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Got .Mac? (Or, Is .Mac worth $100?) |
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 Well, Steve Jobs' Keynote at Apple Expo Paris is rapidly approaching, giving Mac freaks everywhere reason to get excited. As always with an Apple event, speculation is abounding, and the safe money is on new or updated PowerBooks. (MacRumors has a roundup of all the juicy rumors regarding the Expo if anyone is interested).
Something else to keep in mind though, is that the date to renew .Mac for most people is also fast approaching. Hopefully, next Tuesday our good ole' Uncle Steve will talk about some magical service that makes .Mac look cheap for the hundred bucks it costs per year. But just in case he doesn't, I decided to look at the features of .Mac as it stands today - to determine for myself and the sake of wonderful Macheads everywhere whether .Mac is worth it.
So without any further ado (What the heck is 'ado' anyway? Can I buy some somewhere?), let's start looking at what .Mac has to offer.
iSync
Being able to sync up your Address Book contacts and iCals via iSync is very cool. I don't have a bluetooth phone, but that would be another added bonus - entering contacts via a cell phones' buttons is a major pain in the a$$. If you're like me and have two computers that you use quite a bit, syncing up Safari bookmarks is a fantastic feature, and one I wouldn't want to do without. The thing is, I don't need .Mac for that - I could just copy my Safari prefs from one machine to the other with a little work.
Publishing iCal calendars
Publishing iCal calendars on the Web is a very attractive and useful feature. However, you can do it yourself with a little know-how and elbow grease. But is it worth it, when .Mac makes it so damn easy?
Web photo albums via Homepage
Using iPhoto and HomePage, it is brilliantly easy to select a bunch of photos and create a complete Web photo album (with thumbnails and a slideshow) in just a couple of minutes. I would not want to do without this feature, but then again, a lot of other applications allow you to do similar things. Photoshop, for one, lets you make a quick Web album. It chops up all the images into the sizes you specify and generates the HTML pages. However, you have to upload the files yourself to your own FTP site. A pretty easy task, but this is the point of .Mac - to save you time.
Training
.Mac offers lots of training in three different ways:
Web how-to's are web pages for learning about things like .Mac mail, HomePage, iDisk, iSync, etc..
.Mac Presents is more in-depth QuickTime movies about HomePage, iDisk, Mac-to-Mac Syncing, and more.
Learning Center is even more in-depth, with multiple movies and lots of info about OS X, iPhoto, and iTunes. For instance, there's a movie just about changing your desktop picture.
All very good stuff, but will you use it? If you're new to OS X or Macs, then .Mac's training area would be great. If you're more experienced, then .Mac training will be about as useful as the Ab-doer at Steve Ballmer's house.
Free software and sofware deals
Apple is constantly throwing free software at .Mac users. For instance, DUCK - because here comes a copy of StickyBrain 2, (that's a US$40 value!!!). Marble Blast, Super GameHouse Solitaire, and Super Mah Jong are some other recent freebies from .Mac. Apple also offers discounts on software, like the most recent $10 discount on Chronos' F10 Launch Studio. Free software is better than a sharp stick in the eye, trust me, plus you may find that some of these are really cool.
iDisk
iDisk will be updated for Panther and will be "faster and more convenient". With Panther, iDisk is actually mirrored on your hard drive, so there's no delay in updating files. This also makes for "Automatic synchronization" and "Offline Access to iDisk".
Plus don't forget about some of the other cool stuff available in iDisk, like all the stuff available in the Software folder, including music loops from Freeplay, applications from Apple and 3rd party developers, and software drivers.
Bonus!
If you renew .Mac you get to choose from one of these fine gifts: a copy of The Sims or Everquest, or a $20 coupon for the online Apple Store. Plus, you always have to option to refer friends and get the .Mac price reduced
Finally, a full list of perks for .Mac members is here, but keep in mind that only the first eight are "current".
