I have been raving in this space about Apple’s iTunes Music Store (iTMS), and for good reason. As you may remember, the songs available on iTMS are in Apple’s AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) format, and provide more quality per MB of file size than MP3 files. You can listen to them on your computer, download them to your iPod, or burn them onto CDs.

I have purchased, at 99 cents per song, about 25 songs. To purchase music, you enter iTMS through the iTunes application. Click a few buttons, fill out a form with some personal and credit card information, and you’re ready. Beware! The whole process is so easy and enjoyable that you can spend a good chunk of change before you know it. You can even listen to a free thirty-second preview of each song. Once purchased, each song takes less than a minute to download. If you’re using Mac OS X “Jaguar”, and the new iTunes 4, and haven’t checked out iTMS, now is a good (and potentially profitable for you) time to give it a spin.

If you sign up for a new iTMS account (no purchase necessary) between now and September 20th, you are automatically registered for the iPod-a-Day Giveaway. Each day Apple will be giving away a new 10 GB iPod to some lucky user. Sadly, if you already have an account, you’re left out.

This week Intuit started shipping Quicken 2004 for Mac, with many new features, and new integration with Mac OS X. You can order a CD version to be mailed to you, or download a version from Intuit’s web site (www.intuit.com) if you have a stout internet connection. Although I haven’t picked up my copy yet to produce an in-depth review, according to Intuit, among the many features are: improvements in monitoring your portfolio (or what’s left of it); integration with Mac OS X’s iCal calendar application to display upcoming bills and financial events; and an Emergency Records Organizer to keep track of important documents and records for those unthinkable times.

Finally, this week Apple started shipping the single 1.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz models of the new PowerMac G5 desktop computers. Despite the reports of recent power outages affecting the G5 manufacturing process, Apple assured the press that they were on schedule to start shipping the flagship Dual 2.0 GHz models by the end of the month. Let the drooling begin!

© 2003 Peter F. Zimowski