Apple is ready to pull the plug on iTunes, nearly two decades after launching the game-changing application. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to retire the product at next week\u2019s WWDC event. Killing iTunes is long overdue. It\u2019s been rumored for years now that Apple would shelve the product, as it does little to benefit\u2026<\/b>
\nApple is ready to pull the plug on iTunes, nearly two decades after launching the game-changing application. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to retire the product at next week\u2019s WWDC event.
Killing iTunes is long overdue. It\u2019s been rumored for years now that Apple would shelve the product, as it does little to benefit customers who already made the switch to one of Apple\u2019s standalone apps for movies, music, or podcasts. According to the Bloomberg report, users can expect the Music app to host many of iTunes\u2019 audio features.
The move to shutter iTunes, at this point, is largely a symbolic one. As an ardent fan of the Apple ecosystem, even I can\u2019t justify iTunes when better apps have existed for years now. In fact, it became difficult to defend iTunes once third-party services like Spotify started allowing Apple device owners to sync their phones and tablets without using iTunes.
At this point, Apple\u2019s move is largely a symbolic one, a gesture that the company recognizes its future in services, as opposed to just hardware. With hardware sales flattening across the board, the move to boost profits elsewhere is an expected one, and has become fodder for a number of pseudo-revolutionary takes about how Apple was now a software company \u2014 as if it wasn\u2019t, in some regards, a software and services company all along.
Still, some are sure to be frustrated by the move. Change breeds contempt in the tech world, after all. The changes, though, follow a natural evolutionary arc: phones that don\u2019t require computers, tablets that reduce the need for a laptop, and watches that aren\u2019t dependent on phones.
Simply put, this shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to anyone whose been paying attention. We also don\u2019t know quite yet when it\u2019ll put the service to bed, but presumably it\u2019ll offer weeks or months for users to get their files in order before pulling the plug.
Reports also suggest that other apps, including the long-neglected Mail app, are due for an upgrade at WWDC as well. Fingers crossed.
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