Poll: Are you a current .Mac Subscriber? [Archive]

Dahl

Sep 4, 2003, 12:08 AM

Originally posted by Nermal
No. I signed up for the trial back in February, and was somewhat underwhelmed.
That's my fear too, I have my own email, server, hard drive space etc, so I really only getting it for the virus software, but I hear mostly good things about being a member. Just that it's easy to use is probably also big, something that might not look like a big thing on paper, but turns out to be something very usefull.

pugnus maximus

Sep 4, 2003, 12:29 AM

.Mac has been a wonderful thing. My main purpose for using it is to share pictures and movies of my family with my friends and family all over the world.

sure, this can be done using other web programs, but it's very easy to do with .Mac.

I also use my iDisk on a regular basis for saving documents that I will be able to access from any computer. I don't need to cary around a disk, usb drive, or anything.

the free programs have been another bonus as well. they are good, high quality games.

I've just downloaded the latest freebies, but they seem to be helpful apps.

so, for what it's worth. my two cents.

Doctor Q

Sep 4, 2003, 12:31 AM

A small vote count so far, but we seem to have definite opinions. Over 2/3 of the votes are a definite YES or a definite NO.

Chealion

Sep 4, 2003, 12:36 AM

.Mac is not worth the $99 for me since I wouldn't even use half the features. If there was a "lite" version that gave 10 or 15 MB webmail and 10MB iDisk I'd consider. (Maybe $5-$15 a year or better yet free)

simX

Sep 4, 2003, 01:42 AM

There should be a "Yes, but don't need to renew" option. :D

MoparShaha

Sep 4, 2003, 01:53 AM

I'm considering it now that it supports backups to hard drives. I also like the safari bookmark syncing. I often use other macs in our house, and it just seems so convenient.

Buko

Sep 4, 2003, 02:19 AM

I signed up for $49. I had an account prior when it was iDisk. I'll go one more year most likely, although I have my own disk-space and domain. Which costs less than .Mac I might add. I originally joined because of the Virex software, Its superior to Norton. Although I can't ever remember having or finding a virus on any of my gear. Maybe they will give all of us iDisk guys a break on the price again.
I ain't holdin' my breath

Fender2112

Sep 4, 2003, 05:39 AM

I signed up about a week ago just for iDisk. It makes sharing files between work, home, and school a bit easier. I'm still undecided about the other stuff.

backspinner

Sep 4, 2003, 06:19 AM

I daily use it for sharing our calendars between me and my girlfriend.

caveman_uk

Sep 4, 2003, 06:26 AM

I've had it for about 6 months and I've gradually come to find it more and more useful as I find out other things to do with it. I have a desktop and a notebook so I've started syncing both on the hour to keep stuff the same on both. When the backgroup file syncing comes in Panther that'll be really handy. I don't use the .mac mail account as my main one yet but probably will soon. I've used homepage for quick websites and will start using the iCal integration shortly.

Admittedly I do think it's a bit overpriced at £69 and is only really worth the money if you do use all the features. The ease-of-use and integration are strong points though.

Ambrose Chapel

Sep 4, 2003, 07:46 AM

no.
i am tempted by the iPhoto integration but that is the only feature i would use and to me it's not worth 100 bucks.

FriarTuck

Sep 4, 2003, 08:14 AM

I have .mac with two extra e-mail only accounts.

The integration with iApps is worth the money for me.

And with the incentives the renewal cost is really about $80, not $100.

QuiteSure

Sep 4, 2003, 08:20 AM

I think the key with .mac is having multiple computers. The .mac coordination with iSync on addressbook and Safari bookmarks makes it well worth it for me, since I have an anti-spam rule that sorts as spam anything received from someone who is not in my addressbook. Since I receive email over 3 machines, this syncing is very helpful.

iDisk is also helpful to help me keep things straight between my 3 boxes. When Panther comes it will be even better.

Finally, the iPhoto integration is terrific. I use it to post photos of my kids' soccer games (very suburban, I know) and the other soccer families enjoy that sharing aspect.

The criticism seems to come from those who note the relative expense of the webspace and email. True. I never use my .mac email address. But it's for the other features that I find .mac useful.

jayscheuerle

Sep 4, 2003, 09:02 AM

If you have multiple computers (all with broadband connections), you might find some value there, but...

My ISP offers a calendar service for my wife and I to share, as well as 5 email accounts (5MB mail, 10MB webspace per) and we pay only $17.95/mo for 150 hrs./month.

I had a .Mac email account when it was free, but seeing that .Mac would be an additional $100/yr on top of my $17.95 every month... there's just no way. And I'm still miffed at having to notify all my contacts of my new email address. Many people would have paid $20/yr just to retain their mail account, but Apple didn't offer that branch.

