In case you're feeling young today, here's an alert:
iTunes has become so obsolete that Apple will be discontinuing the platform as we know it.
Apple announced the move during the company's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday afternoon. Given the advent of streaming music services like Spotify and the company's own Apple Music, the decision isn't necessarily surprising, but the move does represent the end of an era.
iTunes' online music market vaporized then-popular CD players with its ability to hold virtually unlimited songs in its library and offering millions of additional songs available for digital download. iTunes was designed to run with Apple MP3 players like the iPod Shuffle, the iPod Nano, and the iPod Touch, offering users a virtually unlimited music library—no CD catalogue necessary.
Though many have since adapted to the ubiquity of streaming devices, the nearly two decades' of music, movies, tv episodes, and podcasts downloaded and organized into iTunes they've stored over the years remain on their hard drives. Many people have one burning question:
What's going to happen to the songs we painstakingly purchased and ripped from CD's?
Rest assured. While iTunes as we know it may be gone, the landmark functions it provided will still be available, just divided into three separate apps once under the iTunes umbrella. Apple Music will still allow for syncing and streaming, Apple Podcasts will provide an online network of the podcasts spurred into existence by iTunes, and Apple TV will cover movies and television.
So, rather than iTunes automatically opening when an iPhone is connected, the iPhone will be available in the Finder window, with all syncing options presented in a more streamlined layout.
Nonetheless, people are sure to be nostalgic.
Others weren't as sentimental.
Love it or hate it, iTunes was another epoch in the centuries of evolving ways humans hear the immortal art of music. While the program may be fading out, the innovations it spearheaded will likely be remembered in the same breath as the gramophone, the walkman, and the CD-player.
Talk about ending on a high note.
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