iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks Suffers Glitches

From Glenn Fleishman, Macworld:

Starbucks and Apple launched their iTunes partnership Tuesday in Seattle and New York, but in at least one of its 600 debut locations, the program started with an off note. Some early glitches combined with a regrettable technology decision caused a few hiccups for what could be a promising service.

The Apple-Starbucks iTunes offering will work for anyone with an iPhone running the recent 1.1.1 software update, iPod touch, or computer running a recent version of iTunes. When those users are in a Starbucks, they’re able to see what song is currently playing in the store, see recently played songs, and access the entire iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store—a subset of the iTunes Store.

It’s an intriguing notion in theory—who hasn’t wandered into a Starbucks, heard a catchy tune, and wondered who the artist is and how you could get your hands on a copy? In practice, however, things didn’t go smoothly on this first day. Here’s an account of my Starbucks-based iTunes Wi-Fi Store experience.

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