Would you pay for .Mac

[Durandal7]

Would you be willing to pay $100/year for .Mac assuming that you get slighly increased iDisk space in addition to the current batch of free services.

[heinzruediger]

as I said, that's a silly move.

[Mr. Anderson]

I have a couple of websites I use now that I pay for, there is no way I would pay for more. iDisk and iTools are a convenience and I use them because they're free. If it becomes a paying service, I'll drop them.

D

[Paolo]

I don't get it... itools was really cool because it was a free service... as if there are going to be ads in the switch section saying "I switched to mac because I wanted to be ripped off and pay $100 for something I can get free elsewhere"

[funkywhat2]

its email with retsyn

[wildcat4100]

I'm really pissed as it goes to pay service, I'll definitely look for another free service out there!!!

[Inhale420]

most of the iApps you can get similar 3rd party products for free- on both mac and PC.

.MAC is just a marketing scheme, to get people to fork 100 bucks a year to apple

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by Inhale420
most of the iApps you can get similar 3rd party products for free- on both mac and PC.

.MAC is just a marketing scheme, to get people to fork 100 bucks a year to apple

What are you talking about? The iApps ARE free...:rolleyes:

[mc68k]

I know of a great many people who have spectacular mac home pages that will have to be hosted somewhere else. A damn shame.

And my .mac account? History. I'm in college and don't have $ to burn for a simple e-mail account.

As said by others, a BAD move. They may offer more than M$, but they're starting to act like 'em in a small way.

[job]

Originally posted by mc68k
As said by others, a BAD move. They may offer more than M$, but they're starting to act like 'em in a small way.

At least they don't force you to use their products. :D :rolleyes:

[dolstein]

I'd be VERY reluctant to fork over $100 for this service. I don't know how many iTool users Apple expects to sign up, but it wouldn't surprise me if their estimates prove to be wildly overoptimistic. So what happens when the revenue stream fails to materialize? Do they simply scrap .mac entirely, or to they revert back to a stripped-down free service?

Sounds like the eWorld fiasco all over again.

[elmimmo]

charging for email accounts?? pfffffff

Hail M$ and its FREE hotmail.

My @mac to the bin.

[elmimmo]

Oh, and by the way, I will not start spamming here, so no names are given, but for $143,4 a year I am getting 350 MB worth of email/web/ftp combined space with 40 GB of max bandwidth per month, UNLIMITED email accounts (POP/IMAP/WEB), PHP4+PHPMyAdmin, MYSQL, being able to use custom cgis, statistics, telnet access, subdomaining my OWN domain, search engine submission, blah, blah, blah...

$100 is RIDICULOUS for so little. Sure the service I use might not be as intuitive, that might cost money, but then Apple was not targetting me in the first place.

[kiwi_the_iwik]

I can't tell you how disappointed I am with Apple. After a day at work, I got home and quickly powered up my Mac for details of the new additions to the Apple Cart. And what do I find? My email address is now to be charged at the "nominal" fee of $100 per year.

It's obviously not enough that I paid over £2000 for my beloved computer. As far as Apple are concerned, they're now effectively finding new and improved ways to make a buck.

Don't they realise that a free email service could also prove to be one of the best forms of FREE advertising to the masses? I mean, everytime I send an email to anyone, it shows the recipients my loyalty to Apple - that must be worth SOMETHING...

OK - one solution might be to charge a fee to the other services. After all, there might be SOMEBODY out there to buy into it. But the fee has to be a little lower if more people are to sign on (i.e. - more clients=more money, and vice-versa).

But PLEASE, Apple - at least as a gesture of goodwill to your loyal supporters;

KEEP THE EMAIL SERVICE FREE!

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik
KEEP THE EMAIL SERVICE FREE!

Check out this thread:
http://www.macrumors.com/forums/showthread.php3?postid=106750

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Rover - I've got no idea where to change my email preferences on the .mac.com webpage.

WTF are you talking about?!?

Heeeeeelp Meeeeee...:confused:

[ShaolinMiddleFinger]

I sure as hell would never want to pay for it. I already did by buying a computer from them. I will however pay for 10.2 but for email...I don't think so. I try to convert to an email only account and I can't even get to my email now! Only to that stupid .mac page

[Mr.Hey]

Yes I will

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik
Rover - I've got no idea where to change my email preferences on the .mac.com webpage.

WTF are you talking about?!?

Heeeeeelp Meeeeee...:confused:

Click on "Account" at the top of the page in the metal colored bar...