It offers maybe $50/yr value to me (tops). What Mac needs virus protection? There hasn't been an OSX virus yet! They expect me to access 100MB of virtual disk-space via my dial-up?

I'll make my iPhoto slideshows for the web with Galerie and pocket the change.

- j

eyelikeart

Sep 4, 2003, 09:10 AM

I used .mac way back when it was new & free. I have no use for it now. If I want to share files with anyone, I'll do it through email or some other way. I just don't feel it's worth paying for when I'm already capable of doing what I need to do. ;)

sethwerkheiser

Sep 4, 2003, 09:30 AM

I used .Mac for their 60 day trial period and I miss it dearly. I use a Windows machine at work, but I was still able to have access to my up-to-date Address Book which is a big plus. The integration of the web mail is also nice, since I use web-mail here at work and it doesn't conflict big time with my Mail at home.

And the Safari Bookmarking thing is huge. Like I said, having the same bookmarks at home as I have at work is a big bonus.

Maybe this means I should do more work at work... hehe

jayscheuerle

Sep 4, 2003, 09:42 AM

Originally posted by sethwerkheiser
And the Safari Bookmarking thing is huge. Like I said, having the same bookmarks at home as I have at work is a big bonus.

Though a little more effort, you could always just email and replace your Bookmarks.plist from your User/Library/Safari folder. Takes a minute, tops. I do this maybe once a week.

Stella

Sep 4, 2003, 10:03 AM

With all the free software, the CA$199 price tag is worth it.

However, I would use iDisk more, but at its present speed, its just totally useless.

Far, far, too slow. I'm hoping that Pather will solve the transfer rates significantly...

jayscheuerle

Sep 4, 2003, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by Stella
With all the free software, the CA$199 price tag is worth it.

Wow! Who knew that CA$199 is only equal to US$50? I thought our currencies were closer!

:p

Eniregnat

Sep 4, 2003, 10:25 AM

I do miss my free iTools and .MAC address.

wdlove

Sep 4, 2003, 10:45 AM

I voted yes because we have a .Mac in our household. My wife enjoys it and will renew this month!

j33pd0g

Sep 4, 2003, 11:24 AM

:) Yes. :) .Mac is nice. :) I do have my own domain and host. However, putting the larger files (down loads) on the .Mac account saves me from having my website host provider freak out because I keep going over my bandwith quota. :) .Mac never freaks out.

crazedbytheheat

Sep 4, 2003, 12:24 PM

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Though a little more effort, you could always just email and replace your Bookmarks.plist from your User/Library/Safari folder. Takes a minute, tops. I do this maybe once a week.

The bookmark synching is way cooler than that. You can access it directly as a popup web page including adding new bookmarks. The next synch puts them back on your mac. We have Dells at work and I can still access my bookmarks, address book, etc. from anywhere I have web access.

The iPhoto stuff is really nice too. Just select some photos, pick a style and you've got an quick photo gallery. Add in the free software you get on a regular basis and, IMO, it's worth the price even without the email.

gopher

Sep 4, 2003, 12:59 PM

dotMac was nice when it was iTools. I had hoped to see more features from dotMac and better programs in the first year. But seeing that they don't even put the spam filtering in their webmail it just really isn't worth it. I have web hosting of 125 MB for $20 a month, and that includes spam filtering, secure website hosting, my own domain name, unlimited e-mail accounts, and secure connections, and all the features you expect of a webhost. The calendar I can setup with PHP on my website, and bookmarks I just have to convert to a Mozilla or Explorer bookmark/favorites file and post to my website. The games are a nice plus, and webpage editing software are nice, but the first only makes sense if you are a kid or married with kids or have time to play those games, and the second if you don't already know HTML inside and out. Sure it is easier with dotMac, but not having domain name hosting means I have to use it elsewhere. And the anti-virus, well that's something I can get from Symantec, and definitions are updated for the same version well after a year for no additional charge. The new Backup beta sounds promising, but does it do bootable backups? And with the free AIM and ICQ names working with iChat AV, why do I need my .Mac name? Apple needs to make something more convincing to sell .Mac. Maybe offer discounts on full version Mac OS X updates.

Dahl

Sep 4, 2003, 01:11 PM

Agree!

jaw04005

Sep 4, 2003, 04:28 PM

I was not going to renew but my family likes there email accounts, and although I think 100/year + extra for email accounts is expensive, I guess its worth it. The $20 bucks off at the Apple Store is nice, and I like the cute little "extras" (like games and shareware) that they offer. However, when I originally purchased the .Mac account, I thought (like alot of first time subscribers) I was going to get a special discussion board that an Apple representative would reply within 1-day, that actually amounted to something (hardware issues, software issues), but they sure stopped that idea (.mac only issues, and sadly *what* issues do you have with *.mac*, it usually works fine).

