More .Mac Exclusives: Versiontracker, iBlog, $30 of FW Drives

[MacRumors]

Apple has posted three new .Mac-subscriber exclusives on the .Mac site (http://www.mac.com/).

These include:


Free VersionTracker Plus Subscription ($24.95 value)
Free iBlog Software ($19.95 value)
Save $30 on SmartDisk Firewire Drives (http://www.apple.com/promo/dotmac/smartdisk/)

[psxndc]

I already have two of those (VT+ and iBlog). That being said, they were both worth the money I paid for them and bundles like this are starting to lean me towards finally getting a .Mac subscription.

-p

[3-22]

I was thinking of getting a .Mac account for the 100 free prints from Kodak. BUT.... It expires Jan. 7th, not a lot of time to use them. (especially since I'm still waiting for my G5) I wonder if they will extend this anytime soon. With a 9mo child we can generate some photos! ;)

Also some of the games giveaways didn't look too bad. Plus the easy web hosting... I still wish it was around $60, or had more giveaways either way. Something about $99 just seems high, especially since I'm already paying for web hosting elsewhere.

[appleguru1]

Hmmm. I might have to buy a .Mac account now... They're finnally working on the value end! cool Apple!

[meghop]

I was very excited since I liked using iBlog but was frustrated about having to pay for it. I now have it for freeeee - the versiontracker thing is not bad either! Yay .mac, I use my subscription for so many things now, I don't mind paying for it...

[Freg3000]

This is great. All of these incentives are wonderful. This makes .Mac a great value.

[kherdin]

It appears the 30 dollar rebate on the Firewire drives is available to anyone, not just .Mac subscribers.

[simX]

Aw, now I wish I hadn't bought iBlog. ;) Lol, no I don't. That guy deserves every $20 that I gave him. iBlog seriously rocks, and I'm glad that Apple is promoting it. It really is much better than those GOD-AWFUL xanga.com or livejournal.com sites. Ugh.

But the VersionTracker Plus is a nice touch, even though I prefer MacUpdate.

.mac has always been worth the $0/year ... err... $100/year that I pay for it. These new incentives just sweeten the deal. ;)

Now all I want is a free copy of Snapz Pro X for movies with my .mac subscription. Can you believe that they're going to charge $69 for Snapz Pro X 2 with movies? Even if the performance is as great as they say it is (http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum18/HTML/000021.html), I don't think $69 will be worth it anymore.

[Eclectic]

"I was thinking of getting a .Mac account for the 100 free prints from Kodak. BUT.... It expires Jan. 7th..."

Unless I'm missing something, those free prints expired this past January. I was a .Mac member at the time and completely missed the expiration date, figuring I had plenty of time to use them for wedding photos from a month earlier. *Sigh*

Versiontracker is a great bonus - I'm already a Pro subscriber, though.

[Freg3000]

It did indeed expire earlier this year. It was slated to expire on Jan 7th, but I believe it was extended to late Feb/early March.

[mnkeybsness]

apple should have preinstalled options for blogger or moveabletype instead of iBlog.

[Les Kern]

I was wavering since I have a static IP and a 1.5meg line... but this sold me. I have plans for iBlog.
BTW, the Kodak deal was fantastic. the prints were first-rate.
All that said, .Mac allows you to fully experience all that Apple has to offer in the old enhanced "iTools" arena. It's a good deal folks.

[3-22]

Originally posted by Freg3000
It did indeed expire earlier this year. It was slated to expire on Jan 7th, but I believe it was extended to late Feb/early March.

You are (all) correct... Thanks....

• 100 free Kodak prints—US$49 value
Just in time for the holidays, .Mac members received 100 free 4x6 Kodak prints through iPhoto from Sept. 5, 2002 to Jan. 7, 2003.

I guess I should have read a little closer. Ok, but why is it still listed in the ".Mac Exclusives" section. I get an expired photo offer? Oh well, I should have read it... Sorry, my mind is a bit like mush lately, hitting the browser refresh button hoping my Apple Order Status changes (for the better). It's been a long 3 months.

[Steven1621]

apple is finally making .mac a worthwhile investment. these items make it much more appealing for the cost.

[Powerbook G5]

Originally posted by Steven1621
apple is finally making .mac a worthwhile investment. these items make it much more appealing for the cost.

I agree, .Mac keeps looking better all the time.

[alset]

And people say .Mac doesn't offer enough for the money!

w00t! Give it up! Wooha! Yeah, Apple! Bam!

Dan

[simX]

Originally posted by mnkeybsness
apple should have preinstalled options for blogger or moveabletype instead of iBlog.

Um, respectfully, no.