The Bad
Something else to keep in mind are the occasional hiccups that .Mac mail still suffers. I personally don't really need that extra mail account (I already have too many), but it still sucks to pay $100 for something and see a portion of it have problems. Especially when it's been a problem since day one and it's a company as professional as Apple.
So, has Apple given us enough reason to pay $100 for .Mac? Does Steve need to come up with something for Tuesday, like free nose hair trimmers for every subscriber? Or should Steve send Phill Schiller door-to-door, pleading for renewals? Let us know what you think!
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September 12 2003, 10:47 AM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Chris |
9/12/03, 11:27 AM EDT |
I like my mac.com email address because it is entirely spam-free. Last year, $49 was a no-brainer because of the free prints. I also got at least $80 of free software. If I get $40 of free stuff, plus a $20 coupon to the Apple Store (already earmarked for Apple DVD-R disks), then I will end up paying less than $0.11 a day for a spam-free email box....I'll take it!
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| macFanDave |
9/12/03, 11:43 AM EDT |
I love the simple photo album to web site functionality (with the handy slide show). I've handcoded similar pages and appreciate all the hassle Apple has saved me.
I've synced my Address book with .mac yet when HomePage asks me if I want to send iCards to alert people to my new page, it doesn't automatically connect me to my addresses. Why not?
One little savings I have thanks to .mac is that I don't need to buy a jump drive (those little USB keys that hold 64, 128, etc. MB) since my iDisk has a lot of that functionality.
Personally, I like it, but I can see why others wouldn't feel compelled to have it.
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| Kent |
9/12/03, 12:29 PM EDT |
Although I realize that the prevalent attitude is "but I don't use all the features" and "I can get alot more elsewhere, cheaper" I see .Mac as a time saver. Time = money. I can easily set up my own web site, copy my addresses, and all the things listed in the article, yet if I can save several minutes to hours per month based on the integration that .Mac has then it makes the daily or monthly cost seem paltry. As it stands .Mac is less than 9.00 per month. Subtract the free software value, the 20 off coupon and serious consideration of the time savings and the argument seemingly falls flat. OK if you are a student or some such that same 100 might be steep but then again, if you have a Macintosh anyway, chances are you didn't pay for it out of pocket. There might be a parent or two involved. I don't whine about the cost of iPods or music CDs when thinking of who can and can't afford them. If you want the tools, buy them, if you don't want them then what good is complaining about the cost. Since day one of .Mac, I find it invaluable and wouldn't want to live without it. I suspect some who do complain about the cost really don't have it anyway. Most current users of the service I talk to see the value and the relative affordability.
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| MacSchlong |
9/12/03, 1:30 PM EDT |
If there would be some good porn, maybe I would subscribe.
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| Lily Pad |
9/12/03, 2:06 PM EDT |
I admit, I'm hooked on .Mac, not necessarily by choice, but long before I had to pay for it, I made my .Mac (iTools) email address my primary one. It works great, it's easy to remember, and easy to spell for people over the phone. That plus all the other features mentioned above (I notice that the antiVirus program isn't mentioned - like we need one!) probably do make it worth the $100 per year.
My beef is that I live in Canada, and while $100 US converts to about $135 CDN, the .Mac renewal here is $159 CDN. I resent having to pay more that the actual conversion rate, but at least for this year I'll pony up the cash because I'm not motivated enough to drop it: It has proved useful for me time and again.
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| BZ |
9/12/03, 2:24 PM EDT |
(said before)
I have my own dedicated web server in one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and I still think .Mac is worth it.
Yes, I could do everything in it, but not as easily.
- I could back up to my own server but I would pay for the bandwidth (not cheap) and have to back up my back up (Apple does this)
- I do have my own email addresses (7) and accounts (pop/imap/webmail) but .Mac is a good backup and I have needed it in the past
- I could sync my own stuff, but to how many macs? And with what software (unix tools, sure).
- I could not do the integration of Mail, iSync, iCal, Addressbook, iChat all together though.
Again, it is very good value for the money. You might be able to do it all for cheaper, but not as nice or as easily or with as little amount of time.
