I finally got around to playing with the new ringtone creation feature in iTunes for my iPhone. If you purchase a song for 99 cents from the Apple music store, then you can pay another 99 cents to create a ringtone from it. I soon realized that the vast majority of songs I purchased through iTunes would royally suck when heard from a phone – iPhone or otherwise. So to start, I picked the best song from my iTunes library that I could find. Sadly, this was “Long Train Running” by the Doobie Brothers. (Great song, but it doesn’t scream “Quick, make a ringtone out of me!”)

The process was very simple, and it allowed me to choose an arbitrary length as well as song segment for the new ringtone. I like being able to select what I really want the ringtone to be instead of what someone else created. You can choose whether to add a fade to the beginning or the end of the ringtone as well as the delay before it loops.

Now here’s the real issue: should Apple be charging you an additional 99 cents to create a ringtone from a song you already purchased? At the risk of sounding cheap, I must admit I get a bit of a queasy feeling. I compare it to buying a quarter pounder at McDonalds but then having to go back to the counter when you realize the pickles weren’t included. And they cost 99 cents extra. But I really love pickles. On the other hand, I did go download another song just so I could make a ringtone for my iPhone that I actually wanted to have on there.