The release of iSync also rounds out Apple's current stable of "i" applications, as the company continues to push the Mac as a hub for digital devices and begins a tentative move into Web services. Earlier this month, Apple released iCal, a desktop and online calendar tool. Both products run only on Jaguar and tie to additional Web services delivered through .Mac. In July, Apple eliminated its free iTools suite of Web services and replaced them with .Mac. The 2.5 million iTools subscribers have until 14 October to sign up for a .Mac at a reduced rate of $49 for the first year. The service otherwise costs $99 a year. Earlier this month, Apple revealed only about 100,000 people had signed up for .Mac. While some users have complained about the switch to paid services, analysts say consumers are increasingly likely to go for them. For example, according to an Online Publishers Association and ComScore Media Metrix study, consumer spending for online content, mainly in the form of subscriptions, rose 155 percent during the first quarter over the same period last year. Microsoft, too, sees more potential in paid services. The company next month is expected to release MSN 8, which will offer new services but only to paying customers. Besides iSync and iCal, Apple's iPhoto also has a Web services component for ordering picture books or individual images online. Jaguar's Sherlock 3 feature also offers access to purchasing movie tickets and other commodities online. "All these iApps, all of them are designed to do one thing well, and they do, but it is when they begin to combine, that the synergy reveals itself, and you think how cool that is," said Charles Jade, a Mac user and fiction writer from Cupertino, California. "Combine iPhoto, which manages your digital pictures, with iDisk, online storage and add .Mac functionality Web site making, and suddenly you are putting slick little albums up on the Web in no time." Other Mac users see hope iSync and its siblings also will help boost Apple's "switchers" campaign, which seeks to woo PC users to Macs. "The release of iSync is a further entrenchment and product of the digital hub strategy initiated by Apple a couple of years ago," said Jonathan Henry, a student and Mac user from Oklahoma City. "If it performs the way Apple demonstrated last July, it could open the door and provide even more incentive for consumers and professionals to become a product of the 'switch' campaign."
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