Now that iTunes has finally been released for the PC, I thought I'd check it out. Here is a blow-by-blow account of my first experiences with it.
Okay, that was an easy installation. Oh wait, I've still got to reboot. Rebooted. Now let's check this puppy out. Looks cool, definitely has an Apple look to it. Nothing wrong with that. Let's see, I want to search for songs, so I guess I highlight "Music Store". Now where do I enter the search terms? Oh, I see; it's up here. Now let's see just how comprehensive Apple's music collection really is.
I'll start with Holly Near. Okay, just one track that she did with some other musicians, including Arlo Guthrie, but not the one I was looking for. Speaking of Arlo Guthrie, let's see if they have "Alice's Restaurant". Huh? They don't?! That's not possible! Okay, maybe if I search under Arlo Guthrie's name rather than the song title. Okay, at least there is a good list of titles... Hey, wait a minute; you mean I can't scroll using my laptop's touchpad? Very annoying. Anyway, no "Alice's Restaurant". This is turning out to be rather disappointing.
Oh well, moving right along, let's see if they have anything by Twenty Fingers. Nope. And iTunes suggests that I might have meant "Wendy Sisters". Nuh uh. How about "Thimble Corner" (an old children's record I often listened to while growing up). No.
Let's switch gears and check out some foreign stuff. How about Brazilian music? Any Ultraje a Rigor? No. Raul Seixas? No. Well, I'm sure they must have something by Xuxa (not that I would be interested in downloading it). Also no. Well, maybe if I search for a genre, like Lambada? Just two tracks of lambada music that I've never heard of. You'd think they'd have at least one album dedicated to lambada music. How about the Romanian group Taxi? Once again, no. How about the theme song to Pippi Longstocking in the original undubbed Swedish? No. And they don't even have the English version!
Okay, so basically if it's not played on MTV, they don't have it. What's really annoying about this is that nearly all of these artists' works are easily found on KaZaa. But iTunes doesn't seem to have anything at all that I would want. I bet they don't even have Aqua (you know, being Danish and all that). Well what do you know; they've got two albums up. (Of course that is MTV music, but even so.) Hm, now how easy is it to play these tracks. Well, that was fast, and Barbie Girl sounds as cool as ever. And there's a list that ranks the tracks by popularity. Number two is "Cartoon Heroes". Let's take a listen. That was fairly good. Oh yes, I really should check out "Halloween", what with it being October. Nice.
And they recommend related albums. Let's see how I like "Queer as Folk". Ewwww! Not good. Very noisy. Let's go back and check out another recommendation. Ah yes, there is a back button. Good. How about "Vitamin C"? Not bad. And look, here is a visualization button. Does it not work? Oh, I see. It only works for downloaded tracks. I wonder why.
Now how about something more classical. Let's check out Victoria de los Angeles. Bingo! Four albums! That's definitely not MTV music. And on Kazaa, I've never been able to find more than a handful of tracks by her.
Okay, what's under radio? Hm. Good collection of genres. Let's check out international. Wow, two Iranian stations! (Of course I'd be more interested in listening to an Iraqi station at the moment.) Good sound quality, and I like that it displays the bitrate. Oh look, public radio. And talk radio, including a liberal station, of all things.
What else is there? Oh, there's a browse button in the Music Store. Maybe that'll lead me to some interesting content. Oh look -- Audiobooks! Any sci-fi? Yes! Wow, look at the list of authors! Any David Brin? No. (Well, his books are probably too long to make into audiobooks.) But there is stuff by Heinlein and Clarke. Oh look, Larry Niven. How much is "Ringworld"? $36.95! Ouch! I could get the paperback for a tenth of that! Lots of interesting non-fiction as well. They've got both Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh. (I guess they want to keep their selection "fair and balanced".)
I think that's enough exploration for one night. iTunes hasn't been a complete disappointment. I haven't purchased anything, but I haven't given up on it either. If the selection increases and prices come down a bit, then who knows; I may just become a regular customer.
For a more objective and comprehensive review of iTunes for Windows, go here.
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