Apple has launched their new social media for music product called “Ping“.

Here is my brief take on it so far … firstly it is a social network that requires software (iTunes 10) to be downloaded to your computer or iPod, or iPad, etc. Which I did immediately, of course.

Ping seems to be only accessible on iTunes by enabling the iTunes store.

Now I love iTunes;  it has been my PC jukebox of choice for many years, and I spend hours every day browsing and listening to my music using it. I no longer even play music through my hi-fi system, my PC is the exclusive source of music in my home.

However Apple does not allow South African credit card holders to buy from their store, so the store is not for me, which probably means that Ping won’t be either.

I am open to hear more thoughts and ideas on how Ping works, but right now it is not a place I will be spending time on or recommending to others.

Don’t think my opinion is going to affect Apple’s share price by very much, though.

(Oh, and Ping sounds very similar to Bing, doesn’t it? A not-very-subtle dig at Microsoft … and Ping.com is the website for the golf clubs, so lots of web traffic coming their way soon, I am sure.)