MovableType and Blogger are not for the faint of heart. As far as I know, you have to have a server that can run server-side scripts to even set the blog site up. Most people don't have that, and .mac doesn't allow you to run scripts on your webspace. You could set it up to run from Personal Web Sharing, but then that would be up only when your computer is up, which is a significant minus.

So most people will not have a use for MovableType or Blogger. That's why iBlog is a much better product, at least from an end-user's point of view. It generates all the blog pages and archive pages as STATIC pages, which it then uploads to .mac . The only problem is that you can't have commenting or searching features, but at least with commenting you can use outside services (http://www.enetation.co.uk/). While this is also a drawback to iBlog, it's not nearly as significant as the initial drawbacks to MovableType and Blogger that I outlined above.

[jaxbrokenheart]

uhh.. how long is the VTplus subscription for? i didn't see that anywhere on the site.

[simX]

Originally posted by jaxbrokenheart
uhh.. how long is the VTplus subscription for? i didn't see that anywhere on the site.

It's for a year.

[jamesema]

To bad you cant get the deal on the FW hard drives unless you live in America. You would think Apple would try harder since Canadians are paying $118 to renew their .mac accounts.
Jamesema

[thatguy_youknow]

Anybody else notice that the rebate expires in two days?

[jocknerd]

This doesn't do a thing for me. I'm glad that it helps so many of you guys out. But I have no need for iBlog or VersionTracker subscription. In fact what does that do anyway?

What would persuade me to renew my account?

$30 worth of iTMS perhaps.

Or

$30 off the price of Panther

Or

$49 for .mac just like last year

[jaxbrokenheart]

if you renew,
you get $20 off an online order ($20 off panther)
or
either sims or everquest (with one month subscription) free.
i got $20 and will use it for UT2K3

[MrMacMan]

jocknerd -- VersionTrack is great to keep your software up to date, very good.

I like this deal a whole lot now, spicing it up.

Very nice now.

[kcmac]

I have had .mac since it became available. I think Apple has always been good about providing value along the way. These last items are just a continuation of this idea. I have always felt .mac was worth it.

[Phil Of Mac]

VersionTracker would be nice, but I'm just a poor college student, and besides, I satslfy my blogging needs elsewhere.I guess that means no .Mac for me...

[jaxbrokenheart]

Originally posted by kcmac
I have had .mac since it became available. I think Apple has always been good about providing value along the way. These last items are just a continuation of this idea. I have always felt .mac was worth it.
i also had it since the beginning because i wanted to keep my email address. but, i didn't think it was very valuable then (although, i understand why they did it), now it's worth it.

[GeeYouEye]

Total free and discount stuff so far:
100 Free Kodak prints via iPhoto Alchemy Deluxe $10 off Bejeweled Deluxe Backup DropStuff Super GameHouse Solitaire! Marble Blast (it's remarkably fun) StickyBrain $10 off F10 Launch Studio Super Collapse Discount on Super Nisqually Virex 7 The Sims/$20 off at the Apple Store/1 year Everquest subscription (with renewal) $30 off a FW hard drive iBlog and VersionTracker Plus That's all I know for sure, but I might be forgetting one... not too bad, I think, for $49, soon to be $99 a year, to say nothing of iDisk, homepage, support forums where Apple actually answers your questions, email, and Virex virus updates. Well worth the price, IMO.

[steveh]

Originally posted by jamesema
To bad you cant get the deal on the FW hard drives unless you live in America. You would think Apple would try harder since Canadians are paying $118 to renew their .mac accounts.
Jamesema

Is that $118 U.S. or Canadian?

If Canadian, it's worth $77 U.S. currently,
better deal than we get.

[Genie]

I'll also be a voice for the minority...
Still not convinced:rolleyes:

[jimthorn]

Originally posted by simX
Now all I want is a free copy of Snapz Pro X for movies with my .mac subscription. Can you believe that they're going to charge $69 for Snapz Pro X 2 with movies? Even if the performance is as great as they say it is (http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum18/HTML/000021.html), I don't think $69 will be worth it anymore.

Yes, but have you seen the amazing quality of the SnapZ Pro X 2 movies? Absolutely incredible, and with perfect, synched sound to boot. If you have a need for this sort of app, the $69 will be totally worth it once the final app is released.

[edenwaith]

Originally posted by psxndc
I already have two of those (VT+ and iBlog). That being said, they were both worth the money I paid for them and bundles like this are starting to lean me towards finally getting a .Mac subscription.

