Backup your iTunes purchases
Rex Hammock is shocked
that Apple recommends users back up their iTunes purchases. Since the iTunes Music Store has a transaction record of
everything you have downloaded shouldn't the onus fall on Apple to make sure your data is safe? No, no it shouldn't.
Rex does offer up some ways of backing up your purchases, which is a good thing in my opinion.iTunes purchases are just one type of data that litters your hard drive, and you should be conducting regular backups of your data as a standard operating procedure. There is even a popup after you download a track or album from iTunes that reminds you to back up your music (unless you check the box that says 'Don't show this again). Losing data is never fun, but I don't think Apple should be in charge of having a backup of my music.
What do you think? Am I making sense here, or am I totally off my rocker (wouldn't be the first time).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bryan Culver said 3:15PM on 12-23-2005
I backup my hard-drive twice a month. It's something I hae learned to do after too many hard-drive crashes and things of that nature. I think everyone should make backing-up a second-handed operation like breathing.
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USTommyMC said 3:20PM on 12-23-2005
I do agree that Apple should provide some kind of safe guard against costumers loosing their music. I only say this because they do keep a record of everything you buy so it should be easy for them to provide you a copy of what you purchased. But thats just me. I do back up my purchased music every so often on DVD or external hard drive.
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Kyle Brown said 3:21PM on 12-23-2005
It's not like Apple would even have to be responsible, per se. I mean, they do have your transaction history, so if your computer crashes, why cant you just go onto the iTMS and dl it again? It's already on their servers. They could even limit you to re-downloading it 5 times, since its kinda like burning a cd in the sharing aspect. I think Rex has a point.
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zx said 3:31PM on 12-23-2005
Rex is 100% correct. the only thing we should backup is the receipt. also, when Apple will improve the AAC music files, or move to a better format, they should offer us an upgrade.
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Dan said 3:33PM on 12-23-2005
If Apple had to reissue free downloads all the time the tax on bandwidth would kill the music store. They are fast approaching one billion songs sold. Imagine the rise in bandwidth usage if just ten percent of purchased music had to be downloaded twice. Multiple downloads for one purchase? Not likely.
Sounds like Mr. Hammond doesn't see the big picture.
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Paul Corrigan said 3:34PM on 12-23-2005
If you lost a music CD, would your local music store give you another copy? Even if you had the receipt from the purchase, they wouldn't. The CD guarantee only gives you protection from faults and errors, not misplacing the item after it's left the store. Same with Apple's music service ... the song is now 'your' data and you're responsible to ensure it's backed up.
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BoulderGP said 3:39PM on 12-23-2005
I agree that users should do regular backups, and I further agree that it is not Apple's responsibility to make sure my data is safe. But in the real world, people don't always do what they know they should do and back up their data.
That being said, since Apple does have a record of the items I've purchased why can't I download my purchase again at a later date? It's a database entry, so I don't agree that Apple is keeping a backup of the music I've purchased. Audible certainly doesn't see this as an issue - and for that reason I always purchase audio books from Audible rather than iTunes. Major software publishers (Macromedia, Adobe, and VMware for example) allow you to download the software you have purchased at any point in time after the initial download, I don't see any legal or ethical reason Apple shouldn't follow the same practice.
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Ross Karchner said 3:40PM on 12-23-2005
This is one thing Audible and eMusic do better than iTMS-- you can always go back and redownload your purchases.
Yes, Apple should do this. I can't imagine it's THAT much more overhead, and would add a lot of value.
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ScottBruin said 3:48PM on 12-23-2005
Considering all the restrictions on iTMS files, it would be nice if one could re-download them from the store.
In August, my PB's hard drive failed and I had to use Senuti to get all the music off my iPod. I lost, however, digital booklets and movies I'd downloaded.
The thing is, not everyone does back up. I should have been, but as a poor college student, getting an external HDD does not take priority over eating. It'd be nice if Apple allowed you to re-download, and I don't see any major reason they shouldn't. It wouldn't be much of a burden on them.
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Rex Hammock said 3:51PM on 12-23-2005
I'm not "shocked" that ITMS recommends that people back up their iTunes purchases: My post was a pre-Christmas suggestion to people to do exactly that. Back up the purchase and get rid of the DRM. As for me not getting the "bigger picture," the bigger picture is this: Apple has convinced the record companies that its DRM and its "authorization" policies prevents people from "sharing" music. And then, with a wink, it gives users a button called "Burn It" that strips out the DRM and need for the authorization. As to whether or not Apple should allow me to re-load music I've already purchased, the answer is this: As long as they require me to only play it on an "authorized" machine, of course they should let me reload it. If they are requiring me to only listen to the tune on the machines they control (the ones they authorize), then they are licensing me the use of the music, not selling me a product. As such, they should enable me to have access to that file that they control and that I have paid for. But, again, I agree with everyone here who has recognized the big charade that Apple uses to make this all work. I love Apple for it. I just like to "free the music" as soon as I can -- and think non-technical people should be made aware of that also.
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George said 4:11PM on 12-23-2005
That's actually the only thing that has been holding myself to buy any music from iTMS. I can't download purchased songs again in case of HDD crash, data loss or stolen.
In my honest opinion 9,9 € is more than enough to cover those bandwith costs. There are hostings that can offer 20GB/month for just 30 €/year! Come on!
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Nek Derk said 4:16PM on 12-23-2005
I expected this thread to be full of wankers saying "Apple should help me if I'm a stupid moron who doesn't back up my files", but instead I find an engaging and well thought out discussion about the issue, a rarity that's so rare I'm shocked by it, congrats to all of you.