...it seems like they haven't put all of the system in place yet, just like the iPod Software Update the still hasn't shown up.:rolleyes:

[Durandal7]

I hate to say it but judging from the negative response among the power users at this site I don't think .mac has any chance of suceeding. If all of the hard-core mac users are condemning it, what chance does it have with the general public?

[A. Rastetter]

The e-mail thing is unacceptable, I'd be willing to pay even 15 or 20 but no way 100. Do you think it would do any good to send apple any protesting comments?

[SilvorX]

i'm poor so i cant afford .mac :(, maybe if everything changes in a year or 2 (like for the better like ALOT better services), maybe i'll get .mac

[RowdyFROG]

No. Certainly not for that price anyway.

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by asurace
I hate to say it but judging from the negative response among the power users at this site I don't think .mac has any chance of suceeding. If all of the hard-core mac users are condemning it, what chance does it have with the general public?

Oh, the hardcore fans are the bigest bunch of wankers on the face of the earth (minus M$ fans). EVERY SINGLE TIME there is a MacWorld the whole community has to bitch about something. Everyone goes on about how much they love Apple but when Apple makes a change everyone bitches about it.

Where do you think all the money is coming from for iTools???? We are in a huge down turn in the computer industry and Apple now has over 1 million iTools subscribers which they expected to reach 2 million very soon. Now do the math; if you assume a hard drive is 120MB then you can get 4 accounts on one drive. 2 000 000 / 4 = 500 000 drives. 500 000 drives at around $US150 a drive (assume they would be getting good drives at a discount rate) would be $US75 000 000 and they still have not bought the servers ect.

Apple is offering us 100MB storage, 15MB email, Virex, back up and sync ability plus more for 2/3 of the cost of the drive. They need one drive per person to give us this and we get it for $US100 per year.

If you don't like this offer, well, no one is stopping you finding free servers but I assure you that none will offer you what Apple is.

[raschild]

I think everyone should tell Apple that we want mac.com email to stay free, and they can keep the rest.

[Cursor]

I would pay $25-35, but no more. I think Apple is just trying to make up lost revenue. They should get their bottome line up by innovating. I agree that many peoples creative sites will probably have to be moved. That hurts, since the whole thinking behind an Apple strategy is creativity. Making your own Music, Movies, DVDs...and Websites. Its sad that Apple will stifle a lot of people this way.

[vitruvius]

im not so versed in Web Bussiness and Web Hosting, and even i can Design any stuff imaginable , i still dont know how to build a webpage (i know its insanely easy, but i dont have the time to improve my knowledge in that direction) so, 5 months ago having a webpage with all my work in it was an inimaginable dream, as soon as i get in to Itools i built my page in less than 3 hours , and i just put my works all was pre designed ( nicely and hi-quality design i must say) and have a BackUp of my most important work, so Itools had help me a lot without increase my Stress level a bit, probably i can find some services on the Web on similar bases and for less money but i doubt that they will be nice designed and conceived as itools -.mac-( same as my mac hardware) im not B-tching cause they are charging me 100$ for an email acc. ( in fact probably think that the solely email acc. will remain free) they charging that for all the seamless integration with OSX and probably some months ahead they will keep improoving that interconectivity with other nice services as Internet and technology evolves. im betting on things that will come on the future. and besides that they keep giving my such nice free apps (where do u think the money come from for those things?).

so , this are my first thoughs on the .mac thing , maybe the MacWorld is too close to think clearly ,and after hear some comments here maybe i can change my ideas a bit, but right now im inclined to pay 50 bucks for a year to see what happens ( one year in computer years is an eternity, maybe the hell freezes or Hotmail becomes a pay service) probably i will not go for 100$ charge next year ( the antivirus and the other things seems cool for that price, but i dont get why they will charge me a brand new copy of Virex and backup software every Year) but as a i said i want to see what happen in the future, and i preffer to stay this side of the Apple.

so heres my little catarsis and my two cents;)

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by raschild
I think everyone should tell Apple that we want mac.com email to stay free, and they can keep the rest.

I think you should make up your own opinion and stop telling me when you think I should do. Next time you want to talk about "everyone" I would appreciate it if you excluded me.

[brogers]

I agree. I'll shell out the 50 for the first year and see what happens. I get virus protection along with a nice and easy way to back up my important files and 100 megs of storage. I was upset at first, but after downloading the backup software and checking things out a bit more, I softened. I just like they way it all integrates with the OS. Just my thoughts.

[menoinjun]

It sounds like suicide. I can't understand how Apple could take away something that they have offered for free. It just doenst make sense.