-p

A year ago, I was somewhat leery about the .Mac account, but after the nice little bonuses they added, I'm glad I did! I got Dropstuff for free, plus a few nice games (Alchemy and Marble Blast), plus a few other programs which I could get...if I wanted them. This iBlog and VT+ sounds good. I'm going to check that out. And top it all off that I'm probably going to renew and get Everquest. :) Oh, plus there is the web space (good for archiving some files) and my e-mail account, which I use for my Mac-related business. Especially when I was in college, I had quite a few e-mail accounts, and each tended to have its own particular purpose.

[j33pd0g]

.mac keeps turning out surprises. :)

[Awimoway]

Interestingly, I got an email asking me, as a .mac customer, to participate in a survey about two or three weeks ago. Among the questions was one about other free gifts we, as .mac subscribers, might want. I remember a blogging app and VersionTracker being choices. I know I voted for VersionTracker. Other possibilities listed were arcade games and puzzle games. I can't remember what the other choices were.

I'm surprised at the quick turnaround from the survey to results.

[simX]

Originally posted by jimthorn
Yes, but have you seen the amazing quality of the SnapZ Pro X 2 movies? Absolutely incredible, and with perfect, synched sound to boot. If you have a need for this sort of app, the $69 will be totally worth it once the final app is released.

Heh, Ambrosia is asking $20 more just because they fixed the performance problems. Worth it? I don't particularly think so... I was already leery about the $49 price, although that was probably worth it.

Guess I'll just have to wait for another Shareware Amnesty Week. :rolleyes:

[Nik_Doof]

Running my own webdesign/hosting company on the side has made me never see the benifit of .mac (bar the idisk)...if they start adding little features and addons like this then i may well consider it.

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by GeeYouEye
Total free and discount stuff so far:
100 Free Kodak prints via iPhoto Alchemy Deluxe $10 off Bejeweled Deluxe Backup DropStuff Super GameHouse Solitaire! Marble Blast (it's remarkably fun) StickyBrain $10 off F10 Launch Studio Super Collapse Discount on Super Nisqually Virex 7 The Sims/$20 off at the Apple Store/1 year Everquest subscription (with renewal) $30 off a FW hard drive iBlog and VersionTracker Plus That's all I know for sure, but I might be forgetting one... not too bad, I think, for $49, soon to be $99 a year, to say nothing of iDisk, homepage, support forums where Apple actually answers your questions, email, and Virex virus updates. Well worth the price, IMO.

Good list but it was Super Nisqually for free and a discount of Super Collapse I think.

[dobbin]

That is a good list and .mac does indeed seem to be worth $99....... except that in the UK we cannot get all of the benefits and yet we still have to pay the same price. e.g. no rebate on FW drives and no free prints (in fact no prints for any price).

Add this to the lack of other services - Sherlock, iTMS, iPhoto books etc and it does seem that Apple UK is taking us for a ride.

[peterj1967]

Who's gonna complain, but it's a standard $30 rebate from the manufacturer, and you have to buy the drive buy Saturday Sept 27th if you want to take advantage.

See Attached



Originally posted by kherdin
It appears the 30 dollar rebate on the Firewire drives is available to anyone, not just .Mac subscribers.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by jaxbrokenheart
i also had it since the beginning because i wanted to keep my email address. but, i didn't think it was very valuable then (although, i understand why they did it), now it's worth it.
I felt a bit like you did. I subscribed to .mac to keep my email adress and because I could afford it, without being totally convinced of the value of the package. Now it's well worth it.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by dobbin
That is a good list and .mac does indeed seem to be worth $99....... except that in the UK we cannot get all of the benefits and yet we still have to pay the same price. e.g. no rebate on FW drives and no free prints (in fact no prints for any price).

Add this to the lack of other services - Sherlock, iTMS, iPhoto books etc and it does seem that Apple UK is taking us for a ride.

Basically ofoto is now available in the UK. And they are the one providing the printing service in the US, IIRC. So why can't we have the printing service here in the UK, I wonder.

I couldn't be bothered about Sherlock, to be honest, but iTMS and iPhoto printing services should be available to us (I know, I know, iTMS availability in Europe doesn't depend solely on Apple, but still)...

[TMay]

Originally posted by peterj1967
Who's gonna complain, but it's a standard $30 rebate from the manufacturer, and you have to buy the drive buy Saturday Sept 27th if you want to take advantage.

See Attached

If any of you are like me, the whole rebate concept is a frustrating means of price reduction. I would buy .mac in a minute if Apple would create a system where all of the manufacturer rebates on products at the Apple store become instant rebates for .mac subscribers. That would be some serious value.

[Centris 650]

Wooo Hooo! I was just about to buy iBlog too! And I'm sure I'll enjoy version tracker. Off to .Mac to download...

