The One-stop iPod Music Store - ITunes

The store for your iPod music needs is, of course, iTunes. Apple has done a lot of things right, including having come up with brilliantly designed, innovative electronics. The company has also made the purchasing process simple and streamlined with iTunes, the online store for your iPod music needs. Using iTunes as your iPod music store is both cheap and convenient, and it allows you to create totally customized albums. If you want to mix rap, rock, classical, country, or world music, you can do so easily. By purchasing individual tracks, you can take your favorite songs from albums that may not be completely stellar and essentially create your own electronic mix tape. Because each song costs only $0.99 (which may or may not change at some point), it is quite competitive with the price of CDs. Given the fact that most CDs have 11 or 12 songs, it would only cost you approximately 11 or 12 dollars to download all the tracks from the average album. Occasionally, there are even exclusive songs, albums, or box sets available like a special downloadable U2 set in the past.

The Store with More

If there is one minor negative, it is that the songs are all in Apples proprietary AAC format. That means you can only play the songs on your iPod or on your computer. If you ever switch to another MP3 player from a different company, they become useless. However, the odds are good that once you have an iPod you probably won't be interested in switching to anything else. Even though iTunes was initially created as an online store to service iPod customers' music needs, the video iPod has created an additional market for downloadable content. The iTunes store now provides iPod users with easy access to many of the latest television programs and movies. Individual episodes are available for a few dollars each. However, the costs may vary depending on the show.

If you want to catch up on the latest episode of Desperate Housewives or Lost, you can. Season passes to some shows are also available as well. It is a good option for anyone who might be out of the country for a while if they have computer access and their iPod because it is much easier for someone to download a show than deal with shipping DVDs overseas. A season pass might even be a nice present.