Yes, not only is the selection disappointing, it's also been changing all day.

Earlier this morning, I checked to see what Dire Straits songs were available. Only those from "Brothers in Arms" could be ringtoned. A bit later, those were no longer available. Another check, a whole bunch are available, and yet another look, they are not.

I don't really understand. I guess I'll figure it out.

I don't know yet if the ringtone process that Apple has built will work as I want.....

I have a voice recording of my wife "Honey answer the phone".

Also I used Garageband to build my own ringtone.

I used iToner to put both of these on the iphone.

Both of these 2 examples were no problem to put on my Sony phone and use as a ringtone.

This would be a valid reason to allow for allowing non iTunes purchased items to be set as ringtones.

I guess I'll try copying these into iTunes and see if it will let me make ringtones from them unless someone already know it will or it won't.

@Keith: That won't work through iTunes; the process only works on songs purchased through the iTunes Store. You'll either need iToner, or Rogue Amoeba's app that Chris posted about.

Maybe it's because I am a boring old 38 years old, but I have no interest whatsoever to have a song for a ringtone. I never have and probably never will.

I find it annoying when people's cell phones go off with load annoying bursts of the "Thong Song" or something in the workplace or anyplace else.

All I require are the old fashion phone ring and the strumming acoustic guitar sound. Both of which were provided on the iPhone. Why is it that ringtones are such a HUGE deal for the masses? I just don't get it. And I'm a tech and gadget freak and usually am in agreement with my fellow geeks. But this one has me baffled.
Are there others out there like me? Or am I alone on this one?
'kito

@Markito...

I don't have an iPhone, but I use individualized ring tones so I know who is calling without even looking at the phone. Most of the ring tones I use have some special significance to me and the person I use it for. My GF's ring tone is her favorite song, my brother's ring tone is his college alma mater's fight song, etc.

I agree that some people have truly obnoxious ring tones, and I am sure some would be offended by some of mine. But I am aware of that and I keep my phone on vibrate and have the ring tone piped to my headset whenever I am in public.

@Markito...

I don't have an iPhone, but I use individualized ring tones so I know who is calling without even looking at the phone. Most of the ring tones I use have some special significance to me and the person I use it for. My GF's ring tone is her favorite song, my brother's ring tone is his college alma mater's fight song, etc.

I agree that some people have truly obnoxious ring tones, and I am sure some would be offended by some of mine. But I am aware of that and I keep my phone on vibrate and have the ring tone piped to my headset whenever I am in public.

Yes, Markito - you're old. Welcome to the club. ;-)

I'm loving the ability to play around and 'edit' my own ringtones - but I always have the same issue as you. Always felt that a song as a ringtone 'identifies' you in some way.

I can never find a single song that feels appropriate enough to attach my identity to. Every time I think I do, I end up changing it a day later, because I'm in a different mood. Or embarrassed that the song I chose rang out in some inappropriate place.

In the end, I always end up just using a standard, digital ringtone. But in the meantime, it's fun to explore.

I tried out the ringtones feature last night, and after I figured out how everything worked, it did. However, I was sorely disappointed with the volume level that was created in the ringtone.

I spent a few minutes selecting the portion of the song I wanted to use (instrumental portion), and specifically selected portions with high pitched sounds that I should be able to hear just fine when the iPhone rang from within my belt holster. It sounded perfect on my Mac. However, after I created the ringtone, and synched it to my iPhone, I was sorely disappointed to find that it was so soft as to be unusable.

What's disappointing is that Apple clearly knows that ringtones need to be louder to be useful. The default ringtones on the iPhone are clear and loud on the iPhone's tiny speaker, however limited they may otherwise be. Since user created ringtones are uneditable, and there was no option to adjust the volume in the creation of the ringtone anyway, I probably won't be creating any more.

There needs to be a way to try out your ringtone creations on your iPhone before committing your payment, since there's no correlation between how it sounds on your Mac and on your iPhone.