As for me buying it...maybe for the intro 50 a year, but 100 is outrageous. I'd probably just switch to the free email only.

This is very sad. I am very impressed with Rendeavous though. (Sp?)

-Pete

[green68]

Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen

Now do the math; if you assume a hard drive is 120MB then you can get 4 accounts on one drive. 2 000 000 / 4 = 500 000 drives. 500 000 drives at around $US150 a drive (assume they would be getting good drives at a discount rate) would be $US75 000 000 and they still have not bought the servers ect.

You might want to start your Math with say a 100 gigabyte hard drive that might hold say 400 accounts, probably a lot more. A 120mb hard drive, c'mon!

[Faeylyn]

Tired of all the whining? Express yourself at:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MUAMW/petition.html

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen


Oh, the hardcore fans are the bigest bunch of wankers on the face of the earth (minus M$ fans). EVERY SINGLE TIME there is a MacWorld the whole community has to bitch about something. Everyone goes on about how much they love Apple but when Apple makes a change everyone bitches about it.

It's not that we're BITCHING, it's that we don't expect to pay for a service like this after we've spent thousands of dollars, pounds, euros (or roubles!) on a computer system from Apple.

Where do you think all the money is coming from for iTools???? We are in a huge down turn in the computer industry and Apple now has over 1 million iTools subscribers which they expected to reach 2 million very soon. Now do the math; if you assume a hard drive is 120MB then you can get 4 accounts on one drive. 2 000 000 / 4 = 500 000 drives. 500 000 drives at around $US150 a drive (assume they would be getting good drives at a discount rate) would be $US75 000 000 and they still have not bought the servers ect.

Hmmmm... Considering Apple has posted high quarterly profits consistently over the last few years - especially during the down-turn in the economy of the computer industry - just goes to show that it's all about a money drive, and not about the hard drive. I believe that Apple has an obligation to support it's users. Where do I stand now that I've purchased the Protection Plan for my Cube - a computer, incidentally, that Apple also turned it's back on. Do I still get my online support thru iTools? Can I still partake in technical discussion on the wellbeing of my system? And where will this end? How long will it be before we're charged for the use of Software Updates?

It seems that ignoring their customers is what they've been doing a lot of lately.

Apple is offering us 100MB storage, 15MB email, Virex, back up and sync ability plus more for 2/3 of the cost of the drive. They need one drive per person to give us this and we get it for $US100 per year.

Some service providers are offering the same storage options as Apple, all for the included price of connection to the internet. And for that "personal touch", buying into a personallised web address for around $50/year seems another viable option. As for virus protection, Norton AntiVirus give regular updates to all known virii thru their webpage, and via their LiveUpdate function - and, apart from the initial outlay of the program, they're free...

If you don't like this offer, well, no one is stopping you finding free servers but I assure you that none will offer you what Apple is.

Obviously I think I can find a better way...;)

[rEd Eye]

"Would you be willing to pay $100/year for .Mac assuming that you get slighly increased iDisk space in addition to the current batch of free services.?"

NO!
Nor will I ever upgrade to a computer system anytime in the future that insists that I use a .Mac personal hard drive to run my personal computing system console from.
I don't like where this idea is going.

[peterjhill]

Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen


I think you should make up your own opinion and stop telling me when you think I should do. Next time you want to talk about "everyone" I would appreciate it if you excluded me.

A Fricken men. yeah, if I was sixteen and had no money, I would be pissed. I have been paying for email for 14 years. It's called an ISP, or College. hell, most ISP's give away 5 email addresses per account.

I would not be surprised if web access to .mac email remained free, with a 5 MB limit on email. Or maybe you want Apple to sell your "FREE" account to marketers so it fills up with spam. Somehow you are going to pay for your free account. I would rather pay in cash then the time it takes to make sure I am not deleting spam, even if it is only a few seconds a day.

What I would like to see would be the ability to have multiple (ie a family) of email accounts hosted by one .mac account. they would all share one quota, and perhaps they could have a kid account that a parent account could check through, including being able to review all deleted emails before they are deleted.

I am sure all you teenie boppers are like, no way, well get a hotmail account then.

[awulf]

Here are two websites:

Petition for our old services back:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/iTol/petition.html

Another web site
http://homepage.mac.com/gostcoder

BTW: I WAN'T MY FREE E-MAIL!

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Originally posted by peterjhill

I am sure all you teenie boppers are like, no way, well get a hotmail account then.

Hey, pal...

Don't lump me in with the "teeny-bopper" culture. I'm 32, have a wife and a 2 year-old kid, and work my arse off to make my mortgage payments every month.

