Rough Draft Review

The company Apple has yet to cease to create amazing technology ever since its creation of the all too well known I-pod. Sense the IPOD's creation the company has released other well known products such as the IPOD NANO, IMAC, IPHONE, and even Apple Television. These products have become the center points of the entire company. However, they also came up with an advanced online system that is used to distribute the important media that is often used with the devices company sells. This online system was appropriately named I-tunes.
According to BBC news, ITunes was first created as an engine that would help spur IPOD sales. The site first offered only downloads that would be able to be played on the go from the companies media players. However the company soon began to grow. During the first year of ITunes being up and running, it sold a record 70 million songs. From then on it was no stopping the ITunes engine from growing. By 2006, the Britannica Encyclopedia reports, the company had sold over 2 billion songs to those who reaped its benefits. Now, the engine offers more than just music. As someone opens the site, they are able to search for all types of media including Movies, TV shows, applications for phones, Radio, and even ringtones.
One of the most striking features of the ITunes music engine is it's layout and design. The user is first greeted by the I-tunes store page. Here Apple gives the user a large amount of links to new and upcoming media. Some of the sections presented are coupled with pictures and slides that create an appealing montage of what the site has to offer. The front page also hold a set of quick links to manage any account issues and several links leading to the several branches of the store. All of these features are back by a nice navy blue that accents the media that is being displayed.
Purchasing music is the main use of ITunes. The company has made it easy an accessible to everyone who can click a mouse. The search toolbar located at the top right allows for the user to type in any words associated with the music they are looking for. The engine then produces a list of related music and a list of albums that could be what the user wanted. Each song produced comes complete with its name, Artist, Album, Price, Popularity, and Genre. If any of the songs for sale are clicked, Apple allows the user to hear a 30 second piece of the music. This allows for the user to make sure this is the music they were searching for and if they are still interested in buying it. Another key portion of buying ITunes music is the price. The price for music always fluctuates between 99 cents to $1.29 depending on the popularity of the song. This relatively low price leads to high sales for the company.
Another important feature of ITunes is the Library. The Library is where each user is able to keep all of their stored music as well as other media. The user can move effortlessly from their music to their downloaded movies with one click. The user is free to do whatever they wish with their downloaded music. They are allowed to do all sorts of things including create playlists or even burn them to a CD. All is made possible with only a few short clicks.
If ITunes weren't easy enough, the creators added a special feature to the mix called Genius. Genius, a search engine of its own, automatically takes whatever song you are listening to and finds songs that are very similar and displays them for the user. This can then create a playlist just from looking at the song that you picked. So, pick a song that you enjoy, and receive a list of twenty songs that hold similar tones and genres. As Apple so adequately put it themselves, "These mixes are like channels that are programmed entirely with your own music."
No matter what you may be doing on ITunes, you are always greeted by a special toolbar that displays certain tasks that could be important to the user. These include direct links to the library and Store, any shared drives from other computers and what they have bought, as well as a special set of playlists. This allows the user to move freely through the search engine and accomplish any goals that they have set in their sights. Also, Apple provides constant system updates in an effort to try and improve any aspects of the system that they deem unnecessary or redundant. As we speak I have just opened my ITunes and am prompted to update to ITunes version update 9.0.2.
However ITunes, like all other search engines, isn't without flaws. According to About.com, there are several distinct flaws with the system. For instance, when a user wishes to import a CD, the songs on the CD are added, but they are without names or titles. This can lead to confusion in a library and sometimes a user may accidently buy a song they may of already had. ITunes also has a rather long period of the user being billed. When a user purchases anything off of the engine, there can be a period of up to a couple of days for their account to actually become billed. Others have had problems with downloads. I am no exception. When I downloaded several songs from an artist, I was patiently waiting for the download to take effect. However, I never received my songs into the library. Instead, I paid five dollars for nothing at all. This has occurred several times with several users and leads to a rather long debate with technical support.
Despite its minimal flaws ITunes is a rather unique music search engine that has been rather successful in its mission to supply music to the masses. When it comes to rating the search engine, I give ITunes a 4 out of 5 music notes. The system, with its reasonable prices, nice design, quick searches, and massive amount of music make ITunes an important part of any legal music downloader's happy experience.