The Thing About iTunes And The iTMS That Bothers Me

Actually, it's a number of things. Usually I write very positive and glowing reports about anything coming out of Cupertino, but alas all is not well in iTunes-land, especially in this land.... Granted we can't blame Apple for all of this, but we can blame them for some of it.

Where to start, where to start. Let's start with the program interface. We all know what it looks like, for the moment. The problem is that it's getting too filled up with stuff. Every new version has a couple of new features, which in turn means a couple of new buttons. It hasn't come to dire straights yet, but how many more functions can be built into iTunes before it becomes an antithesis of the simplicity it stands for?

And then there is the video bit. Say what you will about tunes having nothing to do with videos, as long as they are sold on the iTMS or you can get them in the form of a video podcast there, they are going to show up in the iTunes program. However, now that iTunes has officially become a multimedia jukebox, and with all the focus on video content, I think they need to put some work into how we view that content in iTunes.

It was nice to see they added the "Videos" icon to the sidebar, and the accompanying black window with your video images, but it takes a lifetime to load if you have a lot of them (and a slow computer). Instead of creating a thumbnail for all of the images on the same page, why not take a clue from your own store and create multiple pages. So, instead of scrolling through 50, I can scroll through 2 pages of 25?

Then there is the actual viewing of said videos. It would seem to me that the logical place to view them would be in the large "screen" area where your library and visualizers are displayed. I'm sure they have a reason for not doing this, but couldn't we at least have the option? (And an explanation, anyone?) I don't want to watch anything in the area where the album art usually is, that is just plain irritating. It's not in our mind frame to look at something in the bottom left corner of a window when the rest of it is filled with text. Then there are the other two options, full screen and separate window. Full screen is fine, if you have a video that is big enough to fill it, but for the most part the videos you'll have will be much much smaller. Simply put, they look terrible in full screen. The separate window option is a bit easier to swallow, at least you can resize it and place it anywhere. But, is it me, or does it look a bit like it has no connection to iTunes whatsoever? Seriously Apple, if you're going to go for this video content thing you're going to have to create a logical way of viewing it in the program where it is stored.

Now to make the transition from the program to the store. These may be deemed as nitpicking but they are enough of an annoyance for me to write them here.

The first thing that comes to mind is the way the window switches beween the Store and your Library. Example, if I decide I want to find a podcast about say - beaver dams. I have to go to podcasts, then down on the bottom use the Podcast Directory link. This brings up the main podcast page, where I then search for what I'm interested in. Up comes 25 podcasts about beavers (actually zero in reality). So, I subscribe to one of them, we'll say, DamCast. As soon as I hit the subscribe button I am whisked back to the podcast section of the Library. Why? What if I want to keep looking for podcasts? Well, intuitively I would hit the Podcast Directory link on the bottom of the page, in the hopes of coming back to the same place. But, nope. That brings me back to the start page. But, hitting the Music Store button in the sidebar brings me back to the last place I visited in the store. Hmm...

Speaking of the podcast's section of the iTMS, that thing needs to be sorted out big time. It is impossible to find anything besides that which is featured on the start page. (I'm not going to touch the topic of big man vs. little man.) I think Apple has to realize they can't use the same approach as the music section of the store. Podcasts simply need a more thought out layout. The search function works, but brings forward an amazing amount of irrelevant results, many of which no longer exist, or have no connection to your search criteria. There are no doubt a large number of interesting podcasts out there that aren't being heard because you simply can't find them. You could of course use a different program/web site, but that's beside the point.

And now I finally come to the music store, or to be specific the Swedish version there of. (I live in Sweden, I can't complain about others.) Yes, I am happy that there even is a Swedish iTMS. But, in all honesty, and this is most countries besides the US, it seems more like iTMS Lite. As if we got the free version without paying to go Pro. And no, this is not Apple's fault. It's the record company's. the movie company's, the TV studio's, and a bunch of cigar smoking, cognac sipping fat cat's faults. Or maybe it's internal legal issues.

No matter which way you look at it, those of us not lucky enough to be able to shop on the US iTMS are suffering from iTunes envy. In Sweden we have slightly less than two million songs to pick from (don't get me started on which artists/songs are lacking, but more than likely they're on the US store), we have no downloadable video content whatsoever and we have no Free Download of the Week. And this may be even more petty, but , and I'm guessing this a very boring legal matter, there are absolutely no promotions at all here in Sweden. None. No free tracks to be had. (Sorry, I like stuff for free. Couldn't we get a free track if we buy 5 types of pickled herring or something?)

There isn't much to be done about these last things. Well, other than for some progress to be made between the Swedish division of Apple and the executives of television and music companies. I'm not sure why they are unable to offer even a couple of Swedish tv shows. It would seem to me a worthwhile investment for any Swedish tv channel to get involved, and get involved early. I probably wouldn't download much of what was offered, but at least it would be a sign that the new type of media delivery was being embraced. Unfortunately it seems more like everything is being left alone with the thought that it's enough as is.

So where does all this complaining get me? Nowhere really. I guess I've confirmed that I use iTunes a lot, and that I am jealous of the US iTMS. And now that I've slandered poor unable-to-defend-itself iTunes I should say something nice about it. Sorry, iTunes. This is for your own good. I only say these things because I like you so much. You have made my life a lot easier, and have brought joy and happiness to my living room. This criticism is supposed to be constructive. I only say it because I want you to be the best possible media library/player on the planet. What's that you say? You are already? Hmmm....good point.

K. Panda