I've been critical of Apple's products, especially the way they're overpriced and often don't come with features that are standard on competitors' devices. And yet, I can't say they're bad products. A couple of years ago, I received an 80GB iPod for my birthday and, say what you want about Apple, it's probably been the best device, in terms of both functionality and reliability, that I've ever used. The only problem is that now, after 2 years of using it alot, the battery is starting to die pretty fast. Otherwise, I've literally had zero problems with it. (edit: not to mention I've used other mp3 players that screwed up alot)
And of course, yeah iTunes kinda sucks. It has some cool features but nothing you won't get with Winamp, and its interface is ugly and not customizable. I don't know why they refuse to change that. They probably just don't need to.
As for the idea that once you buy a device you should be able to do what you want... Weeeell, that's something we're used to thinking, but I'm not sure Apple is the only one that restricts things. I mean, I know people who have cell phones (other than the iPhone) that are perfectly capable of having mp3's uploaded to them but won't allow you to utilize that ability without paying an extra $10+ per month. It's the same deal with not being able to dump your cell phone pics to your computer for free, even though you own the device with them on it. They're all greedy, not just Apple.
