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Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Jan 31, 2003, 02:41 PM

Me, no. It is worth $49 with free prints but sure as hell not $99.

icruise · Jan 31, 2003, 03:03 PM

Not really sure yet, but I agree it's a stretch at $99. If they would keep it $49, it wouldn't be too bad.

RevEvs · Jan 31, 2003, 03:05 PM

yes - as t is way too much hassle to change my email address.....

Peter · Jan 31, 2003, 03:49 PM

I wouldn't pay $99, but I would pay �70 - I prefer using Pounds - cause then I can use my debit card and actually buy it

::maroma:: · Jan 31, 2003, 03:52 PM

Yes.

.Mac rules over all!

Eug · Jan 31, 2003, 05:17 PM

I never paid for it in the first place. Definitely not worth $99.

butter71 · Jan 31, 2003, 05:19 PM

if i used it for my primary email, i would.

otherwise, i only use it for the occasional isync.

Homer1946 · Jan 31, 2003, 06:24 PM

Originally posted by butter71:
if i used it for my primary email, i would.

otherwise, i only use it for the occasional isync.

Yes, the new iSync capabilities (syncing multiple computers) and the small, yet important, safety of backing up a few critical files each night, along with GOOD webmail and spam filtering make it worth it to me. The iSync capabilities are especially interesting since I think this hints at much more coming for the mac (via .mac) in terms of syncing and web integration.

With the easy to access expanded capabilities (mac-like ease of use) I think less than $10/month is worth it.

Cleary Apple is moving technologies where .mac will become more critical to the evolving mac experience. I do think Apple should give a year free of .mac with every new Mac or OS purchase so that people can experience the new technologies and mabye come back.

-R

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Jan 31, 2003, 06:31 PM

Originally posted by Eug:
I never paid for it in the first place. Definitely not worth $99.

Since you have never fully used it with all the features you have a different view then the rest of us.

macmike42 · Jan 31, 2003, 07:48 PM

My ISP provides me with a 2Mbps downstream, 1 Mbps upstream connection (no port 80), 5 e-mail accounts (POP and WebMail, no IMAP) and 20 MB of external FTP/web space (no desktop WebDAV access) for $50/month. Bandwidth aside, this is *way* more expensive than .Mac, and they provide far fewer services. Nonetheless, I think it is a great ISP.

If I wasn't entirely happy with my ISP, or planned on moving outside of their coverage area within the next 10 years, you had better believe I would plunk down $100/year for .Mac. If you use all (or most) of the services Apple provides, .Mac is a steal. That said, from what I hear, .Mac goes down a lot more than RCN.

proux · Jan 31, 2003, 07:48 PM

Feels like $69 is the right price. But I would still pay $99 because there is no real easy alternative to all what is provided (iDisk, Backup, WebHosting, mac.com, webmail).

Just the mac.com email address is invaluable

tikki · Jan 31, 2003, 11:28 PM

I will have to seriously consider $99 unless they offermore than what they have so far. It is basically iTools + iSync synchronization.

I would easily pop down another $50 though just for the email address convenience.

WiseWeasel · Feb 1, 2003, 02:59 AM

There's no way I'm paying $100 for .Mac. $50 was already a lot for this. I don't use anywhere near 100 MB of iDisk space, nor all my email space, or any of the other services offered from .Mac. If Apple lowers the price of the current service to about $75, and has a scaled back version, with just mail, 40 MB idisk, and isynch for about $50 a year, then it would become interesting. I have already moved my secondary email account i had as a second iTools account to fastmail.fm, as they are having a membership special, and they have been much more reliable than mac.com has. I have already reserved the name for my main account there in anticipation of my year's mac.com being up, and if the price is still $99 by that time, i'm flying the coop.

Eug · Feb 1, 2003, 03:13 AM

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Since you have never fully used it with all the features you have a different view then the rest of us.

True but:

1) Mail? I don't need yet another email address.
2) Address book? I already 3 copies of my address book, one of which is accessible via the net. None are actually in the Apple address book though.
3) iDisk? That would be useful. Is it any different from iTools's iDisk? 100 MB is nice though.
4) HomePage? Never had much use for that, at least not any more than iPhoto's export feature and ftp
5) Backup? Well I'm already anal about backups as you know.
6) Anti-virus? Slight benefit.
7) iCal? Well I don't use it. Maybe when it matures.
8) iSync? Does it actually work now consistently?

Maybe if it was $60 I'd consider it, mainly for the storage space. I'd also pay $40 for half of the storage space.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Feb 1, 2003, 04:22 AM

The reason I use .Mac is NOT for the mail which I don't even use.

I use it for homepage, even though I am a web designer I love the simplisity of .Mac home pages for picts.

iSync works perfectly with my t68i and .Mac

Backup saved my ass twice already. Even though I do backup things all the time to CD.

the 100 Kodak prints made the $49 well worth it.

Ghoser777 · Feb 1, 2003, 04:55 PM

If I didn't have 100MBs of online space to store my products, I have no idea what I would do. I mean, less than $10 a month for enough bandwidth to have 10-20 thousand downloads a month of 1MB size programs is a pretty good deal as far as I'm concerned.

I like webmail... if only it would relay "replied to" info down to Mail.app... not having that info makes it difficult for me to tell who I've replied to already.

iSync is cool, although I don't use it too much for my .Mac account; I use it more for my iPod.

It just depends on how you look at it. I'm spending $300/mnth on a new car, and then there's money for maitenance, insurance, etc. If the features aren't goo enough for you, oh well. It's not like every product Apple makes you need to buy (not that I won't try at some point

)

Matt Fahrenbacher

sja777 · Feb 1, 2003, 05:52 PM

Yes.

But I would support a call to include a year's subscription in the purchase of a new Mac ... I can't believe that they wouldn't as many new users would get hooked ...

Stephen

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Feb 2, 2003, 03:46 PM

They should really offer different packages. I use homepage and .Mac but never use the email.

Bluebomber21XX · Feb 2, 2003, 05:53 PM

I only use the mac.com e-mail and nothing else, so I wouldn't pay.

But what I WILL do is piggyback on my friend's account, and let him sign me up for only $10. Then I hand him a 10 and all is well.

I get my mac.com e-mail for a year, and it only costs me 10 bucks.

sniffer · Feb 2, 2003, 08:41 PM

Don't know much about all the features in .mac, but the things I missed from iTools, was some website space and a isp less pop/webmail.
Got that free from else where, so I am a happy cramper.

SwarmyCurve · Feb 2, 2003, 08:50 PM

I sure wish there would be more benefits of the service, but regardless I will keep renewing it, if only for the email address which I have been using for a couple years. A ton of info / contacts are linked to my .mac email addy, so there is no going back now!

Anomalous · Feb 3, 2003, 04:28 PM

Where's the poll option for "It wasn't even worth the initial $49"?

-Q- · Feb 3, 2003, 04:42 PM

I'm with Skywalker (although there are still some glitches in iSync for me, like it won't transfer over all of my contacts, only some and I've definitely selected sync all my contacts, even those w/out phone numbers). It's definitely worth $49 but I'll definitely cancel if I can't get a break on the renewal price.