iLife '08 REQUIRED for .Mac/iPhone link = BS

[fireworks501]

So, I just got a Mac Pro, blah-blah, got an iPhone, and I've been a .Mac subscriber for years.

My iPhone just had the "Send to Web Gallery" button activated, so I tried shooting a picture up to my .Mac.

Error message: my .Mac account needs to be enabled for posting from mobile devices.

So, I went to mac.com and logged in. No word on "enabling my account."

I called Applecare, and it turns out that you NEED iLife '08 in order to enable your .Mac account for iPhone uploading -- it's apparently done the first time you create a Web Gallery through iPhoto '08.

I'm not pinching pennies, but I hate the rationale behind this: for my $599 phone to upload photos, I need to buy $80 of software to do a ONE-TIME "enable" of my $99/year online hosting service to receive the photos my phone sends?!

WHAT THE HELL!? What about PC users who want to use Web Gallery and have purchased .Mac and an iPhone thinking they can? There's no iLife '08 for the PC... this is such BS.

Ugh...............................................

NP

 

[SilentPanda]

I doubt there are a large amount of Windows users who own .Mac and don't have a Mac. Without a Mac the usefulness of .Mac is pretty much nil. It's not really a 1 time enablement of your iPhone either. You can only upload pictures to a web gallery and without iLife '08 you can't make a web gallery. You can still send your pictures to other peoples web galleries from your iPhone via e-mail.

I do agree it's rather disappointing but meh... iLife '08 is on it's way to me anyhow.

 

[aristobrat]

I'm not pinching pennies, but I hate the rationale behind this: for my $599 phone to upload photos, I need to buy $80 of software to do a ONE-TIME "enable" of my $99/year online hosting service to receive the photos my phone sends?!

I'm confused.

The iPhone can only upload (actually, email) pictures to your Web Gallery, no?

And you only get a Web Gallery when you buy iLife '08, no?

So if you don't have iLife '08 (and thus, you don't have a Web Gallery), where were you expecting your iPhone to upload pictures to?

 

[fireworks501]

I'm confused.

The iPhone can only upload (actually, email) pictures to your Web Gallery, no?

And you only get a Web Gallery when you buy iLife '08, no?

So if you don't have iLife '08 (and thus, you don't have a Web Gallery), where were you expecting your iPhone to upload pictures to?

Web Gallery is being portrayed as a feature of .Mac.

I've got both .Mac and an iPhone; I don't see why the only way to activate your .Mac account to host the photos should be through iPhoto '08.

The only products involved are .Mac hosting and the iPhone, both of which I have.

But as it's explained to me, you need to buy iLife '08 -- iPhoto '08 "activates" your .Mac for mobile uploading the first time you use it.

I don't understand why there isn't an option to do this through .Mac's web-based interface, so that users don't have to buy iLife '08.

I spoke with an Apple Rep this afternoon - PC users who have .Mac and an iPhone will be unable to upload photos to a web gallery, since there is no iLife for PCs.

I know the amount of people who work on PCs and have .Mac are few, but .Mac has always been cross-platform... even with the Windows iDisk Utility.

I'm just frustrated.

 

[SilentPanda]

Web Gallery is being portrayed as a feature of .Mac.

In the demos I saw, the only place you could click on Web Gallery was in iPhoto from iLife '08.

The only products involved are .Mac hosting and the iPhone, both of which I have.

Incorrect. iPhoto in iLife '08 creates the web galleries.

 

[aristobrat]

I don't understand why there isn't an option to do this through .Mac's web-based interface, so that users don't have to buy iLife '08.

I guess like with photocasts in iLife '06, there are always going to be features that you can use .Mac for that can't be done through the web interface (i.e. will require iLife).

 

[Killyp]

Agreed.

Just like iWeb helps you create websites with .Mac, of which many of the features are not available without iWeb, iPhoto '08 is also required to take advantage of Web Galleries.

iPhoto '08 actually makes the web gallery, and iPhoto '06 cannot do this because 1) the way it manages collections of photos and 2) it doesn't even have the capability to make the web galleries required to upload into.

 

[Peace]

I agree with the OP.It's a rip-off.