Time = money.. and I could spend hours trying to get ONE of these features to work like .Mac.
BZ
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| WF |
9/12/03, 3:42 PM EDT |
Don't forget the backup utility, online backups are worth a little all by themselves (maybe not $100, but at least something.)
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| Lynn |
9/12/03, 4:37 PM EDT |
I don't see how you can say that Apple filters spam. I get 10-20 spams a day. Roughly the same as my 13 year old AOL account. However, I do think that the software and the iCards makes it worth the $100/year. If they would allow me to pay monthly it would be a no-brainer. But right now, I don't have the $100 so bye, bye to that account. At least for the time being.
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| Dorian Mattar |
9/12/03, 5:29 PM EDT |
I can't make up my mind because I have a web site that cost me $75/year and then I have to pay for Apple another $100/year. It would work if Apple would trully host the site and include all the extras for the $100/year, but that is not the case. You can upload stuff and have it accessible to people, but I'm not sure it's the same. Another thing is that the web host Co. gives me 6 email accounts, for the $70 while .Mac gives only one. I don't know if it's costing Apple more than the competition to host peoples email, but it really shouldn't. Then most of the other stuff, well, we don't need. Like the virus protection, yeah who needs it? and the back-up, who is going to back up 100Meg of info? Just buy a firewire drive and be done with it. I need to figure out a way to use the .Mac as my web site. Then maybe I'll go for it.
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| rlhamon |
9/12/03, 6:51 PM EDT |
i don't know i like the features in .Mac but the 100 bucks is what keeping me from using it.
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| iKen |
9/12/03, 7:40 PM EDT |
I love .mac, it's the only e-mail address I use. I love having an imap e-mail account, no matter what isp I am with... I would use .mac only for that, the other features are just extras in my eyes...
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| Mark |
9/12/03, 7:57 PM EDT |
I thought iSync was available as a free download for anyone. In fact I just checked and there it is at apple.com.
Also, in Australia .mac costs $189 per year ($AUD). I could find a lot of other uses for that much money.
In Australia we also don't get the iPhoto printing service, or some of the other great things that are only available in the US.
My belief is that if you live in the US and have broadband then .mac is a good package. But if you live in places like Australia and only happen to use 56k dialup then .mac is likely to drive you crazy.
The assumption by Apple that your computer - even your laptop - is going to maintain a permanent connection to their servers to run things like iDisks and even the online help system is a trend I don't like at all. It's pointing to a stage where computers just won't work without an annual subscription to the manufacturer and a broadband provider.
I love my Apple computers. But I won't renew my .mac.
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| egarc |
9/12/03, 10:30 PM EDT |
It's easily worth the time saved by using .mac services. My wife b1tches at me when I spend too much time online. Peace at home, priceless.
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| veedubyuh |
9/13/03, 1:16 AM EDT |
Syncing my laptop with my desktop has been incredible. I take my TiBook to work (for sanity in a Windows office) and know that all of my calendar and address information are right there and current. If I go some place without my laptop (yeah...right), all I have to do is find a public terminal and I can access my mail, bookmarks, address book, and iDisk. 100 meg of storage isn't alot, but then I wouldn't be storing huge files that way anyway. Heck, I have a current resume, some backup data, and other misc files I always seem to be looking for. I can also now use Backup to give me peace of mind for my iCal calendars, safari settings, etc. I can even use my iPod or Flash drive for backups. $100 is a good chunk of change, but I think I would find it hard to live without. And now I'm using StickyBrain at work.
Yes...I will be renewing!
ps - I'm sorry but I too love my @mac.com address
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| Guy |
9/13/03, 7:31 AM EDT |
I love .Mac. I synch several times a day, I've got all my contact, calendar and web info wherever I go, and I have thousands of photos on a fairly complex, advert and hassle free web site that I could never have found the time to created by myself.
There is no question in my mind that it is worth the money, if you use it. Like Apple itself, you can't value it as a sum of it's parts. Using all the components including iPhoto, Backup and iSynch together with .Mac make it worth more than the sum of the parts. If you don't use the bulk of the features, then there isn't much reason to pay for it. But that goes for anything.
