I hate iTunes. And I think Apple does, too

John Patrick Pullen 

This was a long time ago, and iTunes has gotten long in the tooth. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith)

Around 10 years ago, exasperated by a roommate’s tech woes, I convinced the guy to dump his Windows laptop for a Macbook, promising that if he’d switch, I’d be his tech support for life. At that point, I’d been an Apple user for six years, and had showed him over and over again how “it just works” was just fact. I never had a virus to speak of, never had a problem with an audio or video card, and had never been personally crippled by a blue screen of death.

But in hindsight, after a decade of phone calls, emails, walk-throughs, and being treated like a walking, talking FAQ, I’m admitting defeat. Converting him and many other people to Apple may have been a bad idea. Of course I’m saying this after his latest question—“How do I put music on my iPhone?”—nearly made me throw my iPhone at the wall, a heck of a way to end the call.

Don’t blame my exhaustion on my friend’s lack of technological know-how or my own dwindling patience. Blame iTunes. Once the ultimate in music file management and the centerpiece to Apple’s financial turnaround, this program has evolved from a simple, dependable music player into the biggest example of bloatware in computers today. But why mince words? I hate iTunes. And I think Apple does, too.

 To figure out where this once-stellar program went so terribly wrong, you have to look at how it got to where it is today. To figure out where this once-stellar program went so terribly wrong, you have to look at how it got to where it is today. Billed as a digital jukebox, iTunes launched in January 2001 at Macworld in San Francisco. “Apple has done what Apple does best—make complex applications easy, and make them even more powerful in the process,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the time. Just nine months later iTunes 2 came out, landing alongside the iPod, the MP3 player that forever changed music.

iTunes 3 came and went, and in April 2003, iTunes 4 landed as a monumental upgrade, introducing the iTunes Music Store, as well as rolling out video support and Windows computer compatibility. The importance of these improvements can’t be overstated for Apple’s financial success, as well as for the evolution of digital media at large. With iTunes 4, millions of people were suddenly granted instantaneous access to digital downloads on demand. Apple famously sold 1 million songs in the first week, and 25 million by the end of the year. People were buying music again, no longer stealing it from the web. The Apple music ecosystem worked well, and everyone was happy. (Well, everyone except for Kid Rock.)

But as Big Download got rolling, so too did iTunes. Movies, television shows, and music videos arrived for sale with iTunes 6 in 2005, and with them came new tabs in the program for managing that content on devices. But as Apple pushed out new generations and models of iPods, iTunes also became a device manager—and not just for Steve Jobs’ gizmos. An awkward relationship between Apple and Motorola resulted in ROKR, SLVR, and RAZR, the Huey, Dewey, and Louie of music phones, and those too were administered by the jukebox app. Nike+ interacted with iTunes and iPod Nanos. AirPlay connectivity was rolled into the application, and compatible speakers could connect to the program. Front Row, a slick media management skin, even premiered—just long enough to get pushed to the background when Apple TV (also an iTunes joint) appeared with iTunes 7.

So in just a few generations, iTunes went from being a svelte piece of software to an octopus of an application—and with that, an array of problems began popping up. iTunes 7, for instance, saw 18 updates in less than 12 months. Likewise, iTunes 10 (with Ping!) had 19 updates in a year. iTunes 11, meanwhile, needed 17 patches in its 11 month life. On the bright side, things are looking better for iTunes 12—with only three releases since its rollout in October—but the launch of Apple Music could easily upend that. So, as we all laugh at Flash for its seemingly bi-weekly parade of upgrade prompts, it’s fair to ask if iTunes is any better.

