.Mac Update on Jan 10th

[nxtort]

i am excited to see what changes they are making, but I would love to see some more value for $99 a year or maybe offer a monthly subscription with yearly discounts. eg $6 a month or $69 a year. That is one nice coffee a month. If it was charged monthly it would make life easy. Most people would hardly notice it.

This begs the question what top three things would you change to make .Mac better?
my top three
• Speed, speed, speed… from iDisk support to people viewing my photos online [in comparison to dreamhost|1and1|blacksuns for example]
• two network computer sync as mentioned above
• monthly|yearly|lifetime options for billing
ok maybe four
-make Backup part of the iLife|iWork suite already and get it outta .Mac.

-nx

 

[autrefois]

Spymac offers 12gb for blogging, websites, online storage, etc. with templates and all that for $25 a year!

http://www.spymac.com/club/

It's true they offer more overall than .Mac does and for a much lower price, but Spymac's still in a prolonged transitional period. I'm not saying Spymac is bad, but I personally would wait until Tuesday to see what's announced for .Mac and then get informed about pros and cons of each before making a decision either way.

 

[boombashi]

It's true they offer more overall than .Mac does and for a much lower price, but Spymac's still in a prolonged transitional period. I'm not saying Spymac is bad, but I personally would wait until Tuesday to see what's announced for .Mac and then get informed about pros and cons of each before making a decision either way.

12GB of online storage for $25 a year plus all the software and extras is a pretty compelling, but I think Apple has an Ace up their sleave. I fold - Steve, show us your cards!

 

[chubad]

It would be nice for Apple to give its .Mac Members an exclusive Stream of the Keynote. The same idea Sirius is doing with Howard Stearn.
or Maybe a iChat .mac exclusive , were you can view the keynote via ichat.

Something!

Maybe an exclusive .mac widget that gives you leetness

That's the best idea I've read in a while! That would be cool. I miss seeing the Keynotes streamed live.

 

[richdun]

eg $6 a month or $69 a year. That is one nice coffee a month.

I'd love to see it for free, maybe with payment for video streaming subscription, or for expanded web-hosting, kind of an a la carte system. $69 a year isn't too bad, but for those that would call that 6 Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers a month rather than one nice coffee, having a low-end cheap service level would help with adoption.

 

[boombashi]

I'd love to see it for free

First year free with new computer purchase and free with iLife updates sounds pretty good to me. It would be a constant revenue stream for Apple, and a good benefit for their customers. It could be made for free with some kind of other revenue stream such as a subscription service for content (music TV, or movies), but they are going to want Windows users for that and I don't think they want to give Windows .mac - it's part of their incentive for getting people to switch.

 

[nirvana06]

any idea if there will be any upgrades to Nano? I'm looking to upgrade my 4GB Mini but I'm hopping for a 6GB Nano.

 

[boombashi]

any idea if there will be any upgrades to Nano? I'm looking to upgrade my 4GB Mini but I'm hopping for a 6GB Nano.

it's pretty early to revamp that line, but if they come out with a 1GB nano for around $130, they may also up the higher end.

 

[chicagdan]

I fold - Steve, show us your cards!

You play much poker? If you want to see someone's cards, you have to call ... fold and they keep the pot without showing.

I agree with everyone that $99 for .mac is outrageous and I've been paying it from the start ... bad habit, I guess.

But .mac has tremendous potential -- everyone who has an iTunes account has a .mac-based ID. If they could add enough features and create a compelling price point, .mac could turn into a portal that reaches inside the Windows community.

It's far from there right now ... but I'm eager to hear what's in iWeb ... if they can come up with an easier to configure alternative to MovableType, I'd move my blog to the iWeb solution in a heartbeat.

Final thought -- .mac mail better not be down for five hours on Tuesday, it's my primary e-mail account.

 

[boombashi]

You play much poker? If you want to see someone's cards, you have to call ... fold and they keep the pot without showing.

No, not really - But Apple will get my pot if they come out with what I'm hoping for I knew that sounded wrong, I couldn't think of the right word and I just watch Rounders not too long ago - It's late where I am, and I can't sleep, too much anticipation

 

[Clix Pix]

When I bought my iMac, the .mac deal was offered to me and I went ahead and took it, even though at that time I really wasn't sure of what all the benefits would be. I find that now I use it primarily for the backup software -- works a treat -- and I use the email address for all of my Apple/Mac related mail, which works out nicely. I have my own domain-related email address, too, plus the one from my regular ISP, so the .mac email address was not a key factor in my decision. I haven't yet gotten around to experimenting with some of the other features, but one of these days...

