When the iPhone first came out I'd agree but these days gmail syncs contacts, calendar and email. Apple now offers find my phone is now free. I cannot see what MobileMe currently offers to justify its price.
Both MobileMe and gmail including a service that ?syncs? doesn?t make them the same. With MobileMe I can sync across Macs. With MobileMe I can easily restore or setup a user account to the settings I prefer using MobileMe. With MobileMe I have zero-config access to multiple Macs with Back to My Mac. With MobileMe I get built-in push email without having to setup an exchange account. This is such a benefit that my gmail account (my normal mail account) is pushed to my MobileMe account so I can benefit from push email on my iDevices.
The list goes on, but the point should be clear. There are plenty of reasons many of use like using MobileMe and find $5/month well worth the expense.
Both MobileMe and gmail including a service that “syncs” doesn’t make them the same. With MobileMe I can sync across Macs. With MobileMe I can easily restore or setup a user account to the settings I prefer using MobileMe. With MobileMe I have zero-config access to multiple Macs with Back to My Mac. With MobileMe I get built-in push email without having to setup an exchange account. This is such a benefit that my gmail account (my normal mail account) is pushed to my MobileMe account so I can benefit from push email on my iDevices.
The list goes on, but the point should be clear. There are plenty of reasons many of use like using MobileMe and find $5/month well worth the expense.
Gmail has push support for email, calendar and contacts. I actually still find it magical that I can edit an address on my iPad or change a contact's picture and it is instantly updated on my iPhone. The downside is now I rarely connect my iDevices to my Mac so they don't get backed up as often as they should. If only Apple would add wireless syncing / backups.
ps I cannot remember when Google added push. It used to be push support for the Google calendar only but sometime in 2009 (I think that is correct) they added push for contacts and email as well. Before then I was considering a MobileMe account.
I hope the "improvements" don't include another royal cockup such as what happend a few months ago when they arbitrarily decided that it didn't matter that millions of images across that web that were linked idisks suddenly broke. That's the kind of arrogant crap that drives people away.
Gmail has push support for email, calendar and contacts.
I cannot remember when they added it. It used to be push support for the Google calendar only but sometime in 2009 they added push for contacts and email as well.
1) That’s ‘a’ service, which I addressed already, as well as stating that simply having ‘a’ service that you can append the word “sync” to doesn’t make them indentical.
2) It uses an ActiveSync Exchange setup, not the typical Gmail account, as I previously noted.
3) I’m not arguing that there are services MobileMe does that are worse than some free services (e.g.: Dropbox compared to iDisk) or good enough sevices (e.g.: Gmail’s Exchange compared to MobileMe push) for some users. I’m arguing that looking at a subset of some of the features while ignoring the entirety of the feature set and its convenience means you won’t see how this $5/month service is beneficial to me and others.
What's the problem with using an ActiveSync exchange setup? It was easy to do and I have never had any issues with it.
Why does there have to be a problem with Exchange? Why can?t you understand that Gmail does not come close to equaling the scope of MobieMe and that email is not the only thing MobileMe offers to people. In fact, I?ve already stated that I use Gmail as my main email account. i suppose I could change it all around now that I can use a different workaround to get push email on iDevices, but that?s foolish on the face of it seeing as how it will require effort on my part with an end result of having less syncing options, potential incompatibles with syncing (something I?ve experienced with Gmail contacts), and still have to use my MobileMe account if I wish to maintain synced Notes.
Why does there have to be a problem with Exchange?
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I misread your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I miss read your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
I’m done with this conversation. You’ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe’s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
I don't see what MobileMe does to justify the price.
You obviously aren't a user then. The services from webmail, web calendar, galleries, on line file storage and sharing, back to my mac, sync services - including all my preferences, web favourites even the layout of my dock when I (easily) sync a guest account on a remote machine so I can carry on working with files on iDisk is more than worth £5 a month - NO other company offers this as one integrated service. It's a fantastic investment and it keeps getting better.
I hope the "improvements" don't include another royal cockup such as what happend a few months ago when they arbitrarily decided that it didn't matter that millions of images across that web that were linked idisks suddenly broke. That's the kind of arrogant crap that drives people away.
