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Apple to compromise on mac.com email?

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Feedback

I posted feedback to Apple's site about the new .Mac services. I told them that while I like the additions they've added to .Mac, I urge them to keep a free email only portion of .Mac. For many people, the email is the most important, and as someone else said here - it looks clean and professional to have a "@mac.com" email on a business card, etc. Forget about iDisk, Homepage and all the other stuff, for users who don't want to pay the $99 yearly fee. For many users, these portions go unused. I can understand Apple not wanting to continue to host free disk space, etc. I also think there was abuse to the system. I know many people who had, like 10 iTools accounts. That's 200 MB for that user alone! Think about how fast that adds up, when multiplied by hundreds of thousands or millions of Mac users worldwide. I knew this wouldn't last forever, but I thibk giving ot free email addresses with a 5 MB disk space should be doable, and would be seen as good public relations on Apple's part. They would also be probably the only place left where you could get a free, simple email account. I don't think telling "switchers" that they now have to pay $99 a year for the privelege of haing a .mac email will win many more users over. That's exactly what so man switchers were trying to avoid in the first place with Microsoft - being forced to buy into yearly fees, etc.

I hope Apple listens carefully.
 
that quote does not say 'Free for life' merely an email account for life. the fine print is always tricky. it is a deal for .mac and they can't provide such services for free forever.

that said, i'd pay $10-15 per year for email. for those of you running like puppies to hotmail, why don't you switch over to windoze as well. hotmail=spam run amok, no pop (unless you pay, and if you pay for THAT spampop mail, then you are definitely a windoze child) and a 2mb limit.

i don't know about everyone, but i love pop mail. mac users like to configure their programs, it's part of what we love about the mac. sure, i'd pay $10 for the ability to have pop mail, but not hotmail. yahoo, perhaps, but not MSh*tmail. i liked hotmail before Microshaft bought it, but now is just collecting spam.

i do wish they'd allow us to keep the email for free, but i'll probably pay for the first year at the discounted rate. there is no way i'll pay $100 tho unless i really used ical, isync, ibackup, etc. regularly. i don't see that happening.
 
Get your own domain

I solved the problem of ever changing work email addresses and home ISP email addresses; get your own domain. For $5 to $10 a month, you can have several name@yourdomain.com.

You can host a website, have a place to backup files, and have email. Granted it isn't as 'easy' as .mac for most people, but for me it's cake.
 
Why not split it up?

It seems as though not everyone uses every service, so why doesn't apple just charge based on what you want. This way everyone could be happy without paying $100 for something they are not going to use. I would purchase homepage lets say, and idisk would also have to be purchased, but that is all that I want. That would cost lets say $30 instead of $100. Each service should be priced seperately based on how much it costs apple. I think they would also see what services people want more than others.

As for all the complaints about it not being free anymore, apple gives almost all their software out for free. They spend lost of money developing it and give it to us free. All the iApps and Quicktime to be specific. I would rather not pay for these than pay for these and get itools free.

As for OS X not being free or really cheap. This is more than just an Upgrade. It is a vastly new system and I don't want to know how much money they spent on this one. This is like 8.5 to 9. They charged for that update and no one was yelling and screaming. This update is huge and having got all the os x updates since its release for free, I am thankful for that. One year of steady updates for free, not to mention the 10.1 update. If you want os 10.x to be as good as the jaguar update, then support apple and pay for it.
 
Re: Get your own domain

Originally posted by bbarnhart
I solved the problem of ever changing work email addresses and home ISP email addresses; get your own domain. For $5 to $10 a month, you can have several name@yourdomain.com.

You can host a website, have a place to backup files, and have email. Granted it isn't as 'easy' as .mac for most people, but for me it's cake.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing, and it doesn't even have to cost that much. The problem with free email addresses is the terms can change at any time, you don't have control over them. If you own your own domain, you can give the address out with confidence that you really can have it "for life" if you want.

Registration of a domain can now be done for around $9 a year, depending on the registrar. Some registrars also offer POP accounts and other add-ons for an additional fee, so for instance with GoDaddy you could have your own domain and an email account (also accessible via the web) for as little as $20 a year. If you shop around you can probably find it for less (good thing about owning your own domain, you can shop for a provider and switch whenever you find a better price, but your email address remains unchanged!)

Now, that is if you want to go the easy route (some of these registrars have control panels that make it as easy to set up your account as iTools is). If you want the whole shebang, it might be more cost effective to shop for a web hosting provider. Some are really cheap (but probably not too reliable), some are pretty cheap and have decent reputations (I just opened an account with one where the cheapest package is $25/year) and some are quite reliable and still aren't too expensive ($10 to $20 a month) but even the $25/year one probably gives you more than iTools, although you have to know more to use it.

