I can’t wait for the launch of ios 5 and the iCloud, and getting rid of having to update and back-up my devices by plugging them into a computer. A computer running the horrible iTunes app.
Ever since my first cellphones that played mp3 files, first a Sony-Ericsson and then an HTC running Windows Mobile 5, I’ve thought iTunes was just about the worst program around. The only thing that made it acceptable was that the only alternative programs were worse.
Today I generally have my audio books and audio podcasts on my iPhone, and video on my iPad. Both have to sync with iTunes on one single computer (I greatly fear what would should happen if I tried to sync them with another machine), generally for back-ups and the occasional ios update. But what seems to happen almost every time I hook my iPhone to the computer is:
1) Podcasts I want to keep get deleted from the iPhone, or
2) Ancient podcasts I no longer want get put back onto the iPhone, or (mostly commonly)
3) Both of the above
After syncs audio books will go missing, my ringtone will be gone. I dread having to hook the things together. I’m sure there’s a way to carefully go through iTunes and tell it exactly what to do, but my experience is that while I’m trying to do just that, the thing starts syncing anyway. Or I mark off exactly what audio books I want to keep, but when I sync it keeps the audio books and deletes all my podcasts.
Famously, when Steve Jobs announced ios 5 and the iCloud, he underlined that with them devices will back-up, sync, and download directly from the Cloud, without having to go through a computer mediator. Not sure why this wasn’t done long ago, but the reaffirming message was that not only was Jobs obviously happy to make the announcement, his audience burst into applause.
Apparently I haven’t been alone in detesting iTunes.
