What is iTunes and the iTunes Music Store?

iTunes is a piece of software, produced by Apple, for managing and playing music stored on your computer. It's also used for moving music from your computer to your iPod, but you don't need an iPod to use iTunes. If you're mainly interested in creating a digital music collection to listen to at home - rather than carry around with you - you can do this using iTunes. After all, your computer can do everything an iPod can do, including being hooked up to a hi-fi.

Another function of the iTunes software is to provide access to the iTunes Music Store, which is one of various Internet-based services from which you can legally buy and download music. Currently the only way to access the Store is via iTunes: you can't shop there by visiting the Apple website using a regular Web browser. Note, though, that you don't have to buy music from the iTunes Music Store. You can use iTunes to play music copied from CD or other computers, or downloaded from elsewhere on the Internet (though music files from certain other online music stores may not be compatible).

There are many other programs similar to iTunes (but with-out the build-in iTunes Music Store access). They're collectively referred to as "Jukeboxes". Though it is possible to use some iPods with different jukebox programs, there's currently not much reason you'd want to.

Isn't it a hassle to transfer all my music from CD to computer to iPod?

It certainly takes a while to transfer a large CD collection onto your computer, but not as long as it would take to play the CD's. Depending on your computer, it can take just a few minutes to transfer contents of a CD into your computer's hard drive - and you can listen to the music or do some work in another application, while this is happening. Still, if you have more money than time, there are services that will take away your CDs and rip them into a well organized collection for around $1 per CD.

Once your music is on your PC or Mac, it only takes a matter of minutes to transfer even a large collection across to the iPod; and subsequent transfers from computer to iPod are even quicker, as only new or changed files are copied over.

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