iTunes errors

Hi
After 25 years of using Macs I'm about to bin my iPhone, dump iTunes and go Android! I've been having regular issues with iTunes lately which prevent me synching my phone or buying through the store. When I start iTunes I get an error -50 immediately. Then when I try to authorise I get an error -5002. After hours and hours of internet research I still have no solution. Apple don't seem to care about this and other issues. I'd love for someone to solve this for me and persuade me to remain with this fading corporate giant. BTW I'm on a Mac Pro running 10.6.8 and iTunes 11.1.3 (8)

Well, binning the iPhone and going Android will certainly solve the iTunes problem, but it seems a bit extreme, as was calling Apple a "fading corporate giant." (check the latest statistics, but Apple isn't "fading").

Nevertheless, both of those problems are with the iTunes store. Took me about 5 minutes to get to a couple of solutions: this and this.