Let’s get this out the way I have fully embraced Apple’s never-ending drive to make all our lives simpler. I love my iPod and if I could afford them I would definitely splash the cash on an iPhone and a shiny Mac book. But my problem is with their latest gimmick on iTunes, the Genius application. Designed to create a playlists for you, all you have to do (once you’ve downloaded the software) is click on a favorite song and it will then it does the rest, pulling our twenty five tracks from your collection that it says match. It will also go further and recommend songs to you available on  the iTunes Store (even though it's notoriously limited when it comes to anything that's a little off mainstream which also limits your choices). All well and good you might think except it demonstrates absolutely no creativity at all and simply picks a load of songs from the same musical genre. Now I might be lazy but I am not that lazy that I can do that search myself. What’s more I distinctly don’t want to listen to 25 songs in a row that are all country, blues, or alternative. The joy of music (and my iPod) for me is the ability to go from classical to hip hop and from rock to soul in the space of a single song. Indeed I am old enough to remember the days when I would spend hours putting together compilation tapes (yes tapes, I am that old) of eclectic tracks that I could then play to my friends and wow them with my ability to (sometimes) effortless blend musical styles. They would do the same and so we would get to learn about different musical styles and artists we would otherwise never have heard of. It’s what still makes the great DJs great, picking the best in music regardless of who, where and when it came from. Definitely something that’s even more important today when so many just seem happy to plug in their pre-programmed iPod and stand back while it churns out hip hop only playlist. So, the point of this rant is thanks iTunes but no thanks we don’t need you telling us what we should listen to let us all explore for ourselves and keep the spirit of the home DJ alive.