You can actually get Itunes for a pc to listen to music. It's totally free and easy to use. I do think you can download apps to the Ipad directly, if you are online, but if you have Itunes on a computer, as the previous poster said, you "sync" the Ipad with the computer when you plug it in to recharge, and then the computer's Itunes backs up the Ipad, so you have the apps stored on the computer as well.
Hope that makes sense!