New iTunes? [Merged] *Now Available in Software Update*

[ipedro]

Originally Posted by Lvivske

pictures should be pulled from a facebook wall or twit pic API then, not some mundane image uploader which for the majority of bands will go untouched or unupdated

I agree but I think Apple has not quite given up on the idea of Ping. iTunes is in fact the ideal place for artists to share their activities, a role once held by MySpace but is increasingly fractured among many services.

I believe Apple is trying to establish iTunes as the go to place for all music related things. You can follow your artist in your own library. That's a pretty good way to do it. I doubt Apple can beat Twitter like they tried to in Ping -- artists aren't going to update their thoughts to two or more competing services -- but with photos, there really is no well established place. Creating an easy to update photo service reserved for iTunes artists that they can share to their Twitter and Facebook feeds could become the go to place for artists to share.

Steve's genius was that he made products for himself not for the money. He loved music and his enthusiasm is missed. Eddy Cue needs to build relatioships with artists and encourage the popular ones to share photos. Their managers and promoters will take care of updating concert dates and other info, but its the personal moments in an artist's life that people like to follow and are what makes Twitter successful. If today's popular artists start sharing their day to day photos on iTunes, it's going to become big real quick amongst all the other artists trying to reach those same heights.

[Lvivske]

Originally Posted by ipedro

I agree but I think Apple has not quite given up on the idea of Ping. iTunes is in fact the ideal place for artists to share their activities, a role once held by MySpace but is increasingly fractured among many services.

I believe Apple is trying to establish iTunes as the go to place for all music related things. You can follow your artist in your own library. That's a pretty good way to do it. I doubt Apple can beat Twitter like they tried to in Ping -- artists aren't going to update their thoughts to two or more competing services -- but with photos, there really is no well established place. Creating an easy to update photo service reserved for iTunes artists that they can share to their Twitter and Facebook feeds could become the go to place for artists to share.

Steve's genius was that he made products for himself not for the money. He loved music and his enthusiasm is missed. Eddy Cue needs to build relatioships with artists and encourage the popular ones to share photos. Their managers and promoters will take care of updating concert dates and other info, but its the personal moments in an artist's life that people like to follow and are what makes Twitter successful. If today's popular artists start sharing their day to day photos on iTunes, it's going to become big real quick amongst all the other artists trying to reach those same heights.

but the adoption rate will be low. bands have caught on to using facebook religiously for tour photos and other crap they want to promote; in most cases they might have their web guy just upload a set of promo photos when they set the account up on itunes and just leave it there...and it will become dated and barren, like Ping

if they're going to integrate facebook (vis a vis, instagram...which is already set up to provide a feed to Apple of tour photos as they happen) do it right, and actually use the data available to have this tight, integrated experience they're obviously driving at

uploading photos separate from facebook just seems like a remnant of ping & managing a 'ping' account, just under a new name (but without the status updates nobody read)

[Aluminum213]

the problem with ping was that is was separate from everything else, it's now basically integrated automatically into iTunes, like it should have from the beginning

[Reaktor5]

Originally Posted by Lvivske

but the adoption rate will be low. bands have caught on to using facebook religiously for tour photos and other crap they want to promote; in most cases they might have their web guy just upload a set of promo photos when they set the account up on itunes and just leave it there...and it will become dated and barren, like Ping

if they're going to integrate facebook (vis a vis, instagram...which is already set up to provide a feed to Apple of tour photos as they happen) do it right, and actually use the data available to have this tight, integrated experience they're obviously driving at

uploading photos separate from facebook just seems like a remnant of ping & managing a 'ping' account, just under a new name (but without the status updates nobody read)

I agree. Apple should have partnered with Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, last.fm, etc. Tie all of that data within your library in a tab instead of a simple picture gallery. Tour dates, updates that are super current, pictures from the band without having them do any extra work... all more beneficial to consumers and bands.

[Sound214]

I just discovered something to my disappointment: in the Swedish version of http://www.apple.com/itunes/new-itunes/ (http://www.apple.com/se/itunes/new-itunes/) the bottommost section (iCloud) is not there. This is also the case for Norway, Denmark, Finland (and perhaps more). This is probably related to us not having iTunes Match, but I would've hoped they've fixed it with iTunes 11. ****.

Update: I also noticed that, in the France version (possibly more European countries), they never mention the ability to sync position in movies, tv shows, podcasts, etc. with iCloud. Very strange.

