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Apple to Unveil .Mac Today
Steve Mason writes "Apple has put up a .Mac FAQ up here proving that .Mac will indeed be introduced at Mac World New York. .Mac will cost $100 a year as previous rumors had reported." Yes, this means that if you don't pay Apple, your mac.com URL and email address will stop working. Some have suggested that the "switch" in Apple's new ad campaign stands for the unfortunate part of a "bait and switch." Someone should mirror that URL, it might be taken down any second now.
NO ONE is willing to pay a hundred dollars for a big.mac.
As an Apple appointed "Helper", on the Apple forum, I can tell you people are going to be SCREAMING about this one. I have no real use for it since I have my own e-mail and web services but to the millions (yes really) that do, Oohwee. They threw a fit when the had to pay $20 for an OSX upgrade. Wait till they read about the $49 "special".
You cannot give people stuff then snatch it away, then say PAY. Wait, maybe you CAN, it worked for Netscape. No wait...
Their business model wasn't working:
:-)
1. Offer free for life mac.com e-mail addresses
2. ?????
3. PROFIT!
Apparently "2" is "Charge $99.95 a year for free e-mail account.
6. Customer returns iMac to store, gets a Compaq or something.
.Mac can we expect a similar portal called .Paq?
Compaq always seems to follow Apple - after the iMac came the iPaq... after
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
That should be .GNULIN
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach him to eat and he will fish forever.
think different, think debt
Your post is the first to actually make .mac sound like a good deal.
Insanity is the last line of defence for the master diplomat. But you have to lay the groundwork early.
Too .Net like? There's a big difference - Apple has actually explained what the hell .Mac is. :)
It's pretty disturbing how one day /. can post a story about how MAC users are smarter than PC folks, then run a story on how Apple is trying to pork their customers with tools for simpletons (at least the home page builder) by holding our existing email accounts hostage (eventually).
;^)
This is great for my mom (or my friend, or many of my coworkers) who can barely turn on their Mac, but not for the UNIX/MAC crowd.
I find it ironic that Apple is giving their customers a big dose of M$ style medicine.
But... Businesses are businesses. Apple needs to make money. This strikes me that if Apple became the defacto standard for computing, they'd deal with us as roughly as M$ has. Why? Because they're a business. They aren't out to give away the farm. They are out to succeed and make money for those investing in them. Yes, they want to put out a quality product. But their top priority is to make money and position themselves as best they can within the market.
And Jeff Goldblum seemed so mellow; I thought I was safe...
Devouring shorts now. Yum.
:)
Oh well. So much for positive thinking
-k
yours,
kbs