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How iTunes Is Changing on PC

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Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#211
post #93

So what is the best app these for listening to your own music collection? VLC?!?

I’m liking Jellyfin’s music support for my giant collection of FLACs (other formats are supported). I can pull it up on any browser (don’t need to install anything on my work PC). There’s also an iOS app called Fintunes that provides a great native music-listening experience.

Finamp is another iOS app which, importantly for me, supports offline playback via downloading locally.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#212

The phrase “everything you needed to be entertained” is indicative of the biggest problem that I see with Apple today: a focus on consumerism and passive consumption. Twenty years ago, iTunes’ emphasis was on collecting, experiencing, and enjoying an art form. It’s a very subtle difference, but it speaks to the attitude that Apple projects today. When was the last time the intersection with the humanities was mention…

> Twenty years ago, iTunes’ emphasis was on collecting, experiencing, and enjoying an art form.

Or, better yet, creating.

Time was when FCP trounced any video editor for Window, all of which were buggy and unreliable. Now, FCP is more of a niche product for pro or semi pro editors.

Garageband was never the top choice for pros, but it was highly accessible at that time. Hours of fun for an adolescent. Now, it's weird and tough to use, presumably due to a fruitless bid to target the pros.

Apple has basically given up on the low end of the pro market with their product choices and it's extremely disappointing. At a 5000 ft. view, their product line was basically gentrified as monied consumers pushed out artists and creators.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a presumption that if I want anything other than what they're giving me, it's me that's wrong. Just like they did with the headphone jacks.

I’m not sure I’ve ever understood this take. I think Apple has always been like this (one-button mouse, B&W display, proprietary keyboard plug, dropping the floppy, adopting USB, adopting FireWire, making the original iPod only function as a FireWire hard drive on Windows, etc.) But, like any product maker, the choice of whether you buy it or not is up to you. If you don’t like the whole package, find another option?…

I mean... I assume that the person you're replying to doesn't buy Apple products. I certainly don't, precisely because I hate their arrogant "we know better than you" approach to technology. But I still think it's valid to discuss it as a drawback of the company's philosophy, even if you are choosing to not be a customer.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure I’ve ever understood this take. I think Apple has always been like this (one-button mouse, B&W display, proprietary keyboard plug, dropping the floppy, adopting USB, adopting FireWire, making the original iPod only function as a FireWire hard drive on Windows, etc.) But, like any product maker, the choice of whether you buy it or not is up to you. If you don’t like the whole package, find another option?…

I've never 100% understood it either, the only steelman I've been able to come up with over years is most people are like me and lose or damage the wireless earbuds every 6-12 months. I'm lucky enough to be a yuppie tech nerd with disposable income to treat it as a fact of life. Whereas for them it feels like a forced march to spend $150 every year.

I hate wireless headphones because they are a strictly worse product. They cost a lot more, can be lost, and need to be charged. But the only advantage they offer (being wireless) isn't actually useful. So I use wired headphones, because they are flat out better in every way that matters.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#215

Someone local has some kind of i-device (iPod? iTouch? He doesn't remember) from which he would like to extract copies of the music on it. I'm not even sure what to do. I have heard so many horror stories of iTunes just trashing libraries ... I'm not even sure what I would search for in terms of Windows software or what kind of cable I would need. And Apple's branding is so ... operationally overloaded, overlapping,…

Over the years, I've had success with both of these third-party apps on Macs and PCs to do exactly that:

Transfer Music from iPhone, iPad, & iPod to your Mac or PC https://macroplant.com/iexplorer/tutorials/how-to-transfer-m...

Transfer iPhone & iPod Music to your Computer or to iTunes https://imazing.com/iphone-music-transfer

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#216

Has iTunes on Windows ever been good? I think I tried it in 2003-4, and it was garbage then, so I uninstalled it. In the intervening 20 years, I've never heard anyone say "it's good now!", so I never re-installed it. I assumed that if you were a dedicated Windows user, you just wouldn't use iTunes, and if you weren't a dedicated Windows user but loved your iPhone, you'd do what Apple wanted you to do in the first pla…

A couple years ago I was rebuilding my nas that i keep my music on. So I decided to trial all the popular streaming services. Apple Music had a generous 3 month trial compared to the usual 7day-1month ones. I cancelled the service on the second day. Because the Windows iTunes experience was incredibly horrible - laggy/glitchy mess. If hell exists then the worst torture there would be being forced to use iTunes.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#218

> If you don’t install Apple Music or Apple TV, you can continue to use iTunes for all your media. … so why would I install either of those? What’s actually changing if I only have iTunes installed?

Is this not just unbundling to appease regulators who assert that putting everything in one app is anticompetitive?

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only one that really sticks out as odd there is the 10th gen. Basic, Air, Pro is also their laptop lineup, right—it has been for quite a while, and nobody has complained. Mini seems like a reasonable and easy to interpret addition give tablet use-cases. I’m guessing the 10th gen is the one with the super long support lifetime or something like that? That’s a slightly weird iPad-ism.

The issue with the Mini is that you'd usually expect it to be the budget option (since it has a smaller screen), but it's more of an Air with a smaller screen in terms of hardware and features, with a price to match.

And it doesn’t help that the original one was a budget model. (If I remember correctly.)

Personally, I like my mini being a mid-tier device. Apple probably positioned it this way to avoid undercutting their cheapest model. It’s also a bit cramped. You’re sacrificing some usability for size and they’d rather people make that trade off because they want it rather than it being cheaper.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#220
post #167

Has iTunes on Windows ever been good? I think I tried it in 2003-4, and it was garbage then, so I uninstalled it. In the intervening 20 years, I've never heard anyone say "it's good now!", so I never re-installed it. I assumed that if you were a dedicated Windows user, you just wouldn't use iTunes, and if you weren't a dedicated Windows user but loved your iPhone, you'd do what Apple wanted you to do in the first pla…

I have a friend who never used a Mac nor an iPhone, but he owned an iPod and so installed iTunes years ago and used it to manage his entire music library, and continues to do so to this day. I'm sure he's probably an outlier but Windows iTunes users do exist :)

I do this! My personal computers run Windows. I have an iPod touch that I use for listening to music on a stereo in my living room. I use iTunes to manage my music library. When I want more music, I buy CDs (or mp3s if those aren't available).

It's nice owning things. It has no ads, unlimited skips, and music doesn't sporadically disappear.

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