The iTunes iMatch customer gateway to the cloud(s)

iTunes was launched in 2001 as a media hub for Mac and latterly PC users providing a single home for all their digital multimedia. The iPod needed some form of software to allow customers to manage their devices and keep the MP3 players dedicated to playback rather than content management. The same software has now mushroomed to father the iPhone and iPad devices no doubt to spit out new and exciting variants on the base model of iTunes managing your content. Apple have kept this environment very closed and at times hit problems in developing the store with record manufacturers not playing ball and unprepared to share the wealth with the upstart tech giant. Much of this seems resolved and you can download most music, TV, video, books and other digitally consumed media. How much storage does all this need though?  I want movies and music. Stacks of it please. My home computer with its 100's of gigabytes of storage munches this up quite happily but my iPhone?  Eeek. Any iPhone with memory over 16 Gb needs a second mortgage so all my lovely tunes stay landlocked in my home PC. Rubbish. Apple has the answer. Imatch. This service backs up your tunes into your own private cloud allowing you to retrieve any track from your mobile device without filling your memory up. This use of the cloud effectively kills off the need for a massive storage device as you can maintain your hub of data at home. Granted this means you are dependent on some form of data mobile service or wifi but with the ability to store some core content locally plus access to your library in the cloud iMatch saves you £100's in accepting a smaller memory mobile device all for an annual fee of £21.99. Not bad. Cloud enabling epic customer experiences.