Apple takes on Yahoo with .Mac makeover

Apple Computer is taking on the likes of Yahoo with the addition of a groups offering and more storage space on its .Mac Internet service.

.Mac, which already acts as an online repository for photos, movies and other files, has now been expanded to offer groups functionality to encourage online collaboration between users.

Subscribers can invite others to upload and share files, calendar and contact information; build e-mail lists; and allow and disallow membership using their .Mac site, the company said.

.Mac remains a subscription service. The cost starts at $99.95 per year.

Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of applications marketing, said the new features mean Mac users need not look outside of Apple for group communications. "Mac users shouldn't have to send an e-mail with an ad on the bottom, and they shouldn't have to set up their groups site on Yahoo."

He added that the company had examined an advertising-based model but decided to opt for a subscription model as it was more in keeping with the Apple tradition.

.Mac storage has also been bolstered to fit the new groups model. Individual users can now get 1GB instead of 250MB, while a family can use 2GB of combined storage, with options to buy more storage.

With the spruced-up .Mac, Apple users can access and synchronize all their usual Mac settings and files on any number of computers, including those running Windows.

"When you're away, you can still get a little bit of Mac, even on a PC," Schoeben said.

Jo Best of Silicon.com reported from London.

[GymW]

Regarding Viability of .Mac

While Apple may market its confidence in the product, as a user
since its inception I have some real concerns about the viability
of the service:

- Since its inception, Apple has cut back on its features. When it
first came out Apple promised virus protection, free software
and other specials, available only to .Mac users. Most of these
promises has been broken. Little "free" software has been
provided. A number of features that had been originally
provided have been eliminated. Most of the specials have been
crippled demos to entice the purchase of other products. Most
significantly, virus protection software has been eliminated. This
is a mixed blessing.

Given that the Virex product they supplied was buggy or
incompatible with the current OS, it was as much a curse as it
was useful. From that standpoint I will not be missing it.
However having no protection is also risky as well - even for a
Mac. Sooner or later a nasty Virus will be released for the Mac.
The concept of security and protection is prevention. Losing this
feature opens the door for future file corruption and damage for
end users (Most of the major OEM's do not market a single user
product for Mac that is functional with Tiger). Apple has so far
not "stepped up to the plate" in this matter. Doing it afterwards
is like closing the barn door after the animals have left.

- Support for .Mac is dismal. The only support for .Mac is e-mail
with a two day reply window. Phone support is not available in
any form. Responses are usually scripted. Support personnel will
almost always reply with "boilerplate" scripted responses, even if
the response does not directly apply or completely answer your
question. Their procedure seems to be to try to select the best
scripted response that they feel approximates the desired
answer, even if it does not really apply. Should you request
clarification they simply reply with more boilerplate until you
give up. Complaints to higher levels about their support produce
no meaningful results.

Right now .Mac is useful for the following major unique items:
-Web based email
-Easy to setup personal web site
-Remote backup and storage

Their "extra software" primary consists of support tools and
apps for .Mac features and OS X tutorials.

So my concern is if this is enough to entice users to fork over
$100 a year, plus $10 for each additional added email address
for these limited services with abominable support. One should
also note that 1GB for backup, and web hosting is not all that
much, given the size of current file structure. My Quicken files
and backup alone take up 262MB. My Documents folder without
my Photos, ITunes, or Virtual PC files, and no Apps are over a
Gig alone.

I should also note that while 48 hour support turnaround and
simple scripted responses to basic questions might be adequate
for a casual user, it is totally inadequate for consulting, small
business, developers, etc.

Notably, its best feature is the freedom it gives you by providing
the ability to change ISP's at a moments notice so you can take
advantage of special offers, or choose an ISP on the basis of
service without the concern of changing you email address when
you change ISP's.

So what I keep asking myself is: given its current business model
and way of doing things, will .Mac survive? Is a $100 a year a fair
price to pay for the "prestige" of a .Mac account and email
address insurance.

