The new Amazon MP3 Store looks like no previous iTunes Store rival. The music is completely DRM-free, encoded at a very respectable 256 kbps, includes a ton of songs from major record labels, and offers terrific software support for Mac OS X.

John Gruber makes Amazon’s new MP3 store sound pretty attractive, especially with the lower pricing. The only negative that he describes is download app that you have to install for album purchases. I can see why they did it (auto-add to iTunes), but I don’t like that they used an installer for just a single app.

I’m going to give them a try next time I need to buy music if the title I want is either cheaper on Amazon or if it is the same price but iTunes only sells a DRMed version.

I really don’t want an iPhone though. I’m in the phoneless iPhone camp. I hardly ever use my phone and I’m almost always some place that has wi-fi. Paying the additional fees every month for the couple hours a week (usually driving) that I’m out of wi-fi range isn’t worth it.

The iPod touch had the promise of what I wanted. Unfortunately Apple gimped the product for apparently no good reason except to force you into an iPhone. Bill Palmer has a nice list of features missing from the iPhone. The biggest one for me is the missing mail app. One of the main reasons for wanting one was to have easy email access when I’m at one of my friend’s house. Lack of notes and calendar input are the other big items. Stuff like maps, weather, and stocks would be nice to have, but not deal breakers. I’m in Phoenix. The weather is always sunny and hot. So I don’t need an app to tell me that.

Maybe it’ll be hacked before long and we can put the iPhone versions on. My only concern then will be syncing notes and the calendar with the desktop and laptop.