New iPod owners, gift cards overwhelm iTunes Store

A huge increase in new iPod owners and iTunes gift card holders overwhelmed Apple’s iTunes Store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns. The AP reports: “Frazzled users began posting urgent help messages Monday and Tuesday on Apple’s technical forum for iTunes, complaining they were either not allowed into the store or were told the system couldn’t process their request to download songs and videos. It was not immediately clear how many people were affected by the slowdowns, and Apple would not immediately comment Wednesday on what caused the slowdown and whether it had been fixed.” Analysts said the problems were likely due to the large amount of consumers receiving new iPods and iTunes gift cards as Christmas gifts.