100,000 .Mac Subscribers [Archive]

arn

Sep 17, 2002, 12:36 PM

Apple announced (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-17-2002/0001801002&EDATE=) that over 100,000 Mac users have subscribed to their .Mac service with over 1000 new subscribers daily.

"We're thrilled to have more than 100,000 .Mac subscribers so quickly,"
said Sina Tamaddon, Apple's senior vice president of Applications. "We're
getting over 1,000 new .Mac subscribers every day, which is proof that many of
our users want to seamlessly extend their digital lives onto the Internet."

Further integration is expected in the future...

gotohamish

Sep 17, 2002, 12:49 PM

I'm not one.

When there's more integration, maybe I'll be interested.

And when UK users can user Sherlock properly, and iPhoto.

no far... etc etc...

Thirteenva

Sep 17, 2002, 01:11 PM

over a 1,000 new subscribers every day??? that sounds "optimistic" if you ask me...

I can't wait for some new .mac integration and services...with all these subscribers apple is bound to do some great things with the service.

kevinibook

Sep 17, 2002, 01:32 PM

it's probably an average (i.e number of susbscribers divide by number of days .Mac has been available.)

scottlee

Sep 17, 2002, 01:34 PM

I signed up for a .mac account especially since the $50 deal is almost up for the itool members to make the transition. Also, the integration with the apps is right around the corner. I needed the server space too. At $50 its not a bad deal.

macktheknife

Sep 17, 2002, 01:34 PM

Wow, if this is true, and if people were forking over $50 for .Mac, this is an additional cool $5 million added to Apple's bottom line. And if those same 100,000 subscribers renewed their subscription next year for $100, that's $10 million for Apple.

Hum, that's pretty easy money for the company if you ask me. No wonder they decided to charge for .Mac! Well, I've been putting off sending Apple my $50, but when it comes down to it, do I really want to lose my .Mac e-mail and homepage account? I guess if I'm going to pay for e-mail and webpage hosting, I'd rather the money go into Apple's pocket than Microsoft or Yahoo's.

strider42

Sep 17, 2002, 01:55 PM

so much for those claims of a 50% adoption rate. thats like less than 5%. I mean, if apple wants to make money off it, more power to them. these things aren't cheap to setup and maintain.

I stll wish they would offer email only accounts. I think they'd get a higher adoption rate, and potentially more money. I would think that if they gave every new mac a 1 year account, a lot more people would be inclined to renew after that if they were given a cheap way to simply keep the email address.

But oh well, hopefully apple has done some business studies showing it wouldn't be worth it for whatever reason, or maybe they'll offer it in the future. Meanwhile, my email account disappears in a couple of weeks and I have to use hotmail, cause I like the fact that it works with entourage.

Blackcat

Sep 17, 2002, 01:56 PM

I subbed despite it being quite US-centric. $99 is a bargain for what you get, and from a sysadmin point of view, I doubt they make more than $20/user.

sparkleytone

Sep 17, 2002, 02:27 PM

i wonder if they are counting those that didnt pay for their .Mac subscription and those that had already bought extra space and got a yr for free.

i have a free subscription, and i think it would be interesting if i count into that number. i wouldnt buy .Mac as it stands now, but if it continues to be a progressive technology with enough useful features by this time next yr, i'd buy it.

trilogic

Sep 17, 2002, 02:36 PM

virex is worth it. The easy to use iPhoto sharing feature is my favourit actually I signed .mac mainly because of sharing photos so easily. the backup tools isn't that interesting to me because I'd like to backup to a external hd. iCal is getting very usefull but I wan't to be able to passwordprotect. I'm shure this will be possible soon.

Last week I've got a ".mac early adopter coupon" worth 75 swissfrancs aprox 50 US$ for my next purchase at the apple store.

blackpeter

Sep 17, 2002, 03:03 PM

I don't need this service, but all the power to Apple if it's really bringing them some ca$h.

I'm still cross about them indian-giving us email accounts. But if some of this extra money is being spent on R&D, better software, and generally making Apple a bigger presence in the market, then I'm all for .Mac.

Now gimme my GHz Ti! :D

Wyvernspirit

Sep 17, 2002, 03:04 PM

I got it, I just don't know if I'll keep it. I'll wait and see what comes out over the next year. If nothing changes (or very little) I already have a back up email (same username, just with my ISP) I'll start letting people know the new one if a need to.

I just can't justify $100 for email, I have NEVER needed Virus protection except when I was on AOL, the back up prgram as it stands is a joke, and don't get me started on iCards or what ever that is. And homepage? I get 60MB from broadband, or maybe I could just run it off computer.