So, for about $30-$40/year you could have multiple email addresses in your own domain, a web site, remote storage (although you would generally have to use FTP) and more (you can run your own mailing lists, bulletin boards, chat rooms, etc. although the cheaper plans won't give you that much bandwidth).

So, now that Apple is charging for this stuff they'll have to compete with other services. Possibly they will still get some takers because even though their service is relatively more expensive, it is far more integrated with the Mac OS than anything any other company could provide. For me, I'd rather pay some money and have my own domain name. The freedom is worth the small amount of money it costs.
 
sad .mac

Well I can't find anything about converting your .mac account to a mail only account at Apple's .mac site


I've followed the suggestions as to where it's supposed to be but without any luck.

So this is more rumour than fact?
 
Re: OK - thats better!

Originally posted by elgruga
I have complained all day about this and now they tell me that I can keep my mac.com address for free.

Great! But I am happy to pay a small amount for it - why not charge about $10-15 a year for the email only deal?
That would bring in about $10 million - I assume that most would pay to keep it, as long as it wasnt too expensive.

I realise that Apple needs to make a profit on their operations.

I feel like a jerk for all the Apple slamming I have engaged in today over this email issue - I could never use any other computer, OSX is the best.

Ah, Apple, how you can make us mad and then make us happy the next minute!

Well back to teaching myself DreamWeaver MX on OSX......
Click to expand...

I'm trying my hardest to get through to someone at Apple who will put it in writing for me. Who did you speak to that said you could keep just your e-mail account for free? If you can get it writing, we can put that on the petition page and Apple Discussions Boards so people know about it. I happen to be an Apple discussions board helper at discussions.info.apple.com. If I can get the statement that says you can keep your mac.com e-mail account for free in the moderators board, then the moderators can go to the individual topic boards and update the mac.com website with the info on keeping your mac.com e-mail free. You said you got through to someone who could make mac.com e-mail free. Who is it? Where is the info? I've tried:

http://help.apple.com/mac/5/help/mail/pgs/mac43.htm

suggestions and the buttons necessary to convert to free e-mail don't appear to work.
 
When free isn't free

I read this at Apple's discussion site

" If you currently have multiple mac.com accounts, you can sign up for a full membership on one account and then just update your others (up to ten) to email only accounts for an additional ten bucks per year, as far as I can tell. "

I've a feeling this email only thing is only for paid up memebers with multiple accounts
 
bad news

I was checking out apple helps pages, and i discovered that an email-only account is only available to those who already have a full account and want to add another e-mail. this is the text i was reading:


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding an email-only account
.Mac members can purchase up to 10 additional email accounts for $10.00 each per year. Email-only accounts include 5 megabytes (MB) of storage space, which can't be increased. You can't add photo signatures to messages if you have an email-only account; and other .Mac services, such as iDisk, HomePage, Backup, and Virex, are not accessible to email-only accounts.

To add an email-only account, go to www.mac.com, then click Account in the .Mac menu bar. Click the Email Account Management button, then click Create New Account.

Fill out the "Create a new email account" form, then click Continue. Print your account information for future reference, then click Continue.

------------------------------------------------------------------


This is bad news for those of us who cant afford the full service. They should make the email-only account available to everyone for $10.
 
.Mac e-mail debacle idea

Howdy folks,

The following is a solution I recently submitted in Apple's .Mac Feedback forum.

Howdy folks,

I believe that mac.com e-mail should be free for life as advertised. In fact, in addition to providing an option for a free mac.com e-mail address for life, I expect that Apple should make the following change to its policy:

A mac.com e-mail address will never expire--even
if the .Mac subscription expires. If the
subscription lapses, the user will continue to
receive e-mails. The e-mail account will revert
to 5MB of space, although the full 15MB of space
continue to be housed for 30 days after expiration.

Before the .Mac subscription expires, the user will
be notified via e-mail. When the .Mac subscription
expires, the user will also be notified via e-mail.
30 days after expiration, the e-mail account will be
paired down to the 5MB of the user's most recently
received e-mail.

This would satisfy, for me, Apple's claim of "free e-mail for life".

Please make it so.

Web Maestro Clay
Click to expand...

Whaddayathink?

Web Maestro Clay
 
Thank yourselves including me for this!

Ok, for some of you, stop whinning, this is most of our fault! Notice, I am not including everyone, only those who did it.

Sites like, http://www.macgamefiles.com/ used Apple iDisks as mirrors for the software downloads. Some people abused the service and registered a bunch of accounts. I remember visiting ResExcellence, and some people had 5 iDisks on their desktops! Yes, 5! Why the heck do you need 5 iDisks?!

