I’ve been less than diligent lately about taking advantages of iTunes weekly giveaways mostly because, well, they have devolved into kind of sucking. Sure, they gave us Amy Winehouse at some point before October 31, 2007 (the date on which I migrated computers and had to restore my iTunes database), but mostly it’s been barely mid-level songs by artists you wouldn’t spend $9.99 to hear.
Still, I go look every couple of weeks, perhaps download a song or two, and see what videos they have available. This week’s free movie is Slacker Uprising by Michael “Roger and Me” Moore, a movie that, by the way, he’s giving away on his own web site. I clicked through to see how it was being received, what the comment gnomes had to say and was suddenly captivated by the box in the lower right labeled “More by this director.”
Paradise, Hawaiian Style, hum, I thought. Has Michael Moore gone soft? Travelogue? So I clicked. And I got this:
No, Michael Moore hasn’t gone soft. iTunes has gone crazy.
Paradise, Hawaiian Style was directed by Michael D. Moore a native of Victoria, BC who was born in 1914. The film was Elvis Presley’s 21st leading role appearance and his second in a movie shot in Hawaii.
Apple has proven once again that iTunes is really just a database in nice clothes and that any database is only as good as the people who put the information into it. That said, as gaffs go this one tickled the hell out of me.
They’re really hurting themselves because when the free selections didn’t suck, I’d often buy other selections by that artist.
Other aspects of their recommendation engine that I hate:
1) If you download a sucky free sample, it assumes you want more of the same. It’s even worse if you buy something for a friend. For example, the little ones wanted a copy of “The Monster Mash” for Halloween last year. It thinks I like that stuff. (This is also the same issue Netflix. At least Amazon lets me delete previous selections from their recommendation engine.)
2) It continually recommends stuff I already have…. as if I need the live Pearl Jam rendition of “I am Mine” from their Kansas City concert.
3) There’s no exclude option. (Hey, sometimes I like cover songs more than the original.)
Itunes is also dog-slow on my Windows machine.
I’m more upset that slacker uprising is only free in the US and Canada.