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

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I agree, .Mac keeps looking better all the time.
Click to expand...

No.

.Mac looks the same.

The deal gets better because Apple realizes that .Mac is not worth the $100 they're charging for what the service provides to most people. More people would take advantage of .Mac if it was appropriately priced at $50, but that would mean Apple would need to admit they were wrong about something and that's not something (ahem, single button mouse!) Apple does very well.

- j
 
Re: .Mac

Originally posted by PGant
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.
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Is that right? CAD187?? Wow if I'm not mistaken that's about USD135... Beeeeeeefy!
 
Good but...

These are nice benefits but I'd much rather they just cut the price down (say to $50) rather than throw in a bunch of offers that may or may not be of interest.

For one, it would be more appealing to get multiple accounts for family members if they were cheaper. And secondly, the more offers I see, the more I can't help feeling like it could be cheaper if they cut out all these add-ons.

Finally, I'd rather they put the energy into advancing homepage and the other server-related services. The value of .mac to me, is having a server that I don't have to maintain or dedicate a machine to, etc.

But cheers, anyhow, for Apple trying to add value.
 
Re: Good but...

Originally posted by soosy
These are nice benefits but I'd much rather they just cut the price down (say to $50) rather than throw in a bunch of offers that may or may not be of interest.
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Yes of course, but we have to remember that Apple are here to make you spend money to buy their (and their partners') products, not to save you money... Do I make sense?
 
This could be trouble, but...

where else can you get such a unique deal? Less than $10 a month for U.S. folks, and quite a variety of products. The renewal offer of The Sims/Everquest/$20 coupon @ store.apple.com seems like a sweet part of the deal, and these new perks also help and will convince a lot of people who are still deciding whether or not to renew.

Not trying to blindly defend Apple, but I haven't run across any kind of promotional tie-ins of this kind on any other service. Feel free to angrily correct me if I am wrong.
 
Re: This could be trouble, but...

Originally posted by Toppa G's
where else can you get such a unique deal? Less than $10 a month for U.S. folks, and quite a variety of products. The renewal offer of The Sims/Everquest/$20 coupon @ store.apple.com seems like a sweet part of the deal, and these new perks also help and will convince a lot of people who are still deciding whether or not to renew.
Click to expand...

But if you don't want or need any of this stuff, then it just comes off as Apple giving you (HA!) a bunch of junk you don't want or need. Obviously Apple isn't paying much for these products ($24 value... HA!), and it's not like they're the newest or hottest offerings (see "not moving off the shelves"). Wouldn't you much rather have them knock off a straight dollar amount than give you a bunch of stuff you wouldn't buy on your own anyway?

Somebody would have to be really leaning on the fence for this to finally convince them to sign up. Perhaps a PR benefit is that it takes some of the bitter taste out of the mouths of people who realize that they're going to be shelling out a lot of money just to keep their .Mac email addresses.

I know it's just a business plan for Apple to make some money (there's one born every minute!), but it just comes across as not having much integrity behind it. Very used car salesman like... -j
 
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.) :mad: Oh well, I've got iBlog now.
Click to expand...

YOU"RE WRONG! IT'S NOT FOR NEW .MAC SUBSCRIBERS! IT"S TO SUBSCRIBE TO VERSIONTRACKER. READ IT AGAIN.......
 
Having a free copy of iBlog is excellent. I was thinking of registering this a couple months back, but I didn't.

Sucks that Apple are introducing benefits available for US customers only. Just plain wrong.

But, giving away software is good.
Wish they would add more services to .mac though.
 
Re: Re: This could be trouble, but...

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
I know it's just a business plan for Apple to make some money (there's one born every minute!), but it just comes across as not having much integrity behind it. Very used car salesman like... -j
Click to expand...
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...
 
I think .mac is a good value, and this makes it even better.

Less than a year ago, I was still a holdout against the whole "digital lifestyle" angle and my Macs were the machines my kids used while I used my PeeCee to do "work" and play games.

Now I go weeks at a time without turning on the PeeCee, and the last two times I did it only to install security patches. Meanwhile, I post new photos on my .mac homepage on a regular basis, and I've started making movies and putting small clips on my .mac homepage (which should be pretty easy for you to figure out because my .mac address is the same as my user name). Gaming is covered by the GameCube (though it's going to be rough when DeusEx2 comes out for the PC/XBox in a few months).

.mac and iLife go hand in hand in making the digital lifestyle a reality for me, and I renew happily. The free software and discounts are just icing on the cake.
 
Re: Re: Re: This could be trouble, but...

Originally posted by NicoMan
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...
Click to expand...

Heck, even

C. sell .mac at $80 with no extras

is better than B if you don't want the stuff.

I'm sure Apple's done their homework here, but it seems to me that these incentives are aimed at keeping .Mac members, not gaining new ones. I made my decision a year ago to dump the service, though I suspect I would have paid $20 just to keep the email.

Without any extras, what would you pay for .Mac?
 
Re: Re: Re: This could be trouble, but...

Originally posted by NicoMan
How come on, come off it, mate. There is no fine print, nothing dodgy at all.

I'll tell you what: imagine you are in Apple's shoes and you can either:
A. sell .mac at $50 with no extras
B. sell .mac + other goodies (said goodies costing you maybe $30-35) at a total of $100

If you choose A you are going to have to go back to 'Business 101'...
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what businesses do, but I'm the consumer. I'd rather have the $50 .mac subscription without all the fluff I may or may not need. And don't think for a second that these goodies are costing Apple much. They are probably costing them about $5-$10 at most per .mac subscription.

