Filed under: Software, Internet Tools
Apple emailing .Mac customers about new webmail
Sure, we knew about the upcoming .Mac webmail refresh, but that's because we're nerds for Apple news (yes, you too - don't deny it. You're reading TUAW, after all). To my surprise this morning, I had an email from .Mac, advertising the new webmail and promoting all the new features. While there isn't anything new in the email, I think the significance here is that they're telling their .Mac customers - who aren't typically the cutting edge, AJAX-slinging type - about this fancy upcoming webmail UI change. This could likely mean that it truly is 'coming soon' (as in, not the Microsoft Vista 'coming soon' kind of way), as they would probably need to give their customers at least some kind of a heads up that their webmail is about to facelift its way into looking almost exactly like their desktop email.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
coalxman said 12:07PM on 10-01-2006
Is anybody else starting to feel the slow squeeze, INTEL ONLY INTEL ONLY INTEL ONLY what is going on, the last 20 apps I wanted were YOU GUESSED IT. Dont do it to me, i read somewhere that this is accidentlally happening. !
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Marky said 12:26PM on 10-01-2006
I wonder if it will change again when the new desktop app is released with OSX 10.5? Afterall, where are notes, etc.?
Marky
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David Chartier said 12:33PM on 10-01-2006
#1: Not really. Almost all apps being updated are going Universal Binary, meaning they work perfectly fine on both Intel and PowerPC machines. Leopard also supports this incredibly well, and with how easy it is for most developers to build Universal apps, it doesn't sound like this duality needs to get shoved out the door any time soon.
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Joao Carlos de Pinho said 1:31PM on 10-01-2006
"they would probably need to give their customers at least some kind of a heads up that their webmail is about to facelift its way into looking almost exactly like their desktop email"
They're sending this e-mail only because they know that a huge portion of .Mac users renew their accounts in October. This was the month when they began to charge for the formerly free services known as iTools.
And Apple also knows that lots of .Mac users, especially the oldest ones, are not willing to renew their subscriptions due to the lack of features to justify the $100 yearly fee.
This e-mail is just an attempt to avoid an upcoming mass cancellation (or mass non-renewal).
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Rotang Inves said 2:01PM on 10-01-2006
From users side it looks like simple spam. I look at it in such way
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Thomas said 2:03PM on 10-01-2006
This new webmail sounds great and if it lives up to the hype, I may actually by .Mac.
It's odd that great email is the determining factor, however it's my most used application!
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dk said 2:13PM on 10-01-2006
my account's up for renewal this month, and as cool as the new ui is, there's only 1 thing keeping me from renewing.... STORAGE.
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John P. said 2:15PM on 10-01-2006
It'd be pretty cool if Apple could offer the code behind this as a software package for corporations - I've worked at a few where there is no email client, just webmail.
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Marvo said 3:16PM on 10-01-2006
I'm still waiting for those .Mac specific Dashboard widgets, which were also "coming soon."
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mike said 3:22PM on 10-01-2006
Marvo, me too me too! Where the heck are our .Mac widgets!?!?!
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Todd said 3:44PM on 10-01-2006
> This could likely mean that it truly is 'coming soon' (as in, not the Microsoft Vista 'coming soon' kind of way)
Would it be like the vaporware .mac-only dashboard widgets that made me feel like I was going to get more value from.mac, but didn't show? I'll bet Vista is out before those, not that I'd touch Vista with a 10 meter pole.
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icerabbit said 5:35PM on 10-01-2006
Forget about WebMail. It is a just facade to get email in & out. Maybe with the transition to intel complete, ipods coming out of our ears, etc we can have a bit of attention for the orphan which is .mac. It only gets a little present every year at the beginning of fall. Maybe this year it'll actually be too late too. (my acct renews on the 8th)
The #1 complaint about .mac / iDisk is still the same: the need for speed. I don't know if it is the Finder or iDisk or both, but things move at about 1/3 my upload capacity.
#2 True support. A phone #? Live chat? ... Emails rather than canned responses which actually acknowledge a problem with .mac speed? Rather than repeatedly pointing fingers at my system and my isp? Saying there is some overhead, bla bla. Forget about it. If I can FTP 90 KB/s sustained; I want to sync & upload at 90KB/s sustained.
...
Anyhow. It is really sad that all Apple does is a little bump here and there every year. It doesn't stand behind .mac or it would have resolved a lot of issues already and made good on what it says it offers.
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edwin said 7:22PM on 10-01-2006
I say this is going to roll out in about a month.
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ToeKnee said 8:58PM on 10-01-2006
My .Mac is up for renewal in 6 days, and I'm still planning on letting it go. New webmail -- big deal. I have several servers and enough storage space, but the main thing I used was Homepage. After I found that Apple actually removed the direct one-button functionality from iPhoto to Homepage I had used for years, I lost the love.
Apple wants us to use iWeb now-- well, Homepage was perfect for me and my quick but functional web galleries. Why would I use iWeb when I already know GoLive for static and have several servers to use for my sites? Why should Apple force me to use iWeb and actually remove functionality from iPhoto '06? (OK, remove the button if you must, but leave a menu item maybe??). The work around is kludgy, and I now am going to just create the galleries using Galerie and my own webspace.
The only think I am going to miss now without .Mac is syncing my wife's iBook's Address book with my Powerbook and iMac. But I'll figure out a way.
Webmail, schmebmail.
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Don Don Boo Boo said 1:08AM on 10-02-2006
Apple's mail execution, whether it be Mail.app or .Mac mail, is horribly weak. Furthermore, .Mac as a whole, sucks.
mail.app isn't a true .html capable mail client, which our friends on the PC side have had forever. We'll get that in 10.5.
.Mac's email interface is as clunky as it gets. Logging onto my exchange server at work looks equal or better.
.Mac calendars aren't password protected, and don't allow web-based management.
They need to upgrade more than the web-mail client for me to renew. It's expensive - it should be uber-best-of-breed for the money. Otherwise Apple can look for their old .Mac customers on Google.
Yo.
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JJ Forde said 2:55AM on 10-02-2006
One interesting thing is that I have not received any sort of email talking about the new webmail, although my subscription doesn't expire until June.
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Jim said 9:05AM on 10-02-2006
I certainly hope Apple isn't placing their hopes for .Mac subscriptions into a GUI overhaul of their Webmail app. .Mac is overpriced and underfeatured, no matter what it looks like. For $99 I need more than a "new look" for the part of the package I use the least.
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SubGenius said 9:50AM on 10-02-2006
"It'd be pretty cool if Apple could offer the code behind this as a software package for corporations - I've worked at a few where there is no email client, just webmail." -John P.
That would certainly sell more XServes if this was the default webmail client on OS X Server.
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Patrick said 10:19AM on 10-03-2006
I didn't get the email in my mail this morning - does this mean that I am not even a member of the club of people who "aren't typically the cutting edge, AJAX-slinging type." I guess I live on the ...handle?
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warrenpeace? said 4:39PM on 10-03-2006
This looks nice, but really not justifying the cost. I wish I hadn't gotten attached to the dot mac stuff early on and bought my family mac.com email-only accounts. I'ts really not justifying the price of the service.
And the syncing between home and work machines really doesn't work that well. I'm always missing appoitments or finding old contacts in address book, that I've deleted before and just won't go away.
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