![]() Steven Nelson, a Phoenix-based Mac user and Web master, said he had no problem with the $50 charge. ![]() "I'm sure lots of people will continue to bitch about not being able to continually upgrade these apps without paying a dime, but only a very small minority of people will get bitten by the 'I only wanted iDVD' thing," said Jason Muxlow, a graphic designer from Chicago. Previously, Apple charged $19.95 for the iDVD 2 upgrade CD, with that fee described as for shipping and handling. Some argue that it adds up to Apple raising the cost of iDVD, since the other applications will eventually all be available for free. In general, Mac users offered mixed reaction to Apple's $50 fee for the bundle. "It would be impossible not to charge for any upgrade to iDVD, because the package is extremely large-mostly as a result of all the media files associated with DVD themes-and would be unreasonable to offer as a download," he said. Todd Lockhart, an electronics publishing services director and Mac user from Pitman, N.J., also saw the price strategy as a result of the DVD software's features. The new version of the DVD creation program is more than 1.5GB in size. "It's probably more of a factor that (iDVD 3 is) over a gigabyte in size than Apple seeking to use it as a profit center," Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said. During his keynote address at Macworld, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that three of the iLife applications would continue to be available for free, but that Mac users interested in iDVD 3 would have to pay for the entire suite. Word that the Mac maker would begin charging for a bundle of "i" applications, or iApps, leaked out ahead of the announcement of the iLife suite on Jan. The company had originally planned to release iLife last week, but unexpectedly delayed iLife's release by one week. Several Apple retail stores on Friday said that they had iLife in stock and on sale. The suite is bundled free with new computers such as the new Power Macs announced on Tuesday, but otherwise costs $50. "There are going to be users complaining, and others cheering." ![]() "Others, especially those without a broadband Internet connection, will see the $50 as a sort of convenience fee to give them an alternative to downloading the applications over a slow dial-up service," he continued. "Given the fact that three of the four applications are to be available as a free download, the pricing would seem to imply that you are paying $50 for iDVD-something many users are going to find a bit difficult to accept," said Matthew Sparby, a technology consultant and Mac user from Casselberry, Fla. In addition to the iMovie and iPhoto upgrades, the package contains iTunes 3-already downloadable for free-and iDVD 3, which will not be made available as a free download, according to the company. However, analysts and Mac users are questioning the iLife's price tag, as two of the suite's new components-iMovie 3 and iPhoto 2-will soon be available for free download.Ĭupertino, Calif.-based Apple unveiled iLife earlier this month during the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. After delaying delivery for a week, Apple Computer on Friday started selling its iLife digital media suite, a $50 bundle of programs for creating and playing movies, music, photos and DVDs.
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