"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
I'm one of those (possibly?) rare MobileMe users. I've used it since it was .MAC, I've always paid for it, i've never had any trouble with it (excepting the brief problems during the cutover to MobleMe) and I don't have any issue with the price.
The things that it does for me (push, sync, storage, semi-secure file sharing, basic website and photo sharing) are all available elsewhere, sometimes even for free. But those other solutions rarely work together, and are rarely trouble-free. For me, the yearly cost is trivial vs. the value of my time in setting up a hodge-podge of other stuff that may or may not work as well (and almost certainly doesn't work together and with my iOS devices).
All that said, I've always felt there was more they could do with the service. I've really come to look at this as a sleeper product - something Apple built and maintains while they build/buy/develop the other pieces needed to complete whatever their vision is. I expect that vision will eventually include streaming music (or at least server-backed up music), DropBox-like file sync, and maybe even a backup service like a Mozy/Time-Machine mashup (Time Machine really does rock, it'd be crazy good if it worked with online storage).
I don't expect that these services will be anywhere close to free.
But free push-mail and cloud storage for iTunes to act as a hook - that I'd believe.
They surely could do more, but I can?t complain since the service has become better while the price has stayed constant, and there is nothing else that comes close to offering all the services I use? at any price.
Are you paying full price each year? You can find some good deals. Usually about $60/year if you plan ahead. It doesn?t matter if the box is for MobileMe or .Mac, they will work. The versions on the .Mac are pointless marketing which helps ?us? by allowing us to buy the older versions which are likely overlooked by less savvy buyers.
A few years ago I found a company selling .Mac Family Packs for the price of their .Mac Individual Plan. I bought several boxes, inputted all the codes at once, and didn?t have to pay again until this year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cubert
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
That sounds a lot like my time spent in Philly, though with less blonde, but I?m partial to brunettes so it?s a win for me.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Why do you need to wait for winter to do all that?
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Sounds good. It is raining today in SoCal, does that qualify?
free could just mean syncing or streaming services (not email, idisk, etc)..
itunes already has the code to limit sharing libraries to 5 machines (those authorized or tied to your account). I'm sure the RIAA/MPAA wants to impose limits on streaming content - so Apple needs to limit that as well..
Hmm? I can see an argument for that, but I would counter with only select services of MobileMe would be made free, not the entire suite.
Also, I hope Apple makes MobileMe?s Find My iPhone more secure. Currently there are no passcode barriers when disabling MobileMe or Find My iPhone.
It needs to register the device with a unique user ID ( appleID/ mobileMeID) for sure. Will the rest be free? Why not - given Apple's size mobile me is a tiny cost.
It needs to register the device with a unique user ID ( appleID/ mobileMeID) for sure. Will the rest be free? Why not - given Apple's size mobile me is a tiny cost.
Do you remember Apple?s poorly executed change from .Mac to MobileMe? The perfect storm of trying to release a new iPhone, a new iPhone OS, and MobileMe all at the same time as if they could still use "boutique shop? logistics with a million iPhone 3G devices being activated in a few days, many million more updating to iOS 2.0 and the free MobileMe trial they were pushing?
It was just for a weekend that the services were so overwhelmed, but the damage was done and you still here people yammer that MobileMe doesn?t work. Now, if you want to try out MobileMe you have to input a valid CC and then cancel before the trial date is up. This is something I mentioned before the change over, as well having them give the option to test the new service to longtime users of the .Mac service. Now they are doing this, but it was a hard lesson.
I mentioned these things because you can simply open up a service like MobileMe to the over 100,000,000 iOS devices and expect it to work smoothly. Sure, they are just about finished with their data center, but they still can?t responsibly flip a switch and have any all get access to all of MobileMe services while assuming it will go to plan. When they open up MobileMe it will likely have many barriers in place. This is a good thing.
On top of that, I don?t want the whole of MobileMe to be a free product. I don?t want this to be a service that is run like Google?s ?free? services. I don?t want ads popping up, I don?t want a bottomless pit to send complaints/concerns to. I want a service that is responsible to its userbase. I want a service that allows a useful recourse if I do have issues.
Which raises the question: why are you still a paid member? Not being snarky, just curious.
I don't see what's great about picasa or even gmail that people rave about. Google apps are a total mishmash and most non-nerds are much better off with something more scaled down and integrated. MobileMe can surely fill that gap instead of going after nerds and "free at all cost" types (pun intended).
