Mr. Moström, et alia:

(I apologize to this list, first because I am continuing an off-topic
thread, and second because I see that I have rambled a bit here. If
neither interests you, feel free to move on.)

On Feb 4, 2006, at 8:44 AM, Jan Erik Moström wrote:
> I've been trying out .Mac for about two week and I really like the
> syncing of Yojimbo ... but I wonder if I should pay $99 just for
> Yojimbo syncing.

That's a great question, and one that is debated on the Macintosh-
oriented 'Net quite a bit. As you suggest, the major reason I
use .Mac -- reluctantly -- is for synching among several computers.

..Mac offers [1] an e-mail address, [2] Web e-mail access, [3] 1 GB of
online storage (split between the e-mail and storage space, [4] ultra-
easy-to-use built-in Web site creation tools, [5] integration with
Apple's new (but additional cost) iWeb site creation tool, [6] Groups
(whatever those are), [7] access to a decent (though not stellar)
backup application, and [8] integrated synchronization of calendars,
address books, and e-mail rules, etc. (though, interestingly, not e-
mail messages). Through the new synchronization services Apple has
opened up to developers, it also allows third parties synchronize
through the .Mac site.

..Mac costs US$108.20 (including tax) from Apple directly. That price
is exceedingly high (as the market has made abundantly clear -- only
1 million people have signed up for .Mac accounts). Are the above
features worth $108.20? As you point out, many of the features
of .Mac are available for cheaper (sometimes for free) from other
services. As a rule of thumb, I would suggest that if you find at
least three of the .Mac offerings compelling (as I do), it might be
worth $108.20; if you find only one or two of its services
compelling, you might want to look elsewhere.

I use the Web storage, the easy-to-create Web site tools, and the
synchronization. For me (but probably not for everyone)
synchronization is a "killer app." The reason I resigned for my .Mac
account this year was for synchronization amongst several computers
in three locations. I synch not only my address books and calendars,
but my NetNewsWire feeds, and now, Yojimbo entries.

(I love that Yojimbo supports .Mac-style synching, but I think the
smart folks at Bare Bones Software will have to work a little harder
at the model for synching. I am much happier with NetNewsWire's
application launch-based synching than the System-wide synching
Yojimbo now uses, though there are probably other ways to accomplish
the same result. And I *have* lost data using Yojimbo's approach,
though I am willing to accept that this is due to indiscretions of a
young application.)

Should applications like Yojimbo and NetNewsWire continue to
support .Mac synchronization? Although I certainly hope so (since I
use the synching religiously), I wonder what is the market for these
features. After all, Apple has told us that only 1 million people
own .Mac accounts. How many of them also use Yojimbo? How many of
that subset will use the synchronization features? Should Bare Bones
sell to a market that has an absolute cap of 1 million sales?

What do you think?

--
Dr. Clinton C. MacDonald | <mailto:clint DOT macdonald AT ttuhsc DOT
edu>


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