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I'm seeing this quote from Apple about unsupported third-party digital media players touted as some sort of "warning shot":
Obviously, I don't know what Apple's intentions are. This may, in fact, be a veiled threat. It also makes perfect sense taken at face value.
As the codebase changes, features that you do not explicitly test for will eventually stop working. For whatever reason, the pundits that I've read who've called the above quote a "warning shot" have missed out on that fact of software (and hardware, for that matter) development. This is why companies do lots and lots of regression testing before release. They need to catch any backsliding before the public gets a hold of the product. Unless the third-party device has emulated an iPod perfectly, it may fail to sync with a future version of iTunes not because Apple has explicitly prevent it, but because Apple has made no effort to continue to allow it.
Calls for Apple to "let it be" make no sense. Obviously, what they mean is "well, if it syncs with iTunes now, it should just continue to be able to sync with iTunes." What they apparently don't realize is that takes active effort on Apple part for it to just continue to sync with iTunes. Functionality does not come for free. There's always a cost. Even if they don't ever have to make changes to the codebase for third party devices to continue to sync with iTunes, the Quality Assurance team will have to do lots of testing they otherwise wouldn't have to do to determine this.
What Apple has said makes perfect sense from a computer engineering point of view. Translated into English, they're saying: "We don't test for third-party syncing, so if that breaks in a future version of iTunes, we will not know before release. We don't support third-party syncing, so if it breaks, we won't fix it." They're doing the right thing by telling iTunes users this.
Like I said, yes, this can sound like a veiled threat. (e.g. "Gee, you have a nice car. It'd be a shame if someone were to smash in its windshield.") However, given how software development works, it's not unlikely that future versions of iTunes will fail to sync with third party devices out of benign neglect. It takes active effort to retain functionality as the codebase changes. If you haven't tested it recently, it doesn't work.
"Let it be" is not "keep it working." "Let it be" is "let it eventually fail."
BTW, this isn't to say that Apple won't intentionally prevent third-party syncing. This is to say that if third-party syncing fails in a future version of iTunes, Apple may in fact be the last to know about it. (I.e., it fails because Apple doesn't regress for it not because Apple explicitly prevented it.) Of course, there will also be lots of people upset at Apple for not supporting what Apple has been extremely clear about not supporting anyway.
As an aside, Apple may still be making changes to their syncing code. The most recent version of iTunes must sync my iPod classic an order of magnitude faster (no exaggeration!) than the previous version. I used to have to plan to sync ahead so that it'd be done when I needed it. Now, it only takes about a minute.
Apple designs the hardware and software to provide seamless integration of the iPhone and iPod with iTunes, the iTunes Store, and tens of thousands of apps on the App Store. Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.
Obviously, I don't know what Apple's intentions are. This may, in fact, be a veiled threat. It also makes perfect sense taken at face value.
As the codebase changes, features that you do not explicitly test for will eventually stop working. For whatever reason, the pundits that I've read who've called the above quote a "warning shot" have missed out on that fact of software (and hardware, for that matter) development. This is why companies do lots and lots of regression testing before release. They need to catch any backsliding before the public gets a hold of the product. Unless the third-party device has emulated an iPod perfectly, it may fail to sync with a future version of iTunes not because Apple has explicitly prevent it, but because Apple has made no effort to continue to allow it.
Calls for Apple to "let it be" make no sense. Obviously, what they mean is "well, if it syncs with iTunes now, it should just continue to be able to sync with iTunes." What they apparently don't realize is that takes active effort on Apple part for it to just continue to sync with iTunes. Functionality does not come for free. There's always a cost. Even if they don't ever have to make changes to the codebase for third party devices to continue to sync with iTunes, the Quality Assurance team will have to do lots of testing they otherwise wouldn't have to do to determine this.
What Apple has said makes perfect sense from a computer engineering point of view. Translated into English, they're saying: "We don't test for third-party syncing, so if that breaks in a future version of iTunes, we will not know before release. We don't support third-party syncing, so if it breaks, we won't fix it." They're doing the right thing by telling iTunes users this.
Like I said, yes, this can sound like a veiled threat. (e.g. "Gee, you have a nice car. It'd be a shame if someone were to smash in its windshield.") However, given how software development works, it's not unlikely that future versions of iTunes will fail to sync with third party devices out of benign neglect. It takes active effort to retain functionality as the codebase changes. If you haven't tested it recently, it doesn't work.
"Let it be" is not "keep it working." "Let it be" is "let it eventually fail."
BTW, this isn't to say that Apple won't intentionally prevent third-party syncing. This is to say that if third-party syncing fails in a future version of iTunes, Apple may in fact be the last to know about it. (I.e., it fails because Apple doesn't regress for it not because Apple explicitly prevented it.) Of course, there will also be lots of people upset at Apple for not supporting what Apple has been extremely clear about not supporting anyway.
As an aside, Apple may still be making changes to their syncing code. The most recent version of iTunes must sync my iPod classic an order of magnitude faster (no exaggeration!) than the previous version. I used to have to plan to sync ahead so that it'd be done when I needed it. Now, it only takes about a minute.