I'm also a paid member and a member for eight years or more now (I think I joined on the second day they started offering email accounts), and I find it worth it even though competing services are often free. People make too much out of the price. It costs less than treating yourself and a friend to a coffee once a month. If you are that cheap, you probably don't own a Mac and have a lot of other problems more pressing that what online services you use no doubt.
Google and Googles services and applications are also completely over-rated in my view. Gmail is pretty awful actually, and Picassa and the online document editing thing is similarly awkward and poorly done. Most everyone I know that uses Google docs, does so because it's pretty much the *only* online solution (besides Microsoft's business stuff), not because it's so great.
All Apple has to do is offer a smoothly operating, integrated competing solution and you will see how popular Google's offerings are *not*.
Another thing to consider re: MobileMe possibly going free, is that it's all about users in today's world. Facebook is powerful and popular because of the unique accounts and the information they collect on the people that use it. Google is the same. If every AppleID with a credit card, all of a sudden became part of an online community called "MobileMe," Apple would instantly have the biggest, most valuable community online.
It's no surprise that they started building that data centre, right after accusing Google of playing in their sandbox. I think it's a counter-strike of sorts. MobileMe being free would be a giant spear thrust right into the heart of Google. With Facebook getting messaging/email, the accounts which are the main strength of Google, could easily just evaporate.
... I hope Apple makes MobileMe?s Find My iPhone more secure. Currently there are no passcode barriers when disabling MobileMe or Find My iPhone.
Could you explain this? It makes no sense to me.
There are *many* password barriers to changing anything on MobileMe and "findMyiPhone" as far as I can see. You can't do anything without logging in to MobileMe (twice!) on the web, and you can't use find my iPhone on the phone or iPad without signing in to the service at least once. There is no toggle that I can see that turns it off.
I don't see how you can argue that there is any kind of security problem there. It's pretty standard stuff and implemented quite securely AFAICS.
Do you remember Apple’s poorly executed change from .Mac to MobileMe? The perfect storm of trying to release a new iPhone, a new iPhone OS, and MobileMe all at the same time as if they could still use "boutique shop” logistics with a million iPhone 3G devices being activated in a few days, many million more updating to iOS 2.0 and the free MobileMe trial they were pushing?
It was just for a weekend that the services were so overwhelmed, but the damage was done and you still here people yammer that MobileMe doesn’t work. Now, if you want to try out MobileMe you have to input a valid CC and then cancel before the trial date is up. This is something I mentioned before the change over, as well having them give the option to test the new service to longtime users of the .Mac service. Now they are doing this, but it was a hard lesson.
I mentioned these things because you can simply open up a service like MobileMe to the over 100,000,000 iOS devices and expect it to work smoothly. Sure, they are just about finished with their data center, but they still can’t responsibly flip a switch and have any all get access to all of MobileMe services while assuming it will go to plan. When they open up MobileMe it will likely have many barriers in place. This is a good thing.
On top of that, I don’t want the whole of MobileMe to be a free product. I don’t want this to be a service that is run like Google’s “free” services. I don’t want ads popping up, I don’t want a bottomless pit to send complaints/concerns to. I want a service that is responsible to its userbase. I want a service that allows a useful recourse if I do have issues.
its not all about you :-) The logistical problem can be solved, possibly that is what the data centre is for. What I am saying is that they need to get people using Find my iPhone etc. for NFC. it will be free, i guessed that anyway and - more to the point - these localised strings are a giveaway, right?
There are *many* password barriers to changing anything on MobileMe and "findMyiPhone" as far as I can see. You can't do anything without logging in to MobileMe (twice!) on the web, and you can't use find my iPhone on the phone or iPad without signing in to the service at least once. There is no toggle that I can see that turns it off.
I don't see how you can argue that there is any kind of security problem there. It's pretty standard stuff and implemented quite securely AFAICS.
Go to the other end. I’m talking about from the device itself.
If your don’t have a PIN/passcode setup to protect your device, or have it set to some interval, if someone gets into the device they can, from Settings » Mail, Contacts, Calendars, delete your MobileMe account or disable Find My iPhone without any PIN or password protecting the user.
If you want to change your iDevice’s PIN/passcode you need to renter your PIN/passcode so the system knows you have legitimate access. This should be required to change any aspect of MobileMe that would disable or enable Find My iPhone on the device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdasd
its not all about you :-)
I know you added an emoticon, but note that I go out of my way to look at companies from their point-of-view, not mine.
Quote:
...these localised strings are a giveaway, right?
They are. Note that they list a limit per device, aren’t open to all devices or devices in all countries. There is even a string that states, "This Apple ID cannot be used for MobileMe Mail, but you can use it for other MobileMe services.”, which tells me exactly what I stated about it making the whole of MobileMe a free for all.