[Peace]

Originally Posted by Sound214

I just discovered something to my disappointment: in the Swedish version of http://www.apple.com/itunes/new-itunes/ (http://www.apple.com/se/itunes/new-itunes/) the bottommost section (iCloud) is not there. This is also the case for Norway, Denmark, Finland (and perhaps more). This is probably related to us not having iTunes Match, but I would've hoped they've fixed it with iTunes 11. ****.

Fix what ? It's due to licensing not some bug.

[Sound214]

Originally Posted by Peace

Fix what ? It's due to licensing not some bug.

Yeah, of course, but somehow "fix" the licensing. They certainly can do it, it's been a year now.

[soulsteelgray]

Originally Posted by Sound214

Yeah, of course, but somehow "fix" the licensing. They certainly can do it, it's been a year now.

Unfortunately, it's not Apple's decision. I have no doubt Apple wants to offer that feature but they can't because of the various music labels and movie studios that won't allow Apple to make their material available in such a manner.

It took Sony Music Japan several years to agree to put their artists' music on iTunes, and even now it's restricted just to Japan (like fellow label avex trax). Years.

[macrem]

iTunes 10 Cover Flow is as smooth as butter on my Macs.

[Reaktor5]

Originally Posted by macrem

iTunes 10 Cover Flow is as smooth as butter on my Macs.

I have never used Cover Flow for more than 10 seconds. It looks pretty but as a way to browse music, it's style over substance for me.

[Aluminum213]

Originally Posted by Reaktor5

I have never used Cover Flow for more than 10 seconds. It looks pretty but as a way to browse music, it's style over substance for me.

Yeah, Nice in a commercial but zero practicality if you have more then 5 albums

[ekrueger24]

I have never understood the purpose of cover flow except for its aesthetics. I've had more use of the standard album view in the current iTunes and the search feature than cover flow ever gave me.

[urban19]

Originally Posted by Reaktor5

I agree. Apple should have partnered with Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, last.fm, etc.

[Cougarcat]

Originally Posted by ekrueger24

I have never understood the purpose of cover flow except for its aesthetics. I've had more use of the standard album view in the current iTunes and the search feature than cover flow ever gave me.

It's intended as a way to "rediscover" your music in a visual manner. At least, that's how Jobs spun it when it was demoed. Personally, the only useful implementation of coverflow is in safari. It makes it easy to quickly find a site which I've forgotten the name but can remember visually (this happens a lot to me.)

[Reaktor5]

Originally Posted by urban19

Discovering new music with iTunes sucks and integrating something like Last.fm would be really useful especially with something like scrobbling.

Buying them wouldn't even be a blip with the amount of cash Apple has on hand.

[Dunkaccino]

Yeah, Last.fm is great and should somehow be incorporated into the new iTunes. I digg the way last.fm tracks the tunes you listen to and then displays them in descending order in a neat concise library. I've discovered many awesome artists via last.fm I otherwise wouldn't have...Apple should scrap the sonic abortion that is Ping

[MasterHowl]

Last.fm is great.

I also love how it gives you reccomandations based on every song you listen to... Not just the ones you bought in the iTunes Store...

[Aluminum213]

I prefer spotify, my dream would be a iTunes service like spotify


But spotify has an awesome iPhone, iPad and desktop app so it's not a big deal

[Gemütlichkeit]

Will the month long delay be worth it? This Wednesday??

[Benjamin,]

Hopefully a dark theme/look as a toggle option as well.

[jordancrombie92]

going by release dates iTunes 11 could be released tomorrow

2006 tuesday... 2008 tuesday , 2009 wednesday. 2010 wednesday 2011 monday... so 2012 should be monday?

[MasterHowl]

Can't believe it's finally coming in the next 5 days.

Can't believe it's been delayed for well over 3 weeks now...

[Dr. James]

The stress is killing me.

[ck2875]

Surprisingly, getting an invite the New MySpace has satiated my desire for iTunes 11 at the moment, as Timberlake seems to have made an ideal (to me at least) social network with free music streaming and it's pretty much what I had hoped Ping. would be (though I am still very much looking forward to iTunes sometime this week).

[Pianoblack3]

I'm still unsure of the new version, from an aesthetic point of view. I wish I could keep both temporarily but I don't think you can