Apple squeezes iTunes customers

APPLE IS so confident of the absolute loyalty of its iTunes customers, it is starting to see how far it can push them.

The latest version of iTunes, 4.7.1, has introduced a limit to the number of people who can access iTunes shared music each day.

It all came about because of a Rendezvous feature in which users on the same subnet could share the same tunes by streaming.

However, Apple has moved to restrict the streaming capability. In the good old days it used to support five simultaneous listeners, but now allows only allows five listeners a day.

Some of the reassuringly expensive service's customers, who were wearing tin foil helmets to prevent the Apple marketing team's subliminal messages getting through, were furious.

"It is one of those cases that Steve [Jobs] giveth and Steve taketh away, praise be to Steve," muttered one INQ iPod user. µ