All this history sidesteps the injection of the App Store into iTunes. With the launch of iOS 2, iPhone owners needed somewhere to download their various digital goodies from, and someone in Cupertino thought it would be a great idea to make iTunes that place. In the end, this decision will prove to be a fatal mistake for iTunes because it didn’t merely add another category of media to the already chubby program, it actually introduced a whole new realm of computing. And the effects of apps in iTunes have rippled across Apple’s Mac OS, from the small and annoying (like how clicking on an app’s webpage springboards iTunes to open, an undesirable effect that can take minutes to unfurl because the program now opens like a rusty zipper) to the potentially problematic (iTunes glacial performance has to be pushing casual listeners away from their owned digital media towards more nimble music experiences like Pandora and Spotify—I know it’s made me quit opening iTunes, listening to my music, and potentially buying more).

 Apple Music’s launch marks a last ditch effort by the company to stay in the game. And though Apple has pocketed billions during the swelling of iTunes, it might not work out so well for Apple in the end. Apple very nearly missed the boat as streaming music has supplanted selling it. Apple Music’s launch marks a last ditch effort by the company to stay in the game. They may never reach the music download revenue that they once did, but then again, neither will anyone else. And since the money has moved from owning to listening, the company is trying its hardest to make sure they can capture as much of that transitioning market as they can.

And this is essential for Apple because while music may not earn the company much money, it makes for great marketing. For instance, last year Apple’s gross income was just over $70 billion. During that time, iTunes generated $10.2 billion in net sales, despite a decline in digital music purchases. Though the company doesn’t provide a breakdown of apps versus media sales, the company noted in its 2014 annual report that iOS software has taken over what’s really driving iTunes now.

By comparison, hardware brought in more than a $158 billion dollars. While margins vary between media, software, and hardware (it even differs for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and iPods), using napkin math on Apple’s 70/30 profit-sharing split would ultimately push roughly $7 billion in profit from iTunes toward the bottom line. From there, keep in mind that apps are king, and you could estimate a modest $3.5 billion (if that) comes from music sales. To most companies, it’s not chump change, but to Apple it’s only 5% (again, if that) of their haul.

But this chunk of change is even more valuable when you turn it into a marketing machine. Whether it’s by squabbling with Taylor Swift or making up with Eminem, music is what keeps Apple socially relevant. And just ask Samsung—that’s something that money can’t buy. Because the real story behind Apple’s success isn’t so much music as it is stuffing hard drives past their capacity. Filling the storage space on Apple devices is key to getting consumers to buy new ones. How many times have you heard someone say that they need a new phone or laptop because their current one was full?

With the slow death of iTunes and the decline of purchased media, Apple has had to find new ways to make that happen. Doubling the size limit on apps from two to four gigabytes certainly helped, as did bulking up the size of iOS itself (temporarily crippling many eight gigabyte iPhones, a black eye for Apple). What’s stuffing phones, tablets, and computers fastest is user-generated media—photos and videos. As many a parent will attest, no gigabytes are enough to satisfy the appetite of Apple’s great iPhone cameras. But one problem for Apple is that this kind of media doesn’t pay. That is until the company launched its iCloud Photo Library, which guarantees the company a subscription revenue stream from people who have sign up. And why wouldn’t they? By putting your photos in the cloud, they remain safe and can allow you to fill your phone with more apps and media (for the few who still actually buy it).

 Apple’s new music offering will show up in an updated version of—you guessed it—iTunes. Which comes to this week’s news, the release of Apple Music. Free to stream for the first three months, and easy enough to get hooked on after that, on the desktop, Apple’s new music offering will show up in an updated version of—you guessed it—iTunes. Never mind that it will appear on the Music app on iOS (or that the Mac OS has aped Apple’s handheld apps with Mail, Maps, Photos, etc. appearing on computers). Instead, Apple is just stuffing something else into iTunes. Again.

So open up iTunes, if you can, and enjoy Apple Music. And while you’re in there, try to quickly put some of your old tracks onto your iPhone. In trying to tell my friend how to do it, I didn’t know what to say. Yes, I know there are a variety of ways to load up your library, but the guy has a legitimate gripe. He bought some CDs in the 90s, ripped them, and wanted to just pop a couple tracks onto his new phone—how hard could that be? If it “just worked,” he shouldn’t have to ask how to do it. But somewhere along the way, iTunes stopped just working. Instead, it started selling.

