It’s no secret that Apple’s .Mac service had been enduring a slow and painful death over the last couple of years — it didn’t offer anything ground-breaking or services that could also be gotten for free. Last Monday, Apple announced the future of .Mac — or death — by showing a new service called MobileMe. Is this the update we’ve all been waiting for? Let’s check out the info we have so far.
Exchange for the rest of us. Microsoft’s Exchange does have its benefits if you live and breathe in a business world, but for other kind of users it doesn’t seem very appealing. That’s what Apple was focusing on when they designed MobileMe, apparently — the rest of us. The idea of keeping your iLife in sync wherever you are does sound appealing. MobileMe will start its life by always keeping in sync your calendars, contacts, mail, and photos — no matter whether you’re on your Mac, PC, iPhone, or a random computer.
What about current .Mac users? It was mentioned that all existing .Mac users will be upgraded to MobileMe once it launches. So far, the only important .Mac feature that won’t live on MobileMe is the ability to access your bookmarks from the web. Other than that, .Mac users will definitely be receiving a nice upgrade. And since current .Mac users will be automatically upgraded when the service launches, if you’re interested in MobileMe, you might be able to grab a discount before it goes active: just go to Amazon and purchase the .Mac box at $69.99 — a $30 discount over Apple’s price.
What else is down the road? With Apple you never know what the future may hold. MobileMe might receive some neat new features, but just as .Mac, it may also receive mediocre updates.
But is it better than .Mac? At least it’s starting to look better than what .Mac was (well, still is). But we won’t know for sure if it lives up to its promise until we get our hands on it when it’s released in early July.
But is it for me? Short answer: if you want to keep your information synced between your computer and your iPhone no matter where you are, then yes. If not, Apple has promised a 60-day free trial when it launches.
Check out the MobileMe guided tour. Click here to see it.
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