MobileMe is Apple’s $99 per year service (it can be purchased for less) that keeps your email, contacts, and calendar information in the “cloud” and uses push technology to keep everything in sync across your iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, and the web automatically. MobileMe also offers MobileMe Gallery for sharing your photos, Find My iPhone and Find my iPad, which helps you locate your lost (or stolen) device, Remote Wipe, which allows you to remotely delete your personal information and restore devices to their to the factory settings, iDisk, for storing, accessing, and sharing files online (starts at 20GB), Me.com, a suite of ad-free web applications — Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Gallery, iDisk, and Find My iPhone — all accessible from a browser on any Mac or PC, Back to My Mac puts any Mac OS X Leopard- or Snow Leopard-based Mac you use within easy reach from anywhere, Secure iChat, which lets you protect your chats with robust, 128-bit encryption, the free iDisk app which lets you view files on your iDisk right on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, share content from iPhoto, iMovie, QuickTime, and Aperture, seamless iWeb integration, personal domain name hosting, and more.
MobileMe was originally launched on January 5, 2000, as “iTools,” a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9. iTools was relaunched as “.Mac” on July 17, 2002, when it became a $99 per year subscription service. .Mac was relaunched as “MobileMe” at WWDC 2008 on July 9, 2008.
No timeframe was given for MobileMe to go free, other than: “sooner than later… depends on certain facilities going operational.”
That’s all we have at this time.
Again, this is an unconfirmed RUMOR.
Right now an ISP can give you virtually unlimited storage for $100 a year. If MobileMe was simply cheaper and given more space I’d jump right on it.
Mdn mw: free
Looks like Apple has been taking a hard look at just how much money MobileMe is actually making.
Free would add a HUGE value to almost all of Apple’s hardware. (not to mention to a lot of Apple’s software)
IF they do make it free, Apple could credit current MobileMe users with the remanding time on their paid account with money deposited in their iTunes account. (or an Apple Store certificate)
And yes, I’m an original iTools user and current Family pac member, so I can see first hand the value “free” would add to Apple’s hardware.
I have been a longterm subscriber to iTools/.Mac/MobileMe; but like the majority of Mac users have long pondered if it wasn’t overpriced.
My first impression was to agree with the doubters based on Apple’s (nonexistent) history of giving something away that they could sell instead (and their strong track record of selling anything that made good sense and built the Mac platform).
But MobileMe has some differentiating characteristics that have become more striking with the introduction of the iPhone, iPod Touch,and the iPad. How many of Apple’s customers are Mac-only customers? I may not be typical with a Mac desktop, laptop, Mac Mini, iPhone, iPad, and a 1st gen iPhone that now serves as an iPod Touch wih a camera. Without MobileMe, I’m kinda sunk.
And that’s the point. MobileMe is now a core service to the customer that has been with Apple for a long time, but also to the new Apple customers. For the same reason that I recommended AAPL to my investment club in June, 2007, just weeks before the iPhone launch. The millions of new customers that Apple is acquiring through its touchscreen devices will, in many cases, become new Mac owners, as well. Their experience with the technology, design, and use will (have been) bring them into the Apple stores. 10% market share in computers, but half the computers they sell are to first-time Mac owners?
In that business environment, MobileMe, as a free service, becomes a huge selling point for using multiple devices on various Apple platforms. In effect, the sale of Macs and iPhones and iPads will pay for their new $1,000,000,000 cloud computing facility a lot faster than sales of MobileMe, and MobileMe, as an included service, will help propel Mac sales.
Steve is a genius who is smart enough to surround himself with other geniuses.
Now I hope I’m right. Makes sense to me
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iAd will pay for it.
That would be awesome. Though I like MobileMe and would still use it, I think 99/yr is steep. I would also like to see iWorks.com integration.
tanstaafl
If Apple is going to offer MobileMe for free, it’s because making it free will make Apple more money somewhere else.
