.Mac

[Mel Pleasant]

On Friday, July 12, 2002, at 02:58 PM, Michael Brewer wrote:

> What is everyone's opinion on .Mac? The new name for iTools. I'm 
> especially interested in OmniGroup's opinion on it as a developer.
>
> Personally, I think it is horrible that Apple is trying to ride the 
> dirty coattails of Microsoft's .Net. One of the key reasons I became a 
> Mac user was to get rid of Microsoft's increasingly hostile 
> technologies such as product (de)activation and .Net. I'd rather Apple 
> keep the name iTools or at least change it to something less vile.

I'm going to present a possible/probable mktg argument.  I'm not sure I 
like it, but, well .......

.Net can be looked upon, by someone who doesn't know better, as an 
expansion of one's ability to gain access to "The Internet" - with all 
that this implies - both good and bad.  Apple needs to gain more 
mindshare as a provider of svcs over the network - at least - if they 
continue to state that this is part of their strategic direction.  (I 
don't understand the rationale that would suggest that  .Mac would 
signal this to the industry....)

iTools, as a name, could imply to the casual person something much less 
than what it truly is.  Indeed, in my opinion, it does not imply 
Apple's  -ease-of-use- strategy at all!!!   For the most part, a tool is 
something a person has to learn how to fit into and use within a bigger 
picture.  If you don't grok the bigger picture then what good is the 
tool?  The use of the word "tool" as a leader (indeed I've heard Apple 
folk speak of the svcs as a loss-leader) is probably not the best way to 
introduce the bigger picture to someone who wants to know what "this 
stuff is all about."

Sometimes a marketing arm wants to introduce confusion into a 
marketplace as a strategy to capture the attention of those who are 
paying some attention but not particular attention to the details 
(yet).  .Mac, because it's so close to .Net in the way it is likely to 
be tossed off the tongue, might be someone's idea of creating that 
confusion.   It would be interesting to hear Apple's rationale for both 
the change and the choice of name.  At any rate though, please do 
consider this form of strategic maneuver before accusing someone of 
riding coattails.  Most often that is not the intent.....

I'm reminding everyone - I'M NOT DEFENDING THE CHANGE.  Michael asked 
what we thought of the change.  These are the things that came to mind 
when I first heard of the change . . . . .