Mobile Me - whats the point if you don't use @me.com?

[Spud1]

I read about MobileMe with interest after getting the 2.0 update for my iPhone, and seeing Steve harp on about it at the keynote speech. Today, I finally found time to sign up for the free trial, and was instantly dissapointed.

I'm struggling to see the major benefits of the service as-is..the big thing that attracted me to it (from the advertising), was the push email feature, and the idea that you could use that with any email account - not just your @mac or @me address..however now I have signed up, I find that this is not strictly the case.

Sure, any email sent to your @me.com address will get pushed to your phone (theoretically, I know there are issues at the moment), but other accounts only appear to work if you leave you mac/pc switched on at home, syncing the old fashioned way every 15 mins. There is no real push functionality here at all - it old fashioned update every X minutes. Plus, if your computer is off and outlook is not loaded, you won't get any email pushed out at all.

What I expected was that you would give mobileme your email settings, and then it could check your account by itself, and push out the email to your pc/mac/iphone itself...so that way I wouldn't have to leave me PC on 24/7 to use the service. Doing so pushes the running costs of the service up by a huge amount due to the electricity required by your computer..its silly!

Why oh why couldn't they have just integrated 3rd party email, it would make the service so much more useful and i'd happily pay to sign up (would even pay more for such a service!)...as it is, i'm going to cancel my free trial after this post as the service is useless to me. Its great if you use your @mac/@me address but otherwise, whats the point? Is it really so hard to just plug your iphone into the dock when you get home? (since that will do the same thing...)

Yet another lazy service by apple thats massivy over-hyped. Not amused


edit: As a side note, does anyone know of a servic that actually can provide push email for 3rd party email accounts?

 

[rdowns]

Push email is the responsibility of the provider. I can't believe all the people that thought Apple could somehow push other providers emails to your iPhone.

 

[Spud1]

Of course they could, its dead easy, and thats how it has been advertised..because it *almost* does - it pushes when it syncs.

It would not take much for them to add in the ability for you to have 1 or 2 email accounts working with mobileme, and for the service to auto check directly with your mailserver once every 15 mins, rather than checking with your PC. If they used IMAP to do it it would work fine..technically no different to how the @me.com push service works (as that just uses P-IMAP iirc, the difference is that the @me.com email servers are within apples network, so it doesnt cost them anything to offer the push service).

So it *could* be done very easily, they just did not do it...I imagine due to the extra bandwidth costs for apple. It would not work for contacts/calendars, but for email it would work nicely..

 

[trabera]

Set up your 3rd party email provider to forward email to your me.com account. Once it's on the me.com server it will be "pushed" to all active hardware.

It's sloppy yes, but this is what Apple is implying.

-Josh

 

[MacAhoy]

Set up your 3rd party email provider to forward email to your me.com account. Once it's on the me.com server it will be "pushed" to all active hardware.

It's sloppy yes, but this is what Apple is implying.

-Josh

I think Hotmail does not do automatic forwarding, though...
(as far as I remember, the only forwarding it will do is if the user is logged in & requests forwarding of a particular message..)

bleh..

 

[kolax]

Set up your 3rd party email provider to forward email to your me.com account. Once it's on the me.com server it will be "pushed" to all active hardware.

It's sloppy yes, but this is what Apple is implying.

Yep - but most people miss the fact that you can set up your main email account, and use that as the primary account for replying and new messages. So any new messages in your main email account will be forwarded to your MobileMe account, then if you want to reply then by default it will use your main email account.

 

[MacAhoy]

Yep - but most people miss the fact that you can set up your main email account, and use that as the primary account for replying and new messages. So any new messages in your main email account will be forwarded to your MobileMe account, then if you want to reply then by default it will use your main email account.

Hey Kilamite --
does this also work with Hotmail? I can't see how, so if I'm missing something please spell it out for me...
thx

 

[CALintstew11]

Mobile Me

I purchased the 3G iPhone and MobileMe on 7/25/08. I've been attempting to set up MobileMe for hours and hours both last night and today. No luck! I receive the same message as many of the other members of this forum, "Invalid password, etc." There is no valid help forthcoming from Apple HELP sites. Perhaps the great Apple ideas are being tested on the consumer until they work. Also, this has caused my Outlook to crash, not respond, and sporadically just not open. I'm going to try going back to the Apple store tomorrow and vent. Any ideas?