Ultimately, I told him to do what everyone else is doing—sign up for Spotify.

 

ZIM DESIGNER ‘CROWNED’ BY KANYE

Chipo-Mudzengi-Hwami- Zimbabwean designer based in the United States of America, Chipo Mudzengi Hwami recently reigned supreme by scoring first and third place for her designer collection Panashe´ at the Gold Thimble fashion show held in the US recently.

Chipo Mudzengi Hwami expressed her happiness for receiving these awards to The Herald Entertainment in an online interview. “My menswear won first place in the Gold thimble fashion show alongside my swimwear and active-wear received 3rd place.

The swimwear is inspired by the 1950s and the active-wear had to compliment the colours for the swimwear. I decided to add a hat and a hooded jacket to finish the looks,” she said. The award-winner was elated to have met renowned rapper Kanye West as he presented the awards to her.

“Meeting Kanye West was just the cherry on top for the night.

 I look up to him, he is a fabulous fashion designer and I couldn’t be happier to have met this man,” she said.

The “All Day” rapper Kanye West made a surprise appearance at Los Angeles Trade Technical College last Friday night to the delight of many students.

After leaving Zimbabwe for the United States, Chipo found herself in the position that many people face after moving to greener pastures. The incredible barriers and the lack of affordable, safe and reliable child care made life difficult.

 Panashe Designs was born in 2007 after a long argument with herself as she did not like the way women were represented in the fashion industry.

“Because women were constantly being reminded that they were not thin enough, I made it my mission to empower women by designing clothing that complemented their beauty from the inside and the outside, regardless of their shape and size.

I saw a gap in the fashion industry, where women were made to suffer “waistline guilt’’ — by the size-zero campaign,” she said.

Panashe´ aims to ensure that women feel confident by wearing pieces that they can relate to and that fit their needs. Chipo feels strongly that wearing right-sized clothing adds another layer to the empowerment of women.

Jamaican star Charly Black to perform in Zim

HARARE - Rising Jamaican dancehall star Charly Black is set to perform in Zimbabwe on August 8 during the Heroes Sunsplash to be hosted at Long Cheng Plaza.
Thirty-year-old Black, whose real name is Desmond Mendize, will be performing in Zimbabwe for the first time in a gig that has been put together by United Kingdom-based promoters Digital One International and Chipaz Promotions.
Digital One and Chipaz at the weekend released a video of the Buddy Buddy singer confirming his trip to Zimbabwe.
“It’s Charly and I will be performing live in Zimbabwe on the 8th of August. Big up Digital One and Chipaz Promotions. Long Cheng Plaza I will be there for the Heroes Sunsplash,” Black says in the video.
Tickets for the show have already been released. Advance tickets for the show have been pegged at $5 while those paying at the gate will have to part with $10.
Born and raised in the rural parish of Rio Bueno, Trelawny, Black began his music career in the early 2000s when he joined Bass Odyssey Sound System as a selector.
Black, along with Squingy, Dj Mark and Worm, helped cement Bass Odyssey’s place in the world as a top juggling and clashing sound system.
The sound system won many notable clashes by defeating other big competitors like Killamanjaro, Black Kat, Mighty Crown, Sound Trooper, King Addies, David Rodigan and Tony Matterhorn.
Although he remains a member of Bass Odyssey, Black has decided to pursue a career as a recording artist.
He finally got his big break towards the end of 2007 when he released his single Buddy Buddy which won him world acclaim.
With a hit song under his belt, Black, just like Matterhorn, successfully embarked on a journey of evolving from a sound system selector to recording artiste.
Since then he has been releasing songs which have made their mark on the dancehall charts throughout the world.
In Zimbabwe, Black has received a lot of airplay for such songs as Too Blessed, First Time and Ungrateful People.
On his Zimbabwe tour, Black will share the stage with Zimdancehall stars like Soul Jah Love, Seh Calaz, Kinnah, Killer T, Freeman and other rising local acts.

