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How iTunes Is Changing on PC

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Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#271

Post by sixothree »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #219
ascagnel_ wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I love my iPad Mini. Its paperback (ish) size makes it my go-everywhere device. The fact that it fits in my pants pocket doesn't hurt either.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#272

Post by rickdeckard »

asciimov wrote: post #258
jamesrr39 wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Android weren't so awful Just curious, what is it that people don't like about Android?

Updates. No guarantee that you will get the next OS update even on a brand new phone. Which stinks when financial apps require you be on the latest OS. Yes, this happened to me a decade ago on 2 different Android devices. Since then I've moved my family and extended family to iOS and my ongoing tech support is dramatically reduced.

A lot happens in a decade, at some point even a browser flushes its cache and fetches new data... ;)

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#273

Post by Angostura »

crowcroft wrote: post #204
crazygringo wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iTunes’ emphasis was on collecting, experiencing, and enjoying an art form. I get much more enjoyment out of experiencing new music through radio functionality in Apple Music or Spotify than wasting time "collecting". It expands my horizons rather than limiting myself to what I already know I like. There's nothing passive about recommendations. I hear a new song I like, I go to research the artist, I start a new ra…

In my experience you almost entirely lose the human experience of sharing playlists, talking about new discoveries, getting together with people to listen to new music. For each individual it is probably a better experience, but there is something lost still. I don't know if it's fair to lay blame for that on Apple though, it seems like that's where things are going anyway in some many dimensions of life.

Disagree. My kids play stuff on the HomePod on the kitchen, or I do - we chat - ‘what’s that?’ If I like it I add to my library. We hear a tune on TV or a movie sound track, find out what it is and research the rest if the bands stuff. I muck about with the Discovery station, discover bands I never otherwise would, add them to playlist that get played in the car. Etc etc.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#274

Post by incanus77 »

recursive wrote: post #264
incanus77 wrote: post #170

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 mean, that's what I'm doing. I stopped buying apple stuff about 20 years ago. My phones are Android, which I'm not exactly thrilled with, but consider to be the lesser of the evils. But let's be real, a smart phone is practically a requirement to participate in modern society, and there are two options. iOS and Android. "Opting out" is becoming increasingly hypothetical.

I feel this, and it's pretty dismaying. I'm ok enough with Apple still, but I do question it frequently. I'm watching closely the Asahi project and Haiku (I know, orthogonal approach) on the desktop and constantly questioning my use of smartphones. I don't love the walled garden that Apple has become, either.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#275

Post by sleepybrett »

prmoustache wrote: post #243
sleepybrett wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Podcast apps, good ones, have many features you don't need in a simple app like a winamp or vlc. 1) An online catalog of series that is searchable (probably both by name and topic and participants). 2) That catalog must contain metadata both at a series level and an episode level. 3) That online catalog must also be navigable without search, of course. 4) Ability to subscribe to any given series and for the app to ha…

There are audio players that allows you to find radios by various criterias: genre, bitrates, location, etc. I don't think it is hard in term of UI nor does it justify a different app when you can have an additionnal tab that allows to find podcast. You just have to change the criterias. Subscription to podcast is done via rss right? I don't think that is a huge deal either.

But it wouldn't make a lot of sense to add this to a generic music player .. whatever the modern winamp is.

It just comes down to that management/browse/search task dwarfs the playback code.

I'd rather have small apps that do one thing well, not a megaapp that does all things badly.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#276

Post by riversflow »

jollyllama wrote: post #212
incanus77 wrote: post #138

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…

> weird and tough to use, presumably due to a fruitless bid to target the pros.

Have you tried the phone app? It’s fantastic, and easy to use. I assume the expectation is that if you are opening Garageband on a Mac these days, you “graduated” from the phone.

> fruitless bid to target the pros.

I personally know multiple musicians who have albums on streaming services that they made in Garageband.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#277

Post by Angostura »

jollyllama wrote: post #212
incanus77 wrote: post #138

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…

Schools still use GarageBand a lot in the UK. It doesn’t seem that weird.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#278

Post by chrisjj »

Terretta wrote: post #269
chrisjj wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is preventing you playing music if you install another app not worse?

But they didn't do that, you did that, by installing the other app. If you don't install the other app, iTunes is the same. You indicated a preference for the new Music experience by installing it. If you don't indicate that preference, iTunes doesn't change.

> But they didn't do that, you did that, by installing the other app.

They did it by making the new app disable functionality of the existing.

> You indicated a preference for the new Music experience by installing it.

By that insane logic, installing e.g. Edge would justifably prevent use of Chrome.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#280

Post by mplewis »

sgu999 wrote: post #169
incanus77 wrote: post #138

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…

> When was the last time the intersection with the humanities was mentioned, versus how sleek and desirable the technology is? Probably around a decade ago, at least. The low hanging fruits of digitalisation have been gone for a while now. I can't really think of anything they've released since for which it was immediately obvious what "problem" was solved. So it requires different arguments to convince us to buy the…

Apple Fitness+ launched in 2020 and continues to be heavily updated today?
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