Friday, May 9, 2008 -- 1:07 p.m. -- on my couch

Look closely at the title for this entry. See what's missing? The question mark.

Other sites are playing up this story like it's the biggest news since Apple started. I believe the buzz began when a "source" told TUAW that there's a revamp of .mac coming along side the iPhone launch.

I don't need a "source" to tell us that .mac is the answer to Apple making bigger inroads into business. The source can talk about release dates all he or she wants, but truth be told, this is kind of a no-brainer. Apple has all of these plans for exchange e-mail of course and no way to harness it other than to tell companies that exchange is available?

Of course not. It's got to be much more involved than that. And while Apple could partner with Microsoft and create a Mac version of Outlook, that's not Apple's style. Apple takes a step into a new territory every day ... a little step on Photoshop with photo editing tools in iPhoto ... a bigger step on Microsoft with iWork ... Apple has this one covered. It has from day one. It just never used it to its full potential. Somehow, some way, I believe that this was the plan for Apple all along ... a powerful, robust way to tie together corporate e-mail, calendars, etc., that's all Apple and just a little touch of Microsoft.

And you know what it will do? It will flatten the morale at RIM pretty quickly. Like a BlackBerry pancake, if you will.

For $99, .mac is Apple's least appreciated, most mis-understood product. It's the kind of product where if the user was a dog, he'd look at Steve Jobs with those sad little eyes and cock his head from side to side, almost as if he's asking what's up with this thing ... that look of curiosity that makes you go awwwww.

That's .mac. It's like ... this thing has lots of pieces and all the pieces are cool, but is there any way to complete the puzzle?

I can see Steve Jobs getting a group together with a big hat. He places 17 pieces into the hat and says he has the pieces. And then he commands someone put it together. It's got a little Boom, but not BOOM!

But the boom is coming, and I'll declare this without any "sources."

.Mac is Apple's next big thing, and it always has been. It's so much more than e-mail. It's so much more than posting a photo in a Web gallery, although that's very cool. It's so much more than a Web site creator -- and actually, it is, because that element of .Mac is very, very weak.

.Mac will become as important a piece to Apple as Outlook became to Microsoft. I don't know if Apple will ever release .Mac on Windows ... I don't think so. I don't think it needs to. Outlook is like Photoshop. Unless Adobe is bought (No, Apple won't buy it) or just decides to call it quits, people will use Photoshop for the next 1,000 years. Same with Outlook. .Mac isn't going to make a dent into Outlook. But, since there's no real alternative for Apple users, .Mac will, just like Macs in general have, show PC users that there's an alternative if they want to switch.

And if you combine this amazing functionality with an iPhone, your iPhone is going to become your personal organizer on steroids in a hurry. Over-the-air calendar and e-mail updating via 3G and Wi-Fi. Look at the picture in this post. See how ugly and Microsoft-esque that is? Picture that functionality, and much more, in an Apple shell.

I don't know that this will be released along side the new iPhone. I believe the .mac push e-mail will be. And I believe the calendar will be more improved, but I don't know we can expect this at the exact same time. I hope so, but I don't know.

But rest assured, it's coming.

Oh, and Steve? Here's a hint from someone who knows ... let's call him a "source." When you do release the second coming of .mac, drop the $99 price tag. .Mac is free. Give those PC users a reason to switch and give Google a little competition. As long as you charge for .Mac, people are going to give Google a second look. Don't let them.

Boom! Post! No "sources."

Feel free to discuss in the comments, of course.

Thanks for calling.

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Yes, please. I refuse to pay Apple a hundred bucks a year for .MAC. I just won't do it. I would pay ONE TIME, but that's it. Very strange that Apple has gone down this road.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Honestly, it's probably worth something. $49 even. $99 no. But if it were free, it would be a game changer. I can't imagine that Apple makes millions off of .mac. I can't imagine this would bruise the financial portfolio. If it's free and even is using it in place of what they use now for free, it's going to have to increase Mac/iPhone marketshare. It's a given if the model is revamped.

Or ... or ... at the very least ... free .mac for life with an iPhone purchase. Incentive and reward.

Love the sound of it- hope we do at least get the push mail with the new phone release. Calendar syncing etc would be great sooner than later also. Getting a little more antsy for the 2.0 version with all this cool stuff potentially on the immediate horizon.....I know, patience. :-)

SCOTT'S REPLY: Patience is tough. I'm a naturally impatient person, so it's really tough. But yeah. My take on the whole business side is that Apple knows what a BlackBerry can do. It knows why people buy BlackBerry over iPhone. It understands the corporate environment. It knows what needs to be done to squish RIM. And to squish Microsoft. And it may not succeed right away, but it's going to happen.