What are you talking about? (If) something 'broke' that's not "arrogance" it's unfortunate. As a heavy user of iDisk and the web gallery service I've never experienced an issue. The only issue in my entire subscription was when mobile me officially launched from the previous version and there were 72 hours of tinkering and down time - for a fiver a month I can cope with a weekend of downtime out of two years of incredible service.
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I misread your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
I?m done with this conversation. You?ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe?s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
he totally ignored the syncing contacts problem which gmail is having.. i've tried many times before(2 yrs before as after i failed i bought mobileme), for example if i have a contact save with 2 mobile phone numbers, if i want to sync my contacts with gmail it will delete one mobile number and my contacts will show that person only has one number saved...
i'm sure solipsism has already given many facts why mobileme is better than gmail so i don't have to mention it.
MobileMe is in fact, rather awesome for the apple-centric user. If apple lowers the price a bit and makes some more improvements (does software ever really stand still? No it always has room for improvement) MobileMe wil be awesomer still.
My wife and I are freelance graphic designers and for a family plan price of $74 /yr (from amazon) the service is worth every penny. In fact, I was able to drop my $200/yr web site hosting plan so I am already ahead of the game. With MobileMe we have syncing of everything we need, offsite backup storage on iDisk, and an easy way to share files with clients. Using forwarding and a gmail account, I've made our all email appear to come from [email protected] while any mail received gets pushed to [email protected]. Using push email means we don't need a texting plan from AT&T. More savings there. I could go on.
There are lots of little things that make MobileMe worth every penny for us. Tying to replicate ALL these things with free services is a bad cludge at best and I've always run into problems, shortcomings, and headaches. Oh, and MobileMe works perfectly for me so I'm not sure why some are having problems but it's certainly not a universal problem with the service.
What are you talking about? (If) something 'broke' that's not "arrogance" it's unfortunate. As a heavy user of iDisk and the web gallery service I've never experienced an issue. The only issue in my entire subscription was when mobile me officially launched from the previous version and there were 72 hours of tinkering and down time - for a fiver a month I can cope with a weekend of downtime out of two years of incredible service.
I remember I have tested their "service". It was so buggy, that I had no intention to pay them. Out of the top of my head:
- the order of contact groups was really messed up (not alphabetical, no order)
- some calendars were not updating unless the page was refreshed manually
- the problem with growing outlook file (MobileMe was corrupting the database in some way)
- problem with 1 day shift of birthdays
And I was testing different ways of syncing (from desktop and from iPhone, deleting everything and syncing again. Many, many times, testing in so many different ways.)
After they announced that they improved MobileMe - I tested it again.
Still buggy.
And then I tested some time later even 3d time.
Still buggy.
(On positive note: web gallery seemed to be OK. iDisk was working pretty good.)
As you say - it is a package what you pay for.
I like a Google package:
- Mail (and their search and filter functions - love it),
- Contacts (and it is accessible behind the corporate firewall!)
- Calendar (and it is accessible behind the corporate firewall!),
- Reader,
- Documents (Google Docs)
- Wave (a fascinating technology! Love it. Though this is the only service which I do not use every day yet.)
If you are happy with the Apple's service/product and can convince yourself that it is a good way to spend several hundreds bucks over next couple of years - I am happy for you. And myself, since you bring Apple revenue, and I am long in Apple shares.
I just picked up a boxed MobileMe code from amazon for $42. It said "old version" but that doesn't matter. Even .Mac codes still work in renewing your subscription.
I thought MobileMe was working great for a while as well. Then my manager said she had been sending me emails, and I'd only get 1 out of 3... Or people at the company for which I often work were only getting a few of my emails. This is BAAAAAAD service. And syncing is a bit complicated. Certainly you cannot say it's elegant. I think they are on the right road, but really they should have fixed all these problems by now.
I?m done with this conversation. You?ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe?s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
What about cross device usage? I like MobileMe, I use it myself to sync my calendars and contacts, and to store video etc, but if I want to change my phone or tablet then I'm cooked.
