the way it wants to 'import' stuff all the time and become the soul music centre of your PC. I know you can turn that off but it is still odd with the library. With the import thing, even if the tunes are in the iTunes directory, it still makes copies.

Winamp makes a lot more sense to me, make playlists, but let the user deal with where and how they want the music stored and organised. Having it all in one big list until you make playlists to do otherwise is a bit annoying I find.

 

I prefer foobar over itunes anyday. OK its a lot simpler, and plainer to look at, but its fast, functional, customisable, and does exactly what it says on the tin. I prefer winamp to it as well.

It seems to be the in thing at the minute to gush over anything apple. The player is nice enough, but this akward system really, really lets it down. Its got the feel of something thats clearly designed for the Mac, and no thought at all shown for making it integrated properly to a PC. Maybe the mac zealots will just say "well you bought an apple player", but if every other player can do this easily, even cheap £30 pieces of crap, then I dont see why they cant make it work with ipod.

The whole thing has been an exercise in frustration. And why oh why does it want to install Quicktime - it does not give you ANY choice, and I dont need it on my machine. To think, Apple slag Microsoft off for including bloatware in operating systems - well WTF is this I ask you?

Since I used Anapod (albiet only a free trial - sadly for proper windows integration i'll have to pay $20 extra ) I've got the tracks i wanted on it no problem...

 

It seems clear then, return the iPod (they do make it clear you need itunes) and get another device.

Not owning a PC I have no idea how itunes really behaves on a PC, on my step dads PC it loads in an instant, he does not have a fantastic PC.

I don;t know why iTunes would not recognise some tunes, are they encoded differently, EAC for instance? If so you might need third party software for it (this method of encoding is not compatible on mac so was never part of iTunes)

I don't know why iTunes is so heavy for windows (Its twice the size) but I guess it needs to install stuff which is part of the system on Mac.

Once you have got your tunes in, and downloaded some software to put the album art in for you I think you'll enjoy it, its fully compatible with Squeeze software as well.

As for itunes wanting to import and organise your files. I think this must just be the difference between PC users and Mac users. My view is, great do that for me. On my harddrive is a folder for each artist then within a folder for each album, I couldn't be arsed to do that my self. PC users seem to like to do all this stuff themselves even if the outcomes is exactly the same. Hey ho.

 

I may have had a greater appreciation for the way it did things if I'd started my collection from scratch, but I have lots of random music dating back as far back as a decade, when i started with this whole computer audio stuff. In reality, what results from iTunes attempted organisation is just a mess.

As it is, if I wanted to get it working the way you seem to have it working for you, it would take a lot of work, and I know you think we like doing this, but I have no desire to do all this work, all over again, when any other software has no problem with it. All I want to do is copy tracks using my file explorer to the device. Why can I not do this, Apple?

FWIW, I am pleased with the device itself, I bought it over others because it was a cheap, high performance, no nonsense player, its just a pity this last philosiphy could not extend to the overall user friendliness when connected to a PC.

Other pet hates are it seems they make it difficult and contrived to copy music files from the device back on to a PC. Again, why do this? (copyright?).

 

Yes its the copyright stuff.

I was talking about iTunes for the Mac, but you have reminded me now about the PC version installing Quicktime. I saw that and immediately uninstalled it. "Sorry Apple but I wont be buying anything from the iTunes store today!" was my reaction.

Still I love the Apple hardware and OS. They are not all evil.

 

I'm tempted to buy that Anapod software, $20 is not a huge amount after all - but its a tad disappointing I have to spend it in the first place.

On the plus side, the sound quality of this thing is actually pretty surprising, obviously not as good as the home rig, but still really rather good, this is with JVC HA-FX55 canal phones (£25 from Argos).

 

Paul have you trawled through Versiontracker.com?

They have tonnes of software for itunes now under the windows section, just do a search on iTunes. There might be something going freeware.

 

I use iTunes on the PC. Before that I used Winamp and/or MusicMatch and IMO iTunes blows them both out of the water for ease of use. It's one of the nicest bits of software I've ever had the pleasure of using.

It beggars belief that anyone could find it difficult to use...

Michael.

 

itunes wont catalogue songs if they dont have the id3 tags - e.g. if the artist is missing, the file will end up in an "unknown" folder. etc. etc.
i've had mp3's go awol because of that, and i've had to move them back again, and update the tags b4 itunes would recognise.
of course, if imported using itunes, then there isn't an issue.
yes, it takes a while to load. but imo itunes is a great library/music player.

 

I use iTunes and prefer it over others that I've used such as Winamp, Real, MS MediaPlayer, Sonic something etc.

 

Its not difficult to use... that isn't what I said. What I said was, its slow, bloated, and crap. Theres a difference

 

i think u can use anapod instead, for updating an ipod/shuffle.
take a look here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod-software-windows/

Anapod Explorer 8.7.3
Developer's Description: Anapod Explorer is hands-down the most advanced Windows software companion for your iPod. Anapod can copy and backup iPod music and playlists to your PC and integrates your iPod into Windows Explorer as a full-fledged device under My Computer, allowing you to transfer files to your iPod as well and use a familiar Explorer interface to manage on-board music, playlists, contacts, notes, and more. Also included are a built-in database called AnapodSQL and a one-of-a-kind web-based streaming interface to your iPod called Anapod Xtreamer.

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

 

This is exactly how the PC version works, I've never had a problem with the PC version, It's a little slow as it also uses Quicktime.

File -> Prefs -> Advanced -> General ->Keep iTunes Music organised.

 

The 'crap' part is somewhat subjective, but it does seem a bit slow (just like quicktime) given what it actually does!

The way it integrates with the iPod is nice, but as a stand alone player I really struggle to see how one can find it easier to use than winamp, which to my mind is simplicity in itself! iTunes is okay but I can't see what exactly it does that people get so madly excited over - yes it integrates well with the ipod, but things like the music 'organisation' facility are often just an annoyance - I found it buggered things up more than it helped, frankly, the first time I used it.

 

My PC is hardly state of the art any more (933Mhz PIII, 512Mb RAM) and iTunes runs as fast as you like on it. About the only slowness I can agree with is that it takes a few seconds to start up. I used it as a standalone player in preference to WinAmp, MusicMatch or Windows Media Player for quite a while before I got my iPod.

OK Paul, just for you: anyone who thinks iTunes is "crap" clearly has no idea what makes good software

Michael.