Apple: Cutting-Edge and Ancient

Posted February 20, 2010

Apple. Gotta love ‘em. So ahead of their time (at times). So classy and refined. I love their gear. They’ve really got a knack for well designed gadgets. If there’s an Apple version of a piece of hardware, you pretty much expect it to feel more solid, more elegant…

Uh, WTF is going on with their iTunes/App Store? It has the complete opposite feel. It’s clunky, the interface is moronic and gets in the way throughout the entire process and holy crap don’t get me started about my order history. Do they short-bus the software folks in every morning? The Amish have come up with better systems to review what you’ve purchased.

Take this oh-so-evil request of simply wondering if I already purchased (and later deleted) app X. I’m pretty sure I did, but it’s been awhile. I tried it, wasn’t impressed at the time so I deleted it. Later, after many revisions, I hear good stuff about it and think I might check it out again, especially if I can do so for free. Hmm, did I already buy it once? Good question, I’ll check my order history in iTunes. Good luck, pal. Your purchases are grouped oddly, slapped together on the same lines as other things, no rhyme or reason to it. It’s not even text you can extract and search through. It’s the weirdest lump of crap I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing. There may be a better way, but I haven’t found it. (Oh, if you suggest I just don’t delete something so I know for sure…uh, no. I can’t do that. My twisted little OCD tendencies prevent that sort of rational approach. Thanks for playing, though.)

Ah damn, I did get started on that. Sorry…

Point it, iTunes doesn’t feel like an Apple product. It’s popular. That’s not really saying much, though. Sigh.