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Pin-Fisher

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 11, 2002
65
0
Marlton NJ
Ok...just recently I was introduced to the new things that Mac has to offer. Mainly when I walked into a store and saw the new IMac sitting there. A few co-workers and clients are Mac geeks through and through. One guy has nine in his house. I was just about to buy the 15" iMac with superdrive then my co worker suggested I wait until after MWNY before making my decision. I literally left work and drove up to my local CompUSA to see if they had the new 17" iMac. (I knew that wouldn;t , I just wanted and excuse to play around with a Mac for a while) becuase what I saw I was just was what I was looking for.

As I read all of these posts I sit and wonder if some of them aren't pure whooey. I mean really, one guy claimed he bought $49k worth of Macs for his business and now he is considering switching to PCs because his free email account may (and I stress MAY) be cut off. I'm very glad I don't work for that bone head.

I see alot of disgust from people I was hoping were really into thier equiptment All over , mainly , a free email account??? Dont you guys have an ISP?? Did you really think that it would be free forever?? Ok...so you have alot of people on your contact list . So set up your ISP's given account, type in a nice little letter telling them that your email is changing and hit the CC button a few times and get over it. Good god .

I was looking to get a Mac not only for the good looks , not only for the stability of the OS .Not only because the look of the OS is awsome . Not only becuase I would get to mess around with Unix under the hood......for alot of other reasons ...but also because when I gathered around a confrence room table prior to a meeting I wanted to say that I used a Mac. I wanted to be part of something that I saw a not just a group of people who happened to use the same OS becuase that was what was on sale at the local Best Buy.....I was looking for the sense of community that I thought existed. I was looking for the kind of passion about a product that you see with Mercedes owners. Not just the guy who bought one because his uncle was selling one cheap , but the real owners. The "I just bought the car I will go to my grave with owners." I've never heard anyone say that about a PC. I thought I might find it in the ranks of Mac owners...What I have seen here recently is very disheartening...
 

Mr. Anderson

Moderator emeritus
Nov 1, 2001
22,568
6
VA
Nice image - :D

I have to agree to a certain amount of what you've said. But its not just the email account, I think one person was overly concerned because he uses that as his main one and it would be a pain to change. No, what I think is that, like me, many Mac users have used the iTools and iDisk for free net storage - I've personally got 7 or 8 iDisks, all of which will go 'poof' in a couple months. That's the way it goes.

We've become spoiled and were a little shocked at the sudden change in Apple. It will all blow over eventually and all the silly people running around talking about *switching* to a PC will wake up soon and realize their stupidity.

Welcome to MacRumors Pin-Fisher, hope you get your new machine soon.

D
 

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
Re: What is the big deal with free email?? PC user wants to know

Originally posted by Pin-Fisher
I see alot of disgust from people I was hoping were really into thier equiptment All over , mainly , a free email account??? Dont you guys have an ISP?? Did you really think that it would be free forever??
Yes, I did expect it to be forever, why wouldn't it be? M$ have hotmail and so Apple should have kept FREE mac.com mail.
And it is actually a real pain in the a$$!
I am registered with so many online stores, mailing lists etc with my mac.com e-mail address and now it looks as though I will have to change them all, then I have to e-mail everyone I know with a new e-mail address, then sign up for a new m$ passport with a new address to sign in to MSN msgr, it's a friggin nightmare!!! :mad:
The reason I choose to use my mac.com e-mail address for everything is because I thought it would never need to go/be changed, regarless of if I move, change ISP etc my e-mail address would allways remain the same....I guess I was wrong :(
I know it's not the end of the would but it is a real bite in the a$$ from apple.

...but, on a more happy note the new 17" iMac looks the nuts! :D
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,362
5,795
Re: What is the big deal with free email?? PC user wants to know

Originally posted by Pin-Fisher
I was looking for the sense of community that I thought existed. I was looking for the kind of passion about a product that you see with Mercedes owners. Not just the guy who bought one because his uncle was selling one cheap , but the real owners. The "I just bought the car I will go to my grave with owners." I've never heard anyone say that about a PC. I thought I might find it in the ranks of Mac owners...What I have seen here recently is very disheartening...

:)

Welcome to the Mac world.... I think you'll find that there is a very vocal group of Mac users who complain about a lot...

