iTunes 4.5 has some interesting new features, but one baffles me: all songs in my library and my iPod now have links to the corresponding song, album, and artist on the iTunes Music Store.

OK, obviously the first point is that the link actually performs a search at the store (since you wouldn’t want to make every copy of iTunes responsible for keeping its own copy of the store’s inventory, in order to show the links only when the song/album/artist is actually available a the store). So, when you click the link, it’s possible you’ll end up at a “no results found” page.

Knowing the futility of looking for things that aren’t going to be in the store, when you have seriously oddball musical tastes like I do, the results can only be described as comical:

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No need to click the link - I’m pretty sure the iTMS doesn’t stock Ginga Tetsudo 999 ETERNAL EDITION, File No. 1. Or Files 2 through 12 for that matter.

But more importantly, if I already own a song in my Library or on my iPod, why would I need to go back to the music store? Am I going to buy it again?

Maybe the feature is aimed at those who’ve filled their iPods with pirated MP3’s. As if to say, “y’know, when you feel like going legit and actually buying this song, here you go.”

Also, the link would be a cool idea when playing your friends’ shared playlists and iMixes, but shouldn’t it be able to tell the difference between songs being shared to me and those on my own storage?

Not a flame, just seems curious.

Really, I must be missing something. Tell me why this is cool and I’m dumb.