.mac (silly name) deadline extended. Can't be a good indicator! [Archive]

P-Worm

Sep 27, 2002, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by jaykk
Apple is hoping that with the realease of iSync, they can convert few more users.. iSync is delayed by few days..so is the deadline for .mac. iSync and .Mac go together..
I think you hit it right on the nose. The reason isn't for lack of subscribers, but to convince more that they want it. Hey, anything to give my favorite company more money.

P-Worm

Nipsy

Sep 27, 2002, 09:02 PM

Originally posted by jaykk
Apple is hoping that with the realease of iSync, they can convert few more users.. iSync is delayed by few days..so is the deadline for .mac. iSync and .Mac go together..

I don't know about that. Apple seem to have drawn a line in the sand, and are now moving that line.

This says bad things when introducing a service, especially one that has received this much negative press.

Also, while iSync and .mac have threads in common, iSync 's primary advertised value is between the phone/pda/iPod/calendar/computer, with online calendar publishing secondary.

If iSync were really a driver for .mac, I think the deadlines would have been better defined to allow appropriate QA, and make the target date.

I surmise that the lackluster sales momentum is directly responsible for this delay, and while any .mac revenue is new revenue, I'm sure it is not profit.

When .mac was iTools, the bandwith was likely budgeted as part of the OS budget. Now that .mac is its own entity, I'm sure it is mandated to be self sufficient. Huge bandwidth and services costs mean .mac is likley operating at much larger than expected loss. Couple that with the need to be in the black at some time in the not too distant future, the .mac division appears to be scrambling to get membership up in response to a cold shoulder from its target market.

medea

Sep 27, 2002, 09:15 PM

I doubt this is a "warning" sign for .mac, recent news say's they have had plenty of new .mac customers and iTools customers convert ot the paid account, if anything this is buying time to let iSync reel a few more in and that's probably it.
just my opinion though.....

-------------------
www.osx.has.it

Griffindor73

Sep 28, 2002, 12:09 PM

I actually have .mac (I thought, 'What the hell!") an I have to say I quite like it, especially the back-up feature.

However, it was half price, and come next year it would have to provide me with a hell of a lot more fetures to make me pay again.

RBMaraman

Sep 28, 2002, 07:36 PM

I joined .Mac, and I also am very happy with the service. I don't understand why more people don't join! For $50, you get a full year, and who knows what cool stuff they may add! I'm excited to see what cool features and incentives .Mac members will receive, making non-members jealous. Plus, I'm happy to give more money to Apple. More money means more research on new products. If it helps them develope better software and cooler products, I'm more than happy to help.

Just a side note...It would be pretty cool if they offered .Mac subscribers the ability to purchase new products (say, for instance, a new Power Mac with a G5) a month earlier than people who are non-members. Just a thought. I don't want this to turn to a discussion about when the G5 will come out.

TimDaddy

Sep 29, 2002, 03:08 AM

That's great! I was planning on shelling out the 50 bucks tomorrow night, but I really can't afford it right now. I have a fat paycheck coming Friday, now I can wait until then. I don't think I'll be renewing for $100 next year, though. But, who knows, I may fall so deeply in love with the service that I'll pay any price they ask.

Wash!!

Sep 29, 2002, 01:05 PM

I will not pay!! and th's final.

AS of today I have cahnge all my email to my regular ISP email. good by .mac address.

madamimadam

Sep 29, 2002, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by Wash!!
I will not pay!! and th's final.

AS of today I have cahnge all my email to my regular ISP email. good by .mac address.

I never paid but that is because I got my subscription for free via Learn And Earn

:p :p :p :D :D :D

idkew

Sep 29, 2002, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by RBMaraman

Just a side note...It would be pretty cool if they offered .Mac subscribers the ability to purchase new products (say, for instance, a new Power Mac with a G5) a month earlier than people who are non-members. Just a thought. I don't want this to turn to a discussion about when the G5 will come out.

apple would never do this. they have to get products out as quickly as possible and making the general public wait longer for technology that is getting older every day is BAD business.

madamimadam

Sep 29, 2002, 08:35 PM

Originally posted by idkew

apple would never do this. they have to get products out as quickly as possible and making the general public wait longer for technology that is getting older every day is BAD business.

