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Steve Jobs Refused to Bring iPod & iTunes to PC Without Walt Mossberg's Blessing
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definitely a decent read - it picks up on my minor gripes, which now, i realize, add up to one big nagging issue that is bigger than the sum of its parts: iCloud/internet connectivity really did mess things up for PC users. it's not reliable, and splintered many core features into little sub features that often don't add to the experience, but make it more diluted and multi-tiered when it once was truly linear. after a while, i just disabled any and all iCloud integration to A) whittle down categories i'd never have wished upon myself (the photo stream/albums/recents/events/godknowswhatelse fiasco comes to mind) and B) cement myself as a user with core needs and no desire to consume in as many possible ways as possible. i'm a content creator - and i think it's time apple split it's entire business model up in a more stark and discerning way: a simple question when setting up devices and PCs would suffice to start: Do you want to store your personal, precious materials in the Cloud and find as many ways to purchase and consume things? Y/N?
a well tapped NO would bring those of us desiring a linear hassle-free workflow an emancipation from frivolous new implementations of countless new options and cloud based/internet controlled fragmentation. there really is no need to cater to soccermoms and hardcore 3d visual pros with the same OS anymore. once upon a time only computer people had computers. now everyone does, so they've been trying to keep us together when we've all parted ways with the other half.
If Steve Jobs would have tested iTunes on a Windows PC himself, he would never have dared, asking Walt to test it.
He would have fired his entire Windows software dev team. personally. one by one.
He would have fired his entire Windows software dev team. personally. one by one.
Yes, but every great coach knows when to punt on 4 and 1 and when to go for it. Punting isn't always the wrong move, and when you have a strong willed person like SJ effectively saying I'm too emotionally tied to this or I'm not 100% certain about this, and seeking out independent counsel, that IS leadership over egoship. I wish TC was more like that. He seems to be all hyped up and ready to go for it on 4 and 1 every single time Apple has a great idea not quite market ready. Most of the time he gets blitzed.
So the gist is what Steve did was 1) not want to implement iTunes on the PC, 2) say "keep trying", and 3) wanted to put multi-touch on the phone, but at the time it was only available on a huge ping-pong sized table.
Somebody remind me where's the genius again? Seems to me it was in the developers, and Steve just chose what he liked.
Somebody remind me where's the genius again? Seems to me it was in the developers, and Steve just chose what he liked.
You say that but iTunes for Windows only made Apple the mega company it became. It could have never achieved it's success on Mac-only iTunes. And then there would likely never have been an iPhone b/c the company would have remained niche at best.
It was mine too. It's funny because I never bothered with an MP3 player before I got my first iPod in 2005. I'd seen others, I even bought a Sony MP3 player for an EX boyfriend but it was only the iPod that I wanted and got.
Imagine if the itunes never came to windows. I might not be using an iPhone today.
It's pretty much a known fact his genius wasn't technical. His genius was his ability to will, cajole, bully, inspire, and/or motivate people to do the best job they could even when they thought the job was impossible.
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For me it was actually the iPod classic and a windows pc that eventually brought me to owning a Mac. It only took about 5 or 6 yrs but eventually I got my first Mac mostly because I was sick and tired of the viruses mostly adware. However I will say that Windows and iTunes never worked good for me it usually took 5 mins to connect my iPod classic and for iTunes to open and connect using Windows. Now with the Mac it's instantaneously.
I am ok with Apple having had success with iTunes for Windows. But that's not my point.
My point is:
iTunes for Windows is a horribly unreliable product.
Definitely one of THE worst Windows applications I know. Developed by Apple.
It consumes a lot of system resources, behaves very slow and unpredictible, crashes often and needs to be updated multiple times a month. manually, with administrator privileges, because there is no service installed to hot-patch only necessary files in the background.
clearly an administrator's nightmare.
iTunes does install a couple of Windows services, that offer no advantage besides slowing your entire system down and making the entire process of connecting an iPhone to the PC a game of luck.
So from a technical perspective, iTunes is on par with Adobe Software. Just a lot more likely to crash, cause problems with existing software or give headaches trying to update.
I remember times, when it was the other way around.
I remember getting my iPod in 2003 and the cable included with it being FireWire. My Compaq (Yeah... 
) at the time didn't have it so I had to use my parents then new HP to sync my music until they could get me a USB cable. Now we're at USB-C...
I don't remember iTunes on Windows being good or bad.
I was using a Pocket PC at the time all the iPod phone concepts were coming out, so to me they were just weird.
) at the time didn't have it so I had to use my parents then new HP to sync my music until they could get me a USB cable. Now we're at USB-C...I don't remember iTunes on Windows being good or bad.
I was using a Pocket PC at the time all the iPod phone concepts were coming out, so to me they were just weird.
what I find interesting is the ping pong table sized touch screen. Makes me wonder what Apple is working on behind the scenes that never made the light of day.
Also, I wonder if Tim is so involved in the final product, and pushing the team like Steve did.
Also, I wonder if Tim is so involved in the final product, and pushing the team like Steve did.
I got that in your original post. Fully understand iTunes for Win was not the same quality product as the Mac version when it first released, and then some. My point is that it wasn't so bad for Win users that it stopped them from adopting the iPod in droves. To not have released it when Apple did because it wasn't as smooth and dependable as the Mac version would have been a serious mistake because it was the only way the iPod was going to grow.
Actually, it points out how much parallel R&D goes on. Everyone and their brother has been working on touch systems for decades, table and hand sized, multi-touch and even multi-user touch. The general public doesn't know much about this history, though.
I think the popular notion of it really started with Tron's 1982 touch desk:
And of course, 1987's Star Trek - TNG:
By 2001 or so, there were multi-user/touch desks available if you had the money. By 2006, the year before the iPhone was revealed, you could even buy a simplistic multi-touch bar top:
Also by 2006, full screen and multi-touch concept phones, some with features such as pinch zoom, were all the rage:
It was even predicted that capacitive touch screens would begin to take over the mobile market in 2007.
Out of all this, Apple had two huge advantages: 1) no legacy phones that required non-touch support etc, and 2) a CEO who wanted to break into the market in a big way, and who was willing to cannibalize his current iPod market if necessary.
OTOH, Microsoft, whose R&D sections not only had the Surface multi-touch table well along, but also had the incredible Courier dual display tablet in the works, just plain blew it by wanting to protect their legacy Windows products. They marketed the Surface to hotels, and shut down the Courier project.
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I believe there's truth in that statement. Had SJ stuck to keeping the iPod and iTunes exclusive Apple features, the Windows world would have introduced their own versions of these technologies not long after, and Apple would have lost the gigantic momentum towards Apple Products and Services that followed the Windows versions of iPod and iTunes.
Of course the conversion of syncing from FireWire to USB was a necessary component of that change.
iTunes on Windows was my gateway drug to an iPod, which was my gateway drug to the Mac.
I'm sure I'm not alone in that journey.
I'm sure I'm not alone in that journey.