iPhone 2.0 and the iTunes Remote

Like many others, I was bit hard by the server failure that crippled the big iPhone 2.0 update process this morning. It robbed me of said morning, and I opted to take the day off work. It's been a bit of a tough week, and last night I did my first show in months, and had company over until past 3AM afterwards. Since things are about to get crazy at work, I decided that I needed a day to catch back up on sleep while waiting for my phone to work again.

A few hours later, the phone worked.

One of the most surprising and enjoyable elements is the iTunes Remote. Full and comprehensive access to my fairly large iTunes library on the iMac: all playlists, etc, with the ability to control volume, jump around in songs, see artwork - just like the 'iPod' iPhone application! Sometimes, particularly in the morning, I might turn on Front Row and carry the nice little Apple Remote around with me to have some control over songs while getting dressed in the upstairs loft, but using the remote from up there often required reaching far over the edges and trying to point the remote in the direction of the iMac, just to be able to skip forward a track or two.

But now, I can control it all from the iPhone, without needing a line of sight! In fact, this might be what pushes me to pick up an Airport Express or two (one for speakers in said upstairs loft, maybe one to bring music out on the patio or the bathroom). Full access and control of 29 and a half days of available music playable out of real speakers and controlled by an untethered iPod size device - beautiful.