They made the PC market wait a little longer for the iPod (don't be fooled, it was not 1 month after the backlog kicked in) why can't they do a similar thing for iTools? It is not like anyone was talking about holding on to machines for 3 months, just give the subscribed payers a priority ticket.

solvs

Sep 29, 2002, 11:04 PM

One word -

HA!

madamimadam

Sep 29, 2002, 11:49 PM

Originally posted by solvs
One word -

HA!

HA???

Thirteenva

Sep 30, 2002, 08:26 AM

Originally posted by Griffindor73
I actually have .mac (I thought, 'What the hell!") an I have to say I quite like it, especially the back-up feature.

However, it was half price, and come next year it would have to provide me with a hell of a lot more fetures to make me pay again.

It's like you took the words right out of my mouth...

jayscheuerle

Sep 30, 2002, 08:29 AM

Apple's hurting here. They've taken a beating PR-wise on .Mac and the conversion rate is less than HALF of their lowest expectation. A lot of people have signed up based on unknown future operability. These people are delusional at best, moronic at worst.

.Mac is what it is. A bad deal as it stands and a future product which NOBODY knows about. Nice investment folks.

If you're worried about Apple's finances, they made more money than iTools did the moment the first sucker signed up. - j

Wash!!

Sep 30, 2002, 08:44 AM

Apple it's trying to bring "e-world" back, it fail the first time and will fail again.
They just do not learn from their mistakes.

Tue12

Sep 30, 2002, 11:12 AM

We payed the $50 for .Mac membership. Principle motivation was the iPhoto-Kodak 100 print 'free' offer. Those 100 prints would cost $50 anyway from iPhoto. Yes, the iPhoto printing service is over-priced. It should be 25 cents a print. However, since the $50 includes the prints and the .Mac service, we see it as a 'wash' and worth paying for.

However, next year at $100, we won't sign up unless there are major incentives - like maybe 400 iPhoto prints. :D

zedwards

Sep 30, 2002, 01:06 PM

Um, I got both my computers synced up, my .mac email address, important things backed up, ordered 50 prints from kodak from my spiffy new mac and you guys are all complaining why Apple doesn't give you more free stuff and there are no G5's yet. You guys are so cheap you wouldn't even get a new computer if it came out, because it wasn't a G6.

Nebrie

Sep 30, 2002, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Apple's hurting here. They've taken a beating PR-wise on .Mac and the conversion rate is less than HALF of their lowest expectation. A lot of people have signed up based on unknown future operability. These people are delusional at best, moronic at worst.

.Mac is what it is. A bad deal as it stands and a future product which NOBODY knows about. Nice investment folks.

If you're worried about Apple's finances, they made more money than iTools did the moment the first sucker signed up. - j

"The dot com era is over"
Time for freeloaders like you to shut up.

jayscheuerle

Sep 30, 2002, 02:28 PM

Originally posted by Nebrie

"The dot com era is over"
Time for freeloaders like you to shut up.

-an example of a moron.

djniche

Sep 30, 2002, 02:51 PM

Originally posted by Tue12
We payed the $50 for .Mac membership. Principle motivation was the iPhoto-Kodak 100 print 'free' offer. Those 100 prints would cost $50 anyway from iPhoto. Yes, the iPhoto printing service is over-priced. It should be 25 cents a print. However, since the $50 includes the prints and the .Mac service, we see it as a 'wash' and worth paying for.

