iTunes 9′s page layout feels like a step backwards in many ways: the cramped content ignores available space, displays scrollbars unnecessarily, and ellipsizes most descriptive text.
Here’s how a search for “Bramwell Tovey” looks on my desktop monitor. Two-thirds of that window is empty space, yet the tracks are shown in a fixed-height list with scrollbar.
Here’s a closer look at the content, with and without ellipsized text highlighted. Virtually every piece of descriptive text is ellipsized; Some display unellipsized tooltips on hover, others don’t.
Oh, and the scrollbar’s only 8 pixels wide.
Clicking on the album “New Music for Brass Band” reveals little detailed information about the album.
The missing details are significant enough to keep me from buying the album in fact, because they don’t let me see:
- who’s conducting
- who’s performing
- any description of the album
- close-up of the album cover (clicking that image does nothing but reload the page)
Given that everything’s ellipsized and these significant details are missing, how can customers decide whether or not to purchase the album? Maybe that Popularity column, which without apparent irony rates Album Only tracks as the least popular.
This new design is a disaster in many respects. I hope Apple fixes it soon.
