Though it has already been discussed to death elsewhere, I’d be remiss not to mention Apple’s new online music service, as I suspect it will become the first viable effort in the emerging world of digital music sales.

The basic details: $.99 for a song, $10 for an album, high quality downloads that play on up to three computers, burn to CDs and download onto an unlimited number of portable devices. In other words, reasonably priced downloads not crippled by a draconian digital rights management protocol, all through a fast and easy interface.

Sure, no matter how good the system, some number of people will always choose free p2p file swapping from Napster clones. But as one pundit pointed out, the majority of internet users will eventually head over to legitimate services (once the services get good enough) for the same reason most people buy store liquor, rather than white lightning brewed in someone’s bathtub: it’s easier, more reliable, they know what they’re getting, and it isn’t illegal.

Currently, the service is available only for the Mac, but a Windows version is supposedly rolling out by the end of the year.