However, next year at $100, we won't sign up unless there are major incentives - like maybe 400 iPhoto prints. :D

The 100 print photos seemed like a good incentive but I found another site that has really good deals on digital photo printing.

dotphoto.com
their plans are
Family Plan
26 4"x6" Prints per month
Only $4.99 a month - a year $60 bucks
this is 312 prints in a year.
more than your allowed 4x6 prints are .29

they also have another plan for 10 a month that gives you
60 prints a month and prints from there are .17c each
plus they give you 30 free prints for signing up

this is more worth i think for people that are looking to print. I love iphoto but printing from apples is almost double. I use iphoto and update to the dotphoto servers and order my prints from there. I also be using the myical.com services.

zedwards

Oct 1, 2002, 09:00 AM

Originally posted by jayscheuerle

-an example of a moron.

Gee Jay, you are learning to talk like a PC user!

jayscheuerle

Oct 1, 2002, 09:07 AM

Originally posted by zedwards

Gee Jay, you are learning to talk like a PC user!

The .com era and the poor features/cost ratio of .Mac have nothing to do with one another. Most people would have paid $20/yr to keep their .mac email addresses with the same 5 megs of storage. Dependent on your needs, I suppose $100/yr can be worth the garbage dump of stuff Apple's tossing in. Most subscribers seem to be doing so reluctantly (at the $50 price point), hoping that next year Apple will toss them some more bones to justify next years price doubling. The majority of iTools users are just using the email address that came with their ISP service and letting their .mac address (that provides an Apple plug every time it was used) slip somewhat bitterly away. The next thing you know, you don't even miss it. - j

sjeantet

Oct 1, 2002, 10:31 AM

Originally posted by Hemingray
Heheh! Just gives me even more time to say "no". :rolleyes:

I thought about joining... I honestly thought... and then I realized... I don't NEED any of that stuff!

This is really the point...why pay for anything...regardless of whether it is $50 or $100...if I just don't need it? The 100 included iPhoto prints is nice, but, then again, isn't the reason I went to digital photography was that I didn't want all those pictures hanging around?!?

madamimadam

Oct 1, 2002, 07:10 PM

Originally posted by sjeantet

This is really the point...why pay for anything...regardless of whether it is $50 or $100...if I just don't need it? The 100 included iPhoto prints is nice, but, then again, isn't the reason I went to digital photography was that I didn't want all those pictures hanging around?!?

I just wish we could have that offer in Australia... I LOVE photos but I hate having masses of bad photos. That is why I have a printer and printer paper.
:)

peterjhill

Oct 2, 2002, 07:23 AM

180,000 x 49 = 8,820,000

I think that is a pretty damn good indicator. I agree with a few other people that Apple wanted to let people use iSync with .mac and possibly lure a few thousand more people to join.

People can whine about having to pay for what was once free, but I am glad to take the extra, what 10MB, of email storage space, a free addicting game, antivirus software, and a bucketload of idisk space, that i primarily use to backup my documents automatically to.

Way to go Apple!

Oh yeah, I just ordered my first 70 free pictures from iPhoto. I actually got 110 free pictures, as I used an non .mac apple id to sign up for oneclick. When I switched it to my .mac account, I got another 10 free pictures. Why would I want all those pictures hanging around? They are not for me, they are for my relatives who like to have pictures to show their friends. Not everyone is digital. I ordered one 20x30 picture of my 3 yearold nephew, I will have to report on the quaility. I have one 16x20, and it looks incredible.

Jager

Oct 24, 2002, 01:11 AM

Well, All I can say is .Mac is a ripoff. Thus I'm attempting to step up to the plate with the free acounts at www.northernswamp.com, like .mac we have a free level. and paying levels, well... I'll leave it up to you to decide.

madamimadam

Oct 24, 2002, 01:18 AM

Originally posted by Jager
Well, All I can say is .Mac is a ripoff. Thus I'm attempting to step up to the plate with the free acounts at www.northernswamp.com, like .mac we have a free level. and paying levels, well... I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Are you on the pay roll for this company or something? You have posted exactly the same message on 2 threads in < 10 minutes and you have the company in your signature, who is going to believe the word of someone who is getting paid to say something?

If you are going to say the same thing twice, so am I:

Prove it!

Also, that link of yours is stuffed, you put a comma after the com