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.Mac Alternatives?
peel asks: "In the endless effort to get organized I'm looking for an alternative to signing up for a .Mac account that allows me to sync iCal and the Address Book between multiple computers (mainly work and home). I found iSyncCal to let me sync calendars, I can also publish them using my personal server setup with WebDav. I haven't found any such utilities for addresses. What I really want is something that works more like .Mac but that I can run at home on my server without paying the monthly .Mac fees. What are some solutions people are using for syncing contact info for people stored in multiple places (Palm, cell, work computer, home computer, laptop)?" There was a similar discussion over on MacInTouch, although the alternatives offered cover more basic needs, the information may still prove useful for those looking for "a cheaper .Mac".
I would sync to a third portable device like a palm or a cell phone and use that to transfer the data.
I agree with the translation above...there's no reason to go and gerryrig a pseudo-.Mac when this one works and is integrated already. You will end up spending more than $99/year between labor, etc.
How do you "sync iCal and the Address Book between multiple computers" by installing Linux?
Probably by means of typing some cryptic commands. This seems to be an universal answer for all questions beginning with "how to" and ending with "Linux".
You really need to look at what this is worth, if you have to maintain a server and spend time setting it up, and if it doesn't work 100% is that worth it?
.Mac offers. Its not that much to pay to get rid of headaches. I only use mine for addresses, iSync, and iPhoto uploads. But for me, its worth it. But what do i know, i paid the $50 deal when it came out, heheh.
How much money do you make per hour at your current job, i always put it that way to see if something is worth the time. Of course if its a fun hack to do, then its priceless right?
In the end you may see that $99 (sometimes cheaper) is worth what
Setup & maintain IMAP mail
Setup & maintain sync to iCal
Setup & maintain sync to address book
Setup & maintain 100mb DAV
Setup & maintain CD/DVD/on-line integrated backup
Setup & maintain template driven web hosting
Setup & maintain iPhoto image publishing
Setup & maintain iCards
Substitute anti-virus software
Substitute access to "members only" support
.Mac account is $99.year, if you spend ONE HOUR doing each of the above each year, and your time were worth $10/hr you would LOOSE $1 a year!!! (Presuming no hardware or software costs, just time.)
Since a
I COULD change my own oil, but to me, it isn't worth $20 every 3,000 miles to do it.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
For a Franklin per YEAR (not month), what .Mac offers really is a deal. Antivirus, tech support, email, server space (web and FTP), and the seamless integration. Is it really that much to pay?
That's not true. It's completely run by Apple, with their own servers, and their own staff, at their own facility. No third parties involved at all, unless you count the sources of the free games and the antivirus software you get with it.
Karma: Ran over your dogma.
I've got .mac. It works fine for lots of stuff, but trying to do a backup over DSL is effectively impossible. And for a lot of corporate stuff, it makes more sense to do things inside the subnet rather than have them on a server out in the world.
.mac services into Mac OS X Server. It'd be a nice value add for workgroups, while still giving stand-alone consumers a reason to pay the big bugs.
Personlly, I think they should add local
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