4 ms·

"Apple’s ability to make software solid and simple has come under attack" I don't actually recall Apple's software being any better or worse than the competiti

"Apple’s ability to make software solid and simple has come under attack" I don't actually recall Apple's software being any better or worse than the competition after OS 6. The fact is that ALL software, including Apple's is confusing and hard to use. You just have to watch normal people trying to use computers and phones to understand that. It's not at all surprising that Apple have simply reverted to the mean. But this isn't a new thing. iTunes has been a constant bafflement since its release - and so has pretty much all complex Apple software.

charlesism 10y ago
> iTunes has been a constant bafflement since its release My memory must be suffering because I recall the first versions of iTunes being extremely simple. It was a list of music, and you could play said music. You stuck in a CD, and it would rip it for you. Very little else else. Then they bolted on: a music store, iPod sync, podcasts, video player, library sharing, social network, iPhone + app management... etc etc etc.
- cmurf 10y ago
  Exactly, it became a dumping ground for things that weren't goign to get their own app. It's hideous, I've stopped using it entirely.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  I wonder if all that happened because it is Apple's beachhead in the Windows ecosystem. We may be observing the same with how Google chrome has gotten more and functionality added over time.
rayiner 10y ago
iOS is easy enough for my mom to use, which I can't say of anything before it. Although it's definitely gone downhill in the last few years incorporating Android and Windows Phone features such as swipe-ins, hidden chrome, and other non-discoverable brain damage.
- charlesism 10y ago
  If your mom understands iCloud, I'm impressed.
  - rayiner 10y ago
    iCloud is crap, but she doesn't need to understand it to use her iPhone and iPad effectively. Heck, even I don't use it except for backups.
    - charlesism 10y ago
      Fair enough. It's a bit of a sore point for me, because when my mum asks me for help with her iPhone I find I often either don't know, or can't explain, Messages and iCloud behavior. Trying to explain what constitutes a Messages account, even if you understand it yourself, is a nightmare.
      - rayiner 10y ago
        What gets us is the rules for when you can log onto different iTunes accounts on the same device we have quite a bit of content my mom bought for our daughter that's sitting in her account unusable.
        charlesism 10y ago
        I have similar problems updating my AppStore purchases. I bought them with two accounts. Every time a software update is available (which is most days) I have to log into two accounts. The requirement that I switch to the appropriate country's store is pretty annoying.
noam87 10y ago
> iTunes has been a constant bafflement since its release. Back when I was on Mac (~2007), iTunes was extremely simple. There was a left menu with playlists and artists, a top menu with settings like "import", and a bunch of familiar play/stop buttons. You would plug in your iPod, and it took you to an iPod screen with a set of minimal options (sync all / select sync). It was simple as an old-timey jukebox. Last week, six years later [1], with 3 years of professional software development under my belt (on supposedly user-unfriendly Linux), I tried to help my girlfriend change playlists on her iPod... I was utterly baffled. Hidden menus everywhere, secret right-click and guess the magic word drop-downs... I felt like an idiot. I can't imagine grandpa understanding this software. Worst of all, it was sloooow. Meanwhile my (non-techie) mom does just fine on Ubuntu; which will run blazing fast on any tin box. (I can tell the same story about connecting my System76 laptop to the the workplace printer, vs. my coworker's MacBook.) --- [1] Scrap that... 10 years later. Jesus Christ. Get off my lawn.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Oddly i would have expected both products to use CUPS for their printing...
beamatronic 10y ago
I used iTunes on Windows back in 2003-ish, it was actually a pleasure to use - fast and simple. I recall actually wishing that Apple would use this GUI to build more Windows apps!

charlesism 10y ago

> iTunes has been a constant bafflement since its release My memory must be suffering because I recall the first versions of iTunes being extremely simple. It was a list of music, and you could play said music. You stuck in a CD, and it would rip it for you. Very little else else. Then they bolted on: a music store, iPod sync, podcasts, video player, library sharing, social network, iPhone + app management... etc etc etc.

cmurf 10y ago
Exactly, it became a dumping ground for things that weren't goign to get their own app. It's hideous, I've stopped using it entirely.
digi_owl 10y ago
I wonder if all that happened because it is Apple's beachhead in the Windows ecosystem. We may be observing the same with how Google chrome has gotten more and functionality added over time.

rayiner 10y ago

iOS is easy enough for my mom to use, which I can't say of anything before it. Although it's definitely gone downhill in the last few years incorporating Android and Windows Phone features such as swipe-ins, hidden chrome, and other non-discoverable brain damage.

charlesism 10y ago
If your mom understands iCloud, I'm impressed.
- rayiner 10y ago
  iCloud is crap, but she doesn't need to understand it to use her iPhone and iPad effectively. Heck, even I don't use it except for backups.
  - charlesism 10y ago
    Fair enough. It's a bit of a sore point for me, because when my mum asks me for help with her iPhone I find I often either don't know, or can't explain, Messages and iCloud behavior. Trying to explain what constitutes a Messages account, even if you understand it yourself, is a nightmare.
    - rayiner 10y ago
      What gets us is the rules for when you can log onto different iTunes accounts on the same device we have quite a bit of content my mom bought for our daughter that's sitting in her account unusable.
      - charlesism 10y ago
        I have similar problems updating my AppStore purchases. I bought them with two accounts. Every time a software update is available (which is most days) I have to log into two accounts. The requirement that I switch to the appropriate country's store is pretty annoying.

noam87 10y ago

> iTunes has been a constant bafflement since its release. Back when I was on Mac (~2007), iTunes was extremely simple. There was a left menu with playlists and artists, a top menu with settings like "import", and a bunch of familiar play/stop buttons. You would plug in your iPod, and it took you to an iPod screen with a set of minimal options (sync all / select sync). It was simple as an old-timey jukebox. Last week, six years later [1], with 3 years of professional software development under my belt (on supposedly user-unfriendly Linux), I tried to help my girlfriend change playlists on her iPod... I was utterly baffled. Hidden menus everywhere, secret right-click and guess the magic word drop-downs... I felt like an idiot. I can't imagine grandpa understanding this software. Worst of all, it was sloooow. Meanwhile my (non-techie) mom does just fine on Ubuntu; which will run blazing fast on any tin box. (I can tell the same story about connecting my System76 laptop to the the workplace printer, vs. my coworker's MacBook.) --- [1] Scrap that... 10 years later. Jesus Christ. Get off my lawn.

digi_owl 10y ago
Oddly i would have expected both products to use CUPS for their printing...

beamatronic 10y ago

I used iTunes on Windows back in 2003-ish, it was actually a pleasure to use - fast and simple. I recall actually wishing that Apple would use this GUI to build more Windows apps!