Apple’s home page for its .mac service has a list of what this service is supposed to let you do. Of course, it’s only natural that they want to hype the benefits, but I think maybe they’re going a bit far:

Publish in One Click with iWeb
Photocast with iPhoto
Exchange Files from Anywhere
Stay in Sync
Communicate the Way You Want
Back Up Your Life
Bring Groups Together

I’m a satisfied user of .mac, don’t get me wrong. But however much I may regret some things I’ve done and not done, I really don’t think .mac is going to let me back up my life.