Midzi 'suicide' rocks Zanu PF

HARARE - The family members of Amos Midzi, a top ally of former vice president Joice Mujuru suspected to have committed suicide yesterday, have said they cannot rule out  foul play.
Midzi, 62, a former minister of Mines was found dead in his car near his farm house yesterday, a week after being suspended from President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF for allegedly plotting against the nonagenarian.
Villagers found the body of Midzi, the former Zanu PF Harare provincial chairman in his vehicle at his farm in Marirangwe near Harare.
The politician was in the backseat of his SUV, with legs stretched between the front seats.
Some blue sleeping pills were found in the vehicle.
Family spokesperson Stanley Midzi said they did not know whether he took the drugs under duress or it was out of his own free will.
“He did not leave a suicide note,” the younger Midzi told the Daily News.
Stanley said only the post mortem will reveal whether there were other drugs in his system or he had bodily injuries.
Another family member, who declined to be named, said based on findings at the scene, the conclusion can be drawn that the most likely cause of death was a crime.
Stanley, however, said he was aware that his brother was suffering sleeping disorders. He said the disorder started after Midzi was unceremoniously ostracised from Zanu PF.
“You know how the politics of the party have been going on and how he was booted out,” he said.
“For someone who had a passion for politics and someone who started politics in high school at Fletcher High School in Gweru, politics was his life and I know that he was deeply hurt with everything that happened to him.”
Stanley narrated to the Daily News how the family got to find his body after his wife, Alice, had made numerous inquiries over his whereabouts.
He said their nephew, Joel, advised them about the death.
Stanley said the farm manager called Joel in the wee hours of the morning telling him to come to the farm immediately because Midzi’s body had been spotted in the car.
When they failed to open the locked doors of his car, they smashed the windows to gain access. The car keys were initially missing, but police claim they were later found under a mat in the vehicle.
The family spokesperson said it was suspected Midzi drunk a mixture of 500 millilitres of tamaron pesticide and five midazolam tablets.
“The initial picture we have is that he committed suicide,” the distraught brother said.
“The two drugs he took are midazolam which is a sedating drug normally given to people who are having challenges in sleeping. It is also given to a patient who is going for a medical operation to sedate them.
“It is part of the medication that is used to sedate a patient before a procedure. It can also be taken by people who are having difficulty in sleeping. The other liquid was used in the treatment of tobacco called tamaron.”
Several ruling party officials said they were very affected and distraught by the premature loss of the former Zanu PF Harare provincial chairperson.
Born July 4, 1952, Midzi was part of the 89 party officials suspended from Zanu PF recently.
He was slapped with a five-year suspension for being part of the so-called “Gamatox camp” allegedly fronted by Joice Mujuru — which was accused of trying to topple Mugabe from power.
He began his political career in the late 70s and served as deputy minister from 1982, holding several ministerial portfolios after launching his political career.
As Harare chairperson, he became infamous for his fierce run-ins with his jailed rival Godwin Gomwe. First Lady Grace Mugabe later brokered a peace accord between the warring parties.
Rugare Gumbo, spokesperson for the Original Zanu PF (People First), said they had been saddened by the circumstances surrounding Midzi’s death.
“We are saddened with the untimely death,” Gumbo told the Daily News yesterday. “It came as a shock to us. Our thoughts are with the Midzi family. May his soul rest in peace.”
Gumbo said his outfit would meet over the death of Midzi before issuing out a comprehensive statement.