It makes sense. They bought lala, a cloud based music site. You buy music on iTunes and are able to access it anywhere you have an Internet connection. iTunes will be just a piece of the cloud computing puzzle. If they make MobileMe free thousands of iTunes customers, who most likely own an iPhone or ipad, will be able to listen to anything from their collection.
I’ve been a member since the day Steve announced iTools, and promised it “free for life.”
Hopefully Apple has learned from their past mistakes, and won’t promise something just to take it back later.
If this is true, I welcome it, but what about the remaining balance on the accounts of those of us who have paid for it.
I’m guessing we will get iTunes credit.
Even at the price of FREE MobileMe is still a rip off. The “service is an absolute JOKE.
I would actually prefer it too stay as a pay service. With Facebook looking to sell your private profile and data to the highest bidder and Google being unable to keep their services secure; allowing bidding wars by criminal elements for our accounts. Not to mention the Chinese Government hacking them. I would feel better knowing that my data will be less likely sold off since I already paid. Hopefully it will lesson their desire to sell my data, although greedy will do as greedy does. Also, the security issues with online storage seems to be the same as your home. Where if someone is really determined to get in, they will. So I no longer expect anything in the “Cloud” to be safe (they’ll turn it over to the Gov without so much as a court order(see AT&T;). I just want access to things like my contact list and calendars on the go. And the ability to wipe my phone if lost/stolen. I deactivated FB already, I was looking to Mobile Me to replace my Google account but not anymore if this happens. Free just means they found a way to turn your data into money for them.
Hey, I heard that they were going to call it iTools!!!!
Apple should make the regular cost $49 per year, and include a $49 “rebate” that customers of new iPads, iPhones, Macs, and iPod touches can credit toward their existing MobileMe account or use to create a new one. It doesn’t have to be $49, but include whatever annual fee amount as a “gift” with a new iPad, iPhone, Mac, or iPod touch purchase. Basically, you get one year free.
Been using the family pack for years.
Mostly satisfied.
Would love to see more of the Dropbox functionality.
And iTunes streaming…..
mobileme free? if so, i’m all in baby…..
we would love to call .mac our home on a permanent basis, but century billing per annum isn’t in the budget. you drive that baby to $0 and I promise you we will be all in. Pictures, video, documents, databases. I will dump Google in a New York minute.
I can just see it now, I can access all of my presentations in one easy go, without having to worry about compatibility or upload limits. I’m lecturing tomorrow and Shazam, the School doesn’t support Macs. 200 slides have to be converted from Keynote to Powerpoint, many with video and multimedia – none of them work on the freaking Windows machine; all of my borders are out of place. Haven’t even looked at my transitions that I spent days working on.
You roll out mobile me at a reasonable price or free and I’m all in baby!
All Mac all the time.
I personally would rather have more bandwidth, more storage and/or limited commercial use at the current price, but as for the current features provided for free? I’ll take it. I think it works quite well, and it’s certainly the smoothest IMAP for now.
Need to add that if this is a free switch being financed by iAd, I’ll pass. Secure, independent IMAP email I’ll pay for, but a freebie being data mined I’ll not use.
One word – iAds.
That would suck.
It is already free.
Dropbox + fruux = free MobileMe (and better in most parts)
Free email is possible. Free MobleMe with the purchase of an iDevice (at least for the 1st year) makes sense. Free online storage 10x the size of Dropbox does not seem realistic unless it is a trial for a new service.
However, if it is true, I heard it here first.
Now, now. wrote”
“Has Apple offered a stand alone product or service for free? Ever??
I think we have our answer to this rumor.”
Yes Actually, iTools was free. As costs rose, most particularly due to iDisk storage space and increasing support needs, iTools was renamed .Mac as a subscription-based service.
Price cut = great.
Ability to map my own domain (like google apps) = KILLER.
Hmmm, they just enable the ability for users to migrate an email alias into an actual MobileMe account. Once you do this, you can’t go back. This sounds like it might tie in nicely.
Any news on this topic?