Freeware

iTunes: Mediocre Media Player, but an Outstanding Organizer

By EAN ⋅ July 24, 2007 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

Developer: Apple
Newest Version: 7.3.1
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One thing that I’ve realized after purchasing my MacBook is that there are a plethora of programs to choose from for everything from keeping journals to changing the preferences in your system. But one type of software that developers have been shying away from is the media player. That’s really unfortunate, because Apple’s own iTunes could really stand to use some competition.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, iTunes is Apple’s stock media player that comes bundled with every new Mac. You can even download it for free from Apple’s website if you want to try it out. It’s the perfect - and necessary - product for iPod and iPhone users, but it really needs some work as a full fledged media player.

But before I scold it too much, some of iTunes’ good points. It’s one hell of a media organizer, and probably one of the best that I have used on any platform. I first downloaded it for Windows for that purpose alone. My roommate was using it at the time, told me that I should give it a try when he realized how many different mp3s and other music files I had on my system. The attractiveness of the interface really makes it easy to navigate around on - making it absolutely perfect for keeping my media organized.

Also, the integration with the iTunes Music Store is great. While there are other places where I prefer to purchase my music, the Music Store is easily accessible and pretty fun to explore. It has even helped me find a few new bands. And downloading podcasts though their service is a snap and the other main reason that I keep iTunes on my computers.

As for the media playing capabilities of iTunes though, there are quite a few problems. You’ve got to do a lot of tweaking to get the best experience. iTunes (and Quicktime) doesn’t play enough different media types, and has to spend time converting various file formats to something usable, wasting processor cycles that could be put to better use elsewhere.

The default sound settings on iTunes are also God-awful. So bad that I’m constantly on the hunt for a product like Enhancer for Winamp. I’ve tried tweaking the equalizer to the “Perfect iTunes Settings”, SRS iWOW and a bunch of other equalizer settings - but nothing reproduce the full, room filling sound that I can get out of Winamp with Enhancer running.

Speaking of Enhancer, the lack of additional plug-ins, extensions, and add-ons for iTunes is appalling. I could overlook this if Apple hadn’t been offering this program for several years, but with as old as iTunes is, it should have a better library of extras. Where are the really cool visualizations? Where are the customizable skins? Winamp has them, and so too should Apple’s main media player.

What’s Cool?
+ Great Media Organizer
+ Interfaces with the iTunes Music Store
+ Able to Play and Manage Podcasts
+ Easy to Organize Playlists
+ Free, and Free is Good

What’s Lame?
- Lack of Supported Media Formats
- Virtually No Add-ons or Plug-ins
- Terrible Default Equalizer Settings

How Does it Stack Up?
I really can’t recommend iTunes as a media player on Windows, as there are so many other great players out there that deserve your downstream bandwidth much more than iTunes. On the other hand, there isn’t really much of a choice on the Mac side of the market when it comes to media players, and iTunes is pretty good on Apple’s OS X, especially when you get programs like Synergy, ByteController [review] or CoverSutra going alongside of it. As a media organizer though, I highly recommend giving iTunes a shot.

Try it Out for Yourself.

A post by: Eric Norton