Quicktime – Apple Continues to Be Annoying

So Mike sends me a funny YTMND link and I go to look at it. YTMND says I need to download a “Missing Plug-in”.  I check it out and it’s Quicktime.  Damn I hate Quicktime.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve downloaded and ultimately deleted Quicktime.  Why does every big software company have to have their own proprietary format for everything?  Microsoft constantly pushes *.wmv and *.wma and Apple is always with the *.mov.  Adobe was just plain lucky to get away with *.pdf, but that’s another story.

Knock, knock Microsoft and Apple!  The world uses *.mp3 and *.mpg okay?  Deal with it you bloated behemoths.  Haven’t you learned anything from Real Media?  Remember .ram files?  I think there are like 4 or 5 people still using them.

So I go “fine, I’ll download Quicktime again.”  I go to download it and Apple ASSUMES that I don’t have iTunes… but I certainly must want it!  Can’t get Quicktime by itself anymore.  Must download iTunes.  I already have iTunes installed, grudingly… as I hate that too.  Apple apparently doesn’t care, they make me download a 36Meg iTunes setup file just to install a Quicktime browser plug-in.

Congratulations on choosing against your will to be force-fed a program that you already have!

Oh yeah, whenever you download Quicktime or iTunes (whoops!  silly me, there is no “or” anymore) they ask you for an email address.  Of course I always input some_random_name@apple.com and select the “Yes! I’d like to receive all of your spam!” checkboxes.  I’m so clever.

Some of you might be thinking, “But Steve, why do you hate Quicktime so much?”  This about sums it up:

I fundamentally hate frivolous programs that automatically assume that you want their icons all over the place.  And please, yes, go ahead and install and run a memory resident program without asking permission, on the off chance that it might be too difficult for me to actually self-launch a utility to watch a movie or listen to an audio file.