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Daniel_ · 09-04-2010, 12:29 AM

Last night, my computer informed me that it was time to download a new version of iTunes (v10).

I have no great problem with iTunes; it's a package that does what I want in a fairly intuitive way, but leaves me enough room to tinker and fiddle with settings to get things how I want them. It's free, and rarely falls over.

I know that there are open source equivalents, and have tried a couple over the years, but frankly it doesn't offend me to be using iTunes, so I'm happy enough to carry on with it.

So - iTunes downloaded itself, and installed itself, and insisted on re-loading my library - and at over 100Gb that takes a while.

I was struck by how DULL it all is now - compared to iTunes in the past, all the colour is gone, which is actually a bit annoying, as it means you lose one of the cues to quickly click the bit you wanted - it's not a major problem, but I can't fathom why they did it.

Anyway, the next thing I notice is that there's a new thing called "ping".

Looking into it, I see that ping is some sort of social sharing system.

It's not clear what, other than the good folks at Apple seem to think me and all my friends are going to LOVE it, and want to share, and .. and ... blah .. blah .. blah....

I also notice, that acording to ping, I am only allowed to "like" a MAXIMUM of THREE genres of music! I can like Classical, Rock, and Blues - but if I try to add Pop, I have to ditch Jazz, if I want to like R&B I have to ditch Classical, and so on. So I can tell people I what I like, as long as I only like what they tell me.

I happen to count amongst my favourite records items of genres that they don't even LIST! Where's "Heavy Metal", where's "Progressive Rock", etc. etc.

So, friends, has anyone used Ping, and does anyone know the point?

09-04-2010, 12:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Daniel_ Evil Priest: The Devil Made Me Do It! Location: Southern England	iTunes ping Last night, my computer informed me that it was time to download a new version of iTunes (v10). I have no great problem with iTunes; it's a package that does what I want in a fairly intuitive way, but leaves me enough room to tinker and fiddle with settings to get things how I want them. It's free, and rarely falls over. I know that there are open source equivalents, and have tried a couple over the years, but frankly it doesn't offend me to be using iTunes, so I'm happy enough to carry on with it. So - iTunes downloaded itself, and installed itself, and insisted on re-loading my library - and at over 100Gb that takes a while. I was struck by how DULL it all is now - compared to iTunes in the past, all the colour is gone, which is actually a bit annoying, as it means you lose one of the cues to quickly click the bit you wanted - it's not a major problem, but I can't fathom why they did it. Anyway, the next thing I notice is that there's a new thing called "ping". Looking into it, I see that ping is some sort of social sharing system. It's not clear what, other than the good folks at Apple seem to think me and all my friends are going to LOVE it, and want to share, and .. and ... blah .. blah .. blah.... I also notice, that acording to ping, I am only allowed to "like" a MAXIMUM of THREE genres of music! I can like Classical, Rock, and Blues - but if I try to add Pop, I have to ditch Jazz, if I want to like R&B I have to ditch Classical, and so on. So I can tell people I what I like, as long as I only like what they tell me. I happen to count amongst my favourite records items of genres that they don't even LIST! Where's "Heavy Metal", where's "Progressive Rock", etc. etc. So, friends, has anyone used Ping, and does anyone know the point? __________________ ╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗ Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air, And deep beneath the rolling waves, In labyrinths of Coral Caves, The Echo of a distant time Comes willowing across the sand; And everthing is Green and Submarine ╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