[Bryson]

There doesn't seem to be a thread for this one yet. What are your initial impressions?

The reliance on "what your friends are buying on iTunes" seems a bit like a cynical way to drive iTunes sales. I can't see it being that sucessful.

Also "Ping"? All I can think of is testing network connections.

[PB PM]

I think one word sums up Ping in my mind, fail. Why, adding more clutter to the iTunes system? They throw Ping in there as if there isn't enough crap in iTunes already!

[Robo]

Hahaha, nobody cares about Ping

It's not that it's a bad feature — I can imagine some people will really enjoy it, and it will obviously help Apple sell songs — but what iTunes needs wasn't more features. What iTunes really needs is a top-down rethinking, and it didn't get that. Ping just adds to the clutter.

What I was really hoping for was iTunes X, not iTunes 10. There's a subtle but important difference there, based on Apple's nomenclature. I was kind of hoping for a streamlining, with any major new features going into a future "this one goes to 11" release. Instead, we get TV show rentals and Ping, which seeks to monetize the social crowdsourced open web, or whatever. 2.0. Beta.

[nikstar101]

I agree, iTunes is severely overloaded at the moment and adding more isn't what the doctor ordered!

Apple have painted themselves into a corner, by using iTunes to act as the sync agent for everything plus listening and buying music, movies and apps. I must admit that the latest version 9.2 is actually an improvement speed wise compared to the previous incarnations but still i agree that it need a top down re-think about what is should and shouldn't do. Like Jonny Ive said sometimes good design means removing features.

Put iPhone syncing back into iSync (except for music/video), control photo syncing from iPhoto and for activation etc.... i have no idea! I guess a lot of PC and basic Mac users like the one-stop-shop that is iTunes and removing functionality or moving to different apps would just confuse them. But for the rest of us, it is killing iTunes.

[PB PM]

The real reason behind putting it all in iTunes is Windows users who want "i" products. To solve this either everyone needs to switch to Macs (not going to happen) or Apple makes another Windows app iTunes + Sync. Of course Windows users seem to love apps that are rolled together, while Apple users tend to like separate apps.

[nikstar101]

Originally Posted by PB PM The real reason behind putting it all in iTunes is Windows users who want "i" products. To solve this either everyone needs to switch to Macs (not going to happen) or Apple makes another Windows app iTunes + Sync. Of course Windows users seem to love apps that are rolled together, while Apple users tend to like separate apps.

I knew this would be Windows users fault!

[Bryson]

The BBC News site reported Ping as "Apple Launches MySpace Competitor".

Damning with faint praise?

[Kaelri]

Originally Posted by PB PM The real reason behind putting it all in iTunes is Windows users who want "i" products. To solve this either everyone needs to switch to Macs (not going to happen) or Apple makes another Windows app iTunes + Sync. Of course Windows users seem to love apps that are rolled together, while Apple users tend to like separate apps.

Heh. Speaking as a Windows user, I'd really prefer a light, independent Sync app combined with a stripped-down iTunes. (I'm curious to hear what you're thinking of when you say Windows trends toward rolled-together apps. I can't think of any among the apps I have installed, but that may just reflect my software tastes.) Really, though, I'd love to get apps, movies and photos out of iTunes' overhead as much as anyone here. It's absurd that it's occupying 200 MB of memory right now and it's not even playing anything.

[PB PM]

I'm speaking of the average Windows users, not people like us who hang out on computer chat forums. It is a perception I have from the majority of people I know who use Windows.

[Robo]

Outlook vs. Mail + iCal + Address Book is one that instantly springs to mind.

Not that one way is necessarily "better" than the other. Not trying to diss Windows, or Windows users, or anything. But I would like to be able to run syncing software only when actually syncing something, and a super-light audio player for serving up tunes in the background.

[Kaelri]

Originally Posted by PB PM I'm speaking of the average Windows users, not people like us who hang out on computer chat forums. It is a perception I have from the majority of people I know who use Windows.

Originally Posted by Robo Outlook vs. Mail + iCal + Address Book is one that instantly springs to mind. Not that one way is necessarily "better" than the other. Not trying to diss Windows, or Windows users, or anything.

Oh, hell, I'll do it for you.

