The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide, Second Edition

The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide106

And although you can access The Store via any

Internet connection, you’ll fi nd it far more fun to

shop with a broadband connection. A 4-minute song

weighs in at around 4 MB. Such a download over a

DSL or cable connection takes next to no time at all

but can be terribly slow over a poky modem connec-

tion. And even with a DSL or cable connection, you

could wait up to an hour to download a full-length

movie from The Store.

As these pages go to print, The Store is available in

21 countries. Which store you’re allowed to purchase

media from depends on the issuing country of

your credit card. If you have a credit card issued in

Germany, for example, you can purchase media only

from the German iTunes Store (though you don’t

physically have to be in Germany to do this—again,

the credit card determines where you can shop).

Signing on

You’re welcome to browse The Store the fi rst time

you fi re up iTunes, but to purchase media, you must

establish an account and sign in. Fortunately, Apple

makes it pretty easy to do so. The process goes

like this:

With your computer connected to the Internet,

launch iTunes, and click the iTunes Store entry in

iTunes’ Source list; then click the Sign In button in

the top-right corner of the iTunes window. If you

have either an Apple ID and password or an AOL

screen name and password, enter them and click

the Sign In button; otherwise, click the Create

Account button.