|
|
|
October 1, 2004 - Don't let anyone tell you that the Apple iTunes application has an intuitive interface; that's simply bush. I won an iPod at an Adobe conference back in July: It was an early morning demonstration of Adobe's latest Acrobat products. When I saw the grand prize, a 15GB iPod, the feeling that I was going to win it was substantial. The Acrobat 6.0 demonstation was great, very worthwhile. There were about 50 of us; lots of interesting people. While the three consolation prizes were being awarded, I was thinking, those would be nice, but no, I'm going to win the big one. Then my name was called. I said, well, what do you know! After opening the package back home, I was disappointed that there was not a wisp of music on the device already, not even a stupid, gratuitous, miniscule Apple iPod demo theme song. How inconsiderate! I had to install the software and figure out the hardware before even getting a taste of what the iPod was all about. And it also didn't sooth me that on opening the iTune application, annoying pop-up windows seemed to imply I needed to get online as well. The little booklet and quick reference card weren't very helpful, either. It's obvious the work was outsourced to writers on some other continent. It read more like a product brocure, probably for any poor fools suddenly developing buyer's remorse. Hours of experimention and dozens of false starts later I'm now happy to report that I'm enjoying a convenient listening experience. The struggle to get there, however, makes me wonder if Apple is, in its old age, neglecting its raison d'etre, i.e., ease-of-use. -gg |