[vchmielewski]

Overlooking best feature

I think you're overlooking the best feature of .Mac in my opinion,
and that is the ability to sync information between computers. This
is the number one reason I pay for .Mac. In fact, it's valuable
enought to me that I would pay for .Mac even if that was the only
feature. Being able to access and edit all my bookmarks, contacts,
keychains, calendars, and mail settings is an incredible conveince.
I can't imagine not having this ability.

Why not just an email account?

I've also wondered why I can't just have a mail account. Give me 1 gig for 15 bucks a year for a .mac email address. I'd do it in a heart beat. I really don't need the tutorials or data storage any more. I use the email and that's it. Sure, I have a gmail account for bills and online orders, but to convert all of my address book over and then to mass notify them would be a pain I don't want to deal with. I could do it in no time, but It's effort I'd rather spend on other things.

[Tom CyBold]

Strangely uncompelling

I'm a longtime Mac owner and big fan of Apple's products. However, I tried the free .mac trial and was underwhelmed by the offerings. The personal web pages, in particular, were clunky and inflexible. Yes, you can upload your own custom html, but I can already do that on my ISP and don't really want to. I want something that looks good, is flexible, and still has an easy interface. .Mac didn't have that combo as far as making web pages. In addition, the personal online photo albums were embarassingly simplistic and inflexible. I agree that a low-cost .mac e-mail address, plus some storage space, might be worth $10-15 a year. $100 is not a lot, but too much for what you're getting. Apple has a real blind spot here, and I can't figure out why.

[GymW]

RE:Why not just e-mail

While I really don't have the actual answer to this question I can
make a few educated guesses:

Overhead: Since Apple accepts no advertising for .Mac, other
than their own, and partnership agreements, that they promote
as extras or features, they need a source of income to offset the
cost of the servers, and personnel to support them. Since they
obviously can't charge a rate to cover their overhead from e-mail
only accounts, given the competition, they bundle in some low
maintenance additions to up the price to cover the overhead and
perhaps make some profit.

Profit: Apple is not in business to provide hardware, software, or
services. They are in business to make money for their
executives, stockholders, and cover expenses (other employees
salaries for instance). They are not unique, that is a fact of life of
any business - except for some non-profits. If people continue
to pay for .Mac in its present form, they will continue to market
this way, cutting back on as much as they can to reduce costs,
and charging as much as the market will bear. That is the way
business, especially American Businesses work. They will not
stop unless their analysis indicates users are failing to sign up
and/or abandoning the service. Only then will they lower the
price, add features, revamp the product, or change the
marketing plan. We are already seeing the "add features"
response - after a year of feature reduction. Lowering the price
may come in several flavors - general price reductions; special
discount promotions' postponement of price increases.
Unfortunately, changing the marketing plan could also mean,
end-of-lifeing it.

We will just have to wait and see.

[Christopher Hall]

Somebody please explain something to me

What, exactly, does your $100 per year get you that you couldn't get elsewhere for less or free?

[Bob Brinkman]

You get

Ty Tyson's love and aproval. Zing!


(braces for impending wrath)

[Earl Benser]

Seriously...

... I've never figured that one out myself. That's why I didn't
use ,Mac when it was free and why for damn sure I don't use ,Mac
at $100/year. Far too many cheaper andor better options around
for the worthwhile ideas.

[GymW]

RE: What you Get

- Tools that provide seamless integration with your Macintosh
for Sync, Mail, and Backup.

- Ease of use

- An email address that represents loyalty, prestige, or a
"designer" domain to some users.

- A lack of 3rd party ads.

- The ability to integrate other email addresses into a single
account. Very few other services, especially the free ones, have
this option.

[vchmielewski]

What you get?

What service do you currently use to sync your bookmarks between
computers? What web service do you use to look up your contacts
from your home computer when you are on the road? What service
does your wife use to see your class schedule when she's at work?
If you can give me an alternative to .Mac for each of these
scenerios, I'd love to know about them.

[vchmielewski]

What you get?

What service do you currently use to sync your bookmarks
between computers? What web service do you use to look up your
contacts from your home computer when you are on the road?
What service does your wife use to see your class schedule when
she's at work? If you can give me an alternative to .Mac for each of
these scenerios, I'd love to know about them.