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Is it just me, or...

R

rattletrap99

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 4, 2008
7
0
...is this syncing/iTunes/iCloud business just plainly a nightmare that many, perhaps out of loyalty, are not willing to admit?

Let me preface this vent by saying that I've been a happy, loyal and enthusiastic Mac user for 23 years. I own a 13" MBP, which I love, and recently bought an iPad 2, which I REALLY love. I'm absolutely stunned at the incredible power Steve Jobs (RIP) and his people have put at our fingertips.

But this file management mess between the MBP and the iPad is just plain insupportable. I'm guessing that the fact that iTunes is acting as a clearinghouse for a hodgepodge of file management tasks reflects a legacy thing from the days of the first iPods, when music only was involved. What else explains having to use a dedicated music program to shuttle a painting created in ArtRage from the iPad to my main machine where i can refine it? And indeed, if iTunes is the defacto major domo in this cluster****, why does iPhoto open when I plug the two together? I approach syncing the way a wise soldier approaches a minefield. My every attempt to take control of the process is attended by a dire warning that all the songs, videos, whatever will be expunged from my iPad.

And so, gratefully absorbing the ad campaign leading up to their release ("Wireless syncing" ""All your documents, on all your devices"), I looked forward to IOS 5 and iCloud with the rising hope of a desert wanderer spotting a palm tree on the horizon. Unfortunately, like many a palm, it turned out to be a mirage. iCloud merely adds to the confusion.

OK, end of rant.

By way of constructive criticism, why doesn't Apple design and build a clean, uncluttered control panel (not iTunes) for both devices with buttons like this:

Do you want to move stuff from the MacBook Pro to the iPad? <Click Here>

Do you want to move stuff from the iPad to the MacBook Pro? <Click Here>

Do you want to move stuff from iCloud to:

iPad? <Click Here>

MacBook Pro? <Click Here>

Songs? <Click Here>

Movies? <Click Here>

Documents? <Click Here>

Really, does this business have to be this crazy, or is it just me?

Thanks,

Tim
 
I know right? It's rather perplexing that any movement of files between computer and iOS device must be administered through a music program. I don't understand why they havn't built a fully fledged iOS file transfer system.
 
I agree 100%. Apple's desire to move everyone away from traditional filesystems is, IMO, the company's biggest misstep. Especially on a device as powerful as the iPad, it simply shouldn't be so hard to move files around both to and from your computer and even between different programs on the iPad itself.

I rarely sync my iPad and wind up using dropbox for files that I need to move back and forth. I'm also jailbroken so that I can use iFile to poke around.
 
Dangerous Theory said:
I know right? It's rather perplexing that any movement of files between computer and iOS device must be administered through a music program. I don't understand why they havn't built a fully fledged iOS file transfer system.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the support, you guys. Really, I thought i was just an errant thinker.

You know what really bugs me? The fact that this forum isn't bursting with outrage over the topic. I wonder if we haven't reached a phase where Mac users, rather than being the free-spirited bohemians we like to think we are, have become gray sheep, content to let a Big Brother conglomerate decide our course for us. Unimaginably ironic, if you think back to that ground-shaking 1984 Super Bowl ad that introduced the Mac. Hell, I got thrown off of Apple's own iPad forum for posting a milder version of this rant.

Maybe the wheel has come full circle.
 
I agree with you completely, being an iTunes user since the iPod Classic release I've sort of become acustomed to the way iTunes worked, and I stopped complaining after prolonged use..
 
And this is the very reason so many of us jailbreak. You have complete access to your files, can move them when and where ou want and with dropbox, I can access my stuff from any computer, phone or tablet, regardless of manufacturer.
 
Mac.World said:
And this is the very reason so many of us jailbreak. You have complete access to your files, can move them when and where ou want and with dropbox, I can access my stuff from any computer, phone or tablet, regardless of manufacturer.
Click to expand...

I avoided jailbreaking, waiting to see what iOS 5 would bring. Now that I've seen it, can someone please direct me to the appropriate jailbreak website? I'm guessing there are more than one, so all recommendations appreciated.
 
Nope, it's not just you.

iTunes has gone from being a nice music player (in 2001) to a huge pig of an application that combines a music and video player/iDevice manager/media store/mobile application store today.
 
there is no JB for iOS5 for the ipad2. hence why i am not touching iOS5.

agree with all the other posters, the current itunes is a horrible way syncing/getting data on your ipad. icloud doesn't make it much better.

rattletrap99 said:
I avoided jailbreaking, waiting to see what iOS 5 would bring. Now that I've seen it, can someone please direct me to the appropriate jailbreak website? I'm guessing there are more than one, so all recommendations appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
rattletrap99 said:
Is it just me
Click to expand...
The answer is always no, regardless of question. Think of the odds. What's the likelihood that you're the only person in a world of ~7 billion with a unique opinion. Please use a descriptive subject. "Is it just me" is not descriptive.
 
rattletrap99 said:
I avoided jailbreaking, waiting to see what iOS 5 would bring. Now that I've seen it, can someone please direct me to the appropriate jailbreak website? I'm guessing there are more than one, so all recommendations appreciated.
Click to expand...

