I discovered something yesterday that is really astounding to me.

Apple put forward an iPhone Dev Center with one caveat: Its available to any Apple ID holder who is NOT using a .Mac account. Upon trying to log in an error comes up:

.Mac accounts can no longer be used as Apple ID accounts for this application. Please create a new Apple ID using a different email account to access this application.

This is rather ironic on so many levels. First and foremost, .Mac users are actively paying apple $100 a year for use of things such as their email accounts. Essentially this boils down to Apple discriminating against those stupid enough to pay them money. Not only that, but if I sign up for some service such as Hotmail, one Apple has actively used to contrast the availability of the .Mac service, I can get in with NO problem. None of these even include the fact that Apple still actively pushes the .Mac service forward, coupled with the fact that Apple builds in a lot of features only available to .Mac members...

Secondly, the fact that Apple is discriminating against ANY email address is plain wrong. A couple weeks ago Microsoft drop support of all .Mac accounts, only to re-establish those accounts later saying it was a "mistake". Many people, however, saw this as an active attack against Mac users. What does it mean when Apple PURPOSELY does this to its own users???

Next is more of an annoyance issue. As it turns out, Apple's online Apple ID system is NOT designed to allow use of more than 1 Apple ID. If I'm logged into their discussion forms, and I click logout, I get automatically logged out, as you would expect. If I then try to log in with a different Apple ID, by clicking Login, I end up being logged in automatically as the last account I was using. Apple is actively telling me I can only use the service if I sign up for a second Apple ID, yet their own site does not allow one to get around using 2 Apple IDs.

Last, but certainly not least, is account juggling. The problem is, I can no longer use a single Apple ID on Apples site, period. The fact is that I cannot abandon my long living Apple ID. The reason for this is multifaceted. First off, all my iTunes purchased songs were purchased using my .Mac Apple ID. With all the money I have invested, closing that account is NOT an option... Secondly, I've also made several purchase on Apples site using my .Mac Apple ID. The least of which is the .Mac account itself, which I pay a total of $150 a year for, as I also buy extra bandwidth & storage space on top of the normal $99 account price. Lastly is that all software I purchase online I do so with my .Mac address. This helps me more easily keep track of shareware purchases as it allows for easier recognition & sorting...

When It is all boiled down I cannot abandon my .Mac Apple ID. Which oddly enough should in itself be good for Apple, because it helps ensure I will continue to pay them for the .Mac service...

But the bottom line is, with this new restriction, Apple is actively telling me I'm less important than every person out there who has an Apple ID without a .Mac account. Apple is basically giving me a very strong incentive to cease paying them money, one that when you boil it all down makes no sense to being with...