We're putting the finishing touches on our new IconBuffet website to be launched shortly. The new site will have plenty of new features (and icons... more on that later), but one of my favorite touches is our new shopping cart.
How many times have purchased something online, especially a digital product, only to visit the store later and forget exactly what you have—or have not—purchased. A prime example of this is the iTunes Music Store. Say I purchase a single song from an album, then return later to buy the entire album. Since each song declares "Buy Song" next to it, I have no quick reminder as to what I've previously purchased. It should be noted that if I click Buy Song, and I've already purchased the song, iTunes will warn me with a dialog box that I've purchased the song. But there's no quick way to tell.
Furthermore, since I've purchased hundreds of songs from iTunes, it seems to stand that Apple could save record of those purchased songs and allow me to download them again in the future (in case of tragic deletion). Of course, we all know this is not the case. I'm sure they have their reasons for this. Oh well.
But with the new IconBuffet, we wanted to solve both problems. Now, when you make a purchase, that download is saved forever in your account. And when you browse the IconBuffet store, previous purchases are highlighted in green for easy reference. These may seem like obvious touches, but they are touches I wish more digital stores would embrace.
Jon says
So, will the new downloads have rootkits?
Jeff Wheeler says
Actually, you can get previously bought music in case you've lost some. This feature was originally implemented to allow you to get the music on all of your computers.
In iTunes, go to Advanced > Check for Purchases… and it'll download all the music you've lost.
Josh Williams says
Jeff -- Good to know. Now I can delete my library without fear.
Sam says
This is a very nice touch. Just that little corner looks beautiful, I can't wait to see it. And I look forward to more awesome Firewheel icons!
Derek Nelson says
Jeff -- Actually, I'm not so sure you are correct. Anytime I have "Checked for purchased music" I get the following message:
"All purchased music has been downloaded for this account. Purchased music can only be downloaded once. You can burn a CD, DVD, or use shared folders on your local network to transfer music to another computer."
Garrett says
I'm not impressed. Is there going to be web 2.0? Will it use AJAX? Is there a folksonomy for my icon collections? What about a live search?
I don't want to hear about making things easier for users, show me the way to web 2.0.
I kid. I kid. Can't wait to see this stuff.
Jeff Wheeler says
Derik -- Hmm… try downloading it onto another machine after logging into iTunes there, and then transferring your music.
Alternatively, make sure that you have music that you've bought, that is not in your library.
Mark says
I have lost my music library due to a new iPod and it overwriting my iTunes library. I had to e-mail the itms via apples website and they after evaluating my claim let me redownload my purchased songs. I assume they tested this in house to make sure it could happen. They should have some sort of safety net for this. In their defense they do have a disclaimer saying you "SHOULD" backup yoru music just in case something happens.
Josh Williams says
Garret -- Now I'm cracking up... AJAX? Icon folksonomies? Live search? Wow, you read our mind. Just you wait. ;-)
daniel says
"I'm sure they have their reasons for this."
Uh, yeah. $$
"You have paid for this. \/Download now"
Love it. Read: "We are not ripping you off. Evar."
"Icon folksonomies."
Insert any word in front of "folksonomies." Instant comedy.