MobileMe to Become a Free Service?

[Vantage Point]

Well, I just bought it because I need to sync my computers. However, I do not believe Apple would do this for free At $99/yr list price it is a lot but I wouldn't mind paying $25/year. Better yet, Apple should include it as a free service for those with Apple Care to leverage people into buying the extended service, For others, charge $25 - $50/year. Heck, we pay a premium for Apple products, they should throw us a bone every now and then.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Don't negative a possibility, you have no proof that it can't happen, no matter how unlikely it is. You have no proof that iAds have nothing to do with this. We're all talking about possibilities here and MM going free is one of them.

Don't assume that iAds wouldn't lead to something else for Apple. Apple can do whatever they want if it'll earns them more money.

Yes, locking people in the Apple ecosystem earns them money, locking people in the same ecosystem with their own ads earns them even more money.

I don't negate the possibility but one of the problems is that I see is that people think Apple is going to become Google Lite. More appropriately put because Google found success with embedding advertising into free products people assume Apple will follow suit.

The failure of this ideology is that Google has largely been a web based company that has eschewed getting into consumer hardware save for the Nexus One. Apple is a company that seeks to sell software and hardware thus their profits aren't going to depend on advertising.

MobileMe Free clears up a big problem with people that have multiple computing problems which, hopefully, means they are less reticent to add another device to the collection if management costs in time and effort don't multiply.

iAd is important to Apple but it's clear that initially it's going to really appeal to the larger companies. Apple's going after the cream of the crop with iAd and not only are they designing, hosting and approving ads but the expected pricing is beyond what many companies are used to paying.

So with that in mind I think Apple keeps iAd within its walled garden and realizes that MobileMe free just sells more mobile iPhone OS devices. Could Apple leverage MobileMe free with iAds to make money? Sure but I think it's less plausible than many think.

 

[jrhone]

Finally, they'll be charging what the service is worth!

Soooo.....web hosting of as many sites you want as long as they are under 20GB is not worth anything? Or find my i***? Or fle sharing? Or MM galleries? Or maybe a Pro Photog can build and upload his entire site AND host it directly from Aperture? There are MANY MANY cool features of Mobile Me...if you dont need them...dont buy it..but many do...I have for years and get LOTS of use out of it...

 

[Apollo33]

I wouldn't mind if they offered a free "basic" email service with some iWork.com and iDisk stuff thrown in to compete with Google and Microsoft. I just hope they beef up the Pro service to make it worth it. Microsoft currently gives like 25GB away with SkyDrive for free and has like 10GB email storage (at least for students, I don't know if that's standard for Live).

Having to split 20GB between iDisk and email when I'm paying $70/year just sucks, to be honest.

So yeah, they can open a free version (with limited syncing capabilities and storage) that's ad-supported... I'd be fine with that. As long as they make the Pro version ad-free with more features than the free.

 

[crisss1205]

I say that they make it free to Mac users and like $29 a year for Windows users.

 

[rickdollar]

I for one use it ALL the time. When you have more than one device (multiple macs, iphone), it's SO nice to have them sync wirelessly, immediately, and without having to login every time, on the native apps. iCal, Contacts, Safari links: I am a very frequent user of the mobileme syncing on all of these.

Me, too. Love it for that.

 

[complexcommunic]

This would be really awesome. I've always been intrigued by mobileme but turned away by its price tag

 

[Tilpots]

I'll admit the money is there but Apple skews conservative and I believe what they say when they state that iAds are an option for developers seeking to deliver free or low cost iPhone/iPad apps. I don't get the feeling that Apple wants to extend iAds everywhere. Putting adds in MobileMe doesn't grant them much IMO. The play for free MobileMe will start and end with iLife and iPhone/iPod/iPad/App Store

We disagree, but I'll guess we'll find out in a month.

It's the type of facility that makes me believe that Apple will be rolling out a whole lot more of Cloud services. At 500k ft^2 it's bigger than many of Google's datacenters and it's 5x larger than Apple's Cali datacenter. Apple's plans for the Cloud are big.

Good info. Thanks. Any link you can provide with this info all in one spot?

 

[elppa]

I think Apple is doing this not because of the Mac but because of Android. They want to give iPhone customers the services Google gives them for free when they get an Android phone — push email, contacts, calendars and photos. Apple can't afford to leave any stone unturned in the market share race with Google.

I guess I am the only one that remembers that it started out as a free service. Before it was .Mac it was called iTools and it was free. It was a benefit of being a part of the Mac community.

No, you're not alone.

I've had an account since iTools.

I'd argue it was more sophisticated (relative to the competition) back then. In 2000 WebDav online disk and IMAP mail were something to crow about. Now everyone offers IMAP at least.

Yes, but a la Google works. MobileMe is crap. So if they make it free then you'd either get free crap without ads, or free stuff that works with ads. Seems fair.

I willing to bet good money MobileMe Email has higher uptime than Google Mail in the last year.

 

[appleguy123]

Nail on the head right there. From a business standpoint that makes tremendous sense. Apple would likely pull in much more revenue from advertisers placing content on a regular basis than they would from a limited subscription base. Make the service free, more people use it, apple brings in more $ from iAd services.

Remember This?

 

[danerh]

What seems to be the standard with most services is that you get the basics for free, and pay extra for additional storage... If apple were to make anything free it would follow this same concept in some way.

Apple however is in the business of selling hardware as has been mentioned many times in this topic, and if the basic version is free, I envisage them handing out additional storage with hardware purchases.

Buy an iPhone, plug in the serial code and you get an additional 10GB of storage... Also have a mac at home, you get another 30GB, get yourself an iPad too and theres another 20GB. Pay an additional subscription and get even more as you need it. (the gb amounts aren't important in this discussion).