For some reason these people keep "leaving" the platform every 6 months or so... :) The logic is ridiculous at times... now - I don't want to dismiss the fact that people are pissed at losing their email addres... however... I remember back at MWNY 2001... people were saying insane ultimatums like "if there isn't a new case, then that's it"

There are also those people who always keep clamoring for the next revision - no matter what. I swear to you, when the G5 comes out... the _next macworld_ there will be people thinking the G6 will come out next, and if it doesn't they will be pissed. ( think these people are the very young )

Kinda goes with the territory... I think Mac Rumor sites attract all kinds - including the fanatics... don't let it get you down... :) There are a lot of enthusiastic folks around as well.... with a lot of loyalty and community...

I think the existence of a site such as "Macrumors" is a testament to that.

arn
 

AlphaTech

macrumors 601
Oct 4, 2001
4,556
0
Natick, MA
I, for one, have never used my @mac.com email account, so it's no biggie to me. I DO use my iDisk though, and will continue to do so. $50 for the first year for 100MB of storage that I can access from just about anywhere and can let other people access is worth it to me. I do projects for family members during the holidays (I have the best scanner of all of them :D) and being able to put it up there will be a HUGE help.

BTW, with my ISP, I get six email addresses. MORE then enough for all my needs.

I hope we see a G5 before I am ready for my next Mac system, sometime in the 2004-2006 range.
 

cb911

macrumors 601
Mar 12, 2002
4,127
4
BrisVegas, Australia
i love my mac.com e-mail address, it's just cool. and i use the iDisk a bit as well. i might get the first years subscription and see how it goes...
 

peterjhill

macrumors 65816
Apr 25, 2002
1,095
0
Seattle, WA
First off, I will pay for a .mac account. I will also pay $100 next year.

Why is a .mac account worth it? POP and IMAP. Thats why. I do not want to use a web browser to access my email. I want to use whatever damn email client I want. I want one that supports PGP/GPG. I want to also be able to use PINE to access my email. I want an email that is not tied to my ISP. I have three accounts now, this is how I use them:

Work EMail: For Work, I won't have this job forever, so I do not use it for personal mail

ISP EMail: I use it for anything that might cause me to get SPAM. When a website asks me for an email account, this is the one that I give them. I will most likely move. I may not keep the same ISP. EMail changes of address are a pain in the ass.

mac.com EMail: This is my personal email account. This is the one that I give to friends and family. Also for a very few web services that I plan on keeping, such as amazon.com and macrumors.com.

Having tried out the backup software (pretty nice for the price), liking the idisk, liking the iphoto web site, all these a worth the price of .mac
 

kishba

macrumors 6502a
Dec 11, 2001
610
0
Michigan
this was my third macworld since i switched to mac... everytime i would anxiously read macrumors for an idea of what to expect...

i would then eagerly watch the keynote and be wowed... completely excited and happy to be part of the mac community... i have never been disapointed with a keynote because it always has *something* i love...

after the keynote i always make the same mistake (out of habit, i suppose):

i viist macrumors again

i've discovered that after a keynote many people begin to whine about stuff the knew wouldn't happen at the keynote... then they whine about apple becoming more like microsoft... then they just whine some more ;)

this really makes me question why i was so happy in the moments right after the keynote... this year i realized what was happening and refused to visit macrumors until i promised myself i wouldn't begin to whine

i'm actually extremely happy with this year's keynote and especially with .mac... i knew when i signed up that the free services wouldn't last and i'm extremely happy that i can just pay for all the services i'll ever need from my favorite company

this time around i don't really care if half you "mac fans" leave the community because of .mac... you'll be back very, very soon :)

oh and one more thing ;) i'm gonna buy the 17" iMac :D
 

sphereboy

macrumors 6502
May 10, 2002
302
1
MIAMI.FL.USA
Trust me guys. Hotmail and all other email services will not be free forever.

M$ loses money from all those "FREE" Hotmail accounts. THey are making plans to charge everyone. I don't know about you but I get constant emails from Hotmail to upgrade and pay for email.

Eventually everyone will have to pay.

So stop with the nonsense of free. Nothing is free forever. Never.

Enjoy the MAC. I know i've enjoyed mine every day since I bought mine. Its the best thing that's happened to me.

Peace.
 
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