If you want to change your iDevice?s PIN/passcode you need to renter your PIN/passcode so the system knows you have legitimate access. This should be required to change any aspect of MobileMe that would disable or enable Find My iPhone on the device.
You are exactly right there. I would imagine it's not hard to implement this. Why not require your MobileMe login any time you enable/disable MobileMe or find my phone? With all the talk about the new data center leading to more cloud services and more ubiquitous MobileMe implementation, I'd like to see this done sooner rather than later. I'm one of those careful people who is unlikely to lose my phone so I prefer to use it without a pin but if the dreaded does happen, I don't want the person finding it easily disabling the find my phone feature before I even have a chance to log into to MobileMe. The MobileMe acct/find my phone feature needs it's own passcode--the same way a sensitive file/app needs one.
I'm one of those careful people who is unlikely to lose my phone so I prefer to use it without a pin but if the dreaded does happen, I don't want the person finding it easily disabling the find my phone feature before I even have a chance to log into to MobileMe. The MobileMe acct/find my phone feature needs it's own passcode--the same way a sensitive file/app needs one.
Me too, and I have nothing on my device that is itself so confidential that I need to have it locked, but I do (and have it set to 1 minute) because of the MobileMe hole allowing anyone with access to the device to disable it.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdaddyp
Why do you need to wait for winter to do all that?
Comments
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
I'm one of those (possibly?) rare MobileMe users. I've used it since it was .MAC, I've always paid for it, i've never had any trouble with it (excepting the brief problems during the cutover to MobleMe) and I don't have any issue with the price.
The things that it does for me (push, sync, storage, semi-secure file sharing, basic website and photo sharing) are all available elsewhere, sometimes even for free. But those other solutions rarely work together, and are rarely trouble-free. For me, the yearly cost is trivial vs. the value of my time in setting up a hodge-podge of other stuff that may or may not work as well (and almost certainly doesn't work together and with my iOS devices).
All that said, I've always felt there was more they could do with the service. I've really come to look at this as a sleeper product - something Apple built and maintains while they build/buy/develop the other pieces needed to complete whatever their vision is. I expect that vision will eventually include streaming music (or at least server-backed up music), DropBox-like file sync, and maybe even a backup service like a Mozy/Time-Machine mashup (Time Machine really does rock, it'd be crazy good if it worked with online storage).
I don't expect that these services will be anywhere close to free.
But free push-mail and cloud storage for iTunes to act as a hook - that I'd believe.
They surely could do more, but I can?t complain since the service has become better while the price has stayed constant, and there is nothing else that comes close to offering all the services I use? at any price.
Are you paying full price each year? You can find some good deals. Usually about $60/year if you plan ahead. It doesn?t matter if the box is for MobileMe or .Mac, they will work. The versions on the .Mac are pointless marketing which helps ?us? by allowing us to buy the older versions which are likely overlooked by less savvy buyers.
A few years ago I found a company selling .Mac Family Packs for the price of their .Mac Individual Plan. I bought several boxes, inputted all the codes at once, and didn?t have to pay again until this year.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
That sounds a lot like my time spent in Philly, though with less blonde, but I?m partial to brunettes so it?s a win for me.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Why do you need to wait for winter to do all that?
I have also been a member since day 1 of iTools/.Mac/mobileMe
I have forwarded my .Mac address to a gmail address
I have paid for dropbox instead of using iDisk
I still use the contacts, calendaring & bookmark syncing as well as the find my iPhone.
I believe Apple will offer the contacts and calendaring syncing for free to all iOS customers as a way to entice them to upgrade to the full mobileMe.
This will also mean less support calls about customers losing their contacts.
I've been on board since mstone@eworld.com which I was disappointed to lose.
I find MobileMe indispensable for the single feature of back to my Mac.
If you don't have multiple Macs then it wouldn't be a compelling reason but for me the service is well worth the money.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Sounds good. It is raining today in SoCal, does that qualify?
If stolen it needs to be deactivated, so mobile me needs to be free.
Apple will debut a phone with NFC next year. It will be your wallet. Your credit card. Your Oyster card. etc.
If stolen it needs to be deactivated, so mobile me needs to be free.
Hmm? I can see an argument for that, but I would counter with only select services of MobileMe would be made free, not the entire suite.
