written By : Avishek Singh
An Eulogy for iTunes
Dear Millions around the world,
At worldwide developers conference it was a quite tough moment for millions around the world when Apple officially announced the death of its 18 years old app ‘iTunes’.
Created on 9th January, 2001, iTunes brought about a revolution and changed the music industry from tip to toe. It was Steve Jobs revolutionary project. Before iTunes we had a disorganised music system in place.
Anyone who was willing to listen to all his favourite tunes at one place had to begin a task of downloading songs from illegal sites in most cases or transferring it from a CD to your computer. The whole process was certainly not meant for someone who was new to the tech field.
It was iTunes that brought songs in a more presentable way at one place and eased things up even for a newbie. And as it rose to untouched heights, it combined stores to the library and thus began to capture the world of music. With so much variety to offer like podcast, apps, rentals etc. the easiness with which one can organise and arrange music in iTunes, it became literally impractical and un-imaginable to think of anything else apart from iTunes.
So many DJs use iTunes to manage playlist and organise music. It offered one of the easiest ways to manage files among VirtualDJ, Rekordbox and Serato. Thus within years of its birth, it became the most used music player globally. The success of iTunes has much to do with foresightedness and the marketing strategy applied by .
Steve Jobs was quoted saying at the time when he launched iTunes – “iTunes is miles ahead of every other jukebox application, and we hope its dramatically simpler user interface will bring even more people into the digital music revolution,”
But as the world evolves, so does the choices and lifestyle. An 18 years old app which once had a glorified past, has been discontinued. It was always there on the cards. When Apple launched Apple Music in the year 2015, speculation began with a thud that iTunes wouldn’t last beyond 2020. Apple wants its viewers not to update the iTunes and switch their habit to Apple Music, Apple Podcast and Apple TV. The company believes that Apple Music will pick up from the place where iTunes left. iTunes is yet another casualty of the progress.
With closing of iTunes, what should you do if you are one of those who has been collecting and storing songs over the years on your devices. Much to your relief, iTunes will continue to work on I phones. iTunes on windows remains as it is as of now. iTunes app though may be shutting down but everything still remains the same. You will certainly be able to access the things you purchased. The desktop application for Mac is split into different segments, I.e Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple podcast.
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So what was wrong with iTunes: Probably everything. By saying everything you may at once think that we are being too judgemental. However, we must admit that, we are not. When the growing world has so much to offer, iTunes couldn’t match up the pace. With windows improving it’s features vastly and thus covering a large section of the globe.
In order to stay with the pace, Apple had to foresee things and take a well timed decision to discontinue Apple iTunes. iTunes was always an odd fit for music and TV. One app did too many things. It was an overburdened app. It began crashing regularly, complaints began to pour in, the app began taking a lot of buffer time and a lot more. Apple Music and Apple TV is believed to have much advanced up to date version.
So that was the end of an extremely overstuffed app which split into three new services. Good bye iTunes for all the wonderful memories.You will always be remembered for what you have offered us, how you have modified the outlook towards music and certainly how much the world has danced to your iTunes. Your loss will certainly hurt some of us nostalgically. It’s heartfelt to see an icon go away from us. A legend who so elegantly weaved the magic of it’s tune. We say you good bye for being a true friend for a decade.
