Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
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Mac Musings
Buy This Site
Reading, writing, and publishing are all about ownership. When you buy a book or read an article, you have the opportunity to own (or disown) the author's ideas. Writing is all about owning your ideas - and that's one reason we make sure our contributors retain copyright ownership of their articles.
Publishing and broadcasting are about ownership, too, but in a different sense. What we own isn't the ideas but the right to distribute them. The audience, the artists, and the means of distribution create a full circle for our ideas.
Advertising is about ownership, too. Coke, Ford, Apple, Dell, the Gap, Sears, Walmart, and a host of others want to present their ideas in a positive way in hopes that you'll buy their product. Publishers and broadcasters are avenues they use to communicate their message.
Like much of the Web, Low End Mac is for sale. No, not the site itself, but space on the site where Crucial Memory, PowerMac, Sonnet Technology, MacMall, and a host of others try to get your attention and your business. That's the only reason we can pay our writers.
We want to change that just a little bit - and that's nothing new. We began the site as a public service, had the opportunity to go commercial, reaped great profits for a short while, and watched ad income fade to a shadow of its former self.
We asked for donations - and got them. We've received over $3,000 in personal donations since the start of June, enough to cover Low End Mac's expenses for one month. And we're very grateful for it.
However, that hasn't been enough. We need roughly $3,000 each and every month to keep this operation going. We pay no utility bills or rent, simply using space and electricity at home. The bulk of our income goes to paying writers.
Looking at the incredible drops in ad rates, we've been thinking about other ways to keep afloat. We've discussed micropayments, penny-a-page viewing, subscriptions, and other ideas. I think we've finally found the right model, but it isn't ready yet.
We don't want to restrict access to Low End Mac. The original idea was providing a public service; requiring micropayments or subscriptions for any part of the site seems like a betrayal of that spirit.
We do want to remain true to our beliefs. We refuse to carry popup or popunder ads. (I especially detest the "pop up after you leave" ads some sites use.) We won't accepts ads for adult sites or online casinos, even though they offer much needed income. We want responsible advertisers and fast loading pages.
Some might consider ads a necessary evil; we just consider them necessary from a business perspective. But that could change.
Several people have been pushing us toward a donation model. Nice, but I'd like to have some way of rewarding those who support the site. I'm not opposed to soliciting donations as necessary (now, for instance), but would rather go to a subscription model.
Nothing is nailed down yet, but here's our current thinking. We're looking at $2-3 a month with discounts for longer terms. Subscribers would have a faster loading site. How much faster? Well, each banner takes about as long to load as the text on the page, so pages could load 50-75% faster without ads. I think that's a nice benefit to offer those who financially support Low End Mac.
We need about $3,000 a month to break even, and the subscription fees would be split with the firm that manages them. If we assume $2/month and half of that going to LEM, 1,000 subscribers would reduce our dependence on ad income by one-third, 2,000 would bring us to the break even mark with current ad income, and 3,000 would allow us to get by even if nobody bought ad space.
Subscriptions can totally change the dynamics. Instead of hoping for $3 CPM ($3 per thousand ads displayed), as the number of subscribers grows, the number of available ad slots would decline, and only sponsors willing to pay decent rates would be retained.
All the models and real world experience indicate that at most 10-12% of you are willing to pay for content when you have no choice. Since we will be giving everyone the choice of free vs. ad-free content, I suspect we'd see something on the order of 4-5% of our visitors becoming subscribers. Even using our weekly average of 50,000 unique visitors, 2,000-2,500 subscribers should put us on a very solid footing.
Alas, it's not ready to go yet. It should be ready by the end of the year, but until then, we are soliciting donations. Click here to find out how you can support Low End Mac and feel like you own a piece of the Web.
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Mac Musings
- Amazon.com v. Interstate Sales Tax: Everyone Loses, 07.01. Amazon.com is standing up to states that are trying to have it collect sales tax on interstate commerce, which most see as a violation of federal law.
- Intel's Promise Fulfilled: More Processing Power per Processor Cycle, 06.30. Apple promised improved CPU efficiencies when it announced the move to Intel in 2005. Three years of MacBooks show the progress.
- Low-end Mac & Cheese, 06.26. Windows PCs are like macaroni and cheese you buy from the store. Macs are like homemade macaroni and cheese.
- Broadband Growth, Phantom Traffic Jams, and Psychohistory, 06.17. Mathematics has always fascinated me, and I love deconstructing research to try to determine what's really going on.