[EDIT] Just back from .mac and apparently the Version tracker is just for new subscribers. (Someone might have already posted this here.) :mad: Oh well, I've got iBlog now.

[PGant]

Just for the record, the Canadian retail price of .Mac, including sales tax, is $187. Hardly what I would call a bargain, but I've actually found that it's a great service for my company (and the iBlog offer is a nice extra). I'll renew, but I'm convinced that Apple would more than double its subscriber base if it cut the price by $50.

[thajeztah]

Originally posted by kherdin
It appears the 30 dollar rebate on the Firewire drives is available to anyone, not just .Mac subscribers.
Unfortunately this only applies to people in the US...

Apple seems to forget that there are also people -outside- the US.
Living in Europe, I also pay $99 for my .Mac account, also payed for my OS X 10.2 'upgrade' AND bought 'iLife' but..


I cannot order photo's using iPhoto (I have to export them, and upload them to Kodak using Safari)
Because of the above, no.. I did NOT get my 200 free Kodak prints
I cannot buy music on the iTunes Music Store
I cannot get my $30 discount on a Firewire drive
Oh.. not possible to order a printed book from iPhoto...
and Apple -STILL- doesn't understand why many people in Europe -dont- 'switch' to Apple?
..Can't we get a 30 dollar discount on .Mac in Europe??

[geerlingguy]

Has anyone else had trouble signing up for VersionTracker Plus? I have tried the link three times, but every time I get a message saying it timed out. Does VT just not have the .Mac subscription page up yet (the link is http://www.versiontracker.com/php/dotmac/subusr.php)

I am happy that I get all these free goodies (Marble Blast is addictive, but hard at first)

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by TMay
If any of you are like me, the whole rebate concept is a frustrating means of price reduction. I would buy .mac in a minute if Apple would create a system where all of the manufacturer rebates on products at the Apple store become instant rebates for .mac subscribers. That would be some serious value. What's even worse is the mail-in rebate coupon system, as available on dell.com. They are always counting on a non negligible part of their customers forgetting (or just plain anaware, like in the case of a gift) about the coupon.

Oh well...

[OutThere]

Anything to help the .Mac subscription base....

[Tommy Wasabi]

Originally posted by Centris 650
Wooo Hooo! I was just about to buy iBlog too! And I'm sure I'll enjoy version tracker. Off to .Mac to download...

[EDIT] Just back from .mac and apparently the Version tracker is just for new subscribers. (Someone might have already posted this here.) :mad: Oh well, I've got iBlog now.

I've been a subscriber since .Mac started (I actually got my email address at the Macworld when they introduced Free e-mail).

Any.... I had no problem downloading iBlog - it's not just for new subscribers - it should be for all subscribers.

These new software offerings put me over the edge - I'll be updating my subscription.

Good move Apple. Now if we can just fix that SPAM and Junk mail thing...

[robbents99]

According to the member benefits screen:

• Discount on SmartDisk FireWire Drives—US$40 value
Offer good through Oct. 22, 2003
.Mac members save US$30 to US$40 on three of SmartDisk's most popular FireWire drives at the online Apple Store.

Already have iBlog, glad to see Apple is getting behind this great app.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I agree, .Mac keeps looking better all the time.

No.

.Mac looks the same.

The deal gets better because Apple realizes that .Mac is not worth the $100 they're charging for what the service provides to most people. More people would take advantage of .Mac if it was appropriately priced at $50, but that would mean Apple would need to admit they were wrong about something and that's not something (ahem, single button mouse!) Apple does very well.

- j

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by PGant
Just for the record, the Canadian retail price of .Mac, including sales tax, is $187. Hardly what I would call a bargain, but I've actually found that it's a great service for my company (and the iBlog offer is a nice extra). I'll renew, but I'm convinced that Apple would more than double its subscriber base if it cut the price by $50.
Is that right? CAD187?? Wow if I'm not mistaken that's about USD135... Beeeeeeefy!

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
ahem, single button mouse!
Please, not the single mouse button issue again...;)

[soosy]

These are nice benefits but I'd much rather they just cut the price down (say to $50) rather than throw in a bunch of offers that may or may not be of interest.

For one, it would be more appealing to get multiple accounts for family members if they were cheaper. And secondly, the more offers I see, the more I can't help feeling like it could be cheaper if they cut out all these add-ons.

Finally, I'd rather they put the energy into advancing homepage and the other server-related services. The value of .mac to me, is having a server that I don't have to maintain or dedicate a machine to, etc.

