Gently used iPod for sale

I’m not mad at Apple for announcing the new video iPod yesterday. I’d read the rumors before I purchased mine, but I was impatient. I’m also realistic to understand that I only want the video iPod to have the latest toy. I’m not going to download the latest episodes of Lost to watch on a 2.5″ screen when I have a 50″ screen in my living room. I’ll get over my “poor” decision.

What I don’t like about the iPod universe is iTunes. The software is perfectly usable and is stable, a feature I haven’t found in other music software I’ve used. And it’s free. The music store even has a broad selection of music. I can find random b-sides and live songs that I’ve never seen anywhere else. The service could be great, but this article from Australia explains why it’s anti-consumer. Consider:

Unfortunately for Australian consumers, the shows are available only through Apple’s iTunes online store in the US, for which you need a credit card registered to a US address.

The iTunes store is not yet available in Australia, and Apple is not saying when – or even if – it might open here.

I don’t live in Australia, but I do like British music. The U.K. iTunes store has singles from bands that I want but can’t buy because I don’t have a credit card with a British address. I know this is probably not Apple’s fault, with blame resting on the recording industry and its 1980’s view of music copyright and consumer use, but I don’t care. I want British music. With the Internets making the marketplace global, there is no reason why they should impose this limitation. Do I need to stress that I want to give them money? This strategy is one more reason I feel zero sympathy for the recording industry when it cries poverty. Any third-grader could tell them this is stupid business.