- More in the Mac Musings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Yikes!' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - The only Power Mac G4 with PCI graphics was built on a modified G3 motherboard.
- Group of the Day: Tiger List is for anyone using Mac OS X 10.4.
- July 5 in LEM history: 98: iMac: First of a family? - iMac perfect for schools - 00: Apple is not your friend - 01: 75 Mac Advantages - Exploring the fractal universe - Do you trust me? - 02: The joy of X with Classic - 05: No Quartz Extreme for Pismo - Brief history of NeXT - 06: Education iMac - TopXNotes - Battery reset utility for WallStreet and Clamshell iBooks
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- iPhone 3GS Overheating, Battery Life App, 240 GB Upgrade for 5G iPod, Total Baby App, and More, iNews Review, 07.02. Also low cost international calls, U-verse remote DVR control, Sync Blocker USB-to-Dock cable, Rocket Taxi improved, and more.
- MacBooks Top Amazon Sales, EFI 1.7 Problems, Pros and Cons of Built-in Batteries, and More, The 'Book Review, 07.02. Also make a bootable SD Card, Leopard on a 9" Dell netbook, MacBook Pro and Air reviews, triple WiFi range, bargain 'Books from $179 to $2,300, and more.
- Apple Tops in Satisfaction Again, Slim Profits on Mac mini, Ultimate Photo Setup, and More, Mac News Review, 07.02. Also tips for cloning hard drives and moving files from old Macs, Clickfree Transformer turns USB drive into a backup drive, maximum Mac Pro RAM, and more.
- Refurb MacBook Pro Deal, Fastest Mac Browser, 256 MB Modules for WallStreet, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 07.01. Also more Safari 4 feedback, praise for Camino, MacBook cracks, looking for Craigslist software for Macs, and more.
- Introduction to Autofs in Mac OS X, Keith Winston, Linux to Mac, 07.01. "Autofs is often used in enterprise environments to set up network-based home directories and other network mounts for users at login."
- Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal, 06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac's CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
- Checking Out Safari 4 on an Old PowerBook, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 06.30. Safari 4 is the fastest it's ever been, but it's not without some frustrating drawbacks.
- Is Steve Jobs' Health Essential to Apple's Future?, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 06.30. Steve Jobs' health is an important thing, but Apple has demonstrated that it can be profitable without him.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 07.02. Used 3 GHz 4-core, $2,000; 3.2 8-core, $2,900; refurb 2.8 8-core, $2,399; new 2.66 4-core, $2,290 a/r; 2.26 8-core, $3,070 a/r; 2.66, $4,499; more.
- Best Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' Deals, 07.02. Full version DVD, $140; 5 user family pack, $370; 10-user Server, $299.
- Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, 07.02. Used 17" 1 GHz PowerBook, $689; 1.67 GHz, $749; hi-res, $1,029.
- Best Xserve Deals, 07.02. Used 2 GHz single G5, $800; dual, $1,000; refurb 2.8 GHz 4-core Xeon, $2,100; new 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,888; 8-core, $3,449; 2.66, $4,799; 2.93, $5,999.
- Best iPod touch Deals, 07.01. Refurb 2G/8 GB, $179; 16 GB, $259; iG/32 GB, $279; new 2G/8 GB, $215; 1G 16 GB, $210; 2G, $275; 2G/32 GB, $369. Prices include shipping.
- Best 13" MacBook & MacBook Pro Deals, 07.01. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0, $629; new 2.0, $889; 2.13, $925 after rebate; refurb 2.0 Unibody, $949; 2.4, $1,099; new 2.26 MBP, $1,119 a/r; more.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 07.01. Used 867 MHz Combo, $400; 1.33 GHz, $448; 1.5 GHz, $599; 1 GHz SuperDrive, $509; 1.33 GHz, $599; 1.5 GHz SD, $679.
- Best Apple TV Deals, 07.01. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $220; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $320. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 06.29. Used 12" 800 MHz Combo, $290; 1 GHz CD, $299; Combo, $370; 1.33 GHz, $428; 14" 1 GHz Combo, $399; 1.2, $465; 1.42 GHz, $500.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 06.29. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $39; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 06.29. Mac OS X 10.0, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3, $50; 10.3 Server, unlimited users, $130.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 06.29. Close-out 500 GB Time Capsule, $199; 1 TB, $350; AirPort Extreme Base Station, $130; refurb AirPort Express, $85.
- More deals in our archive.
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