iTunes 7.4.2 is released – and it sucks


itunes125.jpgiTunes 7.4.2 is out. It sucks. Why? It kills the Ringtone work around, and even goes so far as to delete the Ringtones that you’ve made. Apple is getting an increasing amount of bad press for locking down iTunes, and the new iPods, and I have to say, I’m getting pretty sick of it.

It’s not so much the Ringtones thing – I’m confident that there will be continued work arounds – but honestly, it’s getting to the point where it just isn’t worth messing with. iToner may still be a good option for it, but we’ll have to see how quickly they can fix things.

What is bothering me more is the lock down of the iPods. I don’t even own one of the new iPods, and I can’t imagine a reason that I’d need to, but to lock out only certain types of accessories from working, and to make it impossible (or at least very difficult) for Linux users to put content on their devices – what is the point of that?

It’s just going to breed disdain among the Apple faithful, and give fuel to the fanboys on the other side of the fence.

You know what I think it really says about Apple? That they just flat out don’t care about the online community. I’m not saying they love us or hate us – I’m saying that I don’t think they care about us one way or the other….HOWEVER, being loud has worked with Apple in the past – anyone with $100 Apple credit because of their iPhone can attest to that. So be loud…if this gets under your skin, let Apple know about it.

You never know…they might actually listen.


Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

13 Comments

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  1. with all the things that the iPhone does, how important is it really, to be able to make your own ringtones. I see it as Apple’s quality control of their brand. They don’t want a bunch of hacked up phones out there that don’t perform the way they’re supposed to.

  2. “…, and give fuel to the fanboys on the other side of the fence.”

    I have to say that I liked that expression a lot.

  3. They are prolly getting shit on from the music labels. They make a shit load off ringtones and if Apple is already selling them for cheaper than most people they likely want every penny. There will always be a way to add ringtones to the iPhone, but I think iToner is going to have to be the way. Allowing easy access to custom ringtones is just setting up Apple for a nasty lawsuit.

  4. “iTunes 7.4.2 is out. It sucks. Why? It kills the Ringtone work around, and even goes so far as to delete the Ringtones that you’ve made.”

    The reasoning for why you say iTunes 7.4.2 sucks is irresponsible and lacks any merit. Apple has no duty to any of us to keep these hacked ringtones intact.

  5. Think of it this way: iTunes doesn’t delete music that you’ve created yourself or imported from other sources, so why should it do that for ringtones?

    I totally agree – I’m as big an Apple fanboy as anyone else who reads Apple Gazette, but even I think that they’re starting to get too big for their boots. The only thing I’m not sure about is whether it’s Steve Jobs or the record labels pulling the strings!

  6. @Scott –

    I really think you’ve taken this a little too personally. There is nothing “irresponsible” about what I said – this isn’t a speech that is going to change the world one way or another…it’s simply my opinion – and since we’re talking about opinions – it also doesn’t lack merit.

    I don’t think your opinion “lacks merit” just because I don’t agree with it.

    I do agree with you, however, that Apple has no responsibility to keep these ringtones working for us – but it still sucks – IMO.

    @Geekboy

    I think the record labels have a lot of control over it, and I think that Jobs and Co. are having to answer to them more and more.

    But you’re exactly right – iTunes doesn’t delete music that I’ve made myself, or imported from other sources, so I don’t see why it should do that to my ringtones content.

    I find it particularly upsetting since Apple doesn’t provide a place for people who WANT to give Ringtones away to be able to do so. The guys from the Totally Rad Show were perfectly willing to give away their theme song as a ringtone – so why can’t they do that?

  7. Actually it moves the self created ringtones from the ringtones section back into the regular library. I had it happen to mine and I caught it last night. Suffice it to say it sucks but Apple never said they would allow user created ringtones and VP Shiller last week said they don’t encourage or discourage hacking of the iPhone but also stated that future updates may break hacks.

    I wish the author would take an objective view rather than his own view of “Apple sucks because they broke this loophole that was not intended to be there in the first place.”

  8. Holy crap, guys. You’re going through a tonne of trouble to avoid paying an *insignificant* amount of money.

    Just pay the 99 cents and use iTunes’ ringtone maker. How cheap can you be?

    boxlight

  9. @boxlight

    I’m not trying to avoid the .99 cents. I don’t mind paying that for songs that they offer as ringtones – it’s WAY easier than any other method.

    I want different audio for ringtones that Apple doesn’t offer for the iPhone. If they made a way for me to add that audio the iPhone for .99 cents I would be happy to do that, but they don’t.

  10. @Michael, I’m curious to know why you think I took your statements personally – because I didn’t agree wth them? Nothing I said showed any personal attachment at all.

    Regardless, I still stand behind my comments. Having “iTunes 7.4.2 is released – and it sucks” show up as a headline is irresponsible and lacks merit in that the “…it sucks” part is based purely on your opinion instead of the functionality of iTunes. If the new version of iTunes was promoted as not altering or affecting any non-official ringtones and then did, then that headline would be justified.

    In the end though, it’s your blog, your opinion and you’re entitled to say what you want. But maybe rethinking your headlines or adding “Opinion: ” before headlines of posts like these would convey the appropriate context.

  11. @Scott

    You seem very passionate about it. That’s a better way of describing it, I think. When I think of someone being passionate about something, I often think they take things a little more personally than they would otherwise.

    I actually do use Opinion: most of the time – not really sure why I didn’t this time – but I see your point.

    I mainly have a bit of an issue with people telling me that I’m being “irresponsible” over something like a blog post title. I think drinking and driving is irresponsible…I think a blog post is a little to insignificant in the grand scheme of life to really be “irresponsible”. If I was spreading lies that the company was extorting funds or that they were building something they weren’t, the word might apply there, but I don’t do those things.

    Anyway, it’s more than just the ringtone thing that I find upsetting…it’s the locking down of the iPods as well…but, again, I’ll grant you that the title could be better.

    😛

  12. Let me qualify myself a bit by saying I don’t have an iPhone or an iPod and don’t use ringtunes on my cell (and in fact find them extremely annoying), but even after all that, I do find $0.99 for 15 seconds of sound kind of outrageous.

    At that price your average CD would run about $180.

  13. same as with the PSP when it comes to the iPod touch for example.

    They release a device that is basically a mini computer with endless capabilities and lock it down so they have the possibility to SELL you apps in the future before a 3rd party sells apps or gives them away for free.

    Doesn’t really surprise me. Sony did the same to their portable mini computer and made sure the device never lived up to its full potential…. i hope Apple will not make the same mistake and offer at least some of the functionality people are missing….like a mail app