oh iTunes- you so crazy

So I've been reading a bit about the latest Apple announcement and it has nothing to do with a new gadget.

The iTunes store has come out of the closet, and is admitting to be the juggernaut everyone knew it was. let's throw a party.

As much as I should just keep my nose out of Business section of the paper, the fact that Apple and iTunes are the number 1 music retailer in the world troubles me. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I'll attempt to explain:

- the record stores: the first big problemo we have here is the fact that record shops are doing less business than comic shops. Not that I really think that's anything to pucker up about, but I just want to give a shout out to the record store. The appeal of a good record shop is like no other. It should be a staple on any main street in any town. Nowadays though, the only ones staying open are becoming novelty shops that sell as much Kiss action figures as they do any new release. Youngsters need record shops. Business may not permit it, and if that's the way the cookie shall crumble, I'm not going to complain as much as just be a bit bummed out. Leafing through albums and overhearing tips at shops all over the country has been a truly pleasant past time for me that potentially rivals the joy my girlfriend gets from shopping for clothes and what not. It's upsetting to sense teenagers around the country being weened off record shops in order to create a more prolific user profile on a website that doesn't really give two shits what they are buying as long as they buy it. I don't mean to sound like some Nick Hornby/John Cusack oversized-sweater wearing whoo-hah, but iTunes is denying music lovers of a valuable consumer experience.

-the big biz: The big-wigs over at Apple know what they are doing. As their market share increases, they toss around more and more weight in order to max their cash. They have the ability to disallow labels or artists placement on their site unless they are paying top dollar to Apple and that deducts money from the rest of the players (and most importantly the musicians). Now, I don't want to sound like I am an expert in this at all, but I remember hearing that labels hate dealing with Apple for this very reason. They end up making less off iTunes sales than other sales, but since iTunes possesses such traffic, it would be silly not to conduct business with them. This upsets me a bit. On one hand, I remember when Apple was a failing business, and it is a bit of a charming success story to see them rise from the ashes to strangle the money right out of our wallets, but on the other hand- come on guys- do you really deserve much more of the pie than anyone else on the team?

the internet in general- So, I'm already regretting writing this far about this whole silly little press release, so I'm going to hurry up and make one last point before I become too befuddled and decide to delete the whole dang thing. The internet is a glorious thing, there is no denying the instant access to all sorts of information and the ability to communicate with people all over the world about everything and anything... HOWEVER- let's accept it's cultural impact here and suggest that potentially there are some scares to all this one-click-culture. I mentioned that you can communicate with people, but you certainly can't communicate entirely with them.... you can't hold hands and share ice cream cones with your buddy on the Stone Temple Pilots fan message board. You can't find out the most ticklish spots on your online date messenger flirt-friend. You can't stand over a burger topped grill and complain about the heat with erratic hand gestures to the guy you are thinking of starting up a business through email. All that's a bit scary. Not too scary, but a bit. The more lines we draw between all y'all the less likely we are to get the truth. Fuck- I don't even feel right writing a blog anymore.

Anyway. think what you will, don't let me sway you. iTunes is certainly more likely to get into heaven than the torrent sites and file sharing programs we all have bookmarked... sometimes I just wish they would be a little less annoying. I feel like Steve Jobs is sitting behind me about to flick my ear and mess up my hair. Fuck off Steve Jobs, go buy a sports franchise and chill.