Apple Makes Broadband Worthwhile?

Today, after much anticipation from the Mac lovers out there (myself included), the news finally broke: iTunes for Windows has hit the Net. Touted by Apple as the "Best Windows App Ever", I can't wait to get home and try it out on the spare Win2k laptop I have that currently gathers dust in the corner. If there are any differences between iTunes/Win and iTunes/Mac I will followup with a review here. However, I anticipate a completely uniform experience between the two ports due to Apple's stringent UI guidelines.

Countless friends and acquaintences have asked me about broadband Internet, and I cheerfully sing the praises of online music purchase, and the multitude of free streaming stations (in my case, just WeenRadio and Nugs.Net). Unfortunately, when these people try to figure it out for themselves they typically complain that it's too complex to be practical and the sound quality isn't all that good either.

iTunes for Windows will roll purchasing, streaming, and ripping into a simple, consistent, non-technical interface. I now have a simple yet high-quality tool that covers all the bases, which I can recommend to Mac and PC users alike. The sales pitch with broadband has been that you can get music, video, and Web so much more quickly than dialup, but few of my PC-using friends enjoy that aspect very much due to the complexity. iTunes for Windows could actually make broadband worthwhile for the other 95%.

I realize this sounds kind of optimistic, but as a user of iTunes who converted from Winamp "back in the day" when I left the PC world (at home anyway), I can say with some certainty that as long as Apple plays their cards right in the next couple of quarters, Apple, the music labels, and the customers all win.