Have any of you explored the potential of .mac accounts? Any opinions?
I am currently using a trial version. It looks to be a very powerful tool for file sharing (minutes, sermons, etc) pictures and photo album creation, blogging, videos, podcasting, posting calendars, plus generous storage space and more. Seems like a no-brainer but just wondering if others have tried it.
Chester Topple
About Topple
Can’t wait to hear people’s answers on this one. I’ve come quite close to getting a .Mac account several times, but it’s not free. The potential for backing up files is most appealing–my minister supervisor just lost five years of sermons, talks, and prayer just yesterday.
Anybody write it off through a church expense account?
I hear you, Adam. Why spend money when there are other options that are either free or comparable?
For my money, I choose to buy a URL and have a hosting account that I can/could back things up on. The additional flexibility is worth more to my mind.
And if one of the goals is connectivity, then a facebook account seems more effective.
I’ve been generally happy with the service – it’s a little pricey but (like all Apple stuff), seamless integration is nice – uploading iphoto albums, movies, etc, with a click or two. However: you cannot host a WordPress blog from .mac account. If I eventually decide to move from wordpress.com, that might keep me from renewing .mac.
I do, but it is my own account. Worked great for a sermon series on Revelation that some of my college students wanted to follow.
I got it.
I don’t use it for blogging though. I stuck with wordpress.
About a year ago, I needed a decent campus ministry site, and I was trying to decide whether to go the .mac route or wait for our larger church site redesign. In one afternoon, I threw up our CM site, and a year later, the church is still working with committees and website designers…
The beautiful thing for me was getting one-to-one consulting. That was $100 for a year’s worth of one-to-one attention. The consultants definitely varied in their abilities… but… when I found a good one, I requested her each time. They answer every question, help you design sites, and basically hold your hand for one hour every week for an entire year. And, I would say that about half of the “geniuses” I worked with at our store, had particular expertise in church sites.
I was nervous about the price as well… but considering how much I learned… it’s been well worth it.
Given the cheap Scots blood that courses through my veins, I’ve tended to go with the free option. Rather than using dotmac, I have an array of different interlinked blogs. I have an old primary blog, which links to my video blogs, my blogs that compile blogseries posts on theological topics, and blogs that contain my sermon archives. I also have pied-a-terres on an array of different social networking sites. Gets a bit fiddly, but it costs me not a penny.
Google and Typepad own my soul. Please don’t quote me on that
The cost is the biggest deterrent, though that was the same argument I made for NOT getting a Mac earlier than I did . . . so it might just be a matter of time. Still, have not heard anything REALLY compelling.
If all you need is a place to backup files, I’d suggest not using an online service unless you don’t mind the lack of privacy. I decided to invest in a good external hard drive (a Western Digital “My Book”) and some good backup software like SuperDuper. That and Mac OS X Lepoard’s Time Machine ought to make backups relatively painless.
So I’ve had a .mac account for the last 10 years. I use it mostly as a backup spot for a lot of my files. I have used the backup feature and the webdesign stuff but mostly I use it to transfer files between computers. I know there are free things I could use but I choose to pay for it because of the ease of the way apple has made it work for me.
That’s it. I admit I’m a fan boy.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned about .mac is their superior mail tools – I regularly get 70 – 80 spam messages a day, but they all get dumped into a holding folder and I don’t even have to see them, unless I want to scan for a possible mistake.
I’ve other accounts on other services too, but .mac far and away does the best job in filtering correctly (based on what I have historically labelled “junk”).
Suzanne
I’m switching over to .mac I maintain a blog (which has gone a bit dormant during a significant series of moves in my life) entitled tabletalk – it is on typepad, which I like. There are some features on typepad missing on .mac. But my .mac account is visually satisfying and is pretty seamless with my G4.
Not a compelling reason, but when I went through a job change I thought I needed a more professional address. Try getting a good one for John Smith – that’s almost as hard as Craig Williams.