The Starbucks/Apple deal that allows free use of the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store in retail establishments launched today: I wrote up my experiences for Macworld.com, notably that the launch in at least two stores were glitchy, and even after the main features worked, I still disagree with their fundamental setup.

Apple advertised this experience on their site thusly: "Stroll into a participating Starbucks and you’re connected automatically. Browse and search the entire iTunes Store from your laptop or millions of songs on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store from iPod touch or iPhone." Not quite.

In the two stores I checked today with an iPod touch, iPhone, and Mac laptop, I had to select the network "tmobile" when offered to me; there was no automatic process. Further, I was never able to get the laptop to access iTunes--or even T-Mobile's gateway page. (I could reach T-Mobile.com, and could use other nearby Wi-Fi networks, so I'm mystified at that problem.) The iPod touch and iPhone could, ultimately, reach the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, allowing me to browse selections, see what was playing, and purchase songs.

Once having selected "tmobile," the iPod touch and iPhone remember the network as a choice, meaning that they try to use the network for Internet operations other than iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store interaction. Since T-Mobile's network is for-fee, without an account or paying for service, you have to "forget" the network after each time you use it in order to access the Internet unless you want to pay T-Mobile or have an account with them (see the article for instructions).

What I'd expected is that T-Mobile would have enabled a special virtual SSID, or secondary network name, that the iPhone, iPod touch, and some part of iTunes would be able to recognize and connect to without affecting choices made for general Internet connectivity. They did not. This is a huge mistake. It will result in frustration for users who otherwise expect to choose selectively about which networks they use for Internet access.

For iPhone users, you can optionally turn off Wi-Fi to force a switch to the EDGE network to avoid using T-Mobile's service outside of iTunes, but that's an extra step.

This should have been seamless. A beat was skipped. Apple and Starbucks won't have the success with this they expect because they will train regular visitors to not accept the "tmobile" network.