So before you ride off into the sunset on your high-horse, just remember that there aren't many people out there who can afford such an extravagance such as this (obviously, unlike yourself...)

Oh - and one more thing...

I hope you remember that old addage:

"A fool and his money are soon parted..."

[peterjhill]

Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik


Hey, pal...

Um, I'm not your Pal

Don't lump me in with the "teeny-bopper" culture.

I did not lump you personally into the "teeny-bopper" culture

So before you ride off into the sunset on your high-horse, just remember that there aren't many people out there who can afford such an extravagance such as this

If you cant sock away $2 bucks a week, I am sorry for you. $100 is not alot of money if you can plan just a bit for it. It is like 30 cents per day. I bring more change then that home everyday. Stick it in a jar, save it up. take it to the bank and pay up.

Oh - and one more thing...
I hope you remember that old addage:
"A fool and his money are soon parted..."

Whatever dude, if it is not worth the money for you, don't use. If you want it, and it is worthwhile for you, then you consider the cost and make a decision. I am able to understand all the costs involved in providing pop and imap mail to so many people, and can respect the need to charge, and that is just the email service. Add to it network disk space that is backed up on a regular basis, it starts to look even better. Then an easy way to share my photos with relatives all over the country, I'm sold.

You may think you are clever, but I don't see it.

[kiwi_the_iwik]

I'm getting plenty p!ssed at reading (and now being told by people who have absolutely NO CONCEPT of life in the real world) about HOW I should spend my hard-earned cash on something that I theoretically shouldn't have to save for in the first place.

I obviously can't speak for yourself - and would not even begin to - but I refuse to be dictated to by companies like Apple who decide that it would be "...a good time to bury bad news...", so to speak, regarding their decision to unleash this unpopular (and yes, if you read the large number of threads associated with this topic, you'll realise it IS unpopular to a great deal of us) money-making scheme onto us during what we believe to be an exciting time for Apple Mac fans, namely the Expo Keynote.

And you're absolutely right - I don't have to use it if I don't want it.

I would rather therefore get myself a personalised web address - with personalised email (which STILL works out cheaper!), and watch Apple try and backpedal out of this still smiling, when they realise in the end subscriptions to their service have been seriously lower than predicted by their so-called "research" department.

I truly feel sorry for you that you'd rather sit there and accept the fact that Apple are taking a great liberty by just forking out money wantonly, without thinking about the future. What IS stopping them from raising the price, or even removing certain features that you've come to expect?

They've now set the precedence, and you've accepted it. It's not that I don't like Apple - I LOVE their products. But I don't expect to be treated this way after spending a small fortune with them.

And that is why they can't get away with it - we're talking PRINCIPLES here.

[ShaolinMiddleFinger]

Whoa, flame war.....

The $100/year is a reasonable amount if you plan on using all of the items but definately not worth it if you're just gonna use it for email.

I would gladly spend $10-$15/month just for a 5mb email. Even though I've spent a lot of money for Apple, I still feel that they do need to make some money. I do know there's free 5mb emails being offered from other places but I would much rather support Apple than, let's say Microsoft's hotmail....

What Apple should do is allow their customers to have a free trial period of their email service if they buy a Apple computer. If the customer likes it, they can keep for a small fee. iTools explained it as "Free For Life"... and that's where it all began

Hopefully Apple does realise that they made a fatal mistake and that they will soon try to find a solution to it.

[themanager]

It seems to be true about dropping us mac.com users ..

from...

http://help.apple.com/mac/17/help/mail/pgs2/macFmSet.htm

Converting your .Mac trial account to an email-only account

IMPORTANT: If you want to convert your .Mac trial account to an email-only account, you cannot do this directly. You must have a full .Mac member, who has purchased an additional email-only account, include your converted account as part of their membership. Once your trial account has been converted, all your data files (except for your email messages) will be removed from Apple's servers. Other .Mac services, such as iDisk, HomePage, Backup, and Virex, are not accessible to email-only accounts.

[kiwi_the_iwik]

Originally posted by ShaolinMiddleFinger
iTools explained it as "Free For Life"... and that's where it all began

Absolutely -

Apple's "Free-for-Life" promise obviously only extended to the life of iTools itself - and not to free email. I now doubt whether they even intended to keep it free for us.

By the way - when I checked on the Support site yesterday, I found that the only details about me remaining on my preference pages were my name, address and phone number. All records of my system, it's serial numbers and my extended AppleCare warranty have been removed, with the heading "No Data Available" replacing them. Great - more calls to the Apple Customer Support line...
:(