Apple release removal tool for unwanted U2 album

By Dot Matrix
in Apple (macOS)

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Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

.... Yes, you read that right. Removing the album requires a removal tool. After numerous complaints, Apple has set up a special knowledge base article detailing the steps needed to remove the album here. But be warned, if you would like to acquire the album again, you'll need to re-download it through iTunes. It'll remain free up until October 13th.

 

 

Via The Verge

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted

.... Yes, you read that right. Removing the album requires a removal tool.  

... You were able to get rid of it even before. It worked like any other iTunes purchase. Now this will remove it from your purchase history as well (where it could only be hidden before)

Proficient

vhane

Posted
Posted

People will bitch about anything when it comes to Apple. Even when gifted stuff.

 

A copy of Transformers Dark Side of the Moon appeared in my Google Play account when I purchased a Nexus 7. Did I want it? No. Did I feel the need to bitch about it online? No.

Community Regular

daorbed9

Posted
Posted

People will bitch about anything when it comes to Apple. Even when gifted stuff.

 

A copy of Transformers Dark Side of the Moon appeared in my Google Play account when I purchased a Nexus 7. Did I want it? No. Did I feel the need to bitch about it online? No.

 

Was it automatically downloaded to your phone taking up space you may not want to spare?  I don't own one but what they did was wrong.

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted

Was it automatically downloaded to your phone taking up space you may not want to spare?   

 

that depends entirely on whether he had his devices set up to automatically download new purchases.

 

Apple's approach of automatically distributing this album in the same way that an actual purchase would was a bit heavy-handed. But people have also been making a mountain out of this molehill...

Experienced

lt8480

Posted
Posted

I think its the inconvenience of having to remove it is the issue that everyone has... not the fact it was available for free. After all for many users it automatically downloads it to all devices they own. Using storage and bandwidth.

 

What stops this happening again tomorrow, and the day after - allowing apple to push content onto devices without say so is pretty much advertising and if this became an accepted norm in no time we be having to deleted "free content" every day.

 

Would it have really been that difficult to send users a text, or an email or a notification saying "click here to grab it for free now" - of course not but that would have meant most people wouldn't have bothered to download it.

Experienced

benthebear

Posted
Posted

Removal tool? Please. It's the equivalent of a dialog box that pops up saying, "Are you sure you want to remove this file? If you click yes, you can't get it back if you do!"

Community Regular

daorbed9

Posted
Posted

that depends entirely on whether he had his devices set up to automatically download new purchases.

 

Apple's approach of automatically distributing this album in the same way that an actual purchase would was a bit heavy-handed. But people have also been making a mountain out of this molehill...

 

Who wants to manually push everything to their phone?  I'd wager 80% or more do not.  So they took advantage of a situation they created to have a marketing opportunity.  It's the principle of the idea.  People don't want their private phones invaded.  Even though we have no real privacy the general public wants to believe we do.

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted

It's the principle of the idea.  People don't want their private phones invaded.  Even though we have no real privacy the general public wants to believe we do.

I'm sorry, it's fine to compare this to spam if you want to (even though I might disagree), but to call it an invasion of privacy is a little far-fetched. At that point I find it hard to take the discussion seriously anymore. Nobody's phone was "invaded". People were  gifted an item that they might not have wanted, that's all.

Grand Master

Shadrack

Posted
Posted

I'm sorry, it's fine to compare this to spam if you want to (even though I might disagree), but to call it an invasion of privacy is a little far-fetched. At that point I find it hard to take the discussion seriously anymore. Nobody's phone was "invaded". People were  gifted an item that they might not have wanted, that's all.

 

This.

 

They maybe didn't execute the delivery of the gift very well. An email or something with instructions on how to claim your free U2 album (if you wanted it) probably would have been better received. But the rhetoric of this is getting a little ridiculous.

Grand Master

Stoffel

Posted
Posted

Not a big Apple fan myself, but I agree this is blown out of proportion.