Also, I hope Apple makes MobileMe?s Find My iPhone more secure. Currently there are no passcode barriers when disabling MobileMe or Find My iPhone.
itunes already has the code to limit sharing libraries to 5 machines (those authorized or tied to your account). I'm sure the RIAA/MPAA wants to impose limits on streaming content - so Apple needs to limit that as well..
why build something separate into mobile me?
Hmm? I can see an argument for that, but I would counter with only select services of MobileMe would be made free, not the entire suite.
Also, I hope Apple makes MobileMe?s Find My iPhone more secure. Currently there are no passcode barriers when disabling MobileMe or Find My iPhone.
It needs to register the device with a unique user ID ( appleID/ mobileMeID) for sure. Will the rest be free? Why not - given Apple's size mobile me is a tiny cost.
It needs to register the device with a unique user ID ( appleID/ mobileMeID) for sure. Will the rest be free? Why not - given Apple's size mobile me is a tiny cost.
Do you remember Apple?s poorly executed change from .Mac to MobileMe? The perfect storm of trying to release a new iPhone, a new iPhone OS, and MobileMe all at the same time as if they could still use "boutique shop? logistics with a million iPhone 3G devices being activated in a few days, many million more updating to iOS 2.0 and the free MobileMe trial they were pushing?
It was just for a weekend that the services were so overwhelmed, but the damage was done and you still here people yammer that MobileMe doesn?t work. Now, if you want to try out MobileMe you have to input a valid CC and then cancel before the trial date is up. This is something I mentioned before the change over, as well having them give the option to test the new service to longtime users of the .Mac service. Now they are doing this, but it was a hard lesson.
I mentioned these things because you can simply open up a service like MobileMe to the over 100,000,000 iOS devices and expect it to work smoothly. Sure, they are just about finished with their data center, but they still can?t responsibly flip a switch and have any all get access to all of MobileMe services while assuming it will go to plan. When they open up MobileMe it will likely have many barriers in place. This is a good thing.
On top of that, I don?t want the whole of MobileMe to be a free product. I don?t want this to be a service that is run like Google?s ?free? services. I don?t want ads popping up, I don?t want a bottomless pit to send complaints/concerns to. I want a service that is responsible to its userbase. I want a service that allows a useful recourse if I do have issues.
Which raises the question: why are you still a paid member? Not being snarky, just curious.
I don't see what's great about picasa or even gmail that people rave about. Google apps are a total mishmash and most non-nerds are much better off with something more scaled down and integrated. MobileMe can surely fill that gap instead of going after nerds and "free at all cost" types (pun intended).
I'm also a paid member and a member for eight years or more now (I think I joined on the second day they started offering email accounts), and I find it worth it even though competing services are often free. People make too much out of the price. It costs less than treating yourself and a friend to a coffee once a month. If you are that cheap, you probably don't own a Mac and have a lot of other problems more pressing that what online services you use no doubt.
Google and Googles services and applications are also completely over-rated in my view. Gmail is pretty awful actually, and Picassa and the online document editing thing is similarly awkward and poorly done. Most everyone I know that uses Google docs, does so because it's pretty much the *only* online solution (besides Microsoft's business stuff), not because it's so great.
All Apple has to do is offer a smoothly operating, integrated competing solution and you will see how popular Google's offerings are *not*.
Another thing to consider re: MobileMe possibly going free, is that it's all about users in today's world. Facebook is powerful and popular because of the unique accounts and the information they collect on the people that use it. Google is the same. If every AppleID with a credit card, all of a sudden became part of an online community called "MobileMe," Apple would instantly have the biggest, most valuable community online.
It's no surprise that they started building that data centre, right after accusing Google of playing in their sandbox. I think it's a counter-strike of sorts. MobileMe being free would be a giant spear thrust right into the heart of Google. With Facebook getting messaging/email, the accounts which are the main strength of Google, could easily just evaporate.
... I hope Apple makes MobileMe?s Find My iPhone more secure. Currently there are no passcode barriers when disabling MobileMe or Find My iPhone.
Could you explain this? It makes no sense to me.
There are *many* password barriers to changing anything on MobileMe and "findMyiPhone" as far as I can see. You can't do anything without logging in to MobileMe (twice!) on the web, and you can't use find my iPhone on the phone or iPad without signing in to the service at least once. There is no toggle that I can see that turns it off.
I don't see how you can argue that there is any kind of security problem there. It's pretty standard stuff and implemented quite securely AFAICS.
Do you remember Apple’s poorly executed change from .Mac to MobileMe? The perfect storm of trying to release a new iPhone, a new iPhone OS, and MobileMe all at the same time as if they could still use "boutique shop” logistics with a million iPhone 3G devices being activated in a few days, many million more updating to iOS 2.0 and the free MobileMe trial they were pushing?