Josh

gopher

Sep 4, 2003, 04:53 PM

Originally posted by joshuawaire
I was not going to renew but my family likes there email accounts, and although I think 100/year + extra for email accounts is expensive, I guess its worth it. The $20 bucks off at the Apple Store is nice, and I like the cute little "extras" (like games and shareware) that they offer. However, when I originally purchased the .Mac account, I thought (like alot of first time subscribers) I was going to get a special discussion board that an Apple representative would reply within 1-day, that actually amounted to something (hardware issues, software issues), but they sure stopped that idea (.mac only issues, and sadly *what* issues do you have with *.mac*, it usually works fine)

Josh
What $20 off the Apple Store? Anyway, with the Apple Store you pay sales tax which frequently is more than $20 which other mail order companies do not.

Dahl

Sep 4, 2003, 05:07 PM

Agree again! :)
I'm in CA and I don't want to pay 8.25% extra for sales tax if I can avoid it. :D
I'll keep buying out of state till the goverment puts it's foot down, there has been talk about it but I don't know how close it is.

mc68k

Sep 4, 2003, 05:19 PM

i have an acct

but for $100 it's not worth it. i mainly use the idisk, homepage and e-mail features...but i can get these elsewhere

hopefully i can keep my e-mail acct somehow

danishboy

Sep 4, 2003, 05:45 PM

I use .Mac for the Simple calendar publishing feature. I travel a ton for work and have to maintain the schedules of 3 direct reports...iCal with the ability for everyone to view these calendars on the Web is handy. Now if only there were an iCal or some method of my Administrative Assistant at the home office to edit the calendar from her PC ... maybe I'll have to get the company to buy her a cheap Mac just for that!!

Billicus

Sep 4, 2003, 05:56 PM

What can I say? There should have been an option for "No, and I'll never subscribe either." I used to enjoy iTools, but I'm still miffed that they had the guts to charge $100 Bucks for it...:o I might have payed $10...:mad:

Centris 650

Sep 4, 2003, 06:48 PM

YES! I love my .Mac account. We have 2 very small children and love to show them off with a lot of people. Also, I like the backup feature. I WILL renew in April.

http://homepage.mac.com/steenfamily/PhotoAlbum9.html

Powerbook G5

Sep 4, 2003, 09:18 PM

Once I get a new PowerBook and can finally upgrade to OS X, I am strongly considering .Mac. Now that our school finally has internet access in all the dorms, I can cancel AOL for good and just use that amount I'd normally pay to AOL to pay for .Mac. It'd definitely be worth it from everything it seems to offer and the idea of a fully syncable iDisk makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. :)

scem0

Sep 7, 2003, 05:01 AM

Hell no.

.mac is a total rip off IMO. Not much offered, and it is really expensive.

scem0

Porsche

Sep 7, 2003, 06:15 AM

No. It doesn't seem worth $99/year, for what is offered.

pugnus maximus

Sep 7, 2003, 09:30 AM

i keep hearing that the cost for .Mac is not worth the price. .Mac is very useful for a Mac user working in the Windows world

everyone keeps mentioning the $100 per year price tag. i've even seen the $100 per year compared with the $14 per month of other "internet" services. .Mac really isn't that expensive. it comes out to $8.34 a month.

anyways, just two more of my cents :)

scem0

Sep 7, 2003, 12:05 PM

Originally posted by pugnus maximus
i've even seen the $100 per year compared with the $14 per month of other "internet" services. .Mac really isn't that expensive. it comes out to $8.34 a month.

Well those services are too expensive too.

scem0

wdlove

Sep 7, 2003, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by scem0
Well those services are too expensive too.

scem0

What price would you consider reasonable scem0? For what what added services would it be worth $99 per year?

tazo

Sep 7, 2003, 01:40 PM

nope unfortunately; can't afford :)

scem0

Sep 7, 2003, 07:31 PM

Originally posted by wdlove
What price would you consider reasonable scem0? For what what added services would it be worth $99 per year?

Well, its hard for me to say because I have no need of any of the services. Webspace isnt hard to get for free, I can email myself any files I need to get from a remote location. And from my FREE email address too. There are some high quality free emails services out there. I'm using nyc.com's free service. It doesn't offer much storage or anything, but the short domain name is great. Virus protection is not needed on a mac. I can backup all my files to CDs if I need backup. So basically all that .mac has to offer I can either a)get for free or b)get by without.

As for what would need to be added to make it work $99 I would say discounts on apple hardware and software, or something along those lines.

scem0

bcsimac

Sep 19, 2003, 12:01 PM

Yes, I use .Mac and have .Mac. I was lucky enough to get hired by an Apple Authorized Dealer in time to do the .Mac quiz and get my account renewed for free again. I couldn't have lived without .Mac and I didn't have the money so I am really happy I got it free again. I don't know what I will do when I am not working for an Apple Dealer and have to pay......boy that will be a tough day for me!