What are the coupons for?? and where can I get cheaper .Mac membership

Question

What are those coupons that came with the mechine for??
Not for .Mac??
where can I get cheaper ones.(I live in Canada)
Thanks

Answer 1

They are used for the rare promotion or upgrade offers.
The only time I've ever seen a use for them is when you purchase a computer with a previous version of the Mac OS when a newer version is already available.
You can submit one of the coupons with the upgrade form to obtain the new version at a reduced price.
That's about the only benefit I've ever seen for them.
Apple calls this program something like "Mac OS Up To Date" (something along those lines).
To illustrate, say you purchased an iMac right after OS 10.4 came out, and discovered that the iMac was packaged-up prior to OS 10.4 being available (like it sat on a shelf for a while). So, you've got OS 10.3 installed on it.
Now, you purchased a new computer, obviously you want the latest OS to go with it.
So, because you purchased a new machine with an old OS, you can use the OS Up To Date program to order upgrade disks to OS 10.4 for only $20 or $30 instead of the $129 everyone else pays.
It's not really a fair deal for a person who just purchased a new computer. But, it's better than getting stuck with paying $129.
So, you would fill out the upgrade form, and submit your coupon with it.
The same thing applies to if you purchased the system after the new version of iLife was available. You might be able to get the new version of iLife at a reduced price.
Apple usually runs this program for about 90 days after a new software version is available.
They used to work it the other way:
When I purchased my PowerMac G3 266-DT, they had a program that allowed you to upgrade to the new version of the Mac OS for $19 or $29 (can't remember for sure the $ amount) if it was released within 90 days of you purchasing your computer.
I took advantage of that, and got a reduced-price upgrade to OS 8.5 from OS 8.1.
That method makes more sense to me than the current method.
It makes sense to get a reduced price on updates that arrive up to 90-days from your date of purchase.
But, it is not such a good deal to have to pay for updates that were already available at the time of purchase and should have been included with your new computer. After-all, it's not your fault that the computer sat on the shelf too long.
But, that's how it works now. The coupons basically get you a discount on software updates that were shipping on new systems when you purchased your new computer that had been boxed-up before the new software was released.
As for cheaper .Mac prices, the only options I know of are:
1) You get a $30 discount on it when you purchase a new Mac. So, when you setup the Mac, you are usually presented with an option to sign-up for .Mac with a discount.
2) Amazon sometimes runs a special on it.
3) You might be able to get a .Mac retail box from someone who purchased it and then changed their mind. But, don't buy a box that has been registered already.
Be very careful buying products like .Mac second-hand. There is no way to know that they have not already used the registration code until after you receive it and try to register it yourself.
Hope this helps to answer your question.