Nope. No good jailbreak yet for the iPad running ios5. The dev team are making some improvements, saw an update last night, but the untethered jailbreak is still a bit off. Tethered jailbreaks are crap IMO.
 
I think it works like a charm and have not been experiencing any problems so far.
 
Is it worse or better...

Is iCloud worse or better than MobileMe?

I have NONE of the iCloud problems listed here because... I admit... I am somehow addicted to the predictable crap that is MobileMe and scared to go to iCloud.

Should I upgrade or not?
 
brookshanes said:
Is iCloud worse or better than MobileMe?

I have NONE of the iCloud problems listed here because... I admit... I am somehow addicted to the predictable crap that is MobileMe and scared to go to iCloud.

Should I upgrade or not?
Click to expand...

I'm facing the same dilemma. MobileMe mostly works for me now and I'm hesitant to trade something acceptable for something worse in a quest to achieve better.

----------

iTunes has evolved from being a useful jukebox application to becoming the single most annoying program that I run on my Mac.

Apple needs to remove the file management role from iTunes and give it its own, elegantly designed application. Apple could do an amazing job with such an app.
 
Moof1904 said:
I'm facing the same dilemma. MobileMe mostly works for me now and I'm hesitant to trade something acceptable for something worse in a quest to achieve better.

----------

iTunes has evolved from being a useful jukebox application to becoming the single most annoying program that I run on my Mac.

Apple needs to remove the file management role from iTunes and give it its own, elegantly designed application. Apple could do an amazing job with such an app.
Click to expand...

My point exactly! The current situation is grossly counterintuitive, not to mention fraught with peril for the unwary. It defeats what I've always loved about macs--the lack of necessity to stack BBs. File management with iTunes/iCloud is an exercise in stacking them in tall, crumbly columns.
 
I found it confusing for the first week or so and I set up some things that I wish I hadn't (like cloud sync and wifi iTunes sync), but now that I am over the learning curve, it is starting to make sense and I'm pretty happy with the new functionality that the cloud brings. To be fair, I spent a big part of last week at technology in education conference playing with iPods and iPads, so I've had more play time than many users. I'm really enthusiastic about the applications of the cloud in education. It will dramatically simplify the management of class sets of iPads and iPods.

I agree that iCloud is unusually complex for Apple products, but then integrating a combination of iTunes and iCloud is very complex with many different permutations. Apple could have simplified by eliminating iTunes from the mix, but this would have alienated many users.

For the past couple of weeks my advice to non-technical people has been "get a geek to help you update to iOS 5". It's not really the updating, it is all the questions and iCloud settings.:eek:

So it's not just you! :D
 
Last edited:
That's what I always tell my friends. The biggest disadvantage of iDevices is the inability to get away from iTunes. It messes things up way more than it helps.
 
Pete the Geek said:
I found it confusing for the first week or so and I set up some things that I wish I hadn't (like cloud sync and wifi iTunes sync), but now that I am over the learning curve, it is starting to make sense and I'm pretty happy with the new functionality that the cloud brings. To be fair, I spend a big part of last week at technology in education conference playing with iPods and iPads, so I've had more play time than many users. I'm really enthusiastic about the applications of the cloud in education. It will dramatically simplify the management of class sets of iPads and iPods.

I agree that iCloud is unusually complex for Apple products, but then integrating a combination of iTunes and iCloud is very complex with many different permutations. Apple could have simplified by eliminating iTunes from the mix, but this would have alienated many users.

For the past couple of weeks my advice to non-technical people has been "get a geek to help you update to iOS 5". It's not really the updating, it is all the questions and iCloud settings.:eek:

So it's not just you! :D
Click to expand...


To give Apple it's due, and having done a bit of hobbyist programming myself, I can understand the attraction of not reinventing the wheel. But it's been what, 10 years since the first iPods came out. Seems like they should have begun considering other file management approaches as soon as it became possible to store something besides tunes on iTunes. Even now, I'll forgive them if rumors start circulating about work on a standalone, streamlined system dedicated to file handling. I'll go so far as to offer to design the graphics for free, even though they haven't actively sought my advice thus far. :)
 
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