My First iTunes
Not being one to shy away from new technologies that are less functional and convienient than what they attempt to replace, I bought my first track from the Apple iTunes music store the other day. The track in question was the Pixies ‘Bam Thwok’, a new release by the band which is alleged to be a download-only release. In the name of experimentation, I decided that I was ok with spending the 79 English pennies required.
So, I began from my work PC, which has a nice thick internet connection and all the latest stuff. Open iTunes, click the music store link, browse to the Pixies area. Navigating the store was tricky at first, because I kept thinking that my iTunes ‘go back one track’ button was actually the browser’s back button, but I got there in the end. One click of the ‘buy’ button, one instance of inputting my debit card details, and that was that – the track downloaded and began playing at once.
So far, it’s reasonably impressive. A very smooth purchase all round with no messing about. It doesn’t automatically copy the track to your iPod, sadly, which meant I had to find where iTunes had saved it and copy it myself manually, thus wasting valuable seconds. I imagine most people allow iTunes to manage their music collection, though, in which case it would be copied across for them when their iPod was connected. I don’t trust software enough to manage anything on my behalf, though.
Problems arose when I wanted to try and listen to the track from my home PC. To start with, I had to copy the track again via Windows Explorer onto the iPod hard drive, as you can’t easily transfer music from pod to PC (because that would encourage PIRACY, arr). Once I got home, I tried to listen to it. It’s in ‘m4p’ format, and a swift double-click revealed Windows Media Player to be the associated application. It didn’t play. Tried Winamp. No joy. So, I can only listen to it with iTunes. Hm.
Fired up iTunes and tried to listen to the song already on my iPod. Except I can’t, because my home PC hasn’t been authorised to listen to that track. I’m limited to using GPRS for my internet connectivity at home, which costs a bundle, so I’m annoyed now. Nevertheless, in the name of experimentation, I connect to get my home PC authorised. Do I have to do this for every track I buy? That’s going to be a pain.
I can’t do it, anyway. I don’t have the latest version of iTunes, so it just doesn’t work, which means I can’t listen to this track until I get the latest software from work the following day. Well, great.
Today at work, I upgraded my OS to Windows XP, which has meant I had to authorise my PC again, even though it’s the same PC. I only have two authorised PCs left now. Now less impressed than before with iTunes, I made an MP3 version of the track, which I can listen to anywhere, anyhow.
Won’t be buying from there again, I think.