OTB

 

[chicagdan]

So no email during MWSF??
irmongoose

It's outrageous that Apple:

1) charges a premium price for .mac, more than any e-mail service on the market today

2) drops a statement like this on the .mac site instead of sending out an e-mail

3) doesn't clarify whether this means we'll have no e-mail or iDisk access -- does it just apply to webmail or to all .mac mail?

I use my .mac account for my business ... what the hell am I supposed to do, take the day off because Steve Jobs is giving a speech? Well I'm sorry Mr. Jobs, but I'm a professional speechwriter and I have speeches to write for other people that day, the world doesn't stop for you.

If all of this is to upgrade .mac and make it more attractive, starting the day off by pissing off their most loyal customers is a pretty bad first step.

 

[fjs08]

>>I'm still waiting for those .Mac widgets<<

I'd like to see Dashboard work more like a standard application. Unless I'm doing it wrong, when I click on the icon in the tray, it takes literally 40 seconds for all my widgets to start up. It shuts down everything else I have going. Then when I click on the screen to go back to my open programs, the widges disappear. Why can't they operate like other programs so I can bring them up via Expose and then put them in the background when I don't need them??

Frank

 

[mdavey]

Looking at the last BT update to OSX, and seeing as it at some interaction with the firmware, I bet a BT remote is on its way.

It is on its way. It will be an option when buying FrontRow. What isn't known is whether FrontRow will be a stand-alone product or part of iLife. I'm hoping for the later.

 

[liketom]

EDIT : Solved

 

[asphalt-proof]

If .Mac is going to be used for full length content then Apple had better increase the speed of iDisk, otherwise such content will be unplayable, or, wait a week and the content may just have downloaded to your local machine.

iDisk is so unbelievably slow, don't even think about the iDisk Sync feature - I gave up using that the day they announced it. Sad thing is, Apple have done nothing to improve performance.

Agreed!! I have tried to use it a couple of times (it seems the most valuable feature for me) but never got it to complete the syncing. Took waaaaay too much time. I just don't have that kind of patience.

 

[Diatribe]

well i could get the refund, i guess, my account expired on the 25 of december, but i didnt renew until the 1 or 2 (of january) so i could, but only if i could keep my account.

EDIT: OMG, IM A MEMBER NOW!!!

Yep, I guess for those having renewed recently Apple would give a refund but don't quote me on that.

Oh and congrats.

 

[Bonte]

http://www.karelia.com/sandvox/small_and_nimble_the_long_s.html

Karelia software's take on the iWeb danger. I'l choose the best app cos i need a cheap and simple web-builder.

 

[Applespider]

Yep, I guess for those having renewed recently Apple would give a refund but don't quote me on that.

I had a .mac box upgrade so I figured I would be smart and put it in before Tuesday so that if there was a benefit/refund/extension, I'd gain. But unfortunately, the upgrade doesn't go through until March. It's in their system as being used but won't trigger til then so I guess I might not get the full beneft

 

[Sunrunner]

I had a .mac box upgrade so I figured I would be smart and put it in before Tuesday so that if there was a benefit/refund/extension, I'd gain. But unfortunately, the upgrade doesn't go through until March. It's in their system as being used but won't trigger til then so I guess I might not get the full beneft

Heres hoping for some payback after paying $99 a year for so long... (not including my email-only accounts)

 

[dernhelm]

So no email during MWSF??




irmongoose

Hmmm... How convenient for Apple!

 

[Diatribe]

I had a .mac box upgrade so I figured I would be smart and put it in before Tuesday so that if there was a benefit/refund/extension, I'd gain. But unfortunately, the upgrade doesn't go through until March. It's in their system as being used but won't trigger til then so I guess I might not get the full beneft

What do you mean? If there's an increase in functions you'll get that. Since you had already paid for the box before, it doesn't really matter, does it? Or am I missing something?

 

[LimeiBook86]

.Mac has always had some down time. But, usually when it's "down" things still work, I still get my e-mail and even sometimes the web mail still works. I don't think everything will be completely down, i just think that some services will be down for a bit, I wouldn't worry too much. Things have happened before but, usually you can still access some features...they just might be going on and off for a bit

 

[61132]

Now does this mean emails sent to my address, will be bounced back? or will my account receive them, but I wont be able to get to them until the update is completed? I just ordered something online and I want to make sure that I receive the emails.

 

[Applespider]

What do you mean? If there's an increase in functions you'll get that. Since you had already paid for the box before, it doesn't really matter, does it? Or am I missing something?

No, and to be honest, I'm not expecting anything. But should they extend expiry dates on a pro rata basis for those who'd already paid, I thought I'd be prepared and enjoy the bonus. I'm not bothered with the current rate for it to be honest (well, at least when you buy during promotions)