But cheers, anyhow, for Apple trying to add value.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by soosy
These are nice benefits but I'd much rather they just cut the price down (say to $50) rather than throw in a bunch of offers that may or may not be of interest.

Yes of course, but we have to remember that Apple are here to make you spend money to buy their (and their partners') products, not to save you money... Do I make sense?

[Toppa G's]

where else can you get such a unique deal? Less than $10 a month for U.S. folks, and quite a variety of products. The renewal offer of The Sims/Everquest/$20 coupon @ store.apple.com seems like a sweet part of the deal, and these new perks also help and will convince a lot of people who are still deciding whether or not to renew.

Not trying to blindly defend Apple, but I haven't run across any kind of promotional tie-ins of this kind on any other service. Feel free to angrily correct me if I am wrong.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by Toppa G's
where else can you get such a unique deal? Less than $10 a month for U.S. folks, and quite a variety of products. The renewal offer of The Sims/Everquest/$20 coupon @ store.apple.com seems like a sweet part of the deal, and these new perks also help and will convince a lot of people who are still deciding whether or not to renew.


But if you don't want or need any of this stuff, then it just comes off as Apple giving you (HA!) a bunch of junk you don't want or need. Obviously Apple isn't paying much for these products ($24 value... HA!), and it's not like they're the newest or hottest offerings (see "not moving off the shelves"). Wouldn't you much rather have them knock off a straight dollar amount than give you a bunch of stuff you wouldn't buy on your own anyway?

Somebody would have to be really leaning on the fence for this to finally convince them to sign up. Perhaps a PR benefit is that it takes some of the bitter taste out of the mouths of people who realize that they're going to be shelling out a lot of money just to keep their .Mac email addresses.

I know it's just a business plan for Apple to make some money (there's one born every minute!), but it just comes across as not having much integrity behind it. Very used car salesman like... -j

[Sonofhaig]

Originally posted by Centris 650
Wooo Hooo! I was just about to buy iBlog too! And I'm sure I'll enjoy version tracker. Off to .Mac to download...

[EDIT] Just back from .mac and apparently the Version tracker is just for new subscribers. (Someone might have already posted this here.) :mad: Oh well, I've got iBlog now.

YOU"RE WRONG! IT'S NOT FOR NEW .MAC SUBSCRIBERS! IT"S TO SUBSCRIBE TO VERSIONTRACKER. READ IT AGAIN.......

[Stella]

Having a free copy of iBlog is excellent. I was thinking of registering this a couple months back, but I didn't.

Sucks that Apple are introducing benefits available for US customers only. Just plain wrong.

But, giving away software is good.
Wish they would add more services to .mac though.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
I know it's just a business plan for Apple to make some money (there's one born every minute!), but it just comes across as not having much integrity behind it. Very used car salesman like... -j
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...

[FriarTuck]

I think .mac is a good value, and this makes it even better.

Less than a year ago, I was still a holdout against the whole "digital lifestyle" angle and my Macs were the machines my kids used while I used my PeeCee to do "work" and play games.

Now I go weeks at a time without turning on the PeeCee, and the last two times I did it only to install security patches. Meanwhile, I post new photos on my .mac homepage on a regular basis, and I've started making movies and putting small clips on my .mac homepage (which should be pretty easy for you to figure out because my .mac address is the same as my user name). Gaming is covered by the GameCube (though it's going to be rough when DeusEx2 comes out for the PC/XBox in a few months).

.mac and iLife go hand in hand in making the digital lifestyle a reality for me, and I renew happily. The free software and discounts are just icing on the cake.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by NicoMan
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...

Heck, even

C. sell .mac at $80 with no extras

is better than B if you don't want the stuff.

I'm sure Apple's done their homework here, but it seems to me that these incentives are aimed at keeping .Mac members, not gaining new ones. I made my decision a year ago to dump the service, though I suspect I would have paid $20 just to keep the email.

Without any extras, what would you pay for .Mac?

[jocknerd]

Originally posted by NicoMan
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...

Thats exactly what businesses do, but I'm the consumer. I'd rather have the $50 .mac subscription without all the fluff I may or may not need. And don't think for a second that these goodies are costing Apple much. They are probably costing them about $5-$10 at most per .mac subscription.

I still think the .mac user base is going to fall dramatically between now and the end of the year.

[dwater]

As far as I can tell, versiontracker is not available for current members - at least that is the way it is for me.

I am a current member, but don't intend to renew and so am waiting for my subscription to run out (18 days left, it tells me).

I can download iBlog OK, but not Versiontracker. Only iBlog is on the download page.

I think this news article should be modified to read that the versiontracker is only for people who either renew or are new subscribers.

Unless I'm missing something....