Why the hell do you think Apple isn't going to do this? It's obvious if you own the space and everything, and try to have an honorable system where people do not abide by the rules, and abuse it day by day, you are going to put a stop to it! Yes, the price is a little steep, but that's what the Mac Community gets for having a bunch of free-loaders who don't want to buy nothing. Some people just want everything for free. If you don't want to pay for Apple's .mac thing, get hosting! You will only pay about 10 bucks a month for 1GB of space, compared to 100MB with Apple. With some hosting companies you can have an unlimited amount of e-mail addresses, and you can even run a true website while you're at it.

So don't complain, because Apple probably hates what they are doing as much as we do, but they had to do it. And it's most of us' fault. Live with it.
 
I know this has been said before, but people don't seem to be getting it.

There are two different documents being quoted. One about adding more email addresses to your .mac acct, and the one linked from macrumors.

That link specifically says "To convert your trial account to email-only, go to www.mac.com. Click Account in the .Mac menu bar, then click the Email Account Management button. Enter the member name and password of the trial account you'd like to convert, then click Convert. "

Ok, lets look at this. "Trial Account" - That is what we all have right now. "Email-only" - that is what we want.

No, it's not working right now (according to you folks anyway, I haven't tried). But that paragraph obviously is not talking about buying more accounts.

.Mac was released 24 hours ago. People only start bitching about it about 23 hours ago. How about we give apple a chance to get the "convert" code up and running.

You've got 2+ months till your account goes away. These predictions of doom and gloom are just going to make you depressed and unhappy for the day.

Or.. maybe I should just give up on jump on the bandwagon. This is the end! Apple is doomed! Look at their stock! Why don't they listen - wall street obviously wants free mac.com email addresses! I'm buying a pc and burning my mac in the street! Die apple Die! I hate you I hate you I hate you! You're not my real parents! I never asked to be born! If all I am to you is just some lazy slob, why didnt you just abort me!
 
e-mail on yahoo

Here is what I would like to see.

Currently I have an e-mail account at yahoo and one at apple
I have been fowarding all my e-mail from apple to the yahoo address from day one. Mainly because I get my e-mail via the web and at the time yahoo was better.

Now apple has at least the same if not a better e-mail for my needs.

In looking at yahoo you can get 10mb (an increase from the free service of I think 6Mb) for $9.99 a year and you still get all the advertisement crap and the fact that yahoo tracks your stuff and sells your info.

Now if apple would charge me $15 a year for just e-mail 10mb of e-mail space and NO ADVERTISEMENT NO POP UP ADDS NO SELLING MY INFO EVER. you wanna send me an apple e-mail every so often about a new os or upgrades I need fine but that's it.

I will shell out the $15 and happily switch to apple. The free services are freaking me out more and more as they try to produce revenue streams I am just waitinint for them to start reading my e-mail for good info to sell (I am sure they won't but anything less then this they seem to be doing)

Bottom line $15 a year I will pay

Plus why not split up the services $15 here $20 bucks here you pick and choose or get em all for a discount.

For some people the $100 a year is a good deal for what you get I am not one of those people.

I'll pay no problem for the e-mail
 
Re: Thank yourselves including me for this!

Originally posted by Super Johnson
Ok, for some of you, stop whinning, this is most of our fault! Notice, I am not including everyone, only those who did it.

Sites like, http://www.macgamefiles.com/ used Apple iDisks as mirrors for the software downloads. Some people abused the service and registered a bunch of accounts. I remember visiting ResExcellence, and some people had 5 iDisks on their desktops! Yes, 5! Why the heck do you need 5 iDisks?!

Why the hell do you think Apple isn't going to do this? It's obvious if you own the space and everything, and try to have an honorable system where people do not abide by the rules, and abuse it day by day, you are going to put a stop to it! Yes, the price is a little steep, but that's what the Mac Community gets for having a bunch of free-loaders who don't want to buy nothing. Some people just want everything for free. If you don't want to pay for Apple's .mac thing, get hosting! You will only pay about 10 bucks a month for 1GB of space, compared to 100MB with Apple. With some hosting companies you can have an unlimited amount of e-mail addresses, and you can even run a true website while you're at it.

So don't complain, because Apple probably hates what they are doing as much as we do, but they had to do it. And it's most of us' fault. Live with it.
Click to expand...


Ok so some people abused the idisk facility, but what seems to be the sore point is that those of us who think the email is the most important part of itools, are gonna have to pay to keep some thing that was advertised as free. I am all for pro feature of itools (.mac) but why can't they keep the basics too, like just email only account. In his key note steve said that hotmail and yahoo had introduced charges and that was the way to go (not direct quote) but they both maintain a limited free service. i.e. smaller email space.


that's all I want is the email, I already have web space, sure i could add email to that, but the point is most of us have used our mac.com's not because of the cool or prestigious factor but because it was permanent, no matter which isp we would be in the future.


I see loads of business cards being reprinted, and some unhappy mac users.
 
