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The author should launch iTunes on Windows and realize that Apple is pulling the same kind of crap on Windows. Large companies have large egos.

JonCox 10y ago
To be fair, iTunes on Mac is also a buggy, confusing, slow and generally terrible application.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Udo_Schmitz 10y ago
The author addresses this in the article: “Good Mac apps should feel like Mac apps, and good Windows apps should do likewise. If iTunes for Windows feels like a Mac app, Apple’s doing it wrong. (One could argue Apple’s doing it wrong with iTunes everywhere, of course…)”
- ysavir 10y ago
  That's not addressing it. That's making a hollow, unqualified claim, using authoritative tone to make it sound like a proper, true absolute.
wodenokoto 10y ago
I actually think it's a pretty okay marketing strategy. If you truly believe your own interface is a selling point,then you need to show it off to people who aren't familiar with it. If iTunes truly has a superior user experience (ha!) people will think, hey wouldn't it be nice if all my apps were like that.
- tkubacki 10y ago
  "If iTunes truly has a superior user experience " It has not
  - wodenokoto 10y ago
    I thought the parenthesis made that quite clear. Anyway, in the early days of iTunes on Windows, the design and looks was a big selling point.
- yoz-y 10y ago
  But superior user experience comes in no small part from familiarity within the ecosystem. Material design on iOS is alien mainly because most iOS application behave in the same way. This is the same for Office on OSX. Since most of the OSX apps have the same look & feel, having an application that is even slightly different is jarring. On Windows though, it seems to me that most of the applications have gone the way of re-implementing their UI. This does not make iTunes on Windows any less horrible though, but it seems like a case of broken windows theory.
okket 10y ago
iTunes on Windows is mentioned in the article. Does it help that Steve Jobs hated the whole idea? Personally I'd say it was mild in comparison to the usability hell that Microsoft inflicted on Mac OS and later OS X users with its office programs.
- Marazan 10y ago
  An Steve Jobs was an idiot in this regard. iPod sales went no where until iTunes as released on Windows.
corv 10y ago
They do and the authors point stands regardless. Apple generally doesn't try porting their software, iTunes being a notable exception. Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS.
- Oletros 10y ago
  Well, Apple Music for Android is also a good example of what the author criticizes from Google. It doesn't follow material design and the position of the menus is the iOS one, not the Android one. So, if all the apps they port doesn't follow the guidelines, can we conclude that Apple is also the Microsoft of the 2010s?
- cr1895 10y ago
  >Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS. Can you clarify how it bothers you? I've found it to be not much different with my new 6S vs. my previous Sony Z3C. I feel like it has become less user-friendly on both platforms, but I don't recall significant differences between them. Apple Maps, however, I cannot put up with.
  - q-base 10y ago
    Apple Maps wouldn't be able to find itself on the homescreen of your phone. Google maps on iOS any day!
    - kagamine 10y ago
      Opposite!
    - cr1895 10y ago
      I noticed that when I was visiting NYC, there was so much more available on Apple Maps. Returning home to the Netherlands showed me again how much it sucks and is devoid of information, especially with the lack of biking directions!
  - corv 10y ago
    It's behavior is unpredictable and entirely different from all other apps on iOS. Especially hidden functions are aggravating. Google's data is superior for points of interest but the app is less integrated with the platform (e.g. lock screen, watchOS)
maguay 10y ago
Safari for Windows did as well, complete with confirmation dialogs that came out of the top toolbar like a receipt from an ATM and bubbly blue Ok buttons like OS X of its day. As a PC user who aspired to buy a Mac at the time, I happened to like it. But I'd also wager it was one of the many reasons Safari for Windows didn't really take off. But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC.
- richmarr 10y ago
  > But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC. Well played sir, now nobody who knows you from HN will ever touch your Macbook
rdsnsca 10y ago
You should read the article, he did call out Apple for pushing the Mac look to Windows with iTunes.
vthallam 10y ago
> Large companies have large egos. So true:) Apart from what's best for user experience,they tend to enforce their tech and design everywhere. But in this case, i feel material design shouldn't be an issues since it's now increasingly used on the web.

