Posted by Kathi on 07/18/06 08:52

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 07:51:11 +1000, dorayme wrote:
> There is a lot that is not at all obvious about the software

Hi Do-Ray-Me,

Yes, for example, it was (wrongfully) "obvious" to me that, since my songs
were safe and sound inside my iPod, that when I had my Windows OS rebuilt
(yes, I know ... I should've bought a Mac) on the new hard disk, that the
iTunes software would just realize that the same iPod serial number must be
the same iPod. Why wouldn't it be the same iPod?

> I would be happy for the iPod to work like a disk and you drag
> what you want there pure and simple.

I'm with you! I drag my pictures off my SecureDigital (SD) and CompactFlash
(CF) cards all the time. I never install the Nikon or Cannon or Kodak
garbage software, nor do I even unpack the cords that come with the digital
camera. I just drag and drop pictures from the card to the hard disk and
vice versa (if desired). What could be simpler & more intuitive than that?

I am a bit dismayed that Apple, whom I absolutely revere for their
intuitive user interface, would have sunk to the levels of Microsoft in
obscuring the user interface and actually designing a harder-to-use system
than it otherwise could be. If that persists, what would be the difference
between Apple and Microsoft over time? Nothing. It must be the Marketing
folks forcing the Engineers to design iTunes beyond their convictions.

> However... one thing iTunes and iPod (and the Mac OS at least) is
> not, is completely stupid. It is devilishly stupid and clever at
> the same time, it is not just dumb! To entertain you, may I tell
> you this:

Go on....

> iTunes ... is not dumb, it has ears out for all sorts of things.

I see that my "intuitive" assumption, that drag-and-drop of MP3 songs from
the hard disk to iTunes and that simple uploading songs from the iPod to
the PC via iTunes were naive assumptions on my part. Were I an Apple
engineer (whom I hold the utmost regard for), that's how I would design the
software. But, as I said, the Marketing team may have unduly swayed the
purist engineers away from making life easy for the consumer.

I have to wonder though, if these two most-basic-of-all-my-assumptions are
proven to be so very patently false, what other most-basic-of-assumptions
are also to be dashed against the rocks of Marketing, shattering the
engineering dreams of the masses?

Kathi

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