The iPhone's primary function is NOT a word processor or a spread sheet analyzer.
I didn't say, nor was I trying to imply ANYTHING of the sort. You should read what I provided again a little slower and in it's entirety, not taking this out of context, which you made into Apples and Oranges.
It IS an iPod, a device designed to store and play music (in addition to being a browser and a phone).
It is a phone, an iPod, and an internet device, which supports transferring iTunes content from iTunes on a single computer ONLY.
Making it difficult to transfer my legal music from my iPhone to my Mac does not make me want to go out and buy more Apple products or Apple software.
Good, then don't - no skin off my back. I couldn't care less if you want to remain a Windows sufferer. All this doesn't come from Apple. Much of it comes from those who OWN the distribution rights for content sold thru the iTunes Store.
All of Apple's commercials imply how easy the user experience is over Windows. Well, in this case, they missed the boat BIG TIME!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but let me get this straight. You will likely need to transfer much more than just music from your Windows PC to your Mac and if so, how do you plan on accomplishing this? If you are transferring Word and Excel files, photos, and any other data, you won't be using an iPhone for this, so I don't see the big deal with transferring your iTunes library along with all other data being transferred.
I understand that the iPhone was not designed to be used as a backup. However, you allow the contacts to be merged in but not the music that I legally installed (but didn't purchase from the iTunes store).
I don't allow anything - this is a user to user help forum only.
As I provided in my first post in this thread - the sync process for contact information, calendar events, and bookmarks with an iPhone is bidirectional with the supported application on your computer. This is a sync process by definition of syncing - which is not the same for other data such as iTunes content and photos transferred from your computer to your iPhone.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1296
Apple wants to make it difficult unless I purchased the music from iTunes.
No, Apple or really those who own the distribution rights or the copyright holders for content sold thru the iTunes Store wants to make this difficult. Content sold thru the iTunes Store is set up by Apple to be a break even - which is included with the Apple stockholder's report. Apple makes their profit via sales of the iPod and iPhone. The bulk of the iTunes Store revenue goes to those who own the distribution rights or the copyright holders for the content.
In addition, if my hard disk suffered a crash and I lost all my music it just seems stupid not to be able to pull it off my iPhone (yes, I know data should be backed up on a different drive, and mine is, but I am sure a lot of people do not back up their data).
Maintaining a backup of your data is important for this very reason, and for other reasons which is not Apple's responsibility. I believe iTunes includes an occasional warning message to backup your iTunes library (which can be turned off), and iTunes includes an option to transfer content purchased from the iTunes Store from an iPod or iPhone - since the overwhelming majority of this content includes DRM protection required by those who own the distribution rights or the copyright holders.
The iPhone was not designed as an external storage device or as a backup device - end of story. If someone chooses not to maintain a backup, they are playing Russian roulette with their data. Maintaining a backup is important regardless the platform, but even more so when running Windows with constant virus, adware, and spyware concerns.
