Gadgets Blog » iTunes

Apple’s music empire just grew in an important way. Arguably the greatest band of all time, British quartet The Beatles has, for the longest time, been absent from Apple’s online distribution center, the iTunes store. All that came to an end late yesterday, as the complete works of the band finally made its way to the Internet for release. Apple and iTunes commemorated the event with a full-page spread of the band.

The move accompanied a press release from the surviving members of the band, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney. Due in part to record label constraints as well as personal feelings, the super-group had never made the transition over to Apple’s store. This was, in part, due to concerns about what online distribution was doing to the music industry as a whole. Today, individual songs outsell albums 16:1 through online channels, and companies like Apple keep a tidy overhead thanks to their distribution methods.

It will be interesting to see how this functions with the future of online distribution.

Today’s news story comes as a surprise, but not because it’s unexpected or out of the ordinary. Rather, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for Starbucks to implement free wireless Internet in all of their locations. The program, which begins on July 1st, will likely be met with many a satisfied customer enjoying a coffee beverage while comfortably surfing the Internet. The leading retailer and brand of specialty coffee made the announcement at the Wired Business Conference in New York City.

As of right now, it’s still possible to get Internet access in Starbucks, provided you meet a few criteria. If you’re an AT&T Internet subscriber, then there’s really nothing you have to do. You get free Internet in any Starbucks location. If you have a registered Starbucks card, then you were able to get up to two consecutive hours of free Internet access at any location, activated via a log-in type process. However, if you fall into neither of these categories, then you would have to shell out $3.99 for those same two hours of use. While the amount wasn’t anything terrible, it still was inconvenient for customers, especially if you didn’t plan on using all two hours.