Who Needs a .Mac Account?

Tagged Articles by Brent on March 7th, 2007

.Mac is basically Mac-on-the-Web. Your computer or computers are linked to a “place” on the web that you can use to store information or as an interface between computers. Here are some of the important features of a .Mac account:

Web-based email. That means you can check your email from anywhere; you don’t have to use your own home computer.
You can host a web page or post photos and other information on the web and share with others.
You can publish your calendar so that others can see it.
You can synchronize multiple computers so that they all have your updated bookmarks, SMART folders, and other features.
You can back up your hard drive on the internet.

There are lots of other bells and whistles that come with a .Mac account, but these are the make or break features that will help you decide if it’s worthwhile to get one.

So, who needs a .Mac account? Anybody who:

Needs to be able to access email away from home. Now, there are other webmail services available, such as Yahoo or GoogleMail, so this is not a primary reason to subscribe.
Wants to be able to share photos, letters or information with other people, such as family members. This is a very nice feature of .Mac. Instead of copying photos and mailing or emailing them, you just post them and then send a link.
Plans activities and events that have to be coordinated with other people’s activities and calendars. iCal on your .Mac site makes this easier than you ever thought possible.
Uses more than one computer. Yes, you can even use your .Mac account with your Windows computer at work.
Wants a secure, off-site place to keep a back-up

Not everybody needs a .Mac account. People who use multiple computers, who travel, who have scattered families, who work with others across the internet—these people will find that a .Mac account is well worth the membership fee.

Viewing 11 Comments

Kevin 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Let me start off by saying that I take time about 3 or 4 times a year to try to convince myself that a .mac subscription is worth it. However, every time I look into it, I just can't do it.

I think the problem with the .mac service is that you can find almost all of these services elsewhere online, for free...

email, calendars, and bookmarks can all be provided for free by google.com...
photos and websites take the form of flickr, photobucket, blogger.com, etc.

The online backup system sounds great, but (and this is off the top of my head), I think that it only has 1-2 gb of storage... I have a 250 gb harddrive at home... what happens to all my other information? how do I choose what gets backed up and what doesnt?

In my honest opinion, as easy and as appealing as the .mac system is, the bottom line is it's $99 a year for something that can be found for free elsewhere...

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

Brent 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

I agree mostly... I think that for the average consumer Mac user that wants a place to store family photos, documents and so on, a .Mac account is perfect. I think of it like Apple's answer to AOL. For the power user or one that deals in large files (photographers, designers, etc.), it's just not a viable solution at all. It just really depends on your usage requirements and what you will be needing from your Mac.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://www.iboughtamac.com

Brock 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

The answer to your question is "People who having nothing better to do with $90." Everything .Mac offers is offered elsewhere for free.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

Brent 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Well.. yes and no... The web, blog and podcast stuff with iWeb are pretty easy to use for the beginner.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://www.iboughtamac.com

Loweded Wookie 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

To those who say that these features are available elsewhere on the web I say this to you:

"They are found ELSEWHERE on the net."

They aren't all in one place. Sure you've got GMail or Yahoo Mail but these don't give you disk space.

You've got Flicker AND YouTube but not both in the same place.

But .Mac has backup software, access to software deals for other companies, free content such as sounds and jingles for GarageBand, and much more.

Tell me of one service that offers the exact same features as .Mac on the Net in ONE place and then maybe I'll accept your arguement.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://web.mac.com/lowededwookie

Brock 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

"Tell me of one service that offers the exact same features as .Mac on the Net in ONE place and then maybe I’ll accept your arguement."

If not having a couple extra bookmarks is worth $90 / year to you, go for it.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

JERRY TIPPY 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

can .mac synchonize 2 files in quickbooks pro 2007 for mac so that the same updated data will show on both machines without using 2 files

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

Kordal Sluthenger 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Its like this. People who dont use .mac are missing out on a new mac experience. Sure there are services available on the web that offer similar features to some of the features in .mac. But as loweded has said, they are not together in one place - also those other services are not built into your mac. They dont integrate with iLife, they dont work just like everything else works on your mac.

To the people who dont understand the reason why .mac is pretty much an essential part of your mac experience I give you this scenario. Windows users who hear the rumours of a mac, and say why should they spend the extra x amount of money when you get everything on windows - They just dont get it ! They will understand after they've used it for less than an a hour.

.Mac is there from Apple to enrich what you do in iLife, to give the simplest backup solution and a great e/webmail service with the beauty of your mac.

Dont suppose you've noticed that if you or a friend are buying a mac, you get .mac 30% off their website says ;)

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

Andre 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

.Mac is also for those that are total Mac heads. I pay the yearly subscription fee just so my email can be @mac.com instead of @gmail.com. I don't use any other .Mac features. :P

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://winnopeg.com

Sue Ann Olsavicky 1 year ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

Sue Ann

reply edit reblog flag record video comment

http://sueannolsavicky.stampinup.net

Brock 3 months ago 1 point
Please login to rate.

Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.

The answer to your question is "People who having nothing better to do with $90." Everything .Mac offers is offered elsewhere for free.

reply edit reblog flag record video comment