Well, I will wait and see...

pgwalsh

Sep 17, 2002, 03:16 PM

Well good for Apple. I wonder what there expectations were to begin with.

At 100 clams I don't see myself subscribing to the service. If it was $25 a year and had 200 mb of space I would do it.

I can buy 200mb of web space and have 5 or more email accounts from a hosting company for around the same price. Granted it doesn't have the same services and integration with iPhoto (etc), but you could probably build something with server-side scripting to include that functionality.

awrootbeer

Sep 17, 2002, 03:26 PM

oops, here I was expecting upwards of 1million users (per a previously posted rumor)..

I wonder if Apple is happy with these results.

Blackcat

Sep 17, 2002, 03:35 PM

Originally posted by awrootbeer
oops, here I was expecting upwards of 1million users (per a previously posted rumor)..

I wonder if Apple is happy with these results.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Apple never introduce the $99 price. That's on the edge of people's threshhold I reckon, but $79 would be good. A monthly or quarterly payment plan would be nice too.

I think $15 email only accounts would sell well too.

BobVB

Sep 17, 2002, 03:40 PM

Of course it selling well now - they are giving away a free game and 100 ($49 worth) of iPhoto 4x6s. So for anyone who wants the prints the first year is better than free. One reason I subscribed. I guess they are hoping on consumer inertia for the second year.

awrootbeer

Sep 17, 2002, 03:48 PM

Originally posted by Blackcat

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Apple never introduce the $99 price. That's on the edge of people's threshhold I reckon, but $79 would be good. A monthly or quarterly payment plan would be nice too.

I think $15 email only accounts would sell well too.

Ouch, I think many would be upset if Apple suddenly never introduced the 99$ price tag. We could argue that the current "promotion" was nothing more than a big marketing scam.

awrootbeer

Sep 17, 2002, 03:50 PM

Originally posted by BobVB
Of course it selling well now - they are giving away a free game and 100 ($49 worth) of iPhoto 4x6s. So for anyone who wants the prints the first year is better than free. One reason I subscribed. I guess they are hoping on consumer inertia for the second year.

lol good point. it appears that Apple is willing to lose money at the start... just like video game consoles selling for much less than they cost to make because the companies know they will be able to make up the money with the games.

Blackcat

Sep 17, 2002, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by awrootbeer

Ouch, I think many would be upset if Apple suddenly never introduced the 99$ price tag. We could argue that the current "promotion" was nothing more than a big marketing scam.

Mac users are indeed that bizarre!

Molson

Sep 17, 2002, 04:20 PM

Hi - I'd love to be the 100,001 subscriber but I can't register online. I'm in the UK and it seems that my perfectly valid credit card is declined. (I've checked with my bank and they say that it should be okay!) Having looked at the discussion groups over at Apple support, the reason my card may be declined is that I'm trying to use an English credit card (ie registered to an address in UK).

I thought VISA was worldwide? I've had no problems before (and in fact since) using my VISA card online.

How did those of you in the UK manage to subscribe?

Also there is news of a Europe-centric .mac web page (hopefully to allow me to use my credit card). It was rumored to be here early September (called Apple directly, but they can't tell me anymore), but still no sign. I've only got thirteen days left before my trial account ends!

PLEASE help! Any hints would be really helpful!

Thanks.:confused:

kevin49093

Sep 17, 2002, 04:31 PM

Originally posted by tfaz1

I'm still cross about them indian-giving us email accounts....

Indian-giving?
Am I the only one who thought this was a bit of a racist statement?
I know no harm was probably ment, but come on now.. it makes you seem a bit slow in your thinking.

P-Worm

Sep 17, 2002, 05:14 PM

Does .mac need to be bought multiple times for multiple computers like other software does?

I was thinking no because most of it is on the web and the web is universal. For example, I can look up my email anywhere with .mac.

But what about the software? Virex and the backup thing are not all internet.

So what do you guys think? If I want .mac and have three computers, do I need to buy three .macs? :confused:

P-Worm

appleguy

Sep 17, 2002, 05:49 PM

Originally posted by P-Worm
Does .mac need to be bought multiple times for multiple computers like other software does?

I was thinking no because most of it is on the web and the web is universal. For example, I can look up my email anywhere with .mac.

But what about the software? Virex and the backup thing are not all internet.

