Whither .Mac?

gobble gobble

Looking over the recent announcements I didn't see anything about .Mac, other than to note that 10.3 should greatly improve iDisk performance and features (and there was something about improving Address Book). Since .Mac is approaching the one-year anniversay, I'm beginning to wonder what Apple's renewal strategy will be. Hopefully we'll see a significant improvement in the apps, most of which I consider to be beta equivalents.



For example (and these are only a few possible examples):



Backup - can't backup to an external drive

Virex - slow to scan, auto-scan limited

iCal - no birthday calendar

iDisk - amazingly slow in every regard

Webmail - no spell checker, attachments limited to 3 Mb

Address Book - poorly integrated with .Mac, weak printing



Individually none of these apps would be able to stand on their own merits in the marketplace, IMHO, but collectively there's some value. Personally, I really rely on Homepage, Address Book and Webmail.



I guess my point is that Apple shouldn't neglect the .Mac service, which seems to be languishing nearly a year after being introduced.



p.s. whoops. I just noticed that I should have posted this in the software forum. Sorry mods.

ghost_user_name

Moving!

hmurchison

There's no need to update until the last minute. Apple could still be finalizing final details. If they think that the new options are weak then I wouldn't be suprised to see Apple offer .mac user a deal on Panther. Like reup and get Panther at half cost.

th0r

There seemed to be quite a number of folks who were saying that they weren't going to renew their .mac after the $49.00 deal ran out.



Perhaps some of these same people are also mumbling "Why should I buy Panther?"



It would be a smart (unlikely) move for Apple to include a year's worth of .mac with the purchase of Panther.



A $229 value for $129.



(Kind of the opposite of what hmurch suggested)

escher

Quote:

Originally posted by Th0r

It would be a smart (unlikely) move for Apple to include a year's worth of .mac with the purchase of Panther.



A $229 value for $129.

I signed up for .Mac with the $49 deal, which was a reasonable price. I'll balk at the $100 renewal fee, but probably pay it for synchronization purposes and to host some images. But still, $100 is a lot to pay. That's what I pay to pair Networks for hosting my three domain names combined.



So, yes, a Panther-.Mac bundle would be a godsend!



Escher