.Mac certainly has potential, but it's a somewhat incoherent product (lots of interesting pieces that don't really work together), its reliability in the years I've used it on and off has been iffy, and it's horribly overpriced.

Yes, they could make something really good out of it. Will they? I don't know. What story are you talking about? You didn't link to anything.

SCOTT'S REPLY: I completely agree. It's overpriced and there's nothing coherent about it. About the link, there's no story to read ... just tuaw saying yesterday that some "source" tells them of a .mac revamp. That "source" is just some guy leaving a comment who decided to call himself a source. I wanted to shed a little light on what a .mac reinvention could do for all of us.

You've piqued my interest here. From day 1 with the Palm Tungsten I recognized the need for truly wireless PIM synchronization. The iPhone offered the potential but simply didn't go far enough in the 1st iteration. Now with the advent of iPhone 2.0 on the horizon I've been telling my family there are 3 things I NEED that will forever kill everything else in the market: 1. .Mac on steroids. I need my data synched even when I choose to leave my MacBook at home
2. Search. I add lots of useful notes for each contact. It's frustrating that I need to know exactly where that piece of info is kept to retrieve it. After all we love Spotlight. I wanted spotlight on my iPhone.
3. Cut and Paste. Now that real apps are coming, this feature absolutely positively must be included from the system level.

Give me those 3 and I'll permanently turn off my other underused phone: BlackBerry pearl.

I'm like a child at a candy store waiting for WWDC!

SCOTT'S REPLY: RAB, you hit the nail on the head toward the tail end of your comment. You wrote "Give me those 3 and I'll permanently turn off my other underused phone: BlackBerry pearl."

Right. Everyone has a certain need -- a certain thing they can do with another device that they just need in this device to seal the deal. That's what Apple needs to think about. If Steve reads blogs like mine, he'll be able to look at what people are interested in. If he reads the lists of ideas from all of you callers that I've sent him and realizes that he needs to offer these, he'll be so far ahead of the game that people will be putting down their BlackBerrys.

This is quite cool. If you combine an upgraded .mac with push .mac to the iphone, (all of this for regular users not just business users), along with the sdk and upcoming 3g iPhone...i agree with you that RIM should be very worried. Im excited about new .mac and I had never thought about using it until I heard the rumor that it would be updated. Oh and the $99 bucks has to go!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Exactly, Greg. Business and personal use can tie in perfectly with this new model. Outlook is what PC users use at work. .Mac can be what Mac and iPhone users use at home, at work and everywhere in between. That's an advertising campaign right there, Steve ... and I won't even charge you for it!!

I absolutely agree!!! having tried to sell .mac in retail i know what you mean about the puppy dog eyes look. most people just don't get it, $99 price or not. usually only thing they ever hear is "$99 for email?!?!!!!!". to me, the most valuable feature is the ease of syncing data across multiple computers and devices. I would be willing to bet that their real end game is to allow the ability to log into your account from any machine or any iphone. that would be the ultimate in data syncing (without actually syncing). The .mac folder structure is already set up as a computer user account. Imagine having access to your roaming profile from any mac anywhere in the world!!! don't think consumer internet connections have to be that much faster to even accomplish this today.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Right! My callers all get it. That would be the ultimate. Back to my Mac exists for a reason -- to be able to let people have access whereever they are. Take it another step. Make it so everyone can have whatever they need from any device anywhere in the world. It's that kind of game changer that's going to force BlackBerry and others to scramble to catch up.

If I was sitting in a conference room with the iPhone team and Steve Jobs, I'd be climbing on the table pushing this idea to everywhere -- you have to be excited about creating and this is creating. It's thinking ahead. It's realizing that so many people have changed the way they do things because of Apple -- buying music, consuming media -- this is another way for Apple to open the door to something no one else does.

Or instead of free for all, free for iPhone users (like the AT&T/Starbucks WiFi deal).

So: a) your iPhone becomes more usable (if you have a Mac) and b) you "save" $99/year on .Mac for your Mac if you get that iPhone...

SCOTT'S REPLY: Great minds, Hunt. Great minds. I just posted a reply to someone's comment a few back that said .. at least give free .mac for life (or life of the cellular contract, whichever will get us there) with the purchase of an iPhone. Absolutely great idea.

And while Apple could partner with Microsoft and create a Mac version of Outlook, that's not Apple's style.
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Its called Entourage. You iPhoneys are sure stupid.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/entourage2008/default.mspx

And if you think businesses are going to restructure their whole infra-structure around groupware with no QOS guarantees you must be pretty delusional too.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Had to happen. First idiot of the day. Not because you don't agree, but because you result to calling me and my callers stupid and delusional.