So what do you guys think? If I want .mac and have three computers, do I need to buy three .macs? :confused:

P-Worm

Its called webmail.mac.com

I am one of the lucky ones, I got my .mac account for free..
Got to love that Learn and Earn

eric_n_dfw

Sep 17, 2002, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by kevin49093
Indian-giving?
Am I the only one who thought this was a bit of a racist statement?
I know no harm was probably ment, but come on now.. it makes you seem a bit slow in your thinking.
Getting a bit off topic - but I think we all are getting a bit to "P.C." here.

I don't get offended at Polish jokes which are INTENDED to be derogatory. Nor am I upset that Italian's are made out in popular entertainment to all be in the mafia. (I have both in my ancestry FWIW.)

Are you an Indian/Native American/Native Indian (depending on which term you use)? Are you offended? I'm serious, I'd like to know. Do we have any Native American's here who are offended by the term "Indian-giver"?

What about when the British call Americans, "Yankees"? It was definitely not a complementary term when it was first coined; now it is a term of patriotism in the USA.
:rolleyes:

webmasterkai

Sep 17, 2002, 06:14 PM

ryme4reson

Sep 17, 2002, 06:17 PM

Does anyone know if I am still elgible to get a discount from the 99 dollar fee if I already have a .mac email account? I know there was a promotion, but I think it must be done. Also, as I am a student is there a discount for that? Thanks

PrettyMan

Sep 17, 2002, 06:33 PM

So far from 45% rumored four weeks ago ???
Or really 100.000 = 45%

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Someday I'll re-subscribe to .mac (when it costs <10$, and it offers an European's speedy connection).

Ciao.

Nebrie

Sep 17, 2002, 07:07 PM

Originally posted by macktheknife
Wow, if this is true, and if people were forking over $50 for .Mac, this is an additional cool $5 million added to Apple's bottom line. And if those same 100,000 subscribers renewed their subscription next year for $100, that's $10 million for Apple.

Hum, that's pretty easy money for the company if you ask me. No wonder they decided to charge for .Mac! Well, I've been putting off sending Apple my $50, but when it comes down to it, do I really want to lose my .Mac e-mail and homepage account? I guess if I'm going to pay for e-mail and webpage hosting, I'd rather the money go into Apple's pocket than Microsoft or Yahoo's.

You as well as other people neglected the fact that .mac actually costs money for Apple to run. It definately does NOT cost less than $10 a person a year to run. Yahoo mail alone doesn't even go near that, and they'll still put ads in your webmail and email.

maharajah

Sep 17, 2002, 07:13 PM

Originally posted by eric_n_dfw

Getting a bit off topic - but I think we all are getting a bit to "P.C." here.

I don't get offended at Polish jokes which are INTENDED to be derogatory. Nor am I upset that Italian's are made out in popular entertainment to all be in the mafia. (I have both in my ancestry FWIW.)

Are you an Indian/Native American/Native Indian (depending on which term you use)? Are you offended? I'm serious, I'd like to know. Do we have any Native American's here who are offended by the term "Indian-giver"?

What about when the British call Americans, "Yankees"? It was definitely not a complementary term when it was first coined; now it is a term of patriotism in the USA.
:rolleyes:

My wife and her family are all Americans (yes, that is the term they like to use, you may call them Native Americans).
"Indian-giver" is an extremely racist word. And ignorance of it's intent and meaning is a racism more powerful than it's intentional use.

Choppaface

Sep 17, 2002, 07:19 PM

how could they NOT run it for less than $10/yr??? they've already got hardware and service providers set up from when it was free, and all they did was throw in virex, which they probably get for hardly anything for the advertising. For half the price per month, you can get all that and more from some webhosting providers (well ok, you don't get the @mac.com email address :rolleyes: :D).....maybe $20/yr is a better estimate, but the price is clearly mostly fluff.

chromos

Sep 17, 2002, 07:43 PM

Originally posted by P-Worm
Does .mac need to be bought multiple times for multiple computers like other software does?

I was thinking no because most of it is on the web and the web is universal. For example, I can look up my email anywhere with .mac.

But what about the software? Virex and the backup thing are not all internet.

So what do you guys think? If I want .mac and have three computers, do I need to buy three .macs? :confused:

P-Worm

Unfortunately, Backup only works with one computer per .Mac account. Strangely enough though, in the Backup folder that's created on one's iDisk, there's a Users folder, which kinda makes me think that in the future they may change that. I can't imagine that a family with multiple members wanting to backup their Home folders would want to fork out $100 per user.

rubikcube

Sep 17, 2002, 08:17 PM

macsurfer

Sep 17, 2002, 08:24 PM

Waldo Pepper

Sep 17, 2002, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by macsurfer

BARF!!! Political Correctness NEEDS TO DIE!!!!!!