Re: sad .mac

Originally posted by stuartea
Well I can't find anything about converting your .mac account to a mail only account at Apple's .mac site


I've followed the suggestions as to where it's supposed to be but without any luck.

So this is more rumour than fact?
Click to expand...

I have converted two family accounts but there is a caveat. You must have one registerd .Mac account. I bought one because I do use iDisk and homepage alot. I have family overseas and its a great way for them to see my kids grow up. But I only need one iDisk. My wife and daughter both have .Mac email addresses. So what you do (once you purchase a .Mac account) is go and purchase additional email addresses. Once you do that you are given the option to convert an existing address to an email only option. Its not free but at least It won't cost me $300 a year to keep all my adresses.

Maybe I'll start sponsering email only accounts for $10 a year. I have eight more that I can purchase.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion.
 
Yup read that later on. To me it's still a rip off when there are plenty of FREE options available. I already pay a fee for cable modem access I get mail with that i get web space with that. Apple aren't offerening enough to justify that kind of fee. You can even get a hotmail address for free. Gasp well done Microsoft

You can be one of the 10% that Apple care about I'll stick with the 90%

I think having a Mac.com account is quite enough advertising for Apple as it is.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2119369,00.html
 
Re: Get your own domain

Originally posted by bbarnhart
I solved the problem of ever changing work email addresses and home ISP email addresses; get your own domain. For $5 to $10 a month, you can have several name@yourdomain.com.

You can host a website, have a place to backup files, and have email. Granted it isn't as 'easy' as .mac for most people, but for me it's cake.
Click to expand...

arishost.com works great for me. $30 a year, adfree, includes domain registration, 30megs, 500mb bandwidth, PHP support. Can add MySQL for another $30 a year. Can add bandwidth and megs for minor additions. 5 pop email accounts are included, each with FTP and protected folders of their own.

It's true web hosting. I'm switching most of my clients. Only bummer is that thier online signup doesn't seem to work with mac broswers. I just signup via email.
 
Re: illegal

Originally posted by 123
I think what Apple's doing here is illegal (unless you can keep the email address).

...

Among current members, there are people that are going to pay because they already have used the address for a long time and can't switch to another addresss on such short notice. Nothing wrong with that if Apple had told us that this was only a test drive for 2 years or that they plan to charge for it at some point in the future or something like that. BUT they said it was FREE FOR LIFE.
Click to expand...

A couple of comments...
Strictly speaking, "free for life" could easily be interpretted as "free for the life of iTools". Well, iTools is dead, replaced by .mac. .mac isn't free. Nothing illegal about this, it's done all the time.
As for not having sufficient notice to change your email address, a couple of months is easily long enough for most people to send out 'change of address' emails. In the past, when I've had to change my email address (which I've had to do a few more times than I'd like to admit - and never was it the end of the world), I've typically had less than 30 days to try to get everyone switched over to my new address, and once I had one week to tell people that my email address was changing, and I couldn't tell them what the new address was until I got it set up. This was a pain, but even this didn't ruin my ability to communicate via email.
Another thing, a lot of people are talking about all the free email services out there. None of them are truly free. Hotmail, Yahoo, and others all insert tag lines into your emails that allow them to advertise everytime you send an email. And please don't tell me that '@mac.com' is advertisement enough. Most people that I know don't pay much attention to the actual email address. Email programs record addresses by name, so all you have to remember is the name of the person that you're sending email to, and who cares what the address is?
Anyway, my 2¢, if it's worth even that much.
 
The @mac.com should deffinately stay free- think about it apple, every time I send an email I am doing my bit to advertise your brand, ie : "mac", just as everytime sends a yahoo email, or a microsoft/hotmail email they are advertising that service.
 
Originally posted by Griffindor73
The @mac.com should deffinately stay free- think about it apple, every time I send an email I am doing my bit to advertise your brand, ie : "mac", just as everytime sends a yahoo email, or a microsoft/hotmail email they are advertising that service.
Click to expand...

Well, that's partially true. The REAL profit comes from all the web traffic that MS and Yahoo drive to their sites. They sell advertisement space on those pages.
 
I agree. Every time I send an email to my PC "friends" I remind them that I am using a Mac. This should be enough to convince Apple keep the email free.
 
hey guys, does somebody know when should we convert
our .mac account to an e-mail-only one...
the convert path apple had just wrote down on their help page
still doesn,t work....
 
Originally posted by Griffindor73
The @mac.com should deffinately stay free- think about it apple, every time I send an email I am doing my bit to advertise your brand, ie : "mac", just as everytime sends a yahoo email, or a microsoft/hotmail email they are advertising that service.
Click to expand...

What even worse is if people are pissed off by the charge and abandon the @mac.com email, Apple would lost a MAJOR reliable channel to reach out their target cutomers.

Ming
 
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