 

[HLdan]

I read about MobileMe with interest after getting the 2.0 update for my iPhone, and seeing Steve harp on about it at the keynote speech. Today, I finally found time to sign up for the free trial, and was instantly dissapointed.

I'm struggling to see the major benefits of the service as-is..the big thing that attracted me to it (from the advertising), was the push email feature, and the idea that you could use that with any email account - not just your @mac or @me address..however now I have signed up, I find that this is not strictly the case.

I'm only answering your question so please don't reply back with a debate on other places you could get this service for free or whatever, I am only addressing your question.

Mobileme is NOT an email only service, I don't know why people keep acknowledging that part of it only? Go on YouTube and look at the WWDC 2008 keynote, there was nowhere that Apple implied you could use other email services outside of @me.com that pushed your email.

Here's more of what you get:

You get an iDisk to store 20GB of space to share between emails and any sort of files which is key for backing stuff up.
MM also stores your address book contacts, your Safari bookmarks which is a big thing since I have hundreds and if I want to reformat my HDD I can instantly get my bookmarks back and placed right back in Safari automatically done from MM and this goes the same for my contacts.

The iDisk can also be placed on your desktop locally (Mac) or in My Computer (Windows) to store and retrieve files without being connected to the internet. This feature is key when you don't have internet at the place you happen to be or if your internet is temporarily out of service, this way you will have full access to online pics and files. You can freely drop files onto your local iDisk and when connected to the web it will automatically push to MM (instantly, not 15 minutes), at least it's the fast on a Mac, I've never tried it on Windows.

If you are a Mac user you get even more because iPhoto uses MM to upload photos and create picture books, calendars and cards and you can order them right in iPhoto through MM.
Also being on Mac the MM web apps mimic the iLife suite.

The Homepage feature in MM lets you share files for others to download from, you can simply email them the link to your download area and they can download any files you want to share.
The whole idea of MM is everything is one package managed by one company and in one place and it caters nicely to the iPhone. There are no annoying ads (since you are paying for it) and as I mentioned you don't have to be slave to the web to use the service as all the others require it.
If it's not for you then don't go for it but to use it for email only is a waste.

 

[Zengrok]

I think Hotmail does not do automatic forwarding, though...
(as far as I remember, the only forwarding it will do is if the user is logged in & requests forwarding of a particular message..)

bleh..

Hotmail offers forwarding for all emails if you pay for the premium service.

 

[d21mike]

Hotmail offers forwarding for all emails if you pay for the premium service.

I think if you upgrade (FREE) to Windows Live Hotmail you can. See Options / More Options / Forward Mail.

 

[Spud1]

I'm only answering your question so please don't reply back with a debate on other places you could get this service for free or whatever, I am only addressing your question.

Well I won't start a debate here then, but at the end of the day when I watch the keynote and see the adverts it does imply that I can use the service with any email account, and thats because you can..if you leave your mac on 24/7 relaying info. Contact/cal are useful yes, iDisk could have a point if you don't have access to any other storage...but for me the service is not that much use, and i was just a bit narked about it because it looked like a great service and idea. Here's hoping for the next version!

 

[Jowl]

I don't think MobileMe is quite what a lot of poeple expected from the Apple demos.

However, I have forwarded all my e-mail to @me.com and also have a couple of e-mail accounts that I reply from (a work account and a personal one) setup on the iPhone. There are some slight annoyances - my subfolders in the 'sent' folder don't show up on the Web app (exepct under folder management) and on the iPhone. They do show up in my Thunderbird e-mail client though.

What I like is that my Macbook - for when I'm on the road, my iPhone for when I'm just out and more importantly, my windows PC all have the same e-mail, CONTACTS and CALENDARS - they are just as important to me.

I do wish Apple would sync Outlook Notes and Tasks (although iDO should to tasks) natively.

Mobile Me is not without it's flaws. But Contact and Calander Sync work perfectly for me and mail is very close albiet with a few work arounds. Maybe my expectations aren't quite as high / I've found acceptable workarounds but for me, Mobile is worth £60 a year.

