Deep Thoughts about iTunes + Music Store updates

Apple was in the news today with its iTunes updates. Certainly some interesting developments. My observations:

• I'm impressed that Apple has added a bunch of independent music to its offerings. That is surely in direct response to my criticism when the store first launched. Seriously, I'm glad that the indies are getting exposure, but I find it interesting that of the six independent artists I had mentioned, only one of them (Delerium) has any real presence in the new store. Still, one can hope that this is too small of a sample to draw any real conclusions.
• Since Apple has made a business case to release their own software on Macintosh and Windows, could it be far behind that Apple will revive its capability of deploying Cocoa applications on Windows, so that the rest of the independent software developers can do the same without resorting to completely rewriting their applications, or worse, not bothering to write a Mac version at all?
• The circle is now complete. With Apple's upcoming promotion with Pepsi, it looks like Steve Jobs is helping to sell Sugar Water. I bet John Scully is having a good laugh today.