I can set up Google to sync my calendar, contacts and mail in real time, just like MM, and I can use it on a Palm Pre, iPhone, WP7, Android device, Nokia, BlackBerry or whatever I want. It's a hell of a lot more flexible. If Apple opened it up a bit more across devices I would be happy to stick with it, but it's so confining to idevices that it's very frustrating.
I want to be able to use some devices that aren't made by Apple, even is some or most of them are. I am paying for the service, so it should be independent of idevices. It it were free I could see the argument for keeping it Apple only, but for £90 a year I should be able to use it on whatever the hell I want, I am paying enough.
If I pay MS or a host for an exchange account i can use it anywhere on any device. Plus it's quite slow.
I don't see what MobileMe does to justify the price.
My wife and I have had MM (fka mac.com) for several years. It costs $140 per year for the 2 of us. We have Macbooks and iPhones. The subscribed (synced) calendars alone are worth the cost. iDisk seems to be much better now and we also use it as a secondary, in the cloud, backup for docs, photos and music tracks. And of course our email.
Making the entire package (not merely "find my device") free would most probably change the whole scenario and become not nearly as attractive an option. Free isn't always the best option.
Since Apple did not touch iWeb or iDVD in the last iLife upgrade, it would seem to me that they will move those services to the web where you can update your me.com page from any "apple" device.
And given that no one can come up with a use for that new data center, I'm kinda thinking that me.com will become a lot like a "facebook" type service too.
Since Apple did not touch iWeb or iDVD in the last iLife upgrade, it would seem to me that they will move those services to the web where you can update your me.com page from any "apple" device.
And given that no one can come up with a use for that new data center, I'm kinda thinking that me.com will become a lot like a "facebook" type service too.
My wife and I have had MM (fka mac.com) for several years. It costs $140 per year for the 2 of us.
If you plan ahead by checing every month or two for MobileMe or .Mac* boxes online you can get that price under $100 easy, and perhaps as low as $70 for a Family Pack. You can then input the codes ahead of time and have them extend your account duration.
* Note that .Mac used to increase in version numbers each year on the box but it?s just silly marketing. You can buy old .Mac boxes and the serial numbers will work to extend your MobileMe services.
Comments
When the iPhone first came out I'd agree but these days gmail syncs contacts, calendar and email. Apple now offers find my phone is now free. I cannot see what MobileMe currently offers to justify its price.
Both MobileMe and gmail including a service that ?syncs? doesn?t make them the same. With MobileMe I can sync across Macs. With MobileMe I can easily restore or setup a user account to the settings I prefer using MobileMe. With MobileMe I have zero-config access to multiple Macs with Back to My Mac. With MobileMe I get built-in push email without having to setup an exchange account. This is such a benefit that my gmail account (my normal mail account) is pushed to my MobileMe account so I can benefit from push email on my iDevices.
The list goes on, but the point should be clear. There are plenty of reasons many of use like using MobileMe and find $5/month well worth the expense.
Both MobileMe and gmail including a service that “syncs” doesn’t make them the same. With MobileMe I can sync across Macs. With MobileMe I can easily restore or setup a user account to the settings I prefer using MobileMe. With MobileMe I have zero-config access to multiple Macs with Back to My Mac. With MobileMe I get built-in push email without having to setup an exchange account. This is such a benefit that my gmail account (my normal mail account) is pushed to my MobileMe account so I can benefit from push email on my iDevices.
The list goes on, but the point should be clear. There are plenty of reasons many of use like using MobileMe and find $5/month well worth the expense.
Gmail has push support for email, calendar and contacts. I actually still find it magical that I can edit an address on my iPad or change a contact's picture and it is instantly updated on my iPhone. The downside is now I rarely connect my iDevices to my Mac so they don't get backed up as often as they should. If only Apple would add wireless syncing / backups.
ps I cannot remember when Google added push. It used to be push support for the Google calendar only but sometime in 2009 (I think that is correct) they added push for contacts and email as well. Before then I was considering a MobileMe account.
Gmail has push support for email, calendar and contacts.
