[matwood]

Apple doesn't advertise the fact that they do keep a list of your purchases. If you call them you should be able to get them to let you re-download all the content you have bought through ITMS.

IMHO, Apple should be putting a feature like this front and center, but my guess is that the labels are against it. Who else wants you to buy the same song first on vinyl, then tape, then CD, then digital, then...

[masklinn]

> Apple doesn't advertise the fact that they do keep a list of your purchases. If you call them you should be able to get them to let you re-download all the content you have bought through ITMS.

yeah but sadly:

1. the list of stuff bought is pretty well hidden, and it's a pain to get back to the media from there. Steam gives you your library front and center, and from there it's a right and a left click to reinstall

2. for everything other than apps, you can't just re-download the stuff you lost. You have to re-buy it. That sucks. A lot. Here's hoping that improves with a hypothetical iTunes 10 / iTunes Cloud.

[AlisdairO]

You can re-download stuff other than apps, but you have to contact apple. It's an open secret that they'll modify your account to let you re-download.

[masklinn]

Ah yeah, forgot to point that out, but in any case it's a pretty sucky experience. There isn't a big button saying "re-download EVERYTHING" and boom everything you ever bought on iTunes gets requeued.

[AlisdairO]

Yeah, it's true, it is a really crap user experience. Considering the miniscule cost of downloading a song, it really ought to be free to re-download.