|
|
|
 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Ma in
Joel Mueller
macupdate@macupdate.com
www.macupdate.comDate: 11 December 2003
To: MacUpdate Members
From: Joel Mueller
Subject: The future of the MacUpdate Membership
MacUpdate Membership is changing in January 2004 The readership, and especially those that have signed up and utilized the free MacUpdate Member features, have been a blessing to MacUpdate. As a small organization, our goal is to serve the Macintosh community. In the past three years, MacUpdate has offered the MacUpdate Membership features free of charge to anyone interested in signing up for email update notifications, watch lists, custom layouts and more. Readers supporting the MacUpdate sponsors has allowed us to hire some great developers to help expand and enhance the MacUpdate site features for the community. But now we're ready to add hired help to continually enhance MacUpdate.
Distinguishing the difference
Starting 1.5 weeks into January, the MacUpdate Membership features will begin a $20/year subscription rate. You'll gain access that will allow you to turn off the ads on the site. And you'll gain access to an upcoming MacUpdate Desktop application (that will be very cool). We are not limiting access to normal features of the site, such as viewing most popular or prior new releases past 2-days. We are not adding annoying advertising pages that must load before you can actually download software titles.
Please realize that MacUpdate's vision is very different from "make money and limit services." The membership subscription only applies to the membership features, and the income brought in will be put directly back into the site, allowing MacUpdate to release some exciting and innovative features on the site. We are here to benefit the Macintosh community. That will always be our #1 priority.
New Membership Features
Coming this January, MacUpdate Members will have the power to turn off all of the advertising on MacUpdate. This means really fast page loading speeds, as you won't have to contact the slower ad server everytime you load a new page. You'll have email alert notifications when someone responds to your user review (which is now threaded by the way!). And as always, you'll still get email update notifications, custom watch lists, keyword watch lists, custom layouts, download history, and more.
Aside from all of these useful tools, MacUpdate is also proud to announce that we will be releasing our first MacUpdate Desktop application. It will allow you to scan your Mac for all of your applications, and match them up with their listing on MacUpdate. Then, when the MacUpdate database is updated with a matching software title, the MacUpdate Desktop application will highlight the change, then allowing you to update your Mac with the latest version.
The MacUpdate Desktop application will also allow you to view the latest new releases and hot picks without loading your browser and going to the MacUpdate website. And lastly, you will have the power to search for applications on MacUpdate from within MacUpdate Desktop. Future releases plan to include synchronization of the MacUpdate Desktop watch list with your web-based watch list.
Your support means it goes back into MacUpdate
We've already done what no other Macintosh site has done on our small budget. In the past 2-months, we've already enhanced the MacUpdate Membership interface, the MacUpdate front page and logo, printed out MU hooded sweathshirts and tshirts, partnered with other quality Macintosh organizations that fully support the Mac community, booked our first MacWorld Expo booth (#3627 January 6-10), and more. Coming this January the next big wave of enhancements will be unveiled, for users like yourself that have helped MacUpdate support the Macintosh community.
You can be a part of our growing community, while utilizing the great Membership tools that MacUpdate has to offer, by logging into your MacUpdate Member account this January and renewing your account for the $20/year.
MacWorld Expo
Look for us in San Francisco this year for the MacWorld Expo, January 6-10. We'll be in booth #3627 showing off the new Membership features and MacUpdate Desktop application, and hopefully handing out a LOT of free registered software.
Help | Email Us