Upon my readers’ suggestions, I downloaded and installed iTunes to my PC (running Windows XP) last week. Holy crap, do I love it! But it is dangerous because by default it uses one-click song purchasing, so if you’re wrapped up in a momentary “I love this song” stupor as you sample a 30-second clip, the next thing you know you’re downloading it and your credit card has been charged. Just like that, thank you drive through please. So I changed it to use a shopping cart instead. I can’t handle impulse-buying and they know we’re a generation of gotta-have-it-nows. In any case, there are eight songs sitting in my “Buy???” playlist because I have to seriously think about whether I want them.
While browsing through the lovely iTunes, I came across this song by Robert Smith, Perfect Blue Sky, that I had never heard before. It’s mixed by some guy called Junkie XL. I started listening to his album and now I can’t decide if I want to download some songs from it, or just buy the whole thing. I really like the song he did with Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. Then later it occurred to me that my favorite song off my newest Oakenfold cd is mixed by this Junkie XL guy too. I recommend you check it out, particularly if you’re a Cure fan because it definitely has a Cure aura in certain parts. It’s called Legacy – (Junkie XL remix, with Infusion).
I KNEW you’d love iTunes. But you resisted installing it for so long, I didn’t want to push it. I think iTunes (and the iPod and the integration of the two) is the best thing Apple’s ever done. There’s always more to discover about the program and about the music in the store.
That shopping cart was originally included not to help people avoid impulse buying, but to help people on slow Internet connections. But that one-click purchasing they licensed from Amazon is really dangerous, so now the cart’s got a whole different purpose!
I thought you’d find some music that you’d unexpectedly love, but I never thought you’d find something Cure-related you’d never heard before. That’s really cool. And it’s great to have the option to buy just the songs you like or the entire album if you want it.
Told ya so. Actually the “one click” only kicks in after your first purchase of the session so long as you have it always ask for your password. When I make my first buy, it asks for my password and then I’m logged in and the one click is activated. However, I’m typically only looking for one or two songs at a time, so I’m pretty safe.
But if you’re really worried about overspending and whatnot, iTunes will let you set up spending limits and you cannot exceed them. It’s a great thing to do with music-loving kids scamming on your credit cards. Just a thought. I think it’s the allowance link in the music store.