I really have no idea why I did it, but I downloaded the new version of iTunes on my computer at work today. Honestly, the biggest reason was that I wanted to remind myself why I don’t use iTunes (typically, it’s the memory-sucking, vs. the relatively low consumption of Winamp).

But I loaded the modest collection of music that I’ve compiled on this computer into the ‘Library,’ and promptly didn’t like the way it was indexed (combined with the old list, and some things doubled-up for some reason, etc.). I decided I would flush it out and start over.

Well, I’ll have you know that iTunes 7 is a lying sack of shit. When I selected everything in my ‘Library’ and hit delete, it asked if I wanted to delete the files, noting that this command would only affect those that were in the ‘iTunes Music folder.’ I don’t keep anything in the iTunes music folder, so I said, “yeah, whatever, just empty the damn library.”

Apparently what iTunes considers to be the ‘iTunes music folder’ is ‘every folder on, in, attached to, or nearby this computer,’ because what it did is erase all those files, leaving me only with now-useless .m3u files, like a plate of breadcrumbs on my harddrive.

Bastards!

I might just bring the external hard drive back in to work to replace the items in question. One thing is certain, though: I am not letting iTunes anywhere near my music.