You think Entourage is what I'm talking about? That's delusional. Entourage is stripped down Office and quite frankly, as someone who uses it every single day at work, it sucks.

Very big visioning.

Apple's pulled so many rabbits out of the hat that I believe this could be the next one (of several, of course!).

Let the good times roll!

SCOTT'S REPLY: Thanks. The only way I ever think is big. I hope you are right.

I can't see .Mac being that useful to businesses unless they allow customers to use their own domain name... not that I'd want to use my domain name with .Mac

What I'd prefer is for Apple to bundle the .Mac system with Mac OS X Server so we can use it with our our servers and our own domains, and so that Mac-based web hosts can provide web hosting Mac -style.

SCOTT'S REPLY: That's a pretty good idea ... the bundle, that is. As long as Apple keeps it simple ... none of this Microsoft Vista available in 25 versions stuff. 2 versions tops. Server, regular. Even regular and business should be combined. Keep it transparent. Push it as a business solution and household solution. Why can't your calendars and contacts be accessible everywhere, right?

Impressive group of comments from callers- I learn a lot just from reading the comments. Great post!

SCOTT'S REPLY: I learn a lot from reading the comments too. It's a great community that we've built.

The idea of using .Mac instead of Exchange Server is very appealing to me. With .Mac account aliases, if I could use my business domain, it would be very good. Aside from the fact that I have my whole family on .Mac emails, backups and syncs, the sync service is a must have. I turn my Macs over regularly and use 3 at one time. The syncing of bookmarks address book and mail settings is worth the money of the annual sub.

SCOTT'S REPLY: And I should say if I haven't already that I pay that money each year. I really do enjoy having it, but I just know it can be that much better.

I am continually shocked that people don't recognize what .Mac can offer small business. For example, 2.5 years ago my partner and I opened a law office with 6 staff--all on Macs. We decided to use iCal and Apple's Address Book for scheduling and contact management even though Apple did not offer a server-based calendar until Leopard Server.

The key to tying everyone's calendars and contacts together was (and still is) .Mac. Every hour all the computers in the office, as well as those at our attorneys' homes, use .Mac to sync calendars and contacts. It works like a charm and we don't have to worry about 3rd party software costs and upgrades.

With more and more business being done through the Internet rather than though software installed on a desktop computer, the potential of .Mac is unlimited. In fact, .Mac is like a ball of clay now. It already has huge potential for those who want to create new ways of doing things by connecting people through the Internet.

SCOTT'S REPLY: The ball of clay comparison is a good one. It now needs a pair of creative hands.

To make .Mac really corporate ready, how about the .Mac services using Mac OS X Server? Just think, with a small upgrade to Leopard Server you could have: push capable iCal services, push capable Mail services, iChat (Jabber) video conferencing (on iPhone?), push PodCasts to select iPhone clients, full sync services, Back-to My-Mac (corporate style), and more! All at the 'reasonable' price of $1000 (or $2000?) for the unlimited Client OS X Server software. Hardware is extra, of course, but is still reasonable when one considers the price of other 1U units.

The pieces are in place. Apple only needs to make a couple more upgrades/changes to OS X Server to get the ball rolling; especially with the iPhone being so popular.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Indeed ... this seems to be the overarching theme ... the pieces are in place. Apple just needs to get the ball rolling. I'm pretty confident that Apple realizes what it has between the iPhone and .mac.

I'm going to be a negative voice here. I love .Mac and have used it for several years, but it is not ready for prime time. Remember all those sync problems?) Apple would have to do an overhaul on how it is implemented. Plus, if it was free I'd be afraid of being inundated with ads, etc. Yuk! If it was free would they reduce the amount of space they give you? If they were still at 1GB I probably wouldn't be using it now And nothing's really free anyway. Someone would be paying somewhere.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Well, that's not too negative, Eleanor ... you raise fair questions here. There have been problems and there still are ... but if Apple really works hard, they can overcome these problems. As far as reducing the amount of space, I'm not sure they can. Yahoo mail is just about unlimited, as is Google. There really can't be a ceiling for .mac to be competitive, or if there is a ceiling, it has to be pretty darn high.

I get mine now on Amazon-$70. & free shipping. I don't mind that. I like having my info available wherever I go ( now with the phone I have that anyway) and also the iDisk features.

Overall, it would be great-but like I said it is not ready in the state it's in.

