I can already hear people say how retarded the previous statement sounds like; after all, iTunes has become Apple’s key software, enabling millions of customers to manage data from their computers to their iPods at ease. It’s online store is one of the most successful venture of its kind and made the experience of buying music, television shows and movies over the Internet flawless…

With what was announced at MWSF 2007 this week, it becomes more and more clear to me that iTunes will become the next big thing, the center of the digital hub in an era where sharing entertainment in the household is something that more people seeks everyday. Apple has begun another “cleaning phase” like the company once did in 1998. They slowly got rid of the Power name in their product (the return of the Mac brand on every computers, since those weren’t PowerPC anymore). They are carefully expanding their product line to different market, without offering more than 2 or 3 solutions per subject. They are getting rid of their computer-centric image by changing their name to Apple inc. I think that Apple will chose to kill the Finder in the foremost future, and replace it with iTunes.

Apple iTunes 7.0.2 under Mac OS X 10.4

Ever since it’s introduction, iTunes has been a huge success. Apple took notice and integrated key elements from iTunes into the Finder when releasing Mac OS X Jaguar: the sidebar and built in search in every window. I predict that Apple is going to merge iTunes and the Finder in one single interface. They will get rid of the iTunes name because this app is not dedicated to music anymore.

And when you think about it, every element listed in iTunes is a file, so why wouldn’t they use its simple navigation for everything else? Different categories for different media, different purposes. Easy setup of any peripherals that are plugged in. Fast autosync with portable devices, fast search using bundled Spotlight technology. It make sense.

Is this the idea for the next generation of operating system, or will Apple implement all of this in another Finder view for the next version of Mac OS X, Leopard? Only time will tell…

Apple has begun another “cleaning phase”, and iTunes will help their operating system to differentiate itself dramatically against Windows Vista.