[bigpoppa206]

And it STILL does not read CD Text!

[kgvs]

Itunes, OS X and other apple products GUIs come with very limited customization. Apple for the most part has been that way. If the offer something in color it's a color they choose. Their way or the highway.

[AldoraWorld]

I think itunes is great, but when you are trying to manage songs across multiple computers, it is a complete mess.
For instance, my wife has a computer, and so do I. I wish there was a simple way to get songs from each other (keeping in mind DRM lets a user install a song on up to 5 computers).

[IVIIVIi4ck3y27]

Lisamacnewton said:

Wellp, I'm 48, not a teen satisified with low pixel image crap, an attention span of 3 nano seconds, and I'm tired of brushed aluminum and blue. I'd like to have a choice viewing what I need to view day after day. It can be done fairly easily, tastefully and small-so why not? When Real, Rhapsody and MS Player had skins (back in the '90's and early 00's) I didn't go hog wild with 9,387 skins, but downloaded 2 that were easy on the eyes and were different, readable colors.......when I got tired of one, voila, the other.

I don't think its a totally wasted request.

If we're going to go that far though, why not just bring "themes" back from OS 9 then and have the whole system "consistent" but changeable? I don't think skins have any prayer in heck of happening simply because Apple would prefer to have a common UI now that's known and usable (there for a bit though, even I have to admit I was more than a bit concerned by some of the UI decision making that there were going through). That doesn't mean they won't condone/tolerate other options (outside parties) releasing "Haxies" but I highly doubt you'll ever see an Apple app. that supports wildly odd skinning for the same reason I think Apple put their own "themes" in park.

After using Audion and Soundjam (which both supported it), I quite frankly was more than happy when Apple did away with it. More and more, both companies seemed keen on trying to outdo each other by making crazier and crazier themes (esp. once alpha channel transparency became their hallmarks). Then their userbase took it and ran with it to the point where you had 1,001 wild skins that were anything but usable. iTunes brought in an interface that just did what it needed to do and could get out of the way quickly, and was designed for people not wanting to go through screenshot wars with their peers ("My desktop is cooler than your desktop... see!").

I'd like to see Apple maybe bring back the OS 7-9 option to change color elements so that you could make a blue into a red, green, orange, yellow, purple (and maybe even a color picker option for end-user selection), or even maybe something like anthracite, platinum, brushed, satin, etc. for the metallic elements, and with/without the graphite, multicolored, or perhaps even the metallic-style buttons used in Windows (just flipped to appear on the left side of the window). But I seriously don't know that I'd want to see them go hogwild and bring theming back on a large scale.

[byronkim]

This will be a challenge given the complexity and the ever changing ecosystem that they've created...but I think it's also an opportunity for innovation and clarification of vision since it's such a different digital landscape since iTunes first came on the scene.

Suggestions off the top of my head:
- Complete revamp of video/movie handling so that it doesn't feel like an afterthought or step-child. (including auto import of movie posters/data, support for all fields in Get Info for multiple objects, means of separating AppleTV and iPod formatted content, etc.)
- Multiple authorized accounts for a single iTunes library (so that as an example, I can merge my partner's library with mine on our home computer.)
- Being able to sync iTunes on two machines (so that, for example, a laptop and a host machine can be synchronized.)
- iTunes Store needs a facelift. It's looking a bit stale
- Do something about those ridiculously small forward and back buttons.
- iTunes Store should somehow be appear more distinct from library content (in the sidebar, search results window, etc.)
- Built-in/better support for handling library spread over multiple drives.
- Activating AppleTV will bring a host computer out of sleep mode.
- Have device & device content listings remain visible & editable even when device is disconnected. Sync can occur after device is reconnected.
- More robust Get info editing capabilities. In it's present incarnation things can get really tedious if there is a lot of content to edit. I read a post about introducing a custom tagging or keyword system similar iPhoto or Aperture.
- Some way of deauthorizing particular computers rather than having to deactivate all.
- Long shot...but remote access to iTunes library from iPhone or another computer

[macFanDave]

1. Much better search tools.

Make it like the advanced Spotlight where you can set multiple criteria. If I want podcasts about Macs, I don't want to have to jump around Bobby Darin's "Mac the Knife" to get to what I want.

I want date ranges so I can get Frankie Avalon's "Venus" if I look between 1955-1960, or Shocking Blue's version if my span includes 1970 or Bananarama's version from the 80's.

2. I still don't get the Allowance feature. It should be songs, not dollars. Here in Texas, every song costs $1.08, so a $10 allowance means 9 songs and a 28-cent remainder. Is it "use it or lose it" or can the kid save up for several months and buy a tons of music at once? As the parent, I should have the option to set those rules. I'd like to grant my 11-year-old daughter about 5 songs a month (that's much more than she actually asks for) maximum, but I'd also want to approve them, too. You'd be surprised what offends me as a dad -- it's not necessarily the occasional swear word -- I don't like messages in songs about cheating and girls being helpless or forlorn over guys ("Bleeding Love" gack!). She could have every version of "Unwritten" as far as I am concerned. And no Amy Winehouse!!!!