I still think the .mac user base is going to fall dramatically between now and the end of the year.
 
verstiontracker not free for current members?!?

As far as I can tell, versiontracker is not available for current members - at least that is the way it is for me.

I am a current member, but don't intend to renew and so am waiting for my subscription to run out (18 days left, it tells me).

I can download iBlog OK, but not Versiontracker. Only iBlog is on the download page.

I think this news article should be modified to read that the versiontracker is only for people who either renew or are new subscribers.

Unless I'm missing something....

Max.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: This could be trouble, but...

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Heck, even

C. sell .mac at $80 with no extras

is better than B if you don't want the stuff.

I'm sure Apple's done their homework here, but it seems to me that these incentives are aimed at keeping .Mac members, not gaining new ones. I made my decision a year ago to dump the service, though I suspect I would have paid $20 just to keep the email.

Without any extras, what would you pay for .Mac?
Click to expand...
I don't really know to be honest. To me it's worth maybe $50-60. Ain't got a clue. But when iTools became .mac, there were offers to convert your iTools account into a 'proper' .mac account for $50, IIRC (discount of $50 for the first year, basically). And everyone was going bananas about the price (not me). So to some, obviously $50 was still too expensive (let's discount those original goodies... they were rather crap: virex 7.1 :eek: backup 1 :eek: )
 
I can't figure out whether .mac is something Apple's doing for APPL, that is as a profit center, (Like the add-ons when you buy a mac- way overpriced), or something they're doing for me (like the dual 2Ghz G5 base config, which is a pretty good deal).

I think it's probably more like the add-ons at the apple store.

Am I wrong?
 
Why can't apple have a tiered system for .Mac?

1) Basic ichat username - Free its good to have a @mac.com to use ichat av
2) Basic + email - US $20
3) Basic + email + all the other goodies for $50

4 ) Premium with exclusive softwares and add-ons etc $100
 
Originally posted by kherdin
It appears the 30 dollar rebate on the Firewire drives is available to anyone, not just .Mac subscribers.
Click to expand...

Anyone who lives in the US. Read the fine print. This is yet another advantage of being an Apple user that is restricted to Americans.

I understand that the US is a big market for Apple, but they should remember that it isn't their only market.

This is starting to look like a pattern. :mad:

Cheers
 
I now understand why traffic to my site jumped x3 yesterday--iBlog. People checking out iBlog are obviously checking out the list of blogs currently created by iBlog at iBloggers.net (where my site is listed). Cool, thanks Apple!
 
value

still don't see the value in .mac

I agree with posters above that the price must come down, or at least they have a .mac premium edition for those that like the goodies.

I would like to have a webpage, mac email address and some storage but the price is too high. The key is "I would like" but don't need at that price. Many other mac owners have said similiar things to me as well.

Apple needs to get on the ball here
 
Originally posted by bryanc

This is starting to look like a pattern. :mad:

Cheers
Click to expand...

I think all you "Apple ignores foreigner" people should take a step back and look at the problem from, perhaps, Apple's perspective.

Like all services they provide, I'm sure their first choice is to make it available to everyone - after all, why wouldn't they? It doesn't do a company any good to be elitist about anything, so there must be a reason. What could it possibly be?

Lawyers.

Something surrounding international licensing and promotion for all these products is getting in the way. It certianly isn't technology or desire... it's got to be lawyer babble. Quit blaming Apple for not getting enough out to the international market.
 
Originally posted by Genie
I can't figure out whether .mac is something Apple's doing for APPL, that is as a profit center, (Like the add-ons when you buy a mac- way overpriced), or something they're doing for me (like the dual 2Ghz G5 base config, which is a pretty good deal).

I think it's probably more like the add-ons at the apple store.

Am I wrong?
Click to expand...
I think they are trying to become some sort of service provider, with a user base that generates a somewhat constant revenue stream. But on the other hand it's a ridiculously low revenue stream for the moment, compared to the rest of their business, wouldn't you say?. I don't think it has reach its critical mass for Apple yet. And that's why they need to boost their numbers by providing more and more incentives to join.
Apart from that, to me, .mac is an ok deal. Not brilliant, but not bad either. That's my personal opinion, of course.
 
Originally posted by NicoMan
I think they are trying to become some sort of service provider...
Click to expand...

Isn't the whole idea of the Mac experience to experience this seamless connectivity and easy of use? .Mac supposedly provides this, but doesn't it make sense that such a service should be built in to the price of the machine or OS? The implication is that unless you've got all the cool services that .Mac provides, you haven't got a Mac. Buy a new Mac & you get .Mac for free for life.

If Apple wants to be a service provider, they should at least provide service! They could be a $20/mo ISP that includes the .Mac services.

Are they even promoting .Mac to non-subscribers? I never see any mention of it anywhere... - j
 
.Mac ads

I've seen a couple .Mac banner-type ads lately - on this site and on Yahoo. It was the first ad I've seen for Apple on Yahoo, so I was pleasantly surprised.
 
Re: .Mac ads

Originally posted by Toppa G's
I've seen a couple .Mac banner-type ads lately - on this site and on Yahoo. It was the first ad I've seen for Apple on Yahoo, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...

That's funny, I never even see banner ads anymore, except for those annoying flashing ones that make me scroll them off the top of the page.

I must have a good clutter screen.
 
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