By Graham K. Rogers

Although there had been some rumours that it might happen, and the parental controls preferences were changed to include countries in the region, the idea that after all these years there would be an iTunes music store in Thailand was almost beyond belief. While the local rumours had a flavour of coming from someone in the know, I was pleasantly surprised when the change occurred.

With a sense of anticipation, the first thing I checked was Software Update in case a new version of iTunes were available. Then I quit the application, restarting right away. Slowly, iTunes appeared and there was more accessing online link than normal. When the main panel loaded, there were two new sections: Music (long-awaited) and Movies, which was a surprise. There was a time of course when there was no iTunes store at all here.

A pivotal moment was the arrival of the second generation iPod touch in January 2008. The first version could be updated for $20 but needed access to the iTunes store for its firmware upgrade. With no store available to much of the world, Apple had apparently shot itself in the foot. From conversations with Apple personnel in San Francisco at that time, it was apparent that not all agreed with the decision.

A number of those at Apple whom I knew when I was writing the eXtensions column for the Bangkok Post had all been at the sharp end of my comments back then. They always took these on the chin like the professionals they are, replying with the stock Apple phrases, but you could sometimes see the hurt in their eyes: they are real people underneath the Apple facade. But saying nothing would have been wrong.

I tried hard to buy the iPod touch while in San Francisco that year visiting several retail stores, including the outlet at 1 Infinite Loop. I was told in one that I could update online. No. I couldn't.

However while I was in the Stockton Street Apple Store, a voice behind me suggested I wait until I returned to Bangkok. Apple country manager for Thailand, Therdsak Skulyong had seen me and wandered over to chat. He was right: my own iPod touch arrived before the end of the month.

As well as being quite put out by the non-availability of the new features because of where I live, it occurred to me that with music, movies and some other media, Apple was restricted by the copyright holders (not so with its own firmware). The podcasts, which had begun to lift off and the apps beginning to appear were not controlled in the same way. I suggested to Tony Li (Apple's Director for Product Marketing, South Asia, now with HTC as VP North Asia Marketing) on one MacWorld trip that a two-tier strategy might work allowing people in some countries access to certain downloadable items only, especially as this would give Apple access to a vast database of customer information. I could see him turning it over for a moment or two.

When the App Store finally became available, I put this down to "great minds think alike" but there is no doubt that its arrival here and in over 100 countries, certainly changed things, especially with the later arrival of the iPad.

I never understood why podcast access was not available in the iTunes store here. These were not restricted, but finding a podcast meant switching to a store in another country such as the US or UK and then switching back. The access to podcasts was only fairly recent and we may now be looking forward to another expansion in the use of this medium as Apple has just released an iOS app for podcast access.

Until this week, users of the iTunes store had access to apps, podcasts, iTunes U, and a miserable iBooks section with only copyright-free works. Like some music, books may also be found online in a number of sources (including local sources, such as Asia Books), so Apple is being restricted -- or restricting itself -- for no reason that is obvious to us users.

I had expected that if this change to the iTunes store was really to happen, the music would be local. I was wrong. I saw displays for Linkin Park and The Beatles as well as Jay Chou.

A press release from Apple tells us that the iTunes Store has been added to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.: a massive expansion of availability. The shrinking of the disk market (you could copy CDs anyway) and the controls that Apple has with accounts has finally brought the copyright holders to their senses. Perhaps.

I spent about 30 minutes with my first look at the music and movies available, searching for some specifics to try and find out what was there: The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Michael Jackson's History. I saw that The Beatles albums were higher priced than others, although I shall probably buy Revolver. I later noticed that the Beatles were not alone with higher priced content.

I did buy the Rolling Stones first album because this is where it all started for me (musically speaking). A friend had bought this to my 14th birthday. I had earlier written that this was my 13th birthday, but the 1964 release date shows this was wrong.

The raw music, compared to the blandness of most available at that time -- most groups wore suits and ties, for Heaven's sake -- electrified me. The first track was "Route 66". When I lived in Illinois in the mid-1980s, I travelled on this every day.

In the 1960s I saw several top-line groups, like the Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck), Them (Van Morrison) and later when Punk hit, I loved that too. I wasn't sure about the Sex Pistols, but later bought John Lydon's first PIL album, as well as one by The Clash, while I went to see Tom Robinson in the same venue the Yardbirds had performed.

That older farang with the iPhone isn't just listening to Beethoven and Verdi (these do figure), but has some music on that iPhone that will rock your socks off.

I gave my first record collection of disks to my sister. The second went to a friend when I left for America. The third collection, started in 1984, is all CDs which I have kept. The fourth is digital -- all legal I might add -- from the online services and independent labels that do allow those in such foreign parts to download music.

And now the iTunes store has given me music.

When I selected the Rolling Stones album, the purchase was almost effortless: after all, Apple has my data and payment information in its databases for purchases I have been making in the App Store and the Mac App Store. My details were recognised, although I did have to check on and accept a new licensing agreement.

As others have already commented online I am going to be spending a lot more money.

In the evening when I had more time, I had a more careful look through the contents pages on the Music Store and the Movie section. I was rather disappointed by the movies which are mainly releases I have already seen, with a number of fairly middle of the road offerings. Searching for movie makers such as Orson Welles, Francois Truffaut, Sergei Eisenstein or even Charlie Chaplin gave me nothing. There also appear to be no Thai movies. I have nothing to compare this to, such as contents of other stores, but I am unlikely to make use of this feature, even though the rental service is available to users here.

The music content was far better, although there are still some missing items and other discrepancies. I did some fairly wide browsing of the categories listed (button top right) and found a lot of artists whom I did not know, which is encouraging. Using the search, I also discovered that a lot of artists I did know were not listed. I guess this is an acceptable case of swings and roundabouts. A lot of respectable artists I do know are listed and I am pleased by some of the early discoveries I have made. iTunes Match is available for those who want to use it, but Ping seems to have disappeared.

In the Classical section I felt that there were limits. Some works that ought to have been available were not. As an example, when I tried Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, a single version was shown but a panel appeared telling me this was not available. The iTunes store is not a repository for all records that have ever been made, but in some cases there might be more variety.

That lack of availability was also evident in other sections of the Music Store and applied to some artists and even some works by artists otherwise available. I was able to buy most albums by U2 (had I wanted) for example, but selecting a couple brought up that "not available" panel.

With a couple of minor niggles I am pretty happy with the arrival of the iTunes music store here. With a poor selection of disks in Bangkok and the great difficulty I have had trying to buy music online, except for some specific services (e.g. Classics Online) I am sure to be making much use of this service in the coming weeks and months.

Over the next few days, I will be going back over some of the podcasts I subscribe to so that I can track down those artists whose work I was unable to find in downloadable form earlier: they were on iTunes or other services that I could not use.

Now I can. I will.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.