I cannot remember when they added it. It used to be push support for the Google calendar only but sometime in 2009 they added push for contacts and email as well.
1) That’s ‘a’ service, which I addressed already, as well as stating that simply having ‘a’ service that you can append the word “sync” to doesn’t make them indentical.
2) It uses an ActiveSync Exchange setup, not the typical Gmail account, as I previously noted.3) I’m not arguing that there are services MobileMe does that are worse than some free services (e.g.: Dropbox compared to iDisk) or good enough sevices (e.g.: Gmail’s Exchange compared to MobileMe push) for some users. I’m arguing that looking at a subset of some of the features while ignoring the entirety of the feature set and its convenience means you won’t see how this $5/month service is beneficial to me and others.
What's the problem with using an ActiveSync exchange setup? It was easy to do and I have never had any issues with it.
Why does there have to be a problem with Exchange? Why can?t you understand that Gmail does not come close to equaling the scope of MobieMe and that email is not the only thing MobileMe offers to people. In fact, I?ve already stated that I use Gmail as my main email account. i suppose I could change it all around now that I can use a different workaround to get push email on iDevices, but that?s foolish on the face of it seeing as how it will require effort on my part with an end result of having less syncing options, potential incompatibles with syncing (something I?ve experienced with Gmail contacts), and still have to use my MobileMe account if I wish to maintain synced Notes.
Why does there have to be a problem with Exchange?
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I misread your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I miss read your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
I’m done with this conversation. You’ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe’s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
I don't see what MobileMe does to justify the price.
You obviously aren't a user then. The services from webmail, web calendar, galleries, on line file storage and sharing, back to my mac, sync services - including all my preferences, web favourites even the layout of my dock when I (easily) sync a guest account on a remote machine so I can carry on working with files on iDisk is more than worth £5 a month - NO other company offers this as one integrated service. It's a fantastic investment and it keeps getting better.
I hope the "improvements" don't include another royal cockup such as what happend a few months ago when they arbitrarily decided that it didn't matter that millions of images across that web that were linked idisks suddenly broke. That's the kind of arrogant crap that drives people away.
What are you talking about? (If) something 'broke' that's not "arrogance" it's unfortunate. As a heavy user of iDisk and the web gallery service I've never experienced an issue. The only issue in my entire subscription was when mobile me officially launched from the previous version and there were 72 hours of tinkering and down time - for a fiver a month I can cope with a weekend of downtime out of two years of incredible service.
You appeared to be implying there was one. Maybe I misread your post.
At the end of the day, when someone sends me an email I instantly receive it on all my iOS devices as well as on my iMac. When I read it on one it is marked read everywhere. When I edit a contact or create a calendar appointment again all my devices are kept up-to-date. All of this is free. I therefore don't see any reason why I would pay for MobileMe.
I?m done with this conversation. You?ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe?s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
he totally ignored the syncing contacts problem which gmail is having.. i've tried many times before(2 yrs before as after i failed i bought mobileme), for example if i have a contact save with 2 mobile phone numbers, if i want to sync my contacts with gmail it will delete one mobile number and my contacts will show that person only has one number saved...
i'm sure solipsism has already given many facts why mobileme is better than gmail so i don't have to mention it.
My wife and I are freelance graphic designers and for a family plan price of $74 /yr (from amazon) the service is worth every penny. In fact, I was able to drop my $200/yr web site hosting plan so I am already ahead of the game. With MobileMe we have syncing of everything we need, offsite backup storage on iDisk, and an easy way to share files with clients. Using forwarding and a gmail account, I've made our all email appear to come from [email protected] while any mail received gets pushed to [email protected]. Using push email means we don't need a texting plan from AT&T. More savings there. I could go on.
There are lots of little things that make MobileMe worth every penny for us. Tying to replicate ALL these things with free services is a bad cludge at best and I've always run into problems, shortcomings, and headaches. Oh, and MobileMe works perfectly for me so I'm not sure why some are having problems but it's certainly not a universal problem with the service.
