But when it comes to iTunes, iPods and digital music, the iPod has undeniably captured the public’s imagination as the ‘walkman’ mp3 player of the 21st century, and despite the sophistication in some of the latest models from a range of competitors such as Sony, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Creative, Archos, iRiver, Cowon and others, Apple continues to rule the roost in the world of portable mp3 players and legal music (and other digital media) download stores.

The ‘Songbird’ software, reckoned to one day be an iTunes competitor as Firefox is to Internet Explorer, has some kind of connections to the Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird projects but from memory isn’t being worked on by Firefox or Thunderbird developers and could be the open-source iTunes alternative to popularly emerge. That hasn’t happened yet but it’s one to keep an eye on.

For now, with Apple TV already launched and the iPhone to come within less than 30 days, Apple’s position in the market is stronger than ever, and a ‘later this year’ launch from Amazon is nothing to worry about, nor is any other media store just yet.

But as the other labels ‘inevitably’ decide to offer their entire digital collections in DRM-free format as well, the chance of much stronger competition to iTunes starts becoming a reality. Amazon’s move copied Apple’s and eMusic’s (who have sold DRM-free music from all but the major labels for years), and will soon be copied by every other music store.

What iTunes has shown is that the quality of the experience matters more than the price, which in the world of p2p piracy, is free. If competing stores can better the iTunes experience, they have a chance. If not, iTunes definitely won’t be out of tune anytime yet.
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