Okay, so iTunes is really starting to get on my nerves.

It was already on my nerves because it seems to be incredibly slow. Even on my new spiffy mega-mondo desktop it feels bloated–it's got that bad-comedian-in-a-fat-suit slowness going on. I was all excited at the prospect of a 64-bit iTunes…but after running it for a while I wondered why it had gotten slow again. Then I discovered that the installer was the only 64-bit part. The regular iTunes was still 32. Now I'm not a technical guy (not anymore–I don't count myself in that particular club) but why in the hell would you want the installer to be 64-bit? The only reason I can come up with is that the 32-bit version wasn't playing nice with a 64-bit OS.

Anyway, so that was annoying.

Now I found today I had somehow turned on a feechur I'd never witnessed before nor desired: that of "album ratings." I have MP3s that I've pulled in from God knows where–a lot of old-time radio files, audiobooks and other things. As a result, I am missing a lot of artist and album titles (which I use this previously mentioned method to go through on the run).

[[ Continued ]]

I'm behind on blog-reading, but apparently people are shocked–shocked–that Steve Jobs thinks you should buy a new iPod every year. Here's the latest from Engadget, which is significantly less snarky than the last place I read it, but still. They seem to be treating this like it's proof that Jobs is evil or something.

First of all, I hate to break this to anyone outraged by this notion, but for fuck's sake, where have you been? Companies want you to buy their shit. Not only that, but they want you to buy it and then buy it again. Why do you think things break and you have to replace them? Forget MP3 players. When was the last light bulb that honestly lasted as long as the package said it would?

And wow, companies innovate so you want to buy the latest and greatest even if your present model is still working. This is really news. Fuck. How many times have you bought the same movie on DVD? Or if not you, somebody's buying them, so how many versions have you seen street? Forget DVDs, how many Monty Python CD compilations have you owned? Hell, I've got one called "The Final Ripoff," flaunting the fact that they had repackaged and resold stuff multiple times.

And as for an iPod being obsolete the moment you open the package, again, where have you been? Bought a PC lately? Bought a TV lately? Hell, a car?

It's called perspective. Rent some, if you can't afford to own.

P.S. The battery life on my 4G iPod is fine and I use the hell out of it. And if you don't have enough sense to buy a case to keep your unit from getting scratched, then you're an idiot. If you own an iPod, you've already decided to trade the unit's functionality and ease of use for its lack of inherent self-protection. No need to trumpet to the world you didn't think about that before you bought it.

We were in the neighborhood and I was intrigued to see what sort of Apple store could draw people to line up to get in when it opened.

The answer? The thing that makes it so special?

It's underground. And you enter through a cube-like thing above-ground.

And…that's about it. Otherwise it's just got the same stuff your local Apple store has…but ten times as much of it.

So unless you're going to be dying for some new earbuds at four in the morning on Thanksgiving, I've now saved you the trip. You're welcome.