 

[tallyho]

Well I won't start a debate here then, but at the end of the day when I watch the keynote and see the adverts it does imply that I can use the service with any email account, and thats because you can..if you leave your mac on 24/7 relaying info. Contact/cal are useful yes, iDisk could have a point if you don't have access to any other storage...but for me the service is not that much use, and i was just a bit narked about it because it looked like a great service and idea. Here's hoping for the next version!

I really don't get what you're saying here. I have my other email addresses set to forward to my @me.com (or@mac.com) account. That has nothing to do with the Mail app on any of my macs (2 iMacs, a Powerbook and a Macbook) - it's set on the preferences of the email accounts themselves, In my case this means: my university account (logged into its webmail interface and set a catchall forward to me @me.com address); my own domain account (logged into my control panel for my hosting package and set my email to forward everything to @me.com) and my Gmail (again logged in to Gmail and set forwarding). I don't see why you would have to have your mac on 24/7

I think the real point (downplayed by Apple with the name change from .Mac) is "MobileMe what's the point if you don't have a Mac". If you're not using iPhoto, iWeb, iCal, Addressbook and Mail and using the iDisk, then the package is probably less compelling than the free alternatives (with their adverts and general clutter). If you are using those apps on your mac(s) then the integration works very well.

 

[kolax]

Hey Kilamite --
does this also work with Hotmail? I can't see how, so if I'm missing something please spell it out for me...
thx

No - Hotmail is not supported in Mail or the iPhone's Mail app.

To be honest, I'd avoid using Hotmail all together.

 

[chancee]

So sick of these people defending Apple for it not providing the service it promised. You can disect Job's WWD speech all you want, but the very fact Apple made Mobile Me available for windows users means they knew many people wouldn't already have or want an @me.com address.

Not allowing people to designate a different FROM/REPLY email address is a shameless attempt by Apple to force people to adopt their @me.com email address as their primary email. Yes, the other features are nice, but 'Exchange for the rest of us' implies our email, not just @me.com email, will be kept in sync everywhere and allow management (replying to emails) from anywhere and from any address.

 

[Sky Blue]

So sick of these people defending Apple for it not providing the service it promised. You can disect Job's WWD speech all you want, but the very fact Apple made Mobile Me available for windows users means they knew many people wouldn't already have or want an @me.com address.

It makes absolutely no sense that you could use another email address instead of me.com/mac.com. MobileMe has it's problem, but I'm sick of people bashing the service when they have no understanding of basic email principles.

'Exchange for the rest of us' implies our email, not just @me.com email, will be kept in sync everywhere and allow management (replying to emails) from anywhere and from any address.

This is never implied by Apple, it makes no sense, any push services would come from your email provider. How would Apple push your gmail/hotmail/work account? Magic?

 

[mrtune]

Not allowing people to designate a different FROM/REPLY email address is a shameless attempt by Apple to force people to adopt their @me.com email address as their primary email. Yes, the other features are nice, but 'Exchange for the rest of us' implies our email, not just @me.com email, will be kept in sync everywhere and allow management (replying to emails) from anywhere and from any address.

That's not true, apple allows you to use different SMTP servers. If you use a different SMTP server it should use the email address from said account instead of your mobileme account.

 

[HLdan]

So sick of these people defending Apple for it not providing the service it promised. You can disect Job's WWD speech all you want, but the very fact Apple made Mobile Me available for windows users means they knew many people wouldn't already have or want an @me.com address.

Not allowing people to designate a different FROM/REPLY email address is a shameless attempt by Apple to force people to adopt their @me.com email address as their primary email. Yes, the other features are nice, but 'Exchange for the rest of us' implies our email, not just @me.com email, will be kept in sync everywhere and allow management (replying to emails) from anywhere and from any address.

It's Apple's right to create their service any way they like. If this were Microsoft's service they would set it up to use Hotmail or MSN. In a corporate environment what are we using? Exchange. Who's software is that? Microsoft. What email client are we using? Outlook. Who's software is that? Microsoft.

"Exchange for the rest of us". Who's slogan is that? Apple. MM, iPhone and @me are all products and services created by Apple. They want their service to be worldwide like MS's enterprise software and service. In order to do that you have to use Apple's products and service. Apple is providing the same service on the outside world as MS provides inside a corporate environment.
There's no reason for you to get mad, you don't have to use Apple's service or buy their products, remember you have a choice. These are electives for our lives, not requirements by law.

