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    iTunes 8 feature improvement wishlist

    With the launch of the iPhone 2 not far away, along with that should bring iTunes 8. I’ve compiled a list of my desired upgrades for iTunes.

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    Re-download purchases
    The ability to format or move machines and simply re-download your entire iTunes collection would be massively beneficial. If your like me, moving your iTunes collection between machines has resulted in a few lost songs. Being able to re-download the content you’ve paid is for me a must have. 

    Given that iTunes saves a history of all your purchases and has the library of content on their servers, this seems like an easy win. Apple stop making people re-purchase!

    – Web version
    The idea here would be access from any machine with an Internet connection, simply sign-in using your iTunes username and password, see your entire library ready to stream directly to you. Today’s websites can easily mirror the functionality that the desktop application provides.

    – Per person DRM, not per device
    Currently Apple allows you to licence up to 5 machines to playback DRM protected content. Although more iTunes music is becoming DRM-free, there’s still large sections that aren’t. Given that it’s not going away any time soon, I think a different approach could greatly benefit consumers.

    Think of the email model, you can access your email securely from anywhere in the world, simply by signing in. It shouldn’t matter how many places you access your content from, the key is ensuring that it’s only you accessing your library. This could be done by limiting the number of simultaneous logins to your account to 2 or 3. The reason it needs to be greater than 1 is to ensure a scenario like  turning on your computer, would stop iPod your listening 2.

    – Multiple machine syncing
    Assuming the above item doesn’t arrive, another great feature would be to allow syncing to multiple machines. I’ve often wanted to sync my music, videos and podcasts from my home PC, but my Mail and Calendar with both work and home.

    – Better discovery
    I’m constantly in search of great new content, if there was a better way to discover that, I’d be inclined to purchase more content. I know “Just for you” already exists however this is fairly limited, I’d like to see this expanded.

    – User interface
    Apple, the company known for style and UI greatness, has somehow failed to impress with one of their most important applications – iTunes. Get your team of young, fresh designers on this one Apple, and impress us, not with change for the sake of change, but modifications that simplify ease of use, add functionality and that all important ‘cool’ factor particularly in the iTunes Store.

    If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

    Jason Cartwright
    Jason Cartwrighthttps://techau.com.au/author/jason/
    Creator of techAU, Jason has spent the dozen+ years covering technology in Australia and around the world. Bringing a background in multimedia and passion for technology to the job, Cartwright delivers detailed product reviews, event coverage and industry news on a daily basis. Disclaimer: Tesla Shareholder from 20/01/2021

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