Q: can't change my apple id

ckuan, you are really giving me a lot of good info, and even more to think about. This is all really interesting to me. This is like "secrets they don't want you to know" from some late night infomercial, but this is better, although grim. So I get that , that the OSX upgrades, because they came from the MAS are Apple's content, and are protected by their DRM, which we users interact with via our apple IDs. But still, within that MAS-acquired DRM, there are still user-created files like the Contacts DB and the Calendar DB that I can save to disk and take with me, right? If I was to "give this computer to myself" the safest way to ensure the survival of my Contacts, Calendars and other personal data files I created using an Apple-created app is to save them to disk, right? I think that must be right. I never worried about the portability my MS XL or Word files for example. It's interesting where this dividing line is between personal stuff and DRM stuff.

I'm just trying to get an idea of the digital landscape here, where personal databases I create on an on-going ad hoc basis like Calendars and Contacts are "mine" and I can take them wherever I want, but other apps or upgrades like anything that comes out of the MAS are not mine, they belong to the Apple ID. It's really interesting to think that I'm not buying these apps to use wherever I want, I'm buying them and can use them only with the Apple ID I bought them with. The Apple ID is a good example of how we interact with Apple's DRM. This is very interesting.

I am aware that many developers sell both their "own" versions of software, and MAS versions of the same program. But I can see now that the choice between which version to buy can be pretty complicated.

Thanks for your help!