Beatle Blunder

On September 8th, Chris Riemenschneider published an article in the Variety section about the release of remastered Beatles albums. He writes that these new CDs sound much better than The Beatles albums did when they were originally released on CDs. I was intrigued until I reached the final paragraph of the article:

"As it is, one can't help but wonder if most fans...will buy these discs and wind up condensing them onto their iPods or laptops. That's the equivalent of ordering a fine sirloin steak burnt. If you think that'll be you, in other words, maybe save your money for the next great wave of Beatles merchandise. Coming soon."

Coming soon? Really? When? I ask because most iTunes users have been waiting a very long time for Beatles songs to become available on iTunes. In fact, just today, Apple held a conference in which the company revealed new iPod models, but said nothing about whether The Beatles catalog would finally become downloadable via iTunes. This news was posted just a few minutes ago by Daniel Kreps at Rolling Stone, who writes: "[Beatle] fans will still have to pick up the new remasters the old fashioned way: At 7/11s and Restoration Hardware stores".

I bet Riemenschneider's face is a bit red today. A quick search on Google would have revealed that Beatles songs aren't available on iTunes, as would a quick perusal of the iTunes store. I suspect that Riemenschneider failed to figure this out because he has never used an iPod, nor iTunes. However, that's not an excuse. He's a journalist, and should have done his research.

I suppose he also disapproves of anyone who would condescend to listen to Sousa marches on anything but a Victrola.