Could they have had a better delivery system, with an email like some are suggesting, yes, but it doesn't deserve all the bitching

Grand Master

devHead

Posted
Posted

Hilarious.  give people the option to DL it themselves...dont force it on others.

Unfortunately, Apple doesn't grasp too well the idea of choice.  Heck, they have decided for you that you don't need an SD card in your iPhone or iPad, nor do you need a USB slot on an iPad.  Since they know better than their customers, why would they give them a choice?

Removal tool? Please. It's the equivalent of a dialog box that pops up saying, "Are you sure you want to remove this file? If you click yes, you can't get it back if you do!"

That might be a little much for some people who have Apple devices.

Proficient

vhane

Posted
Posted

Unfortunately, Apple doesn't grasp too well the idea of choice.  Heck, they have decided for you that you don't need an SD card in your iPhone or iPad, nor do you need a USB slot on an iPad.  Since they know better than their customers, why would they give them a choice?

That might be a little much for some people who have Apple devices.

 

Okay, let's look at that SD card example.

 

What are we trying to solve here, what's the actual crux of the matter? Well, people have different storage needs. Some need less and don't want to pay for more storage than they require, and some need a lot of storage. Solution? We'll sell phones with different amounts of storage.

 

As a designer or engineer, do you ask whether we should support SD cards? Or do you ask why people use SD cards? Indeed, why? To add storage? Well give them enough built-in storage so that they don't have to go out and buy an SD card. The alternative is to ship, and hence charge people for, reader hardware that not everybody might use, and which takes up volume on the device. And once you ship with this reader, you create a dependency on that reader for future generations of the device. Think really hard before adding this kind of dependency. Once added, you can't easily take it away from people who have come to depend on it.

 

What's the other use of an SD card - to transfer files? Give them email, messaging, and allow third party apps so that Dropbox etc. can offer solutions. Why not an SD card? Well, the receiving device needs to have a reader too. Plus if the receiving device needs to be able to read the files that means that we can't encrypt the storage layer! Do you want people to be able to pick your phone up, take the SD card out and simply copy your files?

 

SD cards aren't an end unto themselves. Solve problems instead of thinking in terms of features. Remember where SD cards come from. They were originally created to store photos on cameras back in the days when storage was counted in megabytes and you needed to carry multiple cards to cater for one photo shoot. Why add mechanical, electronic and software complexity to a device if you're simply going to stick an SD card in and leave it there all the time? Ship with enough built-in storage. Solve the real problem. SD cards were also meant to transfer photos back to the photographer's computer back when cameras couldn't simply stream photos out in real time as you took them. What Does a Horse?s Ass have to do with The Space Shuttle?

 

People put "choice" on a pedestal like it's a binary. It's not "choice" vs. "no choice". It's a continuum on a scale. But how opinionated should a solution be? It's better for a design to take a stance. You know for a fact that you won't be able to please everybody, so don't try to do that at the expense of adding complexity to your solution, hence making it less convenient and less effective. Some people will not use your product as a result, but hey, there are other products that will please them. A great solution elicits the reaction - Well of course it works this way. How else would it? Conversely, you may also have a strong adverse reaction from some people. But that's inevitable. Better to solve the problem really well for some people than to offer a middling solution for most people. Anyone who's ever designed anything will know that customisation can be a cop out. "I can't solve this problem, we'll let the people decide". If you're having to add tons of settings to cater for edge cases, then maybe it's time to rethink the problem. As a programmer, when that happens, I know that I need to raise the abstraction level, take a step back and look at the problem again from a higher vantage point. It's a sign that I'm solving the wrong problem.

 

So know when choice is important, and what form it takes. Maybe it doesn't take the form of an SD card. Maybe it takes the form of different amounts of built-in storage. Granted, sometimes customisability for the sake of personalisation trumps almost everything else. Well guess who's offering the most choices with their smart watch?

Grand Master

LaP

Posted
Posted

Was it automatically downloaded to your phone taking up space you may not want to spare?  I don't own one but what they did was wrong.

 

Strange the u2 album was not auto downloaded on my ipod. I guess it's an option you need to turn on.

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