A ppleis iTunes Music Store has been the subject of an enormous amount of debate and discussion. Take its name, for instance: iTunes Music Store. Itis a long name, and people often look for ways to shorten long names. Final Cut Pro is often called FCP, the World Wide Developer Connection is almost always the WWDC, and the Apple Developer Connection is more often than not the ADC. What do you do with the iTunes Music Store, though?
For our part, we have been following standard abbreviation rules and calling it the iMS. (i)Tunes (M)usic (S)tore. That, however, has raised the hackles of many Observers who have written angry comments, demanding e-mails, detailed reasoning and research, and all manner of other "suggestions" that the proper name should be iTMS.
Well, it turns out that they are correct, despite the illogic of the idea. We checked with an Apple spokesperson to ask if there was an official abbreviation for the iTunes Music Store. While there is nothing "official," we have been told that Apple is using iTMS internally. Accordingly, we are bowing to not only the demands of our readers, but to the inevitability of Appleis direction, as it is their store.
From now on, the iTunes Music Store shall be known as the iTMS, at least at TMO. We shanit be keeping it on the QT, however, and will be instituting the term throughout future articles ASAP. To those already using the proper abbreviation, we think you are AOK. To those who thought iMS was the WTG, you are, unfortunately, SOL.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who cared enough to write to us on the issue.