177      iPhone_iPad_Mac_apple

The iTunes 12.7 "has gone too far" thread.

To whom it may concern.

iTunes, since almost its inception, has been one of the worst pieces of software that is required to be installed on any of my systems.  This is not a windows or mac specific thing (the fact I cannot add "Linux" to this list in 2017 speaks volumes), all versions since almost iTunes was released have been, in a word, horrible, limiting pieces of software that dictate how I will interact with my devices and restrictive in the ways in which my device and I can interact.

12.7 exemplifies a very disturbing trend that has been emerging for quite some time.  The trend BACK to the old early '90's apple...the Apple that obfuscates the pieces they don't think their customers care about, the Apple that decides what their customers will do with the hardware they own or the software they download, the Apple that prioritizes ease of support over user capabilities, the Apple that assumes users aren't smart enough to understand what they want to do and need to simply be told.

The Apple that was on the brink of extinction.

12.7 removes capabilities within iTunes that have existed since early in the iTunes release and moves those capabilities into disparate apps in disparate locations.  There is no longer a single place I can go (regardless of how restrictive that place was) to administrate the content on all of my devices, to manage what is and what is not on my device.  Now if I want books I need to go to one app (and not the desktop), music is in another (but *can* be managed from the desktop), apps in a third, and ringtones...who the **** knows (where do I get those again?  They're not in iTunes and there's no "ringtones" app on my phone).  What about managing the files in my applications? Saved games in a game app, documents in another app?  Notes in a third?  How do I send and receive those files on my desktop?

This trend is disturbing for two reasons:

* It is signaling the end of the "easy interface with access to deeper content if you want" design concept that's made OSX the leading operating system for developers all over the world.

* It's also signaling a drive toward "you don't need a desktop, just do everything from your device connected to our iCloud!"

First, as a power user, I don't want or need Apple to tell me what or how to interact with my devices.  Apple's OSX is a success because you've included a command line underneath the pretty GUI...allowing me choices about how I administrate and manage my Mac.  The lesson of OSX's success (and Apple's Subsequent Computer Success) is to make sure information and choices are available to those who want them.

If you find yourselves redesigning functionality OUT of a piece of software because it's too hard for your average users to use, you've missed the ENTIRE design concept that brought Apple from dying '90s Apple to most profitable company in the world 2K's Apple.  Design out COMPLEXITY not FUNCTIONALITY...that's the lesson of iOS.

As to the second trend, I simply don't want to use iCloud for all of my day to day uses.  I don't mind, and even appreciate, iCloud's integration with my devices, but there are many times that I use more than an Apple device, and in those cases open formats work better than "let Apple provide".  As an example, in my day to day life I use Windows, Linux and Mac products all side by side...choices aside, this is a requirement for the lifestyle I live.  Apple does not own the world, and it's much easier to have my music library in MP3 or FLAC format than in AAC. If you were to require me to use ONLY the apple music app to manage my music, it would eliminate my ability to CONVENIENTLY manage my music and add new.

2000's Apple has never before asked me to make a choice beween doing things conveniently for me and using their products...and that is what iTunes 12.7 is starting to do.

As a guy who's family owns/has owned 31 distinct Apple devices (not including accessories) and has 4 of those sitting in front of him right now, this is a core customer identifying that the path I'm starting to see, the trend the company is starting to take, is worrisome and is causing me to wonder whether I'm going to have to choose a new ecosystem to reside in some year down the road.

The 12.7 iTunes trend needs to stop.  I'm sure it's too much to hope for to restore 12.6's functionality, allowing me to administrate all of the aspects of my portable devices from a single interface, however the 12.7 trend toward "manage everything from differing locations", "manage only what we give you the ability to manage", and "surely you don't need anything but iCloud, that's not acceptable..." are all pulling Apple backwards in time...and that's definitely not where the company wants to be...historically at least.

I do not expect this message to make a difference, but if your customers do not let you know what they want, how can you understand that the direction you're going is not the direction your customers want?

To boil this down, this is one Apple's core customers who's unhappy with the direction you've taken iTunes in the 12.7 version.

Message was edited by: Illydth - Title Spelling issues.

最後更新：2017-09-18 13:20:24

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