Why such the high price?

[hugorganista]

Why does Apple charge so much for MobileMe?

I mean, I understand you can try it for a few days before you buy and all.

But, why doesn't Apple give the option to pay per month?

 

[Chundles]

Why does Apple charge so much for MobileMe?

I mean, I understand you can try it for a few days before you buy and all.

But, why doesn't Apple give the option to pay per month?

Because it's their product and they can charge what they want.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Why does Apple charge so much for MobileMe?

I mean, I understand you can try it for a few days before you buy and all.

But, why doesn't Apple give the option to pay per month?

It's quite cheap. Look at Sqaurespace. They host web sites for a minimum of $8 per month. 12 months and thats $96. Apple lets you hosts websites using MobileMe for $99 and you also get push email, push calendar, push contacts, and iDisk.

 

[reubs]

Also, it's not ad-supported.

Furthermore, you can easily find it on Amazon for relatively cheap. If you get it at the right price on Amazon, you can get it for less than $5 a month. At that price, $5 wouldn't even really cover the charges that would have to be paid for such transactions. A monthly fee would certainly cause it to end up at well over $100/yr.

I'm willing to be that if you use the trial for 60 days you'll be eager to have it renew, esp. if you can find a cheaper version on Amazon.

 

[wackymacky]

Because it is Apple.

They are used to charging a premium for high end computers, so they have carried across this mentality to Mobile Me.

But it works O.K and does what it claims, even if isn’t an awe inspiring product

It I wasn't so lazy and fool-hardy with money I'd likely track down a better product.

 

[slashjunior]

Charging the full $99 out right could also be a cash flow thing. It makes sense from a business point of view for Apple because they get all the cash now so they have more to invest back into MobileMe hopefully making it a better service sooner than if they receive money monthly.

When you consider what you are getting, push IMAP email, OTA syncing with Calendars and Contacts, 20GB storage, web server, online photo albums, back to my Mac, Find My iPhone and more then it is actually pretty good value. An alternative would probably cost you more.

Having said that I would not mind if Apple lowered its prices or made the service super reliable and added features far and above what Google offered.

 

[QCassidy352]

It's quite cheap. Look at Sqaurespace. They host web sites for a minimum of $8 per month. 12 months and thats $96. Apple lets you hosts websites using MobileMe for $99 and you also get push email, push calendar, push contacts, and iDisk.

and fairly sophisticated syncing of multiple macs, back to my mac, and find my iphone! that last one is the feature that put it over the top for me. hope i never have to use it, but if I do, that will make mm worth it all by itself. Also, as is routinely said on this site, there's no reason to pay $99 for mm. Get it for $50-60 at amazon.

 

[queshy]

because they can.

People are buying it at the current price.

 

[jdechko]

I realize it seems like a lot, but thinking of it as the sum of all the services provided, I find it's a great deal. For my $99/ year, I get the following:

Personal Exchange server: Push email, contacts & calendar with computer, mobile and web access.
Remote wipe solution
Mobile handset locator
Low/zero-config remote access to my computer
Web Host
Photo gallery
20GB online storage/200GB data transfer

For me, it's well worth the $99. And even still, I know Amazon has it for way less.

Sure, if I wanted to, I could piece the same stuff together for less, perhaps free even, or get more for the same, but it's not integrated the same way.

Also, the only problem I have with the service is the fact that iDisk is really slow. Apple really needs to fix this.

 

[orpheus1120]

Whenever you buy a new mac, you are given a chance to buy mobileme at a discount.

Would it be possible to buy this and keep it to renew your existing mobileme acc when it expires?

 

[queshy]

Whenever you buy a new mac, you are given a chance to buy mobileme at a discount.

Would it be possible to buy this and keep it to renew your existing mobileme acc when it expires?

I think the discount is a one time thing, but you can get MM for cheaper on amazon.

 

[orpheus1120]

Yes I understand.

What I'm saying is what if I have an existing mm acc, and I buy a new mac with the discounted mm subscription, would I be able to use that to renew my existing mm when it expires?

 

[jdechko]

What I'm saying is what if I have an existing mm acc, and I buy a new mac with the discounted mm subscription, would I be able to use that to renew my existing mm when it expires?

Yes. It's just a code in the box. The program doesn't distinguish between new and upgrade, full price or discounted price. Really, you'd be better off finding discounted versions from Amazon, etc. and using them to upgrade rather than letting your credit card auto-renew your subscription. The auto-renew is convenient, but you always end up paying full price.

 

[jav6454]

For me it's worth it. It has saved me many times. As for the price... think of it as $8.25/month to have a Photo Gallery, iPhone Locator/Wiper, Exchange class service for Contacts, E-mail and Calenders and best of all, your own website hosting.

BTW, you can get it for $71.49 at Amazon. Way cheaper.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

I agree that it is a good deal, not a good time to buy gold however.

 

[kingtj]

re: iDisk is slow

Agreed.... Why is iDisk so darn slow, anyway? It's been that way since I first saw it used, back around 2001. I'm on an 18mbit Internet broadband connection at home, and it makes no difference. iDisk uploads or downloads trickle through.

Honestly, the best value in the MobileME subscriptions could well be the remote backup functionality though. I know lots of people sell Internet backup solutions, but if you look for only ones with native OS X clients for them, suddenly you're down to only a few choices. And when you read the reviews of those from people who use them daily, you find out they're not so great. Lots of bugs that go un-addressed and so forth, and pricing not really cheaper than MobileME anyway.

When you add that to the web and email services, MobileME clearly wins, cost-wise.

I realize it seems like a lot, but thinking of it as the sum of all the services provided, I find it's a great deal. For my $99/ year, I get the following:

Personal Exchange server: Push email, contacts & calendar with computer, mobile and web access.
Remote wipe solution
Mobile handset locator
Low/zero-config remote access to my computer
Web Host
Photo gallery
20GB online storage/200GB data transfer

For me, it's well worth the $99. And even still, I know Amazon has it for way less.

Sure, if I wanted to, I could piece the same stuff together for less, perhaps free even, or get more for the same, but it's not integrated the same way.

Also, the only problem I have with the service is the fact that iDisk is really slow. Apple really needs to fix this.

 

[maflynn]

Why does Apple charge so much for MobileMe?

The same reason they charge so much for their computers - because they can and people buy it.

 

[317342]

It's the only thing in Apple's offerings that I feel is overpriced completely.

 

[alphaod]

Because once you sign up for a year, you are less likely, than if it was month-to-month, to cancel before the year is up.

 

[superatombomb]

haha, welcome to the world of apple

 

[chillywilly]

Echoing others here on getting MobileMe from Amazon. Under $70 and for the year, it's worth it. Sure, I'd like it if Apple didn't charge or maybe just offered the email part for free to all users then charged for things like iDisk.

But the remote sync option and having all of your data online, local on the Mac plus (if you are an iPhone user) on your phone, it's worth the money, IMO.

 

[maz94protege]

Ive been happy with it, ive had it for over 3 years now. And i had it when it was old .Mac. Which gave you next to nothing compared to MobileMe. The included iDisk backup, exclusive training/tutorials, push software for my mac and iphone and the email as well as the space availble for a possible webspace really does it for me. and $99 per year is nothing, plus if your due for a new mac, you can get it for $69 for 1 year to renew or if you want to try it out.


No complaints here.

 

[LuckyNumberLady]

That's good to hear.

We're thinking about getting the whole deal, iPhones/Mobile Me. We do feel it is a lot of money but then again it seems worth it from what I read on Apple's site.

Hopefully we won't regret it.