Love .Mac but too expensive? Here is a great tip if couldn’t find .Mac alternatives and are stuck to it. Derek Punsalan at 5thirtyone shows you services that have similar convenience as .mac services but costs less (or even free). Solutions include: Staying code-free without iWeb; Sharing photos without “Photocasting”; Free file storage (WebDav) without an iDisk; Offline file backups without Apple’s Backup 3; Sync multiple machines at your leisure; Alternative to Mail & Groups:
Purchased a new Apple computer lately? Apple recommends supplementing your new purchase with a yearly subscription to their Dot Mac (.Mac) service.
Touting such conveniences as iWeb publishing (no HTML/CSS knowledge necessary), Photocasting (think personal photo broadcasting), iDisk (access files anywhere at anytime or share files with others), Backup (schedule automatic backups offsite or to external media), Groups (communicate and socialize with others), Mail (desktop & web based email access), and Sync (data & preference syncing between machines) what’s not to like? What may not be so enticing for users is the admission cost(s) for such “conveniences”. $99 for single users and $179 for family (up to 5 members) per year. Still sound enticing enough to subscribe and renew on a yearly basis? It very well may be. Fortunately, for the penny pincher in all of us, similar “conveniences” can be achieved for a fraction of the cost… Maybe even free.
Whether or not you can make do without the annual subscription service offered by Apple depends wholly on your willingness to nit-pick through the alternatives. The following article will break-down available solutions based on the specific “conveniences” you wish to retain while saving a little money in the long run.
Poor boy Apple Dot Mac alternatives – [5thirtyone]
