Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What is .mac? Is it worth it?

Mad Mac Maniac

Mad Mac Maniac

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 4, 2007
4,808
2,110
A little bit of here and a little bit of there.
Ok so I just recently switched to a Mac (yay!) and I'm trying to decide about this whole .mac thing.

What exactly can you do with it? I know you are able to create a website somehow (I assume using iWeb?). I know you are able to sync it with iPhoto so then you (and your friends?) can access your pictures from everywhere (including a PC). What else is there? I'm having a difficulty figuring out exactly what all of the features are for some reason. Acutally, if one of you has a nicely created website that you don't mind strangers browsing through I would truly appreciate it if you could give me the address. That would probably be a good way to understand it all.

Also, in your opinions is it worth it? I know it's 100 bucks a year. It seems like a really good way to let your friends browse through your pictures, but if that is really the only thing I would use it for then it wouldn't be worth it. I might also like being able to access all of my mac's information from other computers, most likely PC's. So how much stuff would I be able to get from a PC?

I know I'm asking all these pathetic simple questions, but I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out!! Thanks!!
 
Ok, what does .mac get you?

1) An email account, accessible via webpage or via IMAP server.
2) Web Space, to host a site. This has tie-ins with all the iLife apps that makes it easy to publish content.
3) Syncing of things like iCal, Address Book, Safari Bookmarks, etc between your machine and .mac, and also syncing across multiple machines
4) iDisk, and online storage space for files.

A few other bits and pieces.

You can sign up for a free trial, try it out, if you think it is worth the money you can buy it after the trial is over.
 
swiftaw said:
Ok, what does .mac get you?

1) An email account, accessible via webpage or via IMAP server.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I signed up for the free trial of .mac when I first turned on my MacBook, because I was prompted to do so. I've started using the email service a bit, but I didn't know that it was a service specifically associated with .mac. So does that mean that when the free subscription runs out I will no longer have an email service? Like what happens when I click on my mail button? Or does .mac just give you more features of the email?
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
Ok, so I signed up for the free trial of .mac when I first turned on my MacBook, because I was prompted to do so. I've started using the email service a bit, but I didn't know that it was a service specifically associated with .mac. So does that mean that when the free subscription runs out I will no longer have an email service? Like what happens when I click on my mail button? Or does .mac just give you more features of the email?
Click to expand...

Does your email end in @mac.com?

If so, then it is your .mac email account. I'm not sure if you will still have access to it if your don't maintain your membership. My guess is that you will lose access.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
yep, it sure does. well does apple give you a non.mac email? And how exactly would I use that one instead. because I don't want to start using an email that will die in 58 days....
Click to expand...
Yes, you will lose that email account after the trial expires, but that does not prevent you from using Apple's mail application, Mail.app, to receive and read your email. Mail.app can use virtually any IMAP or POP mail server including gmail, aol, yahoo, etc.

You can setup a new account by choosing Preferences from the Mail menu, and select the accounts tab and click the "+" icon in the lower left corner.
 
I agree that the 100.0 seems a little steep for just sharing pictures and getting a @mac.com email address. You may want to try amazon.com for the same thing for $30.00 less. Just a suggestion...
 
Sometime ago i signed up for the .mac service cause the store manager in my local AppleStore offered it to me for free, as compensation to all the hardware hassles i've had and to be completely honest, I don't find it useful at all!! Right now, all my Apple spam/marketing junk goes there, I never check it, or empty it and i hardly use it.. :D

Essentially the .mac is a marketing ploy, it allows Apple to make a mint from selling (more loaning) you what basically is a glittered web-hosting package with a WebDEV account attached, (supposedly ideal) for all your backup needs. On a full membership you get a measly 10Gb of space, expendable of your willing to pay more! Also once your subscription ends, Apple will delete your backups from it's servers (correct me if i'm wrong)

In the end you can help Apple advertise by hand out your xxx@mac.com email to all your friends - kinda great of your a fanboy i guess. :rolleyes:
 
Buying a webspace from a regular distributor is a better deal than dot mac. You get much more for your money.

There are hundreds of great hosting services that are much better than what Apple offers. Like this one:

bluehost.com
 
As EricNau said, IF you would be using all the features of .Mac then I'd say its worth the purchase - I mean the convenience of it all is great - being able to do all those things so easily...

Now w/ that said I personally don't it, rather I just use Mail.app with Gmail - but the only reason for that is that my requirements for online storage are way above anything that Apple can offer me... but even w/ that said I am missing some of the features like the web galleries -- so much easier then uploading photos elsewhere using questionable apps/sites
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back