

Apple should make MobileMe free  - mlongo
http://ipadwatcher.com/2010/05/09/apple-should-make-mobileme-free/

======
cmelbye
Woops, that reminds me, I need to cancel my MobileMe free trial before it
charges me. Definitely not worth $100.

~~~
Terretta
It's price comparable to Dropbox for storage, while adding features well
integrated into Apple's apps and hardware.

Assuming you pretend the web hosting bandwidth, email accounts, sync services,
etc., are free and the only cost is storage, it works out to about $0.30/GB
stored, already not bad for a consumer service.

For me, instant and reliable multidirectional sync of any contact, calendar,
and bookmarks data, across all my computers or mobile devices, is worth
$8/month.

~~~
jonknee
> For me, instant and reliable multidirectional sync of any contact, calendar,
> and bookmarks data, across all my computers or mobile devices, is worth
> $8/month.

I have the same through Google and it's free. Apple is losing the cloud race
badly, maybe free would help.

~~~
cmelbye
I love Google, and I would probably use it if I had an Android phone.
MobileMe's biggest draw for me is its integration with Apple products with
syncing and Find my iPhone/iPad.

~~~
jonknee
I'm on an iPhone/iPad/MacBook Pro. The fact that I can't have MobileMe on my
domain makes it a deal breaker and Google's offering actually a step above.

~~~
Terretta
"What does can't have MobileMe on my domain" mean?

A number of folks I know use MobileMe to host websites for their domain and
handle email for their domain. You do have to "bring your own" DNS.

------
ajg1977
"There are certainly valid business reasons for Apple to offer the service for
free"

Then it's a shame the article can't come up with any. The ones listed are
either guesses ("might sell more devices") or counter to Apple's established,
and highly lucrative, business model.

~~~
UnknownSource
I totally agree. The internet has had this discussion millions of time in the
past, and this post does nothing but turn 1 or 2 obvious points into a giant
essay.

The fact's are.. They wont. Remember, it's the small additions to sales that
make sales highly profitable and if they made it free, people would probably
register for many accounts and use them to host warez. The .Mac servers are
already slowly crawling along. By making it free, they would probably grind to
a complete halt.

The author also fails to recognise that unlike Google, Apple's core profit
model isn't advertising, instead, Apple actually does the opposite (wastes
untold amounts on advertising). So Google profits heavily from their web apps,
whereas web app's actually cut into Apple's profits.

Great in practice, but in reality, terrible idea. In fact, I'd be as bold as
to say this article is as terrible as the idea..

~~~
derefr
> people would probably register for many accounts and use them to host warez.

Do people host warez on Dropbox accounts (in the Public folder)? Those are
free and easily obtainable en-masse; you don't even have to keep the files on
your own computer if you unlink the account after loading it.

~~~
anuleczka
Yes, yes they do. The first rule of warez on Dropbox: don't tell people how
awesome Dropbox is for warez!

------
jasonlbaptiste
here's my hunch on this:

making mobileme free would increase the usage exponentially. I don't even know
how big it would be, but it would be big. if you go back two years you will
remember that apple had a huge problem with mobileme at first. it's just not
their core competency and something they want to deal with. when they are
ready, they will make it free and do a damn good job of it.

they may also make this free to completely and utterly fuck with google apps
(consumer side).

the cash doesnt matter. the revenues from mobileme are minuscule.

~~~
zrail
Agreed. Other than the iTunes store(s), Apple doesn't have a very good
reputation with rolling out network services. Especially free-to-use ones like
the notification api.

~~~
grinich
Makes me wonder why they're building a $1B datacenter...

------
jsz0
I've been a subscriber for the last few years. MM is worth the price to me but
mostly because I'm very lazy. I can understand why people don't want to pay
for it. You _can_ find free alternatives for almost every feature but you may
end up cobbling together half a dozen or more apps/services. This requires
more time and effort to setup and maintain than I'm willing to invest for
something so mundane. If Apple goes free they just need to be prepared for an
influx of millions of users overnight.

------
werrett
I can see benefit in Apple moving MobileMe to a 'Freemium' model.

They could keep current subscription revenue, introduce a pared-back offering.
All the while establishing a web channel for their Quattro Wireless
advertising platform.

Would be a good hook for increasing MobileMe up take, takes a swipe at Google
and keeps Apple customers in the 'walled garden' and out of the myriad of
similar services that are popping up (e.g. Dropbox et al).

------
andrewtj
Since I'm going to be selling access to a service that offers part of the
functionality of MobileMe — Wide-Area Bonjour, which does much of what Back to
My Mac does — I hope they don't.

------
rbritton
MobileMe _was_ free at first back when it was ".Mac". They changed it to a
charging model a couple years into the service where it has remained since.

~~~
justinl
Actually, iTools was free. As costs rose, most particularly due to iDisk
storage space and increasing support needs, iTools was renamed .Mac as a
subscription-based service.

------
jcapote
I love telling people that they'll get all the mobile me stuff for free with
an android phone and a google account.

