.Mac iDisks Now With 1TB/month Bandwidth
I might be unique
in the Mac community in that I actually like Apple's .Mac. Yes, there are alternatives. Yes, you can roll your own.
Yes, it's a bit expensive. However, it's on of the few tools that works the way I want it to. Synching my bookmarks,
calendars, and contacts between multiple machines is essential to the way I work. And I like that my iDisk is available
from virtually any computer I sit in front of. My single complaint with .Mac is the slow transfer/copy speeds of the
iDisk.Apple's also given all of us .Mac users a nice New Years Eve present. They've increased the bandwidth allowance on our .Mac accounts to 1TB per month.
I'm thinking this suggests new .Mac tools about to be released which involve storing and synchronizing video files (like those purchased from the iTunes store) between our computers. Also, a Mac mini-based media center device could easily tie into an iDisk for storage of files.
Another clue that a media center device is just around the corner? Perhaps...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mav Block said 1:45PM on 12-31-2005
Dang- 1 TB! Too bad it doesnt have advanced features like PHP, MySQL, and more storage- because then I could use it for web hosting in addition to managing my email!
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iomatic said 2:01PM on 12-31-2005
php and mysql would be awesome.
They could probably scale *down* the accounts and bring the price lower to what they offer nowmaybe with some adjustments; while at the current price level, offer a Developer account. THAT would be genious.
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Nick Day said 2:23PM on 12-31-2005
That's really good, but I still think .mac is overpriced for what it is. I think when Apple release 10.5, people who legitimately purchase it could get a voucher in the box entitling them to a cheaper subscription. It'd be nice to include that in the upgrade.
Nick
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Mav Block said 2:58PM on 12-31-2005
Well, I would sign up for a developer account in a second if they made it! Suppopt at 1and1.com is terrible- but it might be a bit of a hassle to move like 10 blogs over to a .Mac account!
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Denny said 3:13PM on 12-31-2005
I'll bet it has something to do with PodCasting. Maybe even Video Podcasting. I've heard numerous podcasters talk about the bandwidth issue. Once their shows are a little popular, they can't afford to keep the files on the server.
The idea that Apple has increased ONLY the bandwidth really makes me believe it will be part of a Podcasting solution announced in January. Apple's jumped into the Podcast arena quickly and what better way to increase the number of .Mac accounts, then to offer a "Podcaster solution".
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Peter Buckley said 3:19PM on 12-31-2005
Wow, And im only after signing up for full membership today!!!
I wish i knew the alternatives that you are talking about but i tried spymac fulll membership and was disgusted at the amout of downtime the service has, so i said screw it and take the pain with .MAC, least they tell you when they are going to go down.
By the way , Happy New Year from Ireland!!!!
Peter
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Jan said 4:46PM on 12-31-2005
I agree with Denny (comment 5). This sounds like part of a Podcasting package. Very exciting!
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Jon said 4:56PM on 12-31-2005
.Mac is still absurdly overpriced in my opinion. There is so much potential there however, but I think it's gotten lost amid the many other projects Apple has had explode since Steve Jobs sold his soul to Satan returned to Apple in 1997.
One thing .Mac needs, and I am shocked it has never gotten, is better integration with Windows. Some of us use mutliple platforms (against our preferences) and it would be nice if .Mac could sync with Outlook and Browsers on a Windows PC in addition to having a good Windows client for iDisk.
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Jon said 5:30PM on 12-31-2005
Further to my comment re .Mac integration in Windows, browser syncing cross platforms would give Steve and Co. the perfect excuse to release Safari for free on Windows.
On another perhaps tangentially related note, can someone please explain to me why Apple does not release iLife for Windows and sell it for 200 bucks. I would venture to guess it would be a big seller, introduce people to Mac software and with a higher price on Windows would give people an incentive to buy a Mac for their next computer where the then version of iLife comes free with the computer. There could also be some Mac-only features, which would be highlighted in the Windows version with Menu items that are unavailable and read "Mac only" (kinda like in QuickTime where certain things are there but say "Pro only" or whatever). Man, this is a good idea, I just thought up on the fly.
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Oliver said 2:58AM on 1-01-2006
I've been using Spymac for a couple of years already (ever since iTools died) because it was so much more competitively priced compared to .Mac, but I am now getting seriously fed up with Spymac's issues that I'm turning my attention back to .Mac. Yes it's expensive, but I guess that's the price you pay for something that actually works when i need it to.
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Anthony Sigalas said 7:03AM on 1-01-2006
It seems that the only .mac users that gets the 1TB bandwidth per month are the Americans. I have a European .mac account and in my .mac Account Settings I don't get the 1TB treatment!
That's an extra clue for a .mac / iTunes movie download feature! Nudge nudge say no more say no more!
2006 will be a brilliant year for us macheads! :)
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burr said 2:04PM on 1-01-2006
At the time of this posting, I was able to log into my .mac account and confirm that the bandwidth increase was true. However, when I now look at my .mac account settings, it doesn't list the bandwidth at all. It currently only lists my storage totals.
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Taylor said 2:05PM on 1-01-2006
If you use Transmit to copy things to your iDisk it goes soooo much faster. Using it makes the iDisk experience 100 times better.
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Derrick said 2:44PM on 1-01-2006
I am in Canada and I have also noticed the increase to 1TB ... do I ever hope this is for movie rentals ... that would be awesome.
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steve said 4:54PM on 1-01-2006
They've had it for at least a week ... stealth feature
http://tingilinde.typepad.com/starstuff/2005/12/want_to_podcast.html
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Dave said 7:59PM on 1-01-2006
http://loop.worldofapple.com/archives/2005/12/31/mac-shifts-bandwidth-limit-to-1tb/
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Rick said 12:16AM on 1-02-2006
0 Stars how do you use Transmit to upload on .mac?
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