iTunes: Still MORE Crap

As I posted on February 7, 2014, iTunes continues to earn its reputation as the crappiest software on the face of the earth.

The error message I got at boot-up refused to go away even when I uninstalled and re-installed iTunes. Twice. So I had to continue wasting my time trying to get rid of this piece of crap. I decided that I needed to rid my Windows 7 office machine of all Apple software and I found this helpful post:

"Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates"

I knew that Apple had seriously crapped up my system when I reluctantly installed the detestable iTunes and the once-useful-but-not-really-any-more QuickTime, but I didn't realize the extent of its craposity until I read that to get rid of Apple crapware I had to:

"Remove all of these items in the following order:

• iTunes
• Apple Software Update
• Apple Mobile Device Support (see note 1 below)
• iCloud (if present)
• MobileMe (if present) (see note 2 below)
• Bonjour
• Apple Application Support"

Getting rid of Apple Mobile Device Support is particularly difficult. I could not get remove it through Control Panel and, so far, I haven't thought it worth the trouble to try all the following trouble-shooting, as described by the above article:

Some users have found that Apple Mobile Device Support does not want to uninstall. Running a repair session from add/remove programs or the programs and features control panel, then trying to uninstall again may work around this issue. Some users have successfully completed the reinstallation of iTunes without removing this component. Alternatively the Microsoft Program Install and Uninstall Utility (MS Installer "Fixit") may help. Third-party AirPrint support services may also prevent Bonjour from being removed. If so these should be uninstalled first. It may also help to temporarily disable anti-virus software and/or the Windows User Account Control feature (Turn UAC on/off) while repairing software. See also HT3960: iTunes for Windows: Background processes installed on Windows XP, Vista, and 7 for a list of processes that might need to be halted.

All this? Just to remove an app?

At this point, I've gotten all the Apple crapware off my computer, with the exception of the pesky Apple Mobile Device Support. My plan is to avoid re-installing any of it as long as I can. Since I don't sync an iPad/iPod to this machine, which resides in my office, I can't think of a reason to have iTunes on it. And I can't remember the last time I used QuickTime to play a movie. For video playback, there's always the far superior VLC Media Player.

Can I live a blissfully Apple-free existence on this computer? Time will tell.

iTunes: The Crap Just Keeps A-comin'!

Oh, iTunes! Your crappiness knows no bounds!

First, a recent attempt to update you failed. Now, EVERY time I boot my computer I get this error message about APSDaemon failing. A quick Googling reveals that MANY folks are afflicted with this error.

Do I bother trying to troubleshoot this, or do I just uninstall iTunes on this computer--on which I seldom use iTunes anyway because my iPad and iPod are synced to another computer and iTunes does not like us to share accounts among computers.

If computer software could be a dickhead, iTunes would be a dickhead.