Max.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Heck, even

C. sell .mac at $80 with no extras

is better than B if you don't want the stuff.

I'm sure Apple's done their homework here, but it seems to me that these incentives are aimed at keeping .Mac members, not gaining new ones. I made my decision a year ago to dump the service, though I suspect I would have paid $20 just to keep the email.

Without any extras, what would you pay for .Mac?
I don't really know to be honest. To me it's worth maybe $50-60. Ain't got a clue. But when iTools became .mac, there were offers to convert your iTools account into a 'proper' .mac account for $50, IIRC (discount of $50 for the first year, basically). And everyone was going bananas about the price (not me). So to some, obviously $50 was still too expensive (let's discount those original goodies... they were rather crap: virex 7.1 :eek: backup 1 :eek: )

[Genie]

I can't figure out whether .mac is something Apple's doing for APPL, that is as a profit center, (Like the add-ons when you buy a mac- way overpriced), or something they're doing for me (like the dual 2Ghz G5 base config, which is a pretty good deal).

I think it's probably more like the add-ons at the apple store.

Am I wrong?

[jaykk]

Why can't apple have a tiered system for .Mac?

1) Basic ichat username - Free its good to have a @mac.com to use ichat av
2) Basic + email - US $20
3) Basic + email + all the other goodies for $50

4 ) Premium with exclusive softwares and add-ons etc $100

[bryanc]

Originally posted by kherdin
It appears the 30 dollar rebate on the Firewire drives is available to anyone, not just .Mac subscribers.

Anyone who lives in the US. Read the fine print. This is yet another advantage of being an Apple user that is restricted to Americans.

I understand that the US is a big market for Apple, but they should remember that it isn't their only market.

This is starting to look like a pattern. :mad:

Cheers

[Maclicious]

I now understand why traffic to my site jumped x3 yesterday--iBlog. People checking out iBlog are obviously checking out the list of blogs currently created by iBlog at iBloggers.net (where my site is listed). Cool, thanks Apple!

[sharky2313]

still don't see the value in .mac

I agree with posters above that the price must come down, or at least they have a .mac premium edition for those that like the goodies.

I would like to have a webpage, mac email address and some storage but the price is too high. The key is "I would like" but don't need at that price. Many other mac owners have said similiar things to me as well.

Apple needs to get on the ball here

[mainstreetmark]

Originally posted by bryanc

This is starting to look like a pattern. :mad:

Cheers

I think all you "Apple ignores foreigner" people should take a step back and look at the problem from, perhaps, Apple's perspective.

Like all services they provide, I'm sure their first choice is to make it available to everyone - after all, why wouldn't they? It doesn't do a company any good to be elitist about anything, so there must be a reason. What could it possibly be?

Lawyers.

Something surrounding international licensing and promotion for all these products is getting in the way. It certianly isn't technology or desire... it's got to be lawyer babble. Quit blaming Apple for not getting enough out to the international market.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Genie
I can't figure out whether .mac is something Apple's doing for APPL, that is as a profit center, (Like the add-ons when you buy a mac- way overpriced), or something they're doing for me (like the dual 2Ghz G5 base config, which is a pretty good deal).

I think it's probably more like the add-ons at the apple store.

Am I wrong?
I think they are trying to become some sort of service provider, with a user base that generates a somewhat constant revenue stream. But on the other hand it's a ridiculously low revenue stream for the moment, compared to the rest of their business, wouldn't you say?. I don't think it has reach its critical mass for Apple yet. And that's why they need to boost their numbers by providing more and more incentives to join.
Apart from that, to me, .mac is an ok deal. Not brilliant, but not bad either. That's my personal opinion, of course.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by NicoMan
I think they are trying to become some sort of service provider...

Isn't the whole idea of the Mac experience to experience this seamless connectivity and easy of use? .Mac supposedly provides this, but doesn't it make sense that such a service should be built in to the price of the machine or OS? The implication is that unless you've got all the cool services that .Mac provides, you haven't got a Mac. Buy a new Mac & you get .Mac for free for life.

If Apple wants to be a service provider, they should at least provide service! They could be a $20/mo ISP that includes the .Mac services.

Are they even promoting .Mac to non-subscribers? I never see any mention of it anywhere... - j

[Toppa G's]

I've seen a couple .Mac banner-type ads lately - on this site and on Yahoo. It was the first ad I've seen for Apple on Yahoo, so I was pleasantly surprised.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by Toppa G's
I've seen a couple .Mac banner-type ads lately - on this site and on Yahoo. It was the first ad I've seen for Apple on Yahoo, so I was pleasantly surprised.