It was just for a weekend that the services were so overwhelmed, but the damage was done and you still here people yammer that MobileMe doesn’t work. Now, if you want to try out MobileMe you have to input a valid CC and then cancel before the trial date is up. This is something I mentioned before the change over, as well having them give the option to test the new service to longtime users of the .Mac service. Now they are doing this, but it was a hard lesson.
I mentioned these things because you can simply open up a service like MobileMe to the over 100,000,000 iOS devices and expect it to work smoothly. Sure, they are just about finished with their data center, but they still can’t responsibly flip a switch and have any all get access to all of MobileMe services while assuming it will go to plan. When they open up MobileMe it will likely have many barriers in place. This is a good thing.
On top of that, I don’t want the whole of MobileMe to be a free product. I don’t want this to be a service that is run like Google’s “free” services. I don’t want ads popping up, I don’t want a bottomless pit to send complaints/concerns to. I want a service that is responsible to its userbase. I want a service that allows a useful recourse if I do have issues.
its not all about you :-) The logistical problem can be solved, possibly that is what the data centre is for. What I am saying is that they need to get people using Find my iPhone etc. for NFC. it will be free, i guessed that anyway and - more to the point - these localised strings are a giveaway, right?
EDIT: select services would do it for me too.
Could you explain this? It makes no sense to me.
There are *many* password barriers to changing anything on MobileMe and "findMyiPhone" as far as I can see. You can't do anything without logging in to MobileMe (twice!) on the web, and you can't use find my iPhone on the phone or iPad without signing in to the service at least once. There is no toggle that I can see that turns it off.
I don't see how you can argue that there is any kind of security problem there. It's pretty standard stuff and implemented quite securely AFAICS.
Go to the other end. I’m talking about from the device itself.
If your don’t have a PIN/passcode setup to protect your device, or have it set to some interval, if someone gets into the device they can, from Settings » Mail, Contacts, Calendars, delete your MobileMe account or disable Find My iPhone without any PIN or password protecting the user.
If you want to change your iDevice’s PIN/passcode you need to renter your PIN/passcode so the system knows you have legitimate access. This should be required to change any aspect of MobileMe that would disable or enable Find My iPhone on the device.
its not all about you :-)
I know you added an emoticon, but note that I go out of my way to look at companies from their point-of-view, not mine.
...these localised strings are a giveaway, right?
They are. Note that they list a limit per device, aren’t open to all devices or devices in all countries. There is even a string that states, "This Apple ID cannot be used for MobileMe Mail, but you can use it for other MobileMe services.”, which tells me exactly what I stated about it making the whole of MobileMe a free for all.
If you want to change your iDevice?s PIN/passcode you need to renter your PIN/passcode so the system knows you have legitimate access. This should be required to change any aspect of MobileMe that would disable or enable Find My iPhone on the device.
You are exactly right there. I would imagine it's not hard to implement this. Why not require your MobileMe login any time you enable/disable MobileMe or find my phone? With all the talk about the new data center leading to more cloud services and more ubiquitous MobileMe implementation, I'd like to see this done sooner rather than later. I'm one of those careful people who is unlikely to lose my phone so I prefer to use it without a pin but if the dreaded does happen, I don't want the person finding it easily disabling the find my phone feature before I even have a chance to log into to MobileMe. The MobileMe acct/find my phone feature needs it's own passcode--the same way a sensitive file/app needs one.
I'm one of those careful people who is unlikely to lose my phone so I prefer to use it without a pin but if the dreaded does happen, I don't want the person finding it easily disabling the find my phone feature before I even have a chance to log into to MobileMe. The MobileMe acct/find my phone feature needs it's own passcode--the same way a sensitive file/app needs one.
Me too, and I have nothing on my device that is itself so confidential that I need to have it locked, but I do (and have it set to 1 minute) because of the MobileMe hole allowing anyone with access to the device to disable it.
Premium paid MobileMe = Same as now + more storage + streaming music/movies + other new features being worked
A basic free MobileMe account would be nice but for iTunes or iOS users with credit cards only.
It important keep out fake identities that just waste network resources and pollute the user databases.
Time will tell.
Good idea. Also this is why I haven't bought a MM acct yet. Figured a free one might be available shortly.
"Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark"
Just in time for those long winter day-nights with nothing better to do than drink Vodka, sit in hot tubs and shag tall, hot blondes. Now, add iPad to the list!
Why do you need to wait for winter to do all that?
Because in the summer he shags goats.