[rab777hp]

If iTunes was split into a suite of little applications it would be like mail, ical, and address book, the exact opposite of outlook, outlook has everything in one, it can be easy and complicated, like iTunes.
This is kind of like the iPhone/iPod Touch, iTunes and iPod are separate apps.
I'm thinking of what the hypothetical apps would be- there'd be player, which plays music, store which buys stuff, maybe something to do with podcasts, iTunes importer, which would rip and import files, sync, which syncs iPods and iPhones. Radio. App store, ringtones could be part of sync, maybe a tv shows section, that could be part of store, though. Probably a different audiobooks section.
I look forward to the day when apple offers free streaming of tv shows that are available online, much more convenient than going to all the individual sites, AOL does this already.
Many people want ebooks, but iTunes is a separate thing, it is for media that you watch and listen to.
Just a few thoughts,

[stevemint]

Right now, on my laptop's 120GB HDD, I have video formatted for iPod Touch, Apple TV, and for my laptop. Room can get tight.
I would like to see some form of library management system that elegantly incorporates external drives (or Network Storage) in addition to the local library. Currently, I'm clumsily copying files from my external HD, and deleting files from the internal HD when I'm done. This doesn't help keep the Apple TV nice and full.
It would be nice if while at home, connected to the External HDD, iTunes can "see" all my files, without cluttering the internal HD with laptop-irrelevant items (like Apple TV formatted video). This would keep Apple TV plush with all the vids, while keeping my laptop relatively svelte.
It's not a huge issue at present for Apple TV as most of my collection is on DVDs, and I'm able to peel myself off the couch to change them in the player. But it could, if I start buying most things off of iTunes.
What do folks who have the MBA do to help alleviate the strain? I don't imagine it's your only Mac, but if it were, what would you do?

[rab777hp]

In accordance to what the article says, go to iTunes>>Preferences to do everything.
In the advanced tab, go to general, then change the location to your external HD, your library will automatically be on you external, and only on your external.

[concentric]

There are so many components to iTunes now that they could essentially be broken up into different modules. Don't watch video in iTunes? Disable the Video module and all its functions disappear from iTunes. Only rip your CDs? Disable the Store module. Don't have an iPhone? Disable the iPhone module and you don't have to see the word "Ringtones" anywhere.

And I would STILL love to have folders in my Music Library. Being able to "collapse" a whole Artist by closing its folder would make it MUCH quicker to scroll through the Library.

[Graeme_Smith]

iTunes lite? No apps, no podcasts, no, radio, maybe even no video. It would be useful for some users...
BTW, for having so many features I think iTunes is one of the best apps around. It may have a steep learning curve but think it's great. I wonder when iTunes 8 will come out? Maybe about 2010?

[Fawzi]

I agree with a previous poster : iSync should take care of syncing and managing address book, calendars, notes, etc. with the iPod.

I also think that people don't manage different types of media simultaneously. When you're dealing with video you're not doing audio at the same time. If the two apps aren't separated (iTunes and iFlick or whatever) at least the different media libraries should be separated and managed distinctly.

There should only be a few icons in the left column :

When you click on the music icon on the left you should get a few tabs : Library, Store, iPod,
Radio, Podcasts, Ringtones.
Same for Video ; with tabs like : Films, TV, Clips, Others, Store, iPod
And for iPod/iPhone you'd get the same kind of tabed interface within iTunes with something like Library, Apps, AppStore, Prefs, etc.

It's about time someone brings attention to the unacceptable cluttering of the iTunes interface. This is supposed to be an Apple product ! Where is the simplicity and the ease of use ?

[kimhill]

I really like iTunes. I'm not sure how much you could strip out of it while retaining necessary functionality. If you tried to split it into separate products to make each simpler, you'd do more harm than good. And Apple has the advantage of a long ramp-up with iTunes, so much of the market is already competent with it.
What I want is an "iTunes Pro." Something for the really heavy users with a more robust database for huge libraries, and more powerful management features/smart playlists, etc. I'd kill to have the Finder's nested search criteria in my smart playlists.

[alexcumbers]

I find it quite incredible that anyone has ideas about iTunes being in the least bit difficult to use. It actually represents such a sublime interface that the Mac Finder works like it, songbird the open source music program works like it, and many other third party apps work like it!

If people really think that the interface is so poor or can be improved, I'd like them to quantify exactly how !

I've found areas where usability can be improved, but the fundamental design is rock solid, uncluttered and intuitive as are more Mac apps. Using large libraries needs a proper database behind it, perhaps SQL lite, but for most library sizes, suffices.

to manage data, as in music, video, etc you need a database - iTunes is providing music database management, with the same interface as managing files and folders.

To burn as CD, you need to provide a subset of your library in some way - a playlist, which will burn and span one or more cd's

the iTunes interface stays mostly static unlike the interface shipwreck that is Windows Media Player - on Version 10 with as backward an interface as could be 'designed'

Apple does not need to have interface & menu items all over the place, because they get core design right, which makes their interfaces simpler.

If you doubt any of this, start with a blank library, import a few cd's, create a playlist & burn a cd. a couple of steps required - try that with ANY other program out there and compare the difference!!

And the comment about 'bloatware' - please get a clue.