My two cents is Apple has every right to ensure you get the product you pay for when you pay for it and after it's on your hard drive it's YOUR responsibility, same as if it was on your book shelf or in your cd wallet. Would it be great if Apple had a system for verifying that you purchased the song and allowed you to download it 5 times or something (to your five authorized computers for example)? Absolutely! But I can easily see there being database errors (hey apple runs computers too and it's not like they're not prone to misfortune just like ours are) or other unforseen issues which would complicate matters immensely. So Apple has created a relatively stable system for allowing you to purchase content and get it delivered to you over the web and after that's done, that's it. Apple gives you some tools like BackUp or the DVD data disk burning in iTunes to help you back up that stuff and that's where their liability ends. It makes it very black and white and easy to sort out legally.
It also meshs with their whole philosophy on digital content. The reason iTMS isn't a subscription site is because they've gauged the market and discovered that consumers want to buy their content and own it forever, just like they have with the traditional forms of media. That's why all this bull about apple launching a mac mini with intel's Viiv technology in it pisses me off, it's exactly what Apple HASN'T been doing with their iTunes music store and goes against what Jobs has publicly stated is their philosophy. So they'll make the best computers, music players, and provide the best content they can; but if you spill coffee all over it it's YOUR fault. Nuff said.
Oh a little PS - To zx's comment on how Apple should be obligated to provide us with the same music we own in the improved format whatever that will be, a question. Did the record store give you brand new CD's because you showed them you had the whole Frank Zappa collection on vinyl? Didn't think so.
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Paul W. said 5:17PM on 12-23-2005
While it would be NICE if Apple allowed you to re-download with proof of purchase, they are under no obligation to provide that service and they make that clear up front to the consumer. I think everyone understands that.
Should they change their policy and allow re-downloading? Yes, that's something I'd like to see. While it's solely the responsibility of the consumer to backup data, Apple's download policy is a choice they made, and that can change that at any time. At least it would go a long way for Apple's PR.
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Shane said 5:48PM on 12-23-2005
Most definitely the user is responsible for data. This is painful for me because I recently lost my entire library (days and days worth of aquired tunes - many of which purchased on itunes and the rest were cds I had imported over the past few years) I have only had two Mac crashes in seven years (top that Vista) but they are catastrophic nonetheless.
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Joe said 6:05PM on 12-23-2005
The loss of any property, whether it is physical or digital, should be covered by property insurance not by the original vendor.
For 99¢ you should be guaranteed a functional file. Nothing more. If you want more either pay for insurance or pay to download again, whichever costs less.
And if it's not already covered by our State Farm and Prudential policies, then there's a business opportunity here. Any takers?
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Scott said 7:53PM on 12-23-2005
While it's true that backing up is something that everyone should be in the habit of doing, backing up music (and photos, for that matter) is more problematic than the typical backup of a "Documents" folder.
I backup DAILY to both an external hard drive AND to an online service (BackJack - if you haven't tried them, you should... they rock). However, backing up to an external drive attached to your Mac leaves you vulnerable to catastrophe (given recent natural events from Katrina to earthquakes, do you really think that it's that unlikely??). If your Mac dies in a natural disaster your hard drive backup probably will, too.
That said, the only real viable solution for those of us who fit the "backup paranoids" description (I proudly count myself amongst them) is an online/off-site service. These services charge by the amount of storage space and if you're trying to backup your music (why stop at only purchased music... do you really want to rip all of your CDs into iTunes all over again?) the cost becomes prohibitive.
In short, yes, it's everyone's responsibility to backup. However, backing up huge music files/folders represents a unique challenge. I suggest that Apple allow ONE "restoration" download of any song you've purchased so that you know you're covered in the event of absolute emergency. This eliminates the potential abuse factor while accommodating those that are well-intended but truly need some help.
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sixhoursago said 6:28AM on 12-24-2005
Yes, backing up can be difficult. Especially attempting to backup a iTunes library of 19,653 songs.
The only reasonable method would be another HDD, stored off-site, making updates to said backup difficult, too.
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jonas said 6:55AM on 12-24-2005
i bought half-life 2 via steam, and so far ive downloaded it three times. it would be hard for apple to allow this with itunes aswell, so why not? and dont go make any comparisons to CDs, we're only talking bandwidth here..
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paul said 2:44PM on 12-24-2005
Apple should allow re-downloading of purchased music the same way any good software developer allows me to re-download software I have purchased. They have their DRM in place, enable me to auhtorize 5 computers to use that file, and in principle should allow me to download that file (or files) to each authorized computer.
It's BS that they're "backing up my stuff." They have the files (one copy fthat supplies every person who buys a license, basically), so they're not storing anything for anyone.
When one of my downloaded software purchases gets wiped out, I can always re-download it. In fact, most software developers even will resend me my reg code if I lose it.
I backup all my stuff, but it's total BS that Apple doesn't allow re-downloads. It's going to bite them back one day. After enough people lose music, they will start buying CDs again, just like Dave Winer described recently. So they're either going to stifle the business growth, or I predict, someday, they will have to change this practice.
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Geoff said 3:28PM on 12-24-2005
Do you really thing that Apple has a database with over 1 billion records, and even if they do, do you really think that they are going to keep this ad infinitum? the data only has a value for a certain amount of time.
What if you want to redownload it in 10 years, should they still provide the service then?
Bottom line, are you willing to trust them, or do you want to make sure and take responsibility yourself?
Back your Data up
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