After a summer of waiting for ringtones for the iPhone, they're finally here. And Apple delivers with a package that's easy and convenient to use. iTunes lets you know which tracks you can turn into a ringtone by displaying a bell next to them.
If you click the bell it brings up a graphic editor which is quick and responsive. You can adjust the length of the ringtone anywhere between 3 and 30 seconds. There are also Fade In and Fade Out options to give your ringtone a smoother sound, as well as gaps that you can insert in between repeating loops. From there, you can slide your time segment anywhere along the length of the song and decide what portion of the ringtone you want. When you decide, you hit the purchase button and it cuts and sends the segment to your ringtone folder to be loaded onto your iPhone next time you sync. Multiple ringtones can be made from the same song, but they still cost $.99 apiece. Very quick, very easy.
Sure, you could complain that it doesn't support non iTunes ringtones, or that you have to pay an extra dollar when you could just hack the iPod with iFuntastic or iToner. But this isn't for that crowd. The ringtone editor is for the average iPhone consumer that wants to get a ringtone on their phone in a quick and painless manner. It will be successful in the same way the iTunes store has been despite free MP3's being readily available. All in all, this is a nice, consumer friendly service from Apple.