4. Living the Dream

I'm a child of the digital age. I read my news online. I communicate online. When I'm considering buying a song I take a 30 second streamed sample from iTunes and then, if I like what I hear, I shell out buttons for it; or else I buy the whole album for far less than what I'd pay for it on the high street. It downloads to any one of my five computers, and it comes with me when I travel with my lavishly expensive iPod.

Do I feel like I've been ripped off? No my dear, I do not. I had to cringe a little when I first shelled out for an iPod, but the time and money I save in acquiring my music is making that back. Sure I could be a few cents richer if Apple didn't have such a snazzy image, but then if Apple didn't have such a snazzy image I probably wouldn't have such a well stocked iTunes store to buy from.

Audio-Video iPods are becoming more popular as interest in video downloads grows.

The iPod "Scam" works for three reasons:

It's trendy. We live in a shallow world, get over it. Nobody forces you to buy an iPod, and you're probably better off for it if you think it's a crock 'o Irish gold at the end of the rainbow and you don't buy one. You'll sleep easier at night. However, you won't get such cheaply available music. iTunes and iPod are attached at the hilt, and this means less time fussing about looking for your digital music, video or even audio books. It simplifies an already complex life. Nobody cares about DRM, so long as it's unobtrusive. We who follow tech with a fine tooth comb tend to go a little nuts at the first whiff of DRM. To be frank most of Jane and Joe Public could care less, so long as it is within reason, which the iTunes DRM is. Most people, with one cheap Dell computer in the living room, probably look at us a bit strangely when we begin screaming about a five-computer limit for our music. Even at five songs it gives a house with a desktop gaming rig, a Home Theatre PC and three laptops room to manoeuvre.

In an ideal world I wouldn't need to buy an iPod to have access to the excellently put together iTunes. However, I do. I'd probably wind up paying more to buy a cheaper PMP, hunt around for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck operations here and there to supply all of my content needs, at twice the price that Apple charges. Considering I'm now buying as much music as I did Bi, "Before iPod," and I'm enjoying it on the go at half the price to boot I'd say this is one scam I can afford to live with for a little while longer.

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