One of the things that makes us different from the Mac community is that Microsoft actually has very little relationship with its users. We are not opting into the "Windows experience" so much as kidnapping and brainwashing it for our own myriad purposes. (That, by the way, is not the diss. I like that my OS lets me rebuild it with a screwdriver if I don't like how it came from the store.) The diss is this: we have ten thousand different software choices in any given category, but the one you almost never find someone using voluntarily is the system default. I've spent my life on PCs since 1994, when my family bought our first desktop, but I honestly couldn't tell you what Outlook even looks like. OS X has an indisuptably superior suite of built-in productivity apps, and I don't know for sure, but I suspect it's also easier for third-party services to access and synchronize with your communications and media databases. Microsoft really tried to do that around the Win2k/XP era, but they made the mistake of dumping everything into the Kafkaesque landfill that is the Windows registry - the result of which is that for integrated suites like Google, which step in to fill Microsoft's gap, it's easier to sync data between apps through the cloud than on your own system. So, part of the reason I asked is because the way Microsoft designs applications is not a good indicator of how actual human beings use their OS - that is, those who have some awareness of third-party alternatives, and aren't prohibited by their schools or employers from taking advantage of them.

Anyway. What Apple's done with iTunes is a few steps too far, even by Microsoft standards. For me, it evokes the mental image of a child from a landlocked nation standing on the ocean shore, afraid to dip his toes in the cold water. Apple doesn't want to deal with Windows' framework, follow its interface guidelines, or spread things across multiple processes and live at the mercy of REGs and DLLs and other foreign acronyms. They'd rather keep all their boats in iTunes' harbor and keep the savage natives outside the gates. And for some reason, they're punishing you guys along with us. This needs a top-down design purge, starting with the guy who thought a media player was the perfect front-end for a social network, as opposed to, you know, a browser.

Here's hoping OS XI and iTunes XI herald winds of change.

[Wrao]

I've always loved idly browsing the iTunes music store, following links and being led around into new music. Viewed strictly as a music discovery device, I think Ping stands to be very useful. Already in just a few minutes of playing around with it, I saw a wealth of user-generated information about albums that I might want to check out. That's neat to me. I think Apple is wrong to sell it as a 'social network for music', I'd just prefer to think of it more like 'apple genius, with users'.

[Hassan i Sabbah]

Ping is shit.

It took a look at my library of avant garde jazz, contemporary classical music, heavy funk and experimental sound artists and recommended I follow Yo Yo Ma, U2, Lady fucking Ga Ga and Linkin Park.

What is the point of this. Will it learn? Do I have to train it?

[Noel]

Originally Posted by Hassan i Sabbah Ping is shit. It took a look at my library of avant garde jazz, contemporary classical music, heavy funk and experimental sound artists and recommended I follow Yo Yo Ma, U2, Lady fucking Ga Ga and Linkin Park. What is the point of this. Will it learn? Do I have to train it?

It's recommending them to everyone. Pretty sure they only have about 15 artists on there so far.

[Hassan i Sabbah]

Oh, OK then.

[Mac+]

I set it up yesterday and noticed that when it dislayed album covers the default option only chose from purchases made on iTunes. (Disclaimer: I didn't spend a great deal of time with it and may have missed some aspect about this feature.)

Since I haven't bought that much from the iTS the selection wasn't truly representative. I understand that this tool will be used to boost sales, but as a bonafide recommendation tool I would have hoped it scanned my entire library with cover art and made selections that way.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Bryson Also "Ping"? All I can think of is testing network connections.

Since I'm a (the?) branding whore 'round these parts, I have to chime say that I love the name. It's short and catchy and pleasant-sounding, and clever to boot. It's better than most imaginable alternatives ("iBuzz"? Ugh).

In fact, it's actually a bit too perfect. I already use the word in that context occasionally ("Is X a good book/movie/restaurant/&c.?" "Idunno, lemme ping my friends and find out") and now I'll feel like a corporate shill.

The only problem is that Apple didn't secure ping.com, which could be an issue if they ever want to introduce a web interface to Ping. But I suppose as long as the iDevices have it, that's probably good enough.

[GOLDFRAPP]

How does one register as an artist?