Hey every one. I believe that Apple will not make changes on .MAC it all or team up with Microsoft. Microsoft you need to back off now. Apple don't what to team up with you it all, so back off. Microsoft you need start your own .windows, just make your free .windows. Than you get your happy people that what free .windows, like .Mac. .Mac well not be free for a years. Microsoft I now that you trying to get copy cat from Apple. Microsoft I have never use your softwares and your OS systems for years. I'm been an mac user for years, and I never move to windows it all. Macs computers is part of my life. MAC ROCKS!!!! $99.00 a year is worth it to buy. .MAC is part of your life on the internet, to get more info go to. http://www.apple.com/dotmac/
If you don't like it then, don't buy it go to other places that's free.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Good points, Mr. Wright. There are other free alternatives, but hopefully Apple does the right thing with what it has. We should know soon.

I pay for .Mac (only $79 through Amazon) and I I don't even use the email features. "Back To My Mac" is the killer feature.

SCOTT'S REPLY: I can honestly say that I haven't had the pleasure of using it. Tell us, Brett, how do you use it? Where are your computers and do you travel often? I'm most curious because of course I see an option where the iPhone will be outfitted with back to my mac so people could control their computers from anywhere.

Make .Mac free, this would be the tipping point for sure. However, watch out for those who have paid the $99 membership during the past several years demanding refunds......

SCOTT'S REPLY: Sure, there will always be that kind of backlash and that has to be taken into account. Dropping the iPhone's price $200 on a whim, though ... that was a little different than this, but if someone pays for .mac and a month later it goes free, a refund or credit would be a good way to smooth things over.

Ironically, as I write about .Mac the entire service is offline for maintenance. Hmmmm, maybe they are adding a few tweaks to the system in preparation for something :-)

Earlier this year I bought a MacBook Air whilst in the US. I got it back to my hotel, went through the initial setup and then sync'd to my .Mac account and as if by magic I had all my email, bookmarks, dock settings etc from my iBook on my brand spanking new MBA. It was brilliant and that one use was worth the annual fee alone.

SCOTT'S REPLY: That's a great point Kim, well, the maintenance thing is one thing ... but it's the wow factor. You had that wow factor. Imagine every single person using their iPhones having that wow factor repeatedly? That would be an excellent thing.

On the email side it's unclear to me what they offer that I don't get with gmail (vanilla or the Apps for your Domain version, both of which I use).

SCOTT'S REPLY: E-mail-wise, I don't really know. .Mac has aliases that you can use ... not sure if gmail has that. I think gmail has a pretty decent head start on Apple in terms of what it offers, but again ... they offer pieces and not really a full and complete solution. Apple is running out of time if they want to get there first.

Recently, I found an article somewhere on the web where a woman had caught the burglars who broke into her house, and took away stuff worth around $5000... She used Back to my Mac and using the webcam took pictures of the thieves and went to the police... and now... her stuff's back with her..!!

definitely a killer feature for me...

SCOTT'S REPLY: I did read that, Aayush, and that's something Apple should create a commercial off of.

And have it run on my computer.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Well, hopefully.

As several people have noted, .Mac's reliability is horrible. I have tried to love it. Even as I turned my iDisk synching off because it kept screwing up and leaving me without documents I thought wourld there. Even as I stopped synching bookmarks and such to it, because it kept having synch errors. Even as I gave up on all of it. it's basically an expensive email address I don't use anymore, and some online storage that's hard for my PC-using colleagues to access. Feh.

Someone made a good point about the business benefits of this kind of service. I agree. It's called Google Apps. It takes a bit more work to set it up, but once you do that, it's so much more reliable.

It's really a shame, because this could be a great thing for Apple, but not without some serious improvements. Like making what they offer now work properly.

SCOTT'S REPLY: Well we always have to hope that when a big announcement like this could be in the cards that it means an overhaul has been considered and that it's a whole new experience. Just throwing it together wouldn't be wise under any circumstances, so I agree.

I really hope Apple don't break into the corporate market.

I love my iPhone and my Mac, but I think Apple should keep concentrating on the home user. The things I use at work; the phone on my desk, the fax machine, the software; they're all different from what I would choose to use at home. In a world where most of us spend all day at the office infront of a Windows machine, it's nice to come home to my Mac and all that comes with it, the ease and power of iLife and Airtunes, the nice design, the whole experience. Apple's PC/Mac campaigns have tried to focus on this. I think it may be damaging if Apple tried to get into the corporate market.

That said, I took up the free trial of .mac just over a year ago and was disappointed. I was already using sites like Flickr and gmail and .mac didn't seem to offer anything attractive. Back then I didn't have an iPhone though.

To make any headway, I agree it simply MUST be free. I also hope it's full of great features which make it a pleasure to use for pleasure, not particularly work.

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