Time to Right the Syncing Ship ⇥

Jason Snell:

If Apple’s going to embrace the cloud wherever possible, it needs to change iTunes too. The program should be simpler. It might be better off being split into separate apps, one devoted to device syncing, one devoted to media playback. (And perhaps the iTunes Store could be broken out separately too? When Apple introduced the Mac App Store, it didn’t roll it into iTunes, but gave it its own app.)

Snell is right to complain about today’s bloated iteration of iTunes, but I disagree here. Every time I’ve thought about this, I’ve been struck by how much more complicated this would be for users. Buying music in one app, using another to play it, and a third to put it on your devices is convoluted at best. Using iTunes in the cloud, you could eliminate the third step, but you would need to download hundred-megabyte-plus content multiple times, which is even slower. This is without even considering the Windows version.

I do agree, however, that iTunes needs to be fixed. I think a potential solution might include a Mac App Store-esque tab view in the title bar, splitting the app into its various functions. When browsing through movies, for example, one rarely needs playlists. Certainly playlists are not necessary when viewing applications. Why are they visible? Can’t the sidebar serve a higher purpose of navigating within a specific function?