What I have to talk about has to do with these two apps, which are closely related and happen to sit right next to each other in my Apps folder: iSync and iTunes. We could call it part 2 in a series of posts where I look at things that don’t sit right with Apple computers (here’s part one). I don’t intend to become a critic of Apple, but I think it only right to point things out when they don’t make sense.

I’ve always been bothered by the fact that the syncing of our devices (iPods, iPhones, iPads) takes place in iTunes and not in an application dedicated to the syncing of external devices, designed from the start for this purpose, like iSync.

Perhaps at the get-go, when the iPod had just gotten released, and there was only music on it, it made sense to tie it into iTunes. But now, when most iPods do a lot more, like sync contacts, calendars, TV shows, movies and apps like video games and more, why are we still syncing in iTunes? It makes no sense to shoehorn all those syncing functions into an app designed for the organization and playback of our music.

While I’m on the subject, why is it still called iTunes? It also organizes and plays podcasts, TV shows, movies and books. Shouldn’t it be renamed to something like iMedia? (Disclaimer: I haven’t given a lot of thought to the new name, but I know iTunes doesn’t quite fit anymore.)

Back to iSync — doesn’t it make much more sense to sync devices in it? Shouldn’t it be the go-to-app for all our devices? Shouldn’t it sit prominently in the dock, and be the button we click when we connect a device, whether it be through USB or through WiFi?

It’d be a fairly easy task for Apple to take the whole syncing process out of iTunes and place it within iSync. Then, we’d see something like this when we opened iSync.

Instead, what Apple did with the new OS X version, Lion, was to take iSync out entirely. I had to go back through my Time Machine backups in order to resurrect it and restore it to my Apps folder. Their move makes no sense whatsoever!

I’d like to issue a challenge to Apple: bring back iSync, properly re-written as a syncing app for all Apple devices, and slim down iTunes — also, rename it to something more appropriate that reflects the many media files it can handle these days.