Apple Making Extensive Push on .Mac Subscriptions

Apple this month began focusing additional resources on its .Mac suite of Internet services. Last summer the company presented its original 'iTools' internet service members a special $44.95 introductory price for a first year .Mac subscription. The promotion ran till September 30th, 2002. At the time Apple claimed to have over 100,000 registered .Mac members.

A year later the company is looking to secure the majority of this user base to keep the service profitable and on the rise. In addition to free-bees listed on the .Mac member benefits page, the company has begun an extensive online advertising campaign to recruit new members.

Tribal Fusion — an Online Advertising Network who partners with many Mac-based publications — is currently airing Apple banner and sky-scraper ads promoting the iSync features of the .Mac suite. Meanwhile, Mac OS X 10.3 Panther will bring true iDisk Finder integration and broader iCal functionality. Sources say to expect additional revisions to the service in the immediate future.

With less than two weeks to the 1 year renewal deadline of most members, this month will mark a pivotal point for the Apple online service. The company's previous attempts at online services — such as eWorld back in the 1990's — failed miserably after only a short period of time.