Well, I've complained about Apple Computer's uncompetitive .Mac service, and the company has finally fixed it. Here's what's changed. Apple raised the email and Web storage space from a woeful 256MB to a decent 1GB. Storage space was clearly the biggest problem with the old .Mac. Also, .Mac now includes a new blog-like service called Groups that lets you post announcements and messages, display photos, share group calendars, and find other members. I haven't tested the new functionality yet, but it appears to be a decent first step. Finally, Apple's Backup program has been upgraded to version 3.0 and now includes iLife backups and other features. The biggest question, of course, is whether all this is worth $99 per year. Sadly, it isn't. But I'm happy that Apple is making the service more competitive. Hopefully, price cuts will come later as well
