iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

iTunes on America Online

If you’re an America Online member, you can use the iTunes Music Store without having to sign up for an Apple ID. Now, that doesn’t mean you can use the Store for free (are you kidding!?). It does mean, though, that you’ll have one less name and password to keep in your brain.

Now that Apple and AOL are buddies, there’s even an “iTunes on AOL” area, as shown in Figure 6-11. You can get there quickly at Keyword: iTunes.

Figure 6-11. The iTunes on AOL area of America Online has a music search engine that can take you right to any hits for sale in the iTunes Music Store. AOL members can use the AOL Wallet service to pay for iTunes Music Store binges (it’s at Keyword: Wallet and also accessible from a pop-up menu in AOL 9.0).

To use iTunes with AOL, you need to download the iTunes software, if you haven’t already (from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download). Click the Account Sign In button on the iTunes window. But in the Sign In box (Figure 6-2), select the option to use your AOL screen name instead of an Apple Account. Type in your AOL screen name and password.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION Your Electronic Wallet

What’s AOL Wallet? Sounds expensive.

AOL Wallet is America Online’s version of the express checkout lane for online shopping: Once you find something online you want to buy, you just invoke your AOL Wallet, which conveniently has all your shipping and billing ...