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> It's something that I wish I could to in the App Store. I need to keep tabs on my IPAs in case there's an app that I bought that is no longer available. In this day and age I shouldn't need to do that.

With the new iCloud stuff, you can go into the Purchased page on the iTunes Store and download any app you've ever downloaded, including those that are no longer available in the store.

That's great to hear, I didn't know that :)

In Siri's case you can't even download the app right now. Of course downloading would mean nothing, because the server for that app is closing on Oct 15.

> What MSFT absolutely nails in this arena is the experience in the XBL marketplace. If you buy something, it's yours forever (well, longer than in the app store, anyway)

Heh, I still remember my jaw dropping open when I found out that Microsoft deprecated their own music DRM format called ... wait for it ... "Plays for sure", causing users who had already purchased music to never be able to play it again. [ yes, they did a back flip, after much outcry and there was a workaround - burning to CD - but still I don't think their record in general is particularly rosy ]

The article explains that people with the application downloaded wouldn't be able to access it because it requires a call to a server that was down. Although this is the fault with Apple for Siri, third party apps calling defunct servers will also have this problem.

All of the wonderful functionality in Xbox Live only lasts a few years. They already shut down all original (before 360) Xbox games last year. That means you can't play online multiplayer anymore and you can't even redownload add-on content that you paid for.