"No more disappointment for Cynthia Hamill of Hartford, CT when she realizes she can't find that tape of herself singing 'Sweet Caroline' in the bath as an 8-year-old," Jobs said. "For only a couple of bucks, that cherished moment can again be hers."
Early reaction to the home-video downloads has been positive. "$1.99 seems reasonable to be able to relive my high-school graduation anytime I want," said Patrick Boyd of Pensacola, FL. "My parents don't understand the technology, but I can help them get it running whenever they want to watch it."
"It's just a matter of convenience," Mansfield, OH resident Samantha Davidoff said. "Why should I sift through the dozens of unlabeled DV tapes in my closet to find that submission tape I made for Extreme Makeover when I can just do a search on iTunes? Repurchasing my own stuff has never been this intuitive."
However, some early users report running into technical glitches with the software.
"I was really looking forward to watching my son's Easter greeting from Iraq," Eugene, OR resident Luka Bartoli said. "But the image froze and an alert came up saying it was temporarily unavailable due to low bandwidth. I miss my boy so much."
Some users say they have had trouble with the automated process by which previews are chosen for their new footage.
"We were all excited to watch [daughter] Tabitha's birth when we got home from the hospital, but we could only view a 30-second clip before we had to buy it," Harvey Gaddis of Tulsa, OK said. "All we could see in the preview were some of the initial contractions."
Others say the pricing can be restrictive and is not always timely.
"I wanted to show my boyfriend a video I made for his birthday of me dancing in my underwear to our favorite song," Jessica Dupree of Manchester, NH said. "But his credit card was declined. I guess he'll just have to get it from someone at work."
Despite these limitations, observers predict consumers will have little choice once they realize how vast and comprehensive the collection is. Many amateur filmmakers are already making a strong showing in the iTunes videos charts.
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