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Freeflyer · Jun 28, 2004, 08:27 PM

OK, I'm trying to figure out if Tiger's built in .mac synching will allow me to just sync my 3 macs at home without spending $100/year on .mac, which I don't use or need.

If it's built into the the OS, it might be possible. I have become really fed up with the idea of being charged $100/year just to sync the address books on our 3 machines.

Cheers,

J.

chabig · Jun 28, 2004, 09:11 PM

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
...which I don't use or need.

I think it's too soon to know for sure. But it looks like it's for .Mac only because it's part fo the .Mac prefpane. I think Apple's answer would be that if you "need" to sync your computers, you need .Mac.

Chris

turtle777 · Jun 28, 2004, 11:30 PM

Originally posted by chabig:
I think it's too soon to know for sure. But it looks like it's for .Mac only because it's part fo the .Mac prefpane. I think Apple's answer would be that if you "need" to sync your computers, you need .Mac.

Chris

I hope someone comes up with a solution to re-direct that to any WebDAV enabled site.

THAT would be just great.

-t

wataru · Jun 28, 2004, 11:33 PM

If the iSync API is open, then I don't see why someone couldn't do that.

kcmac · Jun 29, 2004, 01:20 AM

In the stream, Jobs alludes to the idea that things could be made to sync without .mac.

Freeflyer · Jun 29, 2004, 02:00 AM

Originally posted by kcmac:
In the stream, Jobs alludes to the idea that things could be made to sync without .mac.

This would be very good. I think there must be a lot of people out there who want to sync 2 or 3 computers but don't need anything else that .mac offers. I don't need the email, I don't need the hosting, I just have 3 macs at home and I'd like to sync the address books and calendar.

My wife and I both have a powerbook, and we have a g4 tower as a server/storage. If she enters a new address or alters an old one, I have to manually do this on each of the two other machines. It seems stupid to make me pay $100 a year for that. Macs should work together, we have the networking capability, it's all on my own little network and rendezvous allows the machines to see each other.

It just seems so obvious.

J.

TheMosco · Jun 29, 2004, 07:51 PM

I believe he did say something about a "sync" sdk. "If you want to sync anything else with or without .mac, you'll be able to do with because we're putting an sdk in your hands today"

So its up to someone to make a program to sync stuff.

cpac · Jun 29, 2004, 08:26 PM

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
If she enters a new address or alters an old one, I have to manually do this on each of the two other machines. I

Or to save time, you could just email the updated vCard to each other....

But more on point, yes, it seems stupid that there's not better Address Book for multiple user support. -Even if you buy .Mac, it only syncs the users that share the same .Mac info - something not all the feasible for a small office or similar.

Maybe somebody will write an Address Book rendezvous sharing plug-in (similar to iTunes, but allowing you to drag cards to save/copy)

smitty825 · Jun 30, 2004, 11:14 PM

I hope that iSync doesn't require .Mac...IMHO, this could be the "killer" app for home users. Buy your Mac, enter all of your contacts, and have it appear on all of your devices, and allow those contacts to be backed up easily!

If Apple isn't willing to totally forgo .Mac, then it would be very cool if they sold a ".Mac" connection kit for MacOS X Server. It would be cool for me to move my domain to another provider, that allowed me to sync contacts with iSync! It would also boost Macintosh visibility at many hosting providers ("iSync support only available on OS X-based servers")

cpac · Jun 30, 2004, 11:22 PM

iSync doesn't require .Mac to work with iPods, cell phones, Palms, &c. - just if you want to Sync two Macs... (and not use third party utilities). It is annoying as hell - but there's got to be some reason to buy .mac besides (sometimes flaky) email...

Samanoske · Jul 1, 2004, 07:29 AM

Personally, I think they should make it possible to sync two macs without a .mac
. I mean if you own two macs then you already put more money into Apple then one machine and a .mac account ->!

Freeflyer · Jul 1, 2004, 07:38 PM

Originally posted by Samanoske:
Personally, I think they should make it possible to sync two macs without a .mac
. I mean if you own two macs then you already put more money into Apple then one machine and a .mac account ->!

Exactly, you're buying multiple macs, you ought to have some way to sync them. My wife and I each have a powerbook, and have an old G4 as a server. Syncing those would be ideal, and can't be that big a thing for apple to bring in.

I just won't pay $100 a year to sync the address and calendar. I don't need any of the other .mac stuff.

J.

waffffffle · Jul 1, 2004, 07:46 PM

I have .mac and iSync over .Mac is by far the best feature available. While it certainly can use some improvements (I want to sync MORE stuff), it has made my life much easier. I no longer have to spend time moving address book, bookmark and calendar changes between Macs. I have lots of Macs and I am constantly acquiring and getting rid of older Macs. .Mac syncing has made this a breeze. What also makes it great is that your Address Book and Bookmarks are also available from the web. (Not calendars, except those that you publish.) I can't wait for improvements to the sync service.

As for whether .Mac is worth it for me, the hosting and email features are certainly underpowered (with gmail at 1 GB and most hosting providing 5 GB of storage nowadays). However to me the sync service is worth $100 alone. I just wish Apple would bring back AFP access. WebDAV sucks.