Comment Re:They always [conveniently] miss facts... (Score 1) 458
At the time I don't think that parsing metadata was feasible with out having to sit there and wait until it finished. Forcing users to use a tool to manage their device libraries meant the device never had to deal with the contingency of what happens when a bunch of mp3 files are dumped in.
The fact that the iPod was tied to iTunes meant that Apple didn't have to keep up backwards compatibility for no other reason other than some people didn't want to upgrade. Going with the, "here's how to do it, and if we change it, too bad so sad. Update it to work with the new stuff" still leaves part of the ecosystem up in the air with devs who may leave users wih software that doesn't work.
Being a control freak has its advantages. Everyone else chased commodity products with no differentiation and Apple is now laughing all the way to the bank.