Why does I-Tunes suck so bad? Why can I never sign in?

[who WAS #1?]

ALWAYS the damned thing gives me the runaround.
I only use it for updating mp3 podcasts, so I only go through this hell every few months.

I have to go through getting an Apple ID, reset the password, but apparently the username it uses on the confirmation email is not the username. Or something.

I HATE THIS THING !!
Why is it so complex?
I can get the podcasts from their source and put them on my computer but how does one transfer them to an apple nano player? I think one has to use some apple secret handshake or something so I thought I had to go through i-tunes. If there is a way to move them from computer to nano, I wouldn't have to use i-tunes any more.