Why is 7.0.2 so buggy and unstable?

Question

Since installing version 7.0.2 to fix my 1418 error message problem, I never know whether my iPod will actually work.
Sometimes I get the file/exclamation point telling me it's dead. Then a minute later, my iPod's back up. When I fast forward through playlists, the screen moves ahead faster than the music. I can move 10 songs forward on the screem but it takes a minute or two before the music catches up and starts to play.
When I synch the iPod to iTunes, it's hit or miss if the two will recognize one another. I'm constantly having to go into Windows to tweak the settings so my iPod is recognized. And tweaking it once means nothing. The next time I synch up, I have to do it all over again.
Not to mention the random messages telling me I have a corrupted iPod that needs to be restored. If I unplug my iPod and wait finutes before plugging in again, there's a good chance the problem fixed itself.
****, this is just like the bad old days of monkeying around with MS-DOS.
Come on, Apple. You're too good a company to be acting like a nightmarish combination of Microsoft and Verizon.
Tweak 7.0.2 so it integrates iTunes and iPods as seamlessly as the earlier versions. My iPod is two years old this week. Until mid-September, it worked like a Swiss watch. It was flawless.
I used to tell friends who were considering an iPod that Apple had figured things out so well that it was idiot-proof.
No more. Now I tell them to be prepared to diddle around fixing niggling little things that never seem to behave (misbehave) in the same way.

Answer 1

of the 4 touch screen units we have we have a ios 5.1.1 touch and ipad that we did not upgrade after I did just my touch, but my wifes new iphone 4s that came with ios 6 has had no problems at all.  she went with the iphone 4s due to the "fire wire" connection issue. we both think it was a good for business / crappy for upgraders move on apples part ... we didnt want to have to buy an adapert for everything we use I ios devices for.