That's funny, I never even see banner ads anymore, except for those annoying flashing ones that make me scroll them off the top of the page.

I must have a good clutter screen.

[thajeztah]

Originally posted by psxndc
I already have two of those (VT+ and iBlog). That being said, they were both worth the money I paid for them and bundles like this are starting to lean me towards finally getting a .Mac subscription.

-p

Wow! don't complain too fast. If you've got a VT+ account allready, the 1 year subscription will be -added- to your account. So, for example, if you've got 6 months left .. after buying the year subscription it will be a year and a halve.

I -do- thing Versiontracker/Apple should have been more clear about that.

[Silencio]

I've kept my .Mac account around more out of inertia than anything else, but I'm beginning to find some of the extras a little more useful these days now that I'm on the road a lot.

I never really touched iSync, iCal, or Address Book until I bought a Sony Ericsson T616 and Bluetooth adapter. Initially, I just wanted to get my contacts into my phone - syncing all that info to my .Mac account in addition to my phone seemed like an afterthought (at least it's an off-site backup), but I could see real value to syncing one's contacts and calendars to the .Mac servers and having them viewable from a web browser at any time for someone who's on the road a lot but doesn't own a laptop or some other "digital lifestyle" device.

Apple needs to keep expanding and improving iSync, and tout its benefits to both people who own a slew of digital lifestyle devices (such as myself) and people who don't own any. Convergence and interoperability are going to be a killer app in the future, and Apple has a pretty good head start here.

[donco]

Originally posted by NicoMan
Is that right? CAD187?? Wow if I'm not mistaken that's about USD135... Beeeeeeefy!

Yes that is correct. They hit us (Canadians) up for $156 CAD and then add an arbitrary 17% flat tax (my local taxes would be 14.5%... and that's already a lot). The total today, if the exchange was applied correctly would be about $155 CAD including the proper tax. I have emailed them about this... it is way out of line. I will wait to renew; I want to (it is a great service), but hate feeling ripped off!

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by jocknerd
And don't think for a second that these goodies are costing Apple much. They are probably costing them about $5-$10 at most per .mac subscription.

I still think the .mac user base is going to fall dramatically between now and the end of the year.
When I said $30-35 I was trying to be conservative. But you are right it's probably more like $10-20.
I'm not so sure about the .mac user base numbers diminishing, though. Sure we are coming to the time of the year where most original .mac subscribers will have to choose whether or not they want to renew (I received an e-mail from Apple a few days ago about that). Well I paid $50 last year. Now this year I have $20 rebate for the Apple Store (which is, in fact, for us UK-based, a £15 rebate), so we can say that this year the cost of .mac is approximately $80, ok?. Well I don't know about you, but I personnally feel that the goodies that are NOW available to .mac subscribers are well worth those $30 extra paid on top of last year's price. Now the question is whether you think the original $50 were good value or not... I'll let you be the judge of that.

[Island Roots]

The Versiontracker and iBlog offers appeal to me - will make use of them once my new Mac gets here (sold iBook and am awaiting new Dual 2GHz PowerMac).

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by donco
Yes that is correct. They hit us (Canadians) up for $156 CAD and then add an arbitrary 17% flat tax (my local taxes would be 14.5%... and that's already a lot). The total today, if the exchange was applied correctly would be about $155 CAD including the proper tax. I have emailed them about this... it is way out of line. I will wait to renew; I want to (it is a great service), but hate feeling ripped off!
Well I don't get it at all. Here in the UK, where we usually get ripped off for anything and everything, we are paying £68.99, which is about $114, and that includes the 17.5% sales tax (or VAT). Wow, we are not the worst off!!!:eek:

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Justin Hancock
sold iBook and am awaiting new Dual 2GHz PowerMac
Wow that's one hell of a jump!!! Buckle-up.

[Genie]

http://www.geniesongs.com/genie/endorsements/apple/Genie-G5Computer50pix.jpg (http://www.geniesongs.com/genie/endorsements/apple/g5opening/index.htm)
Somebody needs to program a little javascript point-attribute decision maker for .mac

Ask 10 or 15 questions, like:
"How bad do you need x feature",
...
Then calculate the probability that you will be a satisfied .mac customer.

That's not hard for you geniuses, right?

[Island Roots]

Originally posted by NicoMan
Wow that's one hell of a jump!!! Buckle-up.

Yup :) I've been on a PC (Dell) for the past month and I'm getting tired of it ;)

After calling Apple today, I've been told my order has a 50% chance of being completed and ready for shipment by this weekend, otherwise I can expect it sometime next week. :)

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Justin Hancock
Yup :) I've been on a PC (Dell) for the past month and I'm getting tired of it ;)

After calling Apple today, I've been told my order has a 50% chance of being completed and ready for shipment by this weekend, otherwise I can expect it sometime next week. :)
They haven't told you very much, have they? It's like: toss a coin, and maybe, just maybe, you will receive your Mac.

