There was basically only one story that was huge today, one that rose above all others: Apple and EMI announcing DRM-Free high-quality downloads on iTunes for $1.29 a pop.

I’m having trouble finding anything bad about this announcement. Yes, the tracks are more money, but word is that albums will remain $9.99, and that’s all I usually buy anyway.

Another thought; to quote Police Chief Brody in Jaws: “We’re gonna need a bigger boat”. With the songs going to 256 Kbps quality, they will be exactly twice as large as the current crop of songs, and as such my current 26.7 GB collection of music would balloon to 53.4 GB; too large for my current 40 GB iPod.

I of course won’t be upgrading all of my songs to the new higher quality, but going forward it’s a little disappointing to think that my Nano and Shuffle will hold half as many of the new songs as they currently do old ones.

Finally, I wonder if Apple is going to open up and allow the iTunes software to sync up with other MP3 players? On one hand such a move could mean a few less iPod sales, but on the other, it would likely mean more iTunes sales. Also, does this mean the 5-computer limit on iTunes songs will be raised or abolished? This intermingling of DRM and non-DRM music could get a bit tricky…

…and where the hell are The Beatles songs?!

But don’t get me wrong. This is great news for all.