Re: .Mac
Re: .Mac
- Subject: Re: .Mac
- From: Frank Petrie <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 10:45:11 -0400
On Friday, July 26, 2002, at 01:04, Paul Richards <email@hidden>
wrote:
>
> how did you arrive at the price of less than $100 per year? Is that an
>
> arbitrary price point or is their
>
> formula that brought you to that conclusion?
>
>
Nothing arbitrary about it. I know what software I paid for and when I
>
paid.
Could you explain further, please? The latter statement is a bit vague.
>
> I agree with the latter sentiment but I'm puzzled. Do you know of
>
> people
>
> who went through the trouble of purchasing back-up software and then
>
> let
>
> it gather dust? If so, as you point out, that's their responsibility,
>
> not the manufacturers.
>
>
I see no point to this statement. If a person purchases .Mac service and
>
doesn't use the backup, (s)he is doing just that, letting it gather
>
dust.
>
What does it matter whether it is purchased separately or as part of a
>
package? The money is wasted just the same.
And as you pointed out, that is THEIR problem, not the manufacturers. So
why rail at Apple?
>
Maybe there's something out there of concern that I haven't heard of.
>
The
>
only things I've heard any OS X users get jittery about are macro
>
viruses -
>
ones that affect Word and the like. Are there large numbers of Unix
>
viruses
>
running loose to which OS X is susceptible? I haven't heard of them.
>
Forgive
>
my ignorance on this, Unix is not in my background.
It's only a trickle now, but the bigger the adoption of OS X becomes,
the more mischief that will rise.
>
> Either way, the free ride is over. I know that I don't give my services
>
> away for free? Do you?
>
>
I have never suggested that Apple's decision to start charging is
>
wrong. It
>
is the structure of the pricing that I disagree with.
What structure would you like to see put in place?
>
> The fact that you get
>
> email, storage space and maintenance software all for one fee is quite
>
> amazing. Can you name me a comparable deal currently online?
>
>
What does it matter how good the deal is if you have no use for what's
>
in
>
the deal? Do you buy a whole banana boat just so you can have one banana
>
split?
You have no need for an off-site backup? And if you have no need for a
virus scanner, shall I assume that you are not using X?
>
> I've read elsewhere online that this uproar is very reminiscent of the
>
> uproar of the removal of both SCSI and floppy drives. Today, users
>
> don't
>
> even question those judgments.
>
>
Not entirely true. I have had repeated cases where a USB floppy drive
>
has
>
come in handy, for working with small files transferred to and from both
>
Macs and PCs. But was Apple right in removing it from their standard
>
equipment? Other than that it left some of us scrambling a bit for
>
externals
>
or other options, yes. As I recall, the biggest gripe was in the case
>
of the
>
iMac users who didn't have CD burners or Zips or the like.
My personal experience and the experiences of others I have read online
was that SCSI and floppy were the very big issues. I know someone who
till this day rails about the removal of SCSI, even though he has no
real need for it (ie., video editing, MIDI, etc.). As for small files,
why not just email them?
>
I don't consider this quite comparable. The SCSI/floppy thing left a
>
bunch
>
of Mac users in a position of being forced into making additional
>
investments in hardware in order to retain capabilities WHEN they
>
upgraded
>
to bigger/better/newer/faster Macs. The iTools/.Mac thing forces people
>
to
>
make additional investments to keep services they already had with
>
EXISTING
>
Macs, PLUS investment in stuff they don't even want in many cases.
Paul, with all due respect, things move forward. I have a member on our
board who would have loved to stop Apple's progression at 7.6.1. I
shudder at the thought. It's all part of the 'price of admission.' If
you buy a car, you're going to have to pay for gas and maintenance. If
you buy a computer, someone's going to come up with a better idea that
leap frogs the previous way of doing things, so some hardware and
software will inevitably be left behind. That's just the nature of the
industry.
Your turn.
Sincerely,
Frank Petrie
V.P., Vendor Rep, Webmaster, Cog
SJAUG, South Jersey Apple Users Group
email@hidden
www.sjaug.org
_______________________________________________
augd mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives:
http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/augd
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.