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

[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]

Re: US only

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

 

[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, 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]

Re: Spammmit!!!!

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.

 

[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]

I would pay money to get this feature

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.) Oh well, I've got iBlog now.

 

[PGant]

.Mac

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]

Trouble with VT Plus???

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]

Re: I would pay money to get this feature

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]

iBlog

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.) 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.