On a different note: you do like your smilies, don't you?... I'm gonna guess you will get tired of them too:o. On the other hand most of us still haven't.

[zim]

I have no problems renewing my dot mac and don't need any convincing, the iSync between my laptop and imac is incredible. But before I even think about using the iBlog software, I want to make sure that I read this right, it says free until November 25, 2003 to .mac members, they should have done a longer term.

Still, renewing not because the new stuff but because of iSync, the bookmarks and online address book.

<edit>
Just updated my account. I have an email only account too, it never asked me about renewing it, but it is in my renal settings... stupid question, did it or will it renew? or do I have to renew it specifically, I know stupid question, the obvious answer is that it will renew, it just was not that clear.

[Wardofsky]

I'm happy that I can enjoy this, annoyed that I bought iBlog a while before...

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by zim
I have no problems renewing my dot mac and don't need any convincing, the iSync between my laptop and imac is incredible
I agree with you it's so convenient. I too sync all my contacts between my home and work Macs via .mac. Work+home probably represents 90+% of my time, and for the rest my T610 (in conjunction with iSync) does the job. That's a very elegant solution, IMHO.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Wardofsky
I'm happy that I can enjoy this, annoyed that I bought iBlog a while before...

Can't you just sell your old copy of iBlog to someone? That will make .mac cheaper to you, no?

[Wardofsky]

Originally posted by NicoMan
Can't you just sell your old copy of iBlog to someone? That will make .mac cheaper to you, no?

The way iBlog is sold makes that, kinda hard...
You only download the software and put in a serial;

Allows you to use iBlog on two computers, for instance you can install it on your laptop and desktop. iBlog checks with the server to unlock your copy after you enter the registration key. Save your license key at a secure location and don't share it with others. Email us at register@lifli.com if you have any questions about registration.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Wardofsky
The way iBlog is sold makes that, kinda hard...
You only download the software and put in a serial;
OK I get it. Thanks for the info.

[BobVB]

Originally posted by NicoMan
Can't you just sell your old copy of iBlog to someone? That will make .mac cheaper to you, no?

One caveat - .Mac is giving a 'special edition' of iBlog that will only work with a .Mac account or locally - no WebDAV or FTP ability.

So you aren't getting the full version of iBlog from .Mac.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by BobVB
One caveat - .Mac is giving a 'special edition' of iBlog that will only work with a .Mac account or locally - no WebDAV or FTP ability.

So you aren't getting the full version of iBlog from .Mac.
DOH!
Sorry I can't come up with any other solution...

[Genie]

Those aren't 1394B FW800 drives are they?
Regardless, the rebate just brings the price into normal range, right?

[vrapan]

I would like to have a .mac account, and i like the whole iDisk, iSync concept and of course the web pages but the rest either i dont care or i dont really need so 100$/ year even without extras is not horrible but i can understand people thinking of it as expensive since you can get most of them much cheaper elsewhere.

For one I would buy the .mac+homepage + i disk+ isync thing for 50$. lets make it an even 5$ a month. but 100$ is a bit too much for stuff i dont want or care about very much.

[mainstreetmark]

What if they offered .MAC at $8.33/month? That's cheaper than (most of) the cheapest webhosts.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by mainstreetmark
What if they offered .MAC at $8.33/month? That's cheaper than (most of) the cheapest webhosts.

Haha!

Nice try. :p

[mainstreetmark]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Haha!

Nice try. :p

I wasn't trying to be too tricky - I just wondered if $8 per month "sounded" cheaper to anyone. I mean, we sell webhosting for usually $20/month - that's $240/year which sucks, if you do the math that way.

(oh wait - we really sell it at $19.99...)

[Genie]

Can you use the .mac web storage with your own domain name?

[mainstreetmark]

Originally posted by Genie
Can you use the .mac web storage with your own domain name?

I tried with my free-trial and no. Had to use standard FTP tools.

[kaldestad]

I got the free iBlog from .Mac, but when I publish, it gives gives me the not-very-catchy long url. I would love to set up a link on my main menu-page. Is there a way to set up a link right from the menu page? To see what I mean, check out my extremely novice attempt at a homepage: at www.stevekaldestad.com
I'd love to have the link for "check out my blog", or something like that.
Generally, I just don't know how to use anything that isn't one of the templates they've already provided (all pretty lame) . any help would be super appreciated.