A few years about a thing called Napster hit the net. It was a service designed to facilitate sharing files. It worked pretty well. Actually it worked very well. It didn’t take long for people to discover that it was an ideal way to find music. While Napster started out as more than just a music trading program, it quickly became known for mp3 music files.

I can’t confess to ever using it, because I was never impressed with mp3 as a compression format. I’m not an audiophile, but even on my crappy stereo I could tell the difference between a CD and an mp3 of the same music.

This has definitely had an effect on my music purchases. I’m leery of buying an album for fear of paying $18 US for one good track and ten tracks that suck. In effect I’m dropping $18 for one good song. I have a good job, but I’m not so wealthy that I can spend that kind of money all the time, and not on music and bands I’ve never heard before.

I knew of Napster when it came, when the entertainment industry tried to kill it, and I’m fully aware of all of the alternatives that have sprung into existence. Despite all the harping by executives of the RIAA about piracy, they failed to grasp the revolution that was going on. Even worse, they failed to capitalize on it.

Stick around here long enough and you’ll eventually get the idea that I like Apple Computers. Call me a nut case if you like, but I’m paid well for my technological savvy. The folks at Apple have a knack for developing hot products. When they first introduced the iPod I thought it was a nice little toy, but I still wasn’t impressed with mp3’s.

Well the public went nuts for it, so much so that Apple produced a version compatible with Windows. When I finally got my hands on an iPod I thought it was actually very cool. It’s small, easily navigable, and integrates extremely well with Apple’s computer products. So I finally understood what the fuss was about and started thinking about buying one myself. Still, the mp3 thing held me back.

Apple has since released the newest version of their iPod, and this is the one that relieved me of my hard earned cash. What’s the difference? It supports a different encoding scheme designated AAC (mp4) for a file that sounds better when played, but is just as small as an mp3. I wasn’t convinced till I downloaded the new version of iTunes and ripped one of my favorite songs as both mp3 and AAC. The difference was immediately noticeable for me.

While they came out with a product good enough for me to buy, that’s not the really exciting part. What really excites me is the new music store they have built into iTunes. All of the music is encoded in the ACC format, they allow you to hear 30 second previews of all tracks and the most revolutionary part of the deal: You can buy any single track for $1 US.

Finally! Music is becoming affordable again! I believe the vast majority of music consumers are honest folks whom given the opportunity to purchase music easily and cheaply, will do so. Apple’s making a gamble, but I think the public is more than ready for this. I imagine the entire industry is going to watch the iTunes Music store very closely to gauge the success of the model. Already they claim to have generated over $2 million in sales, and I believe that’s a figure that can only climb higher.

Digital delivery is finally available in a convenient and cheap form. This is going to be a lot bigger than people think.

One of Apple’s devrel people told me the Music Store was “Digital Crack” and I totally believe it…but the bottom line is Apple totally nailed it on the first try and I’m happy to have them as my Digital Pusher. -Ryan Gordon