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How iTunes Is Changing on PC

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Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#281
post #232

I was briefly excited to hear they had separated media synchronization from the atrocity of iTunes. I just experimented with the "Apple Devices App" for PC. Unfortunately, the experience has been poor, which is what I should have anticipated given Apple's track record for PC software. First, the linked documentation provides no information about where to get the Apple Devices App. It turns out, it's only available fr…

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

Consistency of user experience. Reliable security updates for old devices that still function. Heavy integration with the Google spyware ecosystem. Poor CPU performance and battery life. Low-quality peripherals such as cameras. Manufacturer defects in Google-branded devices.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the other day, I discovered a rather incredible ambient/drone album using a nonstandard tuning [1] via Spotify's Discover Weekly, and excitedly pinged all my art-music-liking friends about it. [1] Trances by Jules Reidy: https://juliareidy.bandcamp.com/album/trances

I looked for it on YouTube (via Invidious) and found it. Not my kind of music but that's not the point. The point is that if somebody likes to keep a copy of some songs discovered during a day of autoplaying through YouTube, downloading them is very easy for anybody that wants to. Maybe it's easy to do it also from Spotify but I don't use it so I have no idea.

If you pay for Spotify, you can download songs/albums/playlists in the app if you want them offline for a flight or somewhere else you won't have access to internet. It's a single tap. (And you save songs you like with a single tap too -- and even if they lose rights, which is extremely rare but happens, you still have a record of liking it.)

Obviously that's not giving you a local .mp3 file, but that's because it's streaming, not buying.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#283

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…

This idea of a "low-end creation apps" always sat weird with me. As kids our go-to tools were usually pirated copies of Cubase, Vegas, and Photoshop. Garage Band, iMovie/Windows Movie Maker, or MSPaint weren't even considered.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#284
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Just buy Samsung or pixel. 7 years of updates guaranteed.

Sure I can do that.

It's a lot harder to tell older relatives, just go buy a Samsung Android. Likely they will come back with some low end android that the salesperson said was on sale.

Where as If I tell, go get an Apple iPhone. They can pick that up and get the "right one", which ever it is.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You should try a Pixel with GrapheneOS.

I know a lot has changed in 10 years, but I'm sure glad to be done with flashing an alternative OS onto my phone to get continued support or to rid it of bloat.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#286
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just buy Samsung or pixel. 7 years of updates guaranteed.

Sure I can do that. It's a lot harder to tell older relatives, just go buy a Samsung Android. Likely they will come back with some low end android that the salesperson said was on sale. Where as If I tell, go get an Apple iPhone. They can pick that up and get the "right one", which ever it is.

I'm not sure I understand. Your relatives can remember to buy Apple but not Samsung?

Also, Samsung offers lower end phones with lesser but still good update policies. They're good phones but a lot cheaper than any iPhone, which should satisfy your older relatives.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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... ;)

Sure does. I have no problem with using android, but as long as I have to do family tech support, I'll stick to iPhones.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#288

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…

They focused on collecting because they were selling the collectibles.

Music is a very emotional and impactful art form. Sometimes we confuse the art with the business. They are very different.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#289
post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure I can do that. It's a lot harder to tell older relatives, just go buy a Samsung Android. Likely they will come back with some low end android that the salesperson said was on sale. Where as If I tell, go get an Apple iPhone. They can pick that up and get the "right one", which ever it is.

I'm not sure I understand. Your relatives can remember to buy Apple but not Samsung? Also, Samsung offers lower end phones with lesser but still good update policies. They're good phones but a lot cheaper than any iPhone, which should satisfy your older relatives.

Yeah, it's amazing.

If I say buy an Apple iPhone and its very likely they turn up with an iPhone maybe not the one I told them but a new Apple iPhone.

But if I say Samsung Android, they are just as likely to buy some weird no-name Android because it was a color they wanted or size or something the salesman pushed on them cause "Android is Android right?"

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#290

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…

> 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…

Related isn't it just the absolute worst when you find a song you love by an artist you've never listened to, and subsequently going to all the rest of their discography, liking absolutely none of it and it turns out the song you loved was just kind of a one-off thing from them?

Not saying every musician has the obligation to chase my personal tastes of course but it never fails to get a sigh out of me, haha.

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