This would be an outrage. There are many arguments I could place: the sanctity of going out and buying a Beatles album or even better a record; the fact that the Beatles aren't meant to be listened to in headphones but late at night in your room. However, I only have one certain argument: you don't listen to a single song by the Beatles, you listen to an album by the Beatles. Placing them on iTunes would leave each generation here forward to discover the Beatles in the wrong way. It's all like a rite of passage for Beatles fans. It's hearing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band transfer into With a Little Help From My Friends, and later hearing a reprise of the same great song for the first time. It's about hearing the sound of Revolver. It's about hearing the difference 4 months made for the band between Help! and Rubber Soul. Plus, it's not really cool looking at a digital picture of Abbey Road. I doubt you'd even notice the infamous LMW 28IF license plate or the hearse in the background. And you would definitely never know about the back of Abbey Road, the subliminal 3 in front of the word "Beatles" to add to the Paul is Dead Hoax.
My final and most important piece of support is the one and only The White Album (The Beatles). Those songs are not just thrown on that album. They have a specific order for a reason. That album is a journey. No newcomer to the Beatles realm would ever appreciate Wild Honey Pie enough to download it. And what bigger part is there to being a Beatles fan than suffering through Revolution 9 to get to the wonderful and concluding Good Night. The White Album is like sitting in on a Beatles session. A digital world just doesn't capture that. Plus, the White Album comes with four pictures of the Beatles and a poster. I doubt it would be the same if Apple even went as far as to let you print your own copy of these...
Call me a purist but Apple Inc. and Apple Records together leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
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