JonCox 10y ago

To be fair, iTunes on Mac is also a buggy, confusing, slow and generally terrible application.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Udo_Schmitz 10y ago

The author addresses this in the article: “Good Mac apps should feel like Mac apps, and good Windows apps should do likewise. If iTunes for Windows feels like a Mac app, Apple’s doing it wrong. (One could argue Apple’s doing it wrong with iTunes everywhere, of course…)”

ysavir 10y ago
That's not addressing it. That's making a hollow, unqualified claim, using authoritative tone to make it sound like a proper, true absolute.

wodenokoto 10y ago

I actually think it's a pretty okay marketing strategy. If you truly believe your own interface is a selling point,then you need to show it off to people who aren't familiar with it. If iTunes truly has a superior user experience (ha!) people will think, hey wouldn't it be nice if all my apps were like that.

tkubacki 10y ago
"If iTunes truly has a superior user experience " It has not
- wodenokoto 10y ago
  I thought the parenthesis made that quite clear. Anyway, in the early days of iTunes on Windows, the design and looks was a big selling point.
yoz-y 10y ago
But superior user experience comes in no small part from familiarity within the ecosystem. Material design on iOS is alien mainly because most iOS application behave in the same way. This is the same for Office on OSX. Since most of the OSX apps have the same look & feel, having an application that is even slightly different is jarring. On Windows though, it seems to me that most of the applications have gone the way of re-implementing their UI. This does not make iTunes on Windows any less horrible though, but it seems like a case of broken windows theory.

okket 10y ago

iTunes on Windows is mentioned in the article. Does it help that Steve Jobs hated the whole idea? Personally I'd say it was mild in comparison to the usability hell that Microsoft inflicted on Mac OS and later OS X users with its office programs.

Marazan 10y ago
An Steve Jobs was an idiot in this regard. iPod sales went no where until iTunes as released on Windows.

corv 10y ago

They do and the authors point stands regardless. Apple generally doesn't try porting their software, iTunes being a notable exception. Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS.

Oletros 10y ago
Well, Apple Music for Android is also a good example of what the author criticizes from Google. It doesn't follow material design and the position of the menus is the iOS one, not the Android one. So, if all the apps they port doesn't follow the guidelines, can we conclude that Apple is also the Microsoft of the 2010s?
cr1895 10y ago
>Google Maps however is rage inducing on iOS. Can you clarify how it bothers you? I've found it to be not much different with my new 6S vs. my previous Sony Z3C. I feel like it has become less user-friendly on both platforms, but I don't recall significant differences between them. Apple Maps, however, I cannot put up with.
- q-base 10y ago
  Apple Maps wouldn't be able to find itself on the homescreen of your phone. Google maps on iOS any day!
  - kagamine 10y ago
    Opposite!
  - cr1895 10y ago
    I noticed that when I was visiting NYC, there was so much more available on Apple Maps. Returning home to the Netherlands showed me again how much it sucks and is devoid of information, especially with the lack of biking directions!
- corv 10y ago
  It's behavior is unpredictable and entirely different from all other apps on iOS. Especially hidden functions are aggravating. Google's data is superior for points of interest but the app is less integrated with the platform (e.g. lock screen, watchOS)

maguay 10y ago

Safari for Windows did as well, complete with confirmation dialogs that came out of the top toolbar like a receipt from an ATM and bubbly blue Ok buttons like OS X of its day. As a PC user who aspired to buy a Mac at the time, I happened to like it. But I'd also wager it was one of the many reasons Safari for Windows didn't really take off. But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC.

richmarr 10y ago
> But man was it fun to feel like you had some of the Mac's lickable UI on a PC. Well played sir, now nobody who knows you from HN will ever touch your Macbook

rdsnsca 10y ago

You should read the article, he did call out Apple for pushing the Mac look to Windows with iTunes.

vthallam 10y ago

> Large companies have large egos. So true:) Apart from what's best for user experience,they tend to enforce their tech and design everywhere. But in this case, i feel material design shouldn't be an issues since it's now increasingly used on the web.