Apple iTunes Review

It took me one hour of playing around in the iTunes stores to get completely hooked. I didn't even own an iPod, but my notebook had plenty of room to store all the songs I was suddenly finding: hits from my high school years, as well as things I never knew existed.

With its excellent search features, this user-friendly site brings the entire world to you via its music. You'll easily find today's hits, and the site's biggest-selling songs. Search by genre to locate Broadway soundtracks, jazz standards (several versions in many cases), gangsta rap, electronica, country, or whatever gets your juices flowin'.

With just a smidge of ingenuity (meaning one good keyword), you'll also discover things like Watusi warrior drums, defunct celeb bands, free subscriptions to podcasts by aspiring DJs, tutorials and more.

iTunes is sort of like Google for music lovers. You don't just find singles and albums, but all sorts of other music-related cool stuff. It's easy to lose track of time, just following your whims. A compilation album includes an artist you like. So you search for that artist, and find his music. Learn he worked with someone else you like. Go there. And that will suddenly remind you of . . . oh, and what about . . . You practically need a notepad next to the computer to keep track of all the thoughts and memories you'll have.

iTunes lets you organize your song purchases by Playlists in your own Library. It will even convert songs in other formats so you can save them in your library. It has a feature which allows one-step burning of CDs from your playlists. The whole site is easy to use, and just great fun.

Libby's Hot Tip: Buy some headphones for your computer. You'll enjoy the privacy and the sound quality. Your roommates will enjoy the peace and quiet! ;-)

Now while my addiction is raging, I have the daily dilemma: my curious mind tries to overrule my common "cents!" With songs priced at just under a dollar each, this addiction adds up over time. I blew through a quick $200 before I knew what hit me. But I never had so much fun spending money.

Bottom Line: Libby Loves It!