That way there's an additional incentive to go and stay in the apple hardware ecosystem when you're looking to buy your next gadget. Most people here no doubt already have a mac and iPhone, but there are a lot of people with one or the other and any proverbial carrot (or apple) dangling apple can do to get people to buy something with their logo on the back in this way makes sense.

And we'd all get loads of free storage!

 

[theelysium]

Love MobileMe

I love my MobileMe! I don't care if it goes free, but they better not slack on support for it and features if they make it free.

Also, I just purchased a new year, they better give me my money back if they make this free anytime soon!

 

[danerh]

Advertising with iAds could still fit into that scenario too... Though again, as is standard with most services, premium paying customers (perhaps 3 apple products or something similar) won't receive ads.

 

[fkntotalkaos]

about time.... Google was becoming more popular. I was a .mac person, but that $99 price per year was idiotic. I remember when .mac was free.

 

[Rocketman]

Now I start thinking about it, I've never paid Google a single cent, but I use
***

You do not pay Google but advertisers on your splash pages pay Google. You help them make far more money than you would pay for the service and you do that for them for free. And spread the word.

On behalf of all Google stockholders worldwide, thank you for being one of our minions.

Rocketman

 

[cybermat]

I hope free doesn't mean linking it up to their iAd service and pushing ads.

 

[Freis968]

hmmm ............. iWork.com is free.

maybe some combined functionality setup soon?

As far as I recall it is only temporarily free, it is in beta stage if I am correct. There is supposed to be a charge for it eventually.

EDIT: Yep, as you see on the splash page it is still Beta.

 

[gigidey]

You do not pay Google but advertisers on your splash pages pay Google. You help them make far more money than you would pay for the service and you do that for them for free. And spread the word.

On behalf of all Google stockholders worldwide, thank you for being one of our minions.

Rocketman

You make it sound like Google making money is a bad thing. The reason so many people use Google is because they don't mind advertisements. Also, people who use Google's services are no more "minions" than Apple users, they just use what they feel is best.

 

[johnhw]

MobileMe + iAds = FREE
MobileMe + Pro Features = $99.99

 

[spydr]

Here's to iAd supported MobileMe!

 

[huntercr]

I wouldn't mind if they offered a free "basic" email service with some iWork.com and iDisk stuff thrown in to compete with Google and Microsoft. I just hope they beef up the Pro service to make it worth it. Microsoft currently gives like 25GB away with SkyDrive for free and has like 10GB email storage (at least for students, I don't know if that's standard for Live).

Having to split 20GB between iDisk and email when I'm paying $70/year just sucks, to be honest.

So yeah, they can open a free version (with limited syncing capabilities and storage) that's ad-supported... I'd be fine with that. As long as they make the Pro version ad-free with more features than the free.

Why don't you use gmail for your email and allocate all your storage space to idisk? That's what I do.

 

[stagi]

Mobileme is certainly worth more than free. Apple doesn't scrape your emails and other data to target adds at you a la Google.

I could see Apple making some features of Mobileme free. I don't think they're just going kill a revenue stream but they could offer a basic free Mobileme account which gives you.

A me.com email address with 5 aliases.
Sync features
"Find my damn iDevice"
Calendar, Contacts, Bookmark sync
Web page
Gallery
iWork.com

Then roll out Mobileme Pro


Make iDisk more like Drop Box.
Enhance the sync
Online Backup
Cloud Music (Lala style)
iWork.com Pro (adds collaborative editing)
Whatever other cool stuff they can deliver

I think that would be a really good solution!

 

[Rocketman]

You make it sound like Google making money is a bad thing. The reason so many people use Google is because they don't mind advertisements. Also, people who use Google's services are no more "minions" than Apple users, they just use what they feel is best.

Rocketman: "On behalf of all Google stockholders worldwide, thank you for being one of our minions."

I make it sound like being a stockholder is a good thing.
I make it sound like Google stockholders having minions is a good thing.

I do not make it sound like Google making money is a bad thing because, obvious to everyone but you, I said, "On behalf of all Google stockholders."

All service users are minions. They "opt-in". There's another whole can of worms for both Apple and Google!

Truism: The more you pay the more it is worth.
Proof: The more you choose to pay the more it is worth to you.

It applies to iPad and Mac purchasers, Google ad buyers and all things at all times.

Rocketman

 

[MacFly123]

Mobileme is certainly worth more than free. Apple doesn't scrape your emails and other data to target adds at you a la Google.

I could see Apple making some features of Mobileme free. I don't think they're just going kill a revenue stream but they could offer a basic free Mobileme account which gives you.

A me.com email address with 5 aliases.
Sync features
"Find my damn iDevice"
Calendar, Contacts, Bookmark sync
Web page
Gallery
iWork.com

Then roll out Mobileme Pro


Make iDisk more like Drop Box.
Enhance the sync
Online Backup
Cloud Music (Lala style)
iWork.com Pro (adds collaborative editing)
Whatever other cool stuff they can deliver

Good thinking! I think that is very possible. Imagine though if MobileMe & iWork.com were free with non-intrusive iAds built in and cool new functionality with HTML5 and Gianduia (Apple's Flash killer). Throw into that the Lala iTunes cloud features and WOW we are talking lots of value here!

It may sound a little crazy, but if you think of the competition (Google & Microsoft) and what they are up to, it really starts to make sense moving these things to the cloud and getting iAd in there!

Interesting.........VERY INTERESTING!

 

[PsyD4Me]

MobileMe + iAds = FREE
MobileMe + Pro Features = $99.99

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