Sunday February 1

iTunes is no fun

I've been using and loving iTunes for a long time now, but the longer I use it, the more I begin to wish that it made it more fun to browse my music collection.

I have hundreds and hundreds of albums to choose from, and the only view I have on those albums is a very dull and mechanical text list. When I'm digging for new music to listen to, nothing stands out. Just names upon names upon names. On the other hand, when I used to keep my CDs in a giant tower, it was fun to twist it around and scan for an album cover that piqued my imagination. The richness of album art does a lot to remind me of the music behind it, but yet this sense of visual association is completely lost in iTunes.

It would also be fun if iTunes could visually and aurally present parts of my collection in view that was designed to interest me in finding new things to listen to. Play a few song clips blended together, show a few album covers, get some photos off the net, throw it all together, make it fun, make me see those thousands of songs I've bought in a new and interesting way. Make it as fun to browse the music I own as it is to browse the iTunes store, at the very least.

C'mon, Apple, iTunes is useful but maybe it's time to make it feel less like a database and more like a music lover's paradise.