What do we mean by "old days" here? iTunes predates the iPod. In the old days, I had very few qualms with iTunes. Currently, it's been 6 months since I launched it (or rather intentionally launched it).
Yep, iTunes or Image Capture... annoying. I have a Pavlovian reaction now, and I avoid plugging my phone into my Mac. While one can easily change the preference to prevent it, I've been caught out too many times, from reinstalling or using an alternate user account.
Having iTunes fire up while I'm using my Apple remote with VLC is even more annoying. And since it tends to catch me when I have company, I generally don't feel like pausing a film to fix it either.