I so agree. First does anyone know the history of the term "indian giver" or do we assume it is a slam against indians? Also how can you call yourselves native americans when the term america is a "white man's" term. makes no sense to me how you can be native to a country that didn't exist.

I look at the term as someone who gave to the indians then took back like what really happen so if that is the history .."indian giver" truly is a slam against the white man and not indians.

Just my lame 2 cents

3G4N

Sep 17, 2002, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by Waldo Pepper

."indian giver" truly is a slam against the white man and not indians.

Amen. Damn whiteys. (well, not all of us)
Con, Swindle, Lie, then back it up with some lip service.
Ah, the American Way of Life.
Same as it ever was.

D'oh, am I off topic?
Naw, I'm still talking about .Mac...

G4scott

Sep 17, 2002, 10:01 PM

Originally posted by ryme4reson
Does anyone know if I am still elgible to get a discount from the 99 dollar fee if I already have a .mac email account? I know there was a promotion, but I think it must be done. Also, as I am a student is there a discount for that? Thanks

You have until the end of September, and there is no student discount.

If you're planning to get .Mac in the future, waiting for better features, and you can get it for $50 right now, get it now. I'm willing to bet on October 1, Apple will introduce some new, cool feature, and there will be lots of people here complaining that now they have to pay $100...

Don't say I didn't warn ya. :cool:

ryme4reson

Sep 17, 2002, 10:58 PM

I just went to mac.com to purchase it and it said that the price was 99.95. Do I have to go into an Apple Store to get the discounted price? Some1 please advise, as 50 bucks right now is the difference between car payment or no car payment. :) Thanks

buffsldr

Sep 17, 2002, 11:09 PM

Originally posted by G4scott

You have until the end of September, and there is no student discount.

If you're planning to get .Mac in the future, waiting for better features, and you can get it for $50 right now, get it now. I'm willing to bet on October 1, Apple will introduce some new, cool feature, and there will be lots of people here complaining that now they have to pay $100...

Don't say I didn't warn ya. :cool:

where do i go to sign up for the $50 price? thanks in advance

jayscheuerle

Sep 17, 2002, 11:43 PM

Whatever Jobs.... 100,000 subscribers? Sure. And the new powermacs are faster than a 2.8 Ghz P4... Apple always finds the tiniest loophole to draw their statistics from (rigged Photoshop tests?), so this number means nothing without an explanation as to how they came upon it. I've come to regard any info "hype" that Apple puts forth as being completely meaningless. I'm sure most of us in this forum bought into the Jaguar hype, hook, line and sinker. And 85% of us are admittedly underwhelmed (the other 15% are delusional).

This number means nothing. - j

bretm

Sep 18, 2002, 12:44 AM

Originally posted by 3G4N

Amen. Damn whiteys. (well, not all of us)
Con, Swindle, Lie, then back it up with some lip service.
Ah, the American Way of Life.
Same as it ever was.

D'oh, am I off topic?
Naw, I'm still talking about .Mac...

Ok. So since the internet was handy, I looked it up. http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/ It's not what I thought at all....

Meaning
_ _ One who gives a gift and expects one in return.

Origin
_ _ Derives from the alleged practise of American indians of giving back something of greater value whenever they received a gift.

Mr T

Sep 18, 2002, 01:48 AM

The problem is that Apple thinks all of its customers have access or can afford broadband service. The current .Mac services make no sense unless you do. The sad fact is that the U.S.A. is lagging in broadband access because cable and telephone company's are keeping prices inflated and getting 35 - 45% profit margins. Apple is pulling the same crap by not offering tiered services just like the cable and telephone companies aren't. Yes they could provide different price points for different services but that would mean the would have to provide competitive services for more money. An example being that straight email would cost 10 bucks, idisk would be an additional 10 etc. So, you would pay for what you would use. They might even have to provide human customer services and opt outs for the Apple Spam emails that current itool users are receiving for the premium level customers.

