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MobileMe: .Mac's iPhone-Friendly Replacement
Merlin Mann | Jun 9 2008
There's lots to digest from today's WWDC Stevenote -- not least of which was the dramatic announcement of a 3G iPhone for only $199. But you'll be hearing lots about that in a million places. I want to talk about my first impressions about something even closer to my heart that's at least different this time around, if not entirely new. Today, Steve announced the upcoming release of Apple's MobileMe service, which will replace the existing .Mac service at the same price of $99/year for an Individual account, while adding some new features, including:
As someone who's had strong feelings, high hopes, and occasional disappointmens with .Mac, I'm going to spend some time over the next few weeks looking into what these changes will mean for the always-on knowledge worker -- particularly now that the service is clearly moving toward tighter integration with iPhones, the iPod Touch, and web-based usage. But first, just a few things to note here (quickly and on first impression):
Questions
Bottom LineBoy, if there's any product that us fanboys want to love, this is it. But it's been a tough few years, even for the superfans. We've watched half a dozen or more other companies' services build similar or better features, provide higher reliability, and charge lower or zero cost in a way that seems to outpace Apple's offering without breaking a sweat. So, I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this and reporting back to you on how it's working for me. I want it to work great, and I think it can, based on Apple's high standards and ability to control all the pieces. I also stand by what I said in this post from January about the untapped possibilities of .Mac:
Please share your thoughts, hopes, wishes, and remarks about MobileMe or anything else related to the Keynote announcements here in comments. [These were quick notes I jotted this afternoon. Pardon any typos; I will fix them as I see them, as well as giving myself a day or two to add links on other coverage as it arises. I have a feeling a lot of people will be talking about MobileMe] 28 Comments
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MobileMe: iTunes Library in the cloudsSubmitted by FloatingBones on June 9, 2008 - 9:15pm.
It's clear that this feature is not yet supported, but it's one of the most obvious things that could be added. As Andy I pointed out, Apple could easily have MobileMe be an alternative to iTunes. The "push" technology could also be used to track which podcasts in your list that you had listened to -- and note what exact point you were if you paused a podcast on some computer/ipod. The cloud could be monitoring what was on your various players, updating the music/videos/podcasts as your preferences specified. If it worked well, it would bring a fluidity/transparency to the whole synchronization game. Ultimately, the entire concept of synchronization would fade into the background (so to speak). If I did have one immediate wish, it'd be that Apple could include iPod Touch software upgrades in your MobileMe subscription. We're coming up on our third Touch upgrade in a year; those recurring $10-$20 charges are getting a bit old. This could also be a good inducement for Touch owners to sign up for this service (and this year's "back to school" program guarantees that the number of Touch users will be rapidly increasing this summer). » POSTED IN:
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