What are you talking about? (If) something 'broke' that's not "arrogance" it's unfortunate. As a heavy user of iDisk and the web gallery service I've never experienced an issue. The only issue in my entire subscription was when mobile me officially launched from the previous version and there were 72 hours of tinkering and down time - for a fiver a month I can cope with a weekend of downtime out of two years of incredible service.
I remember I have tested their "service". It was so buggy, that I had no intention to pay them. Out of the top of my head:
- the order of contact groups was really messed up (not alphabetical, no order)
- some calendars were not updating unless the page was refreshed manually
- the problem with growing outlook file (MobileMe was corrupting the database in some way)
- problem with 1 day shift of birthdays
And I was testing different ways of syncing (from desktop and from iPhone, deleting everything and syncing again. Many, many times, testing in so many different ways.)
After they announced that they improved MobileMe - I tested it again.
Still buggy.
And then I tested some time later even 3d time.
Still buggy.
(On positive note: web gallery seemed to be OK. iDisk was working pretty good.)
As you say - it is a package what you pay for.
I like a Google package:
- Mail (and their search and filter functions - love it),
- Contacts (and it is accessible behind the corporate firewall!)
- Calendar (and it is accessible behind the corporate firewall!),
- Reader,
- Documents (Google Docs)
- Wave (a fascinating technology! Love it. Though this is the only service which I do not use every day yet.)
If you are happy with the Apple's service/product and can convince yourself that it is a good way to spend several hundreds bucks over next couple of years - I am happy for you. And myself, since you bring Apple revenue, and I am long in Apple shares.
I?m done with this conversation. You?ve ignored all comments about how MobileMe could be a benefit to others, seem to only be focusing on email as the only viable service it offers, and for some reason read my appeal for MobileMe?s complete feature suite as some slant against Gmail and/or Exchange. The bottom line is no one offers what MobileMe can offer at any price, much less at the $5/month I pay for the service.
What about cross device usage? I like MobileMe, I use it myself to sync my calendars and contacts, and to store video etc, but if I want to change my phone or tablet then I'm cooked.
I can set up Google to sync my calendar, contacts and mail in real time, just like MM, and I can use it on a Palm Pre, iPhone, WP7, Android device, Nokia, BlackBerry or whatever I want. It's a hell of a lot more flexible. If Apple opened it up a bit more across devices I would be happy to stick with it, but it's so confining to idevices that it's very frustrating.
I want to be able to use some devices that aren't made by Apple, even is some or most of them are. I am paying for the service, so it should be independent of idevices. It it were free I could see the argument for keeping it Apple only, but for £90 a year I should be able to use it on whatever the hell I want, I am paying enough.
If I pay MS or a host for an exchange account i can use it anywhere on any device. Plus it's quite slow.
I don't see what MobileMe does to justify the price.
My wife and I have had MM (fka mac.com) for several years. It costs $140 per year for the 2 of us. We have Macbooks and iPhones. The subscribed (synced) calendars alone are worth the cost. iDisk seems to be much better now and we also use it as a secondary, in the cloud, backup for docs, photos and music tracks. And of course our email.
Making the entire package (not merely "find my device") free would most probably change the whole scenario and become not nearly as attractive an option. Free isn't always the best option.
And given that no one can come up with a use for that new data center, I'm kinda thinking that me.com will become a lot like a "facebook" type service too.
Since Apple did not touch iWeb or iDVD in the last iLife upgrade, it would seem to me that they will move those services to the web where you can update your me.com page from any "apple" device.
And given that no one can come up with a use for that new data center, I'm kinda thinking that me.com will become a lot like a "facebook" type service too.
You mean, no e-mail, no calendar, no iDisk?
My wife and I have had MM (fka mac.com) for several years. It costs $140 per year for the 2 of us.
If you plan ahead by checing every month or two for MobileMe or .Mac* boxes online you can get that price under $100 easy, and perhaps as low as $70 for a Family Pack. You can then input the codes ahead of time and have them extend your account duration.
* Note that .Mac used to increase in version numbers each year on the box but it?s just silly marketing. You can buy old .Mac boxes and the serial numbers will work to extend your MobileMe services.