Is MobileMe worth it for web hosting - $69 on Amazon

[j-a-x]

My sister just designed herself a website in iWeb and we want to put it online. She is not terribly computer literate and wants the simplest solution to upload her site, upload changes, etc.

Either we can go on godaddy and buy a domain plus hosting and then use FTP to upload her site, or she can get a mobile me account and upload it with that, which would be much simpler I think - especially when making changes.

My question is: Is mobile me worth it for $69 (Amazon Price) if she is mainly just using it for web hosting? Or can you think of a better option?

The cheapest is going to be a simple FTP based web account but I dont' like the idea of teaching her to use FTP and upload the entire site again each time after she makes changes (iWeb doesn't support FTP so you need to save the entire site and upload everything if you change just one word).

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

I think for simplicity it's worth it, then if she decides (or already has) an iPhone or Touch it will add to the value of the service.

 

[j-a-x]

I think the latest version of iWeb supports FTP (the one that was announced at MacWorld) so maybe I should wait and see how that is before deciding...

 

[7on]

My sister just designed herself a website in iWeb and we want to put it online. She is not terribly computer literate and wants the simplest solution to upload her site, upload changes, etc.

Either we can go on godaddy and buy a domain plus hosting and then use FTP to upload her site, or she can get a mobile me account and upload it with that, which would be much simpler I think - especially when making changes.

My question is: Is mobile me worth it for $69 (Amazon Price) if she is mainly just using it for web hosting? Or can you think of a better option?

The cheapest is going to be a simple FTP based web account but I dont' like the idea of teaching her to use FTP and upload the entire site again each time after she makes changes (iWeb doesn't support FTP so you need to save the entire site and upload everything if you change just one word).

Any insight would be appreciated.

$69 a year is still only $5.75 a month.

 

[alphaod]

For web-hosting, Godaddy offers better value since there are more server based applications supported; if you choose, you can even switch to Windows if you .NET; all can be done in the middle of the month or billing period.

For example, you can get the Deluxe hosting plan for a year @ $6.64/month = $80 and then add the 20% off hosting coupon which makes it $64. You get 7.5x more space and 7.5x more bandwidth.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

If she isn't very computer literate, and iweb in junction with mobileme works for her, than definitely stick with it. Mobileme hosting doesn't perform as well against other hosting companies from what people are saying everywhere, but it is a great choice for a beginner using iweb due to it's easy integration. Use it for a year, and eventually she'll catch on.

I started with iweb six months ago along with mobileme for hosting. And now I've built a site with dreamweaver using mostly CSS and a tiny bit of WYSIWYG(however it is spelled), hosted by fatcow.com, which I highly recommend!

 

[numbersyx]

I use both Godaddy and mobileme. With the new iWeb having internal FTP (at last) I would go with GoDaddy once the new software comes out. Having said that, mobileme offers far more than just web hosting. If she has an iPhone or a Mac it allows syncing of Address books/Calenders and the use of iDisk.

If she wants that and is not going to buy iLife 09 I would go with the mobileme option...

 

[MichelWilkinson]

I use both Godaddy and mobileme. With the new iWeb having internal FTP (at last) I would go with GoDaddy once the new software comes out. Having said that, mobileme offers far more than just web hosting. If she has an iPhone or a Mac it allows syncing of Address books/Calenders and the use of iDisk.

If she wants that and is not going to buy iLife 09 I would go with the mobileme option...

Same here. Mobileme IMO is better.

 

[MichelWilkinson]

go daddy wenb hosting

i agree..go daddy is okay.. its easier to register or transfer domain..

and i like their sitebuilder..its user friendly and you'll just pay for all of these for less.. :0

 

[aicul]

Maybe this can be of use in you decision, which diminishes the immense value of the overall mobileme experience :

What mobileme does NOT do

1. allow you to choose your outgoing email address whilst using webmail
2. allow you to use dns names instead of cnames for webhosting
3. allow usage of programming languages (eg. php) or databases (eg. mysql) on the web site

note all the above can be solved if essential

Anyone else know of things mobileme does NOT do ?

(as a note, I think mobileme is a must if you have an iphone)

 

[macgrl]

mobile me is simple to use and great if you aren't computer literate

 

[mathcolo]

Apart from the cost differences of different web hosting services, one problem with MobileMe hosting is that you cannot use any scripting languages such as PHP, ASP, SQL, or anything like that. All that means is you cannot install serverside web applications like a phpBB forum.

As aicul mentioned, you cannot also do those cool DNS tricks for subdomains. Although, again, for most people, that probably won't matter.