I got into another beta at work. I’m trying out Amazon Fresh, which will be a lot more useful to me when I’m living in West Seattle again, but anyone in the Seattle area can register for that service. And I just got the chance to try the new MP3 download service. All I can say at this time without breaking the NDA and without adding anything new to the public is:

• it’s not vapor, and
• the bit rates are archival, which matters a helluva lot to me.

As a stock holder, I think this is a great service and offers a consumer-friendly service that the iTunes store can’t match in the long run because of DRM. As a music lover and owner of a gawdawful number of CDs, the chance to get high quality downloads at a reasonable price, especially for older music, without adding to the boxes full of ripped CDs is a gift. Not every song I want is available on a torrent, and sometimes you just feel better buying the music.