(Image courtesy of Engadget)

If you’ve patiently waited with bated breath for The Beatles to finally land on iTunes, you might want to start breathing normally again, because you may have a long wait -- so says she who holds the apple in her hand, both literally and figuratively.

Engadget is reporting that the long saga of The Beatles coming to iTunes appears to have no end in sight, despite the fact that a dispute between Apple and the band’s record label, Apple Corps, settled a long-running grievance back in 2006. You’ll recall that Apple Corps, the label owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, was none too happy about Apple (the computer company) getting into the music business -- a dispute that actually closed out in Cupertino’s favor.

We’ve heard all kinds of excuses about why The Beatles still aren’t available to download, with Yoko herself claiming the arrival was “imminent” last September (only to be debunked by EMI, who licenses the band’s recordings). The Beatles music was thoroughly remastered for the digital age (in both stereo and mono) last year and sold as a CD box set, so it’s clearly not a technical issue anymore.

So what the heck is the problem? According to Reuters, things are simply at an impasse.

“Steve Jobs has his own idea and he’s a brilliant guy,” explained Yoko Ono. “There’s just an element that we’re not very happy about, as people. We’re holding out.”

As if that weren’t bad enough, Yoko then added: “Don’t hold your breath… for anything.”

Guess it’s time to cave in and buy the CD box set after all…

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