 

[Spud1]

I really don't get what you're saying here. I have my other email addresses set to forward to my @me.com (or@mac.com) account. That has nothing to do with the Mail app on any of my macs (2 iMacs, a Powerbook and a Macbook) - it's set on the preferences of the email accounts themselves, In my case this means: my university account (logged into its webmail interface and set a catchall forward to me @me.com address); my own domain account (logged into my control panel for my hosting package and set my email to forward everything to @me.com) and my Gmail (again logged in to Gmail and set forwarding). I don't see why you would have to have your mac on 24/7

I'll try and explain briefly Forwarding all your other accounts to @me.com is a horrible way to do things - it means all your email is going to end up in one account..or even if you set up your other accounts to forward and leave a copy in your inbox, your going to have a whole load of email you have already dealt with thats still marked as unread. Its fine - almost perfect even, if you have just one email account and can effectivly transfer over to @me, but for anyone else, its a horrible hack.


My comment about the leaving on your pc/mac 24/7 is because you can fairly easily get around the problem (if your using outlook) by using some of outlooks mail rules and using the auto sync features of mobileme - but it does mean leaving your computer on 24/7 to do that, as it has to recieve email from your other mail accounts before syncing that with your mobile me account.

I've explained the feature I was looking for above, why I feel it was implied by apple that you could do such a thing, and why it is technically possible, so I won't waste anyones time re-writing it

If mobileme offers what you need then thats great, i'm genuinely pleased for you, but for the rest of us who really want "exchange for the rest of us" it just doesn't cut it. It is a shame, as I use a Mac Pro as my main machine, and a macbook for personal use..in fact my entire business is run on macs..i've added this in just to show that i'm not anti apple by a long shot, and I love most of their products, so please don't flame me for offering an opinion on what I consider to be one of their weaker and mis-marketed product lines.

 

[alFR]

Not allowing people to designate a different FROM/REPLY email address is a shameless attempt by Apple to force people to adopt their @me.com email address as their primary email. Yes, the other features are nice, but 'Exchange for the rest of us' implies our email, not just @me.com email, will be kept in sync everywhere and allow management (replying to emails) from anywhere and from any address.

God almighty. Look, if you have an Exchange account, guess what? It pushes your Exchange email. Not your Gmail, not your Hotmail, not any other sort of mail, just your Exchange mail. In that respect MobileMe is behaving exactly like Exchange.

 

[illutionz]

God almighty. Look, if you have an Exchange account, guess what? It pushes your Exchange email. Not your Gmail, not your Hotmail, not any other sort of mail, just your Exchange mail. In that respect MobileMe is behaving exactly like Exchange.

this is a great explanation.

I think when people think of MobileMe, they might think about BIS (Blackberry internet service) where you supplied your gmail/hotmail/other email address to blackberry and they keep a look at your email and pushes it whenever there's new mail. This is NOT how mobileme works.

 

[TLewis]

This is NOT how mobileme works.

Very true.

However, if MobileMe had incoming message filtering, you could forward your email to MobileMe and have it sorted by email account (or whatever criteria you wanted), as well as having it marked as read. (Google's unlimited message filtering really rocks in this respect.) And, if you change the outgoing SMTP server, you can also make it look like you're replying via a non-MobileMe account.

 

[iNfowarrior]

Truly stunning, people are.

Mobile Me works 100% the way its been advertised. I've done nothing special....my dot mac was upgraded to mobileme, didn't work at all until some time on the 11th, and has been working perfectly since.

Of course you have to use the @me.com for the push services. They are APPLE push services and the only new addresses they are offering are at @ME.COM. Sure, why shouldn't they just double or triple their load by giving everyone 2, or 3, or why not 4 5 or 6 new e-mail addresses with push ability? Sure. wow.

Have people really progressed into such a deep level of unconscious living that dorks can't even understand their own slave masters any more?

The only, and I mean ONLY, lie they have told about MobileMe, was that .mac e-mail addresess would receive push. They do not. ONLY the NEW @me.com addresses. THIS is the only part they screwed up, technically.

You can all continue to whine about what Apple "promised" with MobileMe, but the only truth is that everything they claimed and demoed (with the single aforementioned mistep) has been included....and is working.

 

[DiamondMac]

Have people really progressed into such a deep level of unconscious living that dorks can't even understand their own slave masters any more?