Lastly, I am very disappointed with the Mac community and the lack of tolerance for differing viewpoints. Apple has done a great job of dividing its customer base and I hope that some one takes notice. Apple has always had its fair share of controversy. At this point in time Apple has sold 1000,000 Jaguar upgrades and 100,000 .Mac subscriptions and probably pissed off far more of their customers than they dare imagine. Why is this a problem. Because apple is a business that’s trying to sell underpowered, expensive hardware and push people onto OS 10. For the firsts time in along time, Mac users have a real choice. If they have to upgrade and buy new all new software and hardware there is a good chance they will look at all their options including Dell & IBM before opening their wallets. :o

Wry Cooter

Sep 18, 2002, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by P-Worm

So what do you guys think? If I want .mac and have three computers, do I need to buy three .macs? :confused:

I think they allow you to add an extra e-mail address for ten dollars each. Not sure if any server space comes with that. But that is there solution for families that want individual accounts.

As far as the service itself, you do not need a copy of anything on each computer you own to get to your account. You can access it from any computer that has web access, including public kiosks.

Wry Cooter

Sep 18, 2002, 06:42 AM

Originally posted by bretm

Ok. So since the internet was handy, I looked it up. http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/ It's not what I thought at all....

Meaning
_ _ One who gives a gift and expects one in return.

Origin
_ _ Derives from the alleged practise of American indians of giving back something of greater value whenever they received a gift.

Actually, as used, it means someone who gives a gift and decides to take it back.

Indian Giver- Top Forty Bubble Gum hit by the 1910 Fruitgum Company
http://home.att.net/~bubblegumusic/songgiver.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/61/25/I0102500.html

American Heritage dictionary - One who gives something to another and then takes or demands the gift back.

http://www.word-detective.com/back-z.html

j763

Sep 18, 2002, 07:44 AM

Originally posted by trilogic
virex is worth it.

currently, there's ONE (yes, one) virex developer who works on the Mac Classic and Mac OS X version. The 8.x-9.x version is *fantastic*... It's truly the best thing out there... The OS X version, on the other hand, is one of the worst apps around. You have to scan everything manually, so it's pretty useless. Also, this one guy obviously can't keep uptodate with all the latest viruses. The ONLY virus solution for OS X is NAV. Not that NAV is any good, it's just that Virex has became completely and utterly useless since f :eek: king Network Associates Inc. acquired it. Fact is, network associates couldn't give a $#!+ about the mac platform. That and they're completely incompetent -- from the executive level down to the clerical staff... They sent a company i was working for an invoice for $0.50. We'd had an $80,000+ deal with them (we distribute their cr@p) and we'd underpaid them by $0.50

Sorry, i just couldn't help ranting....

re apple's .mac conversion -- phil, 100,000 isn't 10%... it's less than 5%

it's not good news for apple, don't put out a pr saying it is...

Wry Cooter

Sep 18, 2002, 05:04 PM

currently, there's ONE (yes, one) virex developer who works on the Mac Classic and Mac OS X version. The 8.x-9.x version is *fantastic*... It's truly the best thing out there... The OS X version, on the other hand, is one of the worst apps around. You have to scan everything manually, so it's pretty useless. Also, this one guy obviously can't keep uptodate with all the latest viruses. The ONLY virus solution for OS X is NAV. Not that NAV is any good, it's just that Virex has became completely and utterly useless since f king Network Associates Inc. acquired it. Fact is, network associates couldn't give a $#!+ about the mac platform.

I was going to remark about the 8.x-9.x version being *fantastic*, but I merely see you have a slightly shifted timeline. Because Virex has been biting weenie since version 6, which may be around the time NA required it- that means it was sucking a bit during OS 8.6 and 9.0, where at one point someone was actually using it as a backdoor to plant viruses, I got hit with one from the web and also sneakernetting from school, probably because of Virex. Also I'm not sure it ever played nice with NAV.

Maybe Apple will be able to provide more resources to Virex with the dot mac deal.

Also sometimes I think the antivirus programs were relying on the Disinfectant staff to do most of their legwork.

eric_n_dfw

Sep 18, 2002, 11:40 PM

Originally posted by maharajah
My wife and her family are all Americans (yes, that is the term they like to use, you may call them Native Americans).
"Indian-giver" is an extremely racist word. And ignorance of it's intent and meaning is a racism more powerful than it's intentional use.
I had typed a long winded reply to this - but you know what - never mind. We all know what it means, get a grip and go on with life. It is not a racist comment unless you are stupid enough to believe that the guy was saying that Apple Inc. is run my Native Americans and that they are known for that kind of thing. He didn't mean that, and neither does 99.99999999% of anyone else who would use that term.

PS: I am glad they call themselves Americans, just like you and I. There's far too much self-inflicted segregation in this country through _____-American labels. Heck, at the rate it's going I'll soon be a Czech-Italian-Irish-American! :rolleyes: