I should just download illegally, like everybody else

There are so many ways of listening to free music online; from streaming the latest music videos, creating playlists and dodging adverts on Spotify, to listening to live radio and podcast sessions. But despite all the possibilities, I still choose to purchase and download songs directly onto my computer. Like many people I buy music through iTunes - not because of the overwhelmingly large library of diverse content, but because I was drawn towards a shiny iPod like a crow, and I'm now stuck with their music store.

The trouble with using iTunes is that I don't own a Mac computer; I didn't quite fancy paying double the price for a laptop on the basis that it's spotlessly white and it helps me blend in at Starbucks. Whenever I use iTunes it never really works; it takes forever to load up, it hoards me with unnecessary updates, and it frequently deletes my entire music library, leaving me with nothing but smarmy messages telling me how to add songs to my empty library. I'm fairly certain that Apple purposely sabotages iTunes if it's not installed on a Mac.

I know that getting iTunes to work properly isn't the most pressing issue we face today, but it just seems that the world would run more smoothly if we stopped making life difficult for each other. In an ideal world we would clear away our own rubbish at fast food restaurants, we'd give up our place in the queue to an elderly gentleman, and we'd cross the street to hold a door open for a woman struggling with her shopping - but we don't.

I'm aware that spontaneous consideration and the occasional smile isn't the solution to all the worlds problems; politicians will still squabble, wars will still be fought, and the French will still be French. It seems that we're all too pessimistic to believe that our small acts of kindness will have any influence on the bigger, more important issues. Trying to preach that world peace can be found in forgiveness and sanctity is like pissing into the wind, the hippies found that out for themselves; metaphorically of course, though I wouldn't rule out the literal.

Seeing as though world peace isn't on the horizon we might as well go back to randomly pulling out at roundabouts, assuming that somebody else will offer their seat to the pregnant lady, and totally ignoring the elderly. Blame not a broken society or insolent youth, but the slimy, pit-stained software programmers at Apple that won't fix my iTunes because I refused to buy a seven hundred pound laptop.