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| [email protected] |
9/14/03, 4:27 PM EDT |
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I don't actually care about the cost - I just wanted something to work as neatly as they say it does - and .Mac DOESN'T.
The .mac site is slow - hideously slow when it comes to posting even small video (mpg) clips. To upload a clip to the site takes an excruciatingly long time (using DSL). Then, even on allegedly fast Internet connection speeds, the video clips can be slow to load when others are trying to view them.
For posting pictures, fine; as a virtual hard drive, which I use for my writing, fine, quite zippy.
BUT as a video user, they've GOT to get their act together for hosting, or when my first .mac year is up, I will look elsewhere and, sad to say, I already am.
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| Carl |
9/14/03, 6:38 PM EDT |
Never found it slow, uploading or downloading with my DSL. I do get some spam lately.
I don't know what you are talking about..ie, hiccups with .Mac mail. I have had an account since day one. I don't remember it ever affecting me.
Is it worth the $159 Canadian? No, definitely not. They started it for free, some of us adopted it as a primary, and now they have us.
Some Mac users seem to be under the impression that because this is Apple, they don't rip us off like Microsoft. Yes, they do.
Now we pay for OSX upgrades, can't make our own bootable CD's easily, etc.etc.
Oh well, at least I can be disenfranchised with both my Mac and my PC at the same time.
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| ZackMac |
9/15/03, 10:00 AM EDT |
Here's my perspective.
The simple fact that this question even *has* to be asked (is .Mac worth it?) is the answer.
If you have to ask, and then justify your answers with a bunch of reasoning and justification... then it just isn't worth it.
.Mac is neat, and my mom uses it. But it doesn't save me any time, and I use other features in place of it.
The only feauture I liked and thought was worth it was the Photo Gallery feature of iPhoto with HomePage. My mom used that a lot to post pics of my daughter. I resorted to using gallery.sourceforge.net for my web photo album. And now that there is an iPhoto-to-Gallery export feature, I don't need Apple's .Mac for a web photo gallery.
Again, the fact we all have to goto these lenghty explanations to justify the purchase of dotMac indicates to me that it really isn't worth it.
-ZackMac
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| serpico |
9/17/03, 9:59 PM EDT |
.Mac is great for integration within OS X, but for me up here $159CDN is not $99US. WTF does Apple get this conversion? I can understand their reasons for international, but damn in Canada too?! Whatever.
So I started looking into other things, my own domain and hosting which I found for free, but pricing just went up but only $15, SIlverKeeper for backups and its free and my own email address. I also have my ISP's email address for backup and free 70mb storage from them too. The free software is nice, but I never use it. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to make my photo albums to ftp to my site without the idisk drag.
There are alternatives if you don't mind less integration into OS X. That's all nothing magical here. If Apple lowered the price of .Mac, I bet more people would sign up. Last year $49US was great but now $159CDN, no thanks.
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| Jonahan |
9/19/03, 10:38 AM EDT |
Well, after re-thinking everything, I'm going to renew my .Mac account. But it's not IMPERATIVE that I do so right now, and seeing as how money is tight for me, it'll be a while. And heck, by the time I have the money saved up, Apple may have some new stuff for us :)
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but I think Apple should think about different pricing packages. Maybe a trimmed down .Mac, with just email and the syncing features, and a full package with all the fixins.
Lastly, I feel for you Canadians - that is one messed up conversion rate!!! Do you only get half of your .Mac emails as well!?? ;)
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| serpico |
9/22/03, 7:14 PM EDT |
I do notice that webmail.mac.com is slower than Yahoo! and I'm not happy with that too. Sometimes I'm checking in a rush to leave from work or from home (using my wife's pc) and it is dog slow. I just end up quitting and checking it later. That's not a good use of money.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford .Mac but when the conversion rate is fixed. I'm not paying almost 100% more than my US mac buddies.
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