MDC stand to lose in by-elections

HARARE - By-elections to be held in Zimbabwe today were almost single-handedly precipitated by Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), even though the opposition party stands to lose from Zanu PF’s anticipated clean sweep of many seats.
More than 400 000 Zimbabweans are eligible to vote in these polls taking place in 16 constituencies.
They were necessitated after Tsvangirai’s party expelled 21 MPs who’d joined (yet another) breakaway faction of the MDC, this time led by the party’s former secretary general, ex-Finance minister Tendai Biti.
The seats were duly declared vacant. But then the MDC said it would boycott the polls because electoral reforms had not been carried out.
The polls are “shambolic and flawed” and the MDC will “never, ever” legitimise them by taking part, spokesman Obert Gutu said last week. Their position is weakened, analysts say, by the party’s insistence on participating in the 2013 presidential elections despite a similar glaring lack of reforms.
Tsvangirai lost those elections, and in the process, lost the hearts of many of those who’d supported him and his party so hopefully after the MDC was formed in 1999.
Some seats are being filled under a system of proportional representation.
Smaller opposition parties will field candidates in contested seats mostly in Harare, Bulawayo and the eastern city of Mutare, where locals speak of a rust-red Hummer belonging to local businessman and Zanu-PF candidate, Esau Mupfumi, doing the rounds, plastered with campaign pictures.
Other parliamentary hopefuls include a hastily-formed coalition of independent candidates.
The ruling party suspects some of the independents are linked to Tsvangirai’s party or to sacked vice president Joice Mujuru.
Mujuru has not confirmed her backing for anyone, despite an oblique hint in a statement last week that she was ready to “serve the nation”.
Mujuru also stressed then that she was enjoying having time to cook for her grandchildren.
After her humiliating ouster just after a Zanu PF congress in December and the loss of her husband in a suspicious fire four years ago, few will blame her.
Zanu PF took 160 seats in the 210-seat parliament in the 2013 polls, and now it stands to gain more.
The party of President Robert Mugabe is already triumphant.
Tsvangirai has “voluntarily” caused the vote, tweeted Information minister Jonathan Moyo, himself standing as a candidate in Tsholotsho, western Zimbabwe.
The dusty rural constituency has benefited from unprecedented attention in the last few weeks; a classroom block has been commissioned, boreholes are being sunk and the local football stadium upgraded.
The ruling party denies allegations of vote-buying.
Moyo said on Twitter this week, “Elections do benefit the electorate and that’s why democracy is good.” But the minister accused two independent candidates of trying to buy votes with elephant meat and mealie-meal donations, the media reported on Tuesday.
Analyst Pedzisayi Ruhanya said: “These elections mean nothing. The behaviour of the regime is not changing. They are elections without a choice.”
And where’s Mugabe in all this? In Egypt, as it happens.

Prophet Magaya launches housing project

Government has applauded a Harare-based cluster home project which is constructing homes in the city saying this will go a long way in fulfilling government’s thrust in providing housing to the people. Planet Africa Business Forum, an initiative of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries church launched its first phase of cluster homes project in Waterfalls where approximately 240 double storey and single storey homes are expected to be constructed by year end. Guest of honour at the official launch of the housing project, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Dr Ignatius Chombo, who was represented by the Principal Director in his ministry Retired Colonel Joseph Mhakayakora pledged to provide more land to the private firm as this will help reduce the housing back log. Planet Africa founder Prophet Walter Magaya said his church was merely taking up government’s call for indigenous players to assist in implementing the country’s economic blue print ZIM ASSET through employment creation, infrastructural development and provision of affordable housing. The first phase of the project is being done in partnership with local players who include CBZ and Stanbic banks.

Prophet Magaya Government has applauded a Harare-based cluster home project which is constructing homes in the city saying this will go a long way in fulfilling government’s thrust in providing housing to the people. Planet Africa Business Forum, an initiative of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries church launched its first phase of cluster homes project in Waterfalls where approximately 240 double storey and single storey homes are expected to be constructed by year end. Guest of honour at the official launch of the housing project, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Dr Ignatius Chombo, who was represented by the Principal Director in his ministry Retired Colonel Joseph Mhakayakora pledged to provide more land to the private firm as this will help reduce the housing back log. Planet Africa founder Prophet Walter Magaya said his church was merely taking up government’s call for indigenous players to assist in implementing the country’s economic blue print ZIM ASSET through employment creation, infrastructural development and provision of affordable housing. The first phase of the project is being done in partnership with local players who include CBZ and Stanbic banks.

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