So, I made the colossal mistake yesterday of allowing Software Update to upgrade iTunes 7.6.2 to iTunes 7.7. Normally I do this sort of thing without even thinking about it (oh, what a change from the Linux days), and yesterday was no exception.

This jaunt into mindlessness has reminded me of the Value of the Backup. Because you see, dear Readers, the new version was pretty b0rked. Files wouldn't delete properly, mp3 players synced and then wouldn't play. There may well be more problems than that, but it was after my shuffle refused to function (depriving me of a much-needed distraction when I went out for a walk about town) that I put the brakes on the enterprise.

Of course, I hadn't saved the old version of iTunes, and Apple had already removed it from their site. After some frantic searching and forum-posting, I found a kindly soul who provided a link to download the previous version that was (miraculously) still functional.

The reinstall was not without its issues, though--namely that the libraries between the two versions don't want to play nicely with one another. So after a couple of fruitless attempts to migrate my previous library into the downgraded version, I just gave up and copied all my files back into the new (old) iTunes. Now ratings and playcounts are wiped, and a few other annoyances need to be dealt with, but files delete from interface and the library and mp3 players sync and then actually play as they're meant to, instead of refusing to do anything aside from invoking das blinkenlights.

Once again, iTunes has gobbled up my day, made it frustrating and snarl-inducing, and as I sit here--watching it sloooooooowly grind its way through almost 4000 album artwork requests--I find myself once again thinking of what a pain in the ass it has all been, and whether this application is even worth it. How much time it will take to rebuild playlists and organise ratings, sort through the massive "Unknown Artist" file and label all the tracks which were stripped of all identifying tags (quite the feat, considering the number of obscure jazz recordings I have), figure out which podcasts have been played, which I'd played and wanted to keep, which had been lackluster and skipped.

Then I kick myself back into the land of reality, and remember just how inconsequential this really is. Eminently suitable, dare I say, for a sumbission to White Whine.