The iTunes Future

The unbelievable iTunes traffic spike in 2005 only promises further success for the iTunes/iPod brand. Nielsen NetRatings reports that 20.7 million people visited the iTunes Music Store that year, a 241 percent increase over 2004. And if they're shopping at iTunes, they might just end up with an iPod so they can bring their music on the road with one quick autosync.

Besides nice sales figures, the future of iTunes most certainly includes ongoing hacking wars. One can only wonder if Apple will release a version of iTunes for Linux, if only to eliminate the legitimate complaint that Linux people don't get to use the iTunes Store. Sure, people will still remove the DRM protection, but they won't have as many sympathetic ears for their mission.

In the realm of expanded support, the slowly increasing number of Apple-licensed third-party products, like iTunes phones from Motorola and a standalone iTunes player from Roku, points to the possibility of increased collaboration between Apple and other electronics manufacturers. This is good news for people who like to pick and choose the pieces of their "digital media experience."

One predicted release for 2007 is Apple ITV, a wireless device that will play iTunes movies and TV shows directly on a television with no go-between. Apple is also expanding its content in unexpected directions like iTunesU -- a free service for universities to post lectures and other content for their students to download through the iTunes software. Will universities start supplying every freshman with an iPod so they can listen to lectures while they walk across campus? The next logical step might be to offer a similar service to businesses -- they could use iTunes to supply recorded meetings or training lectures to remote workers and frequent travellers. The future may see iTunes as standard software on office computers (and tiny iPod speakers embedded in the lapels of dark-blue suits everywhere).

For more information on iTunes, check out the links on the next page.