Should I Invest in MobileMe?

[xXriderXx7]

Hi,
Ive been reading a lot about the rocky transition to MobileMe lately, and by coincidence, my dad asked me to build him a website for his company. Im going to use iWeb, actually I have already started, and I am wondering if it is wise to invest in MobileMe to publish this website. Are there alternatives to publishing the site? Im not aware of any other way to publish an iWeb site.

So any suggestions?
Is it wise to use MobileMe even with the many issues plauging it?

[nparmelee]

Get the 60 day trial and decide for yourself if it will work for what you need.

[aosman]

I was about to say the same thing: MobileMe has been going through rough times right now, things might be better within the next 2 months.

[alphaod]

Don't use MobileMe for a business.

[xXriderXx7]

Originally Posted by alphaod

Don't use MobileMe for a business.

Why not?

[alphaod]

Originally Posted by xXriderXx7

Why not?

It's too buggy not to mention the bandwidth and everything you are paying for is cheaper with a dedicated host.

Also you can't use server technologies such as a SQL server or security like SSL certificates; one requires server support and the other a static IP.

[angemon89]

I'm going to get it for sure and just wanted to know if I can buy it online for cheaper. On Amazon it's $80 and I want to get that instead of paying the full $99 but how would I go about applying the amazon one to my current trial? Anyone know?

[FSUSem1noles]

Originally Posted by angemon89

I'm going to get it for sure and just wanted to know if I can buy it online for cheaper. On Amazon it's $80 and I want to get that instead of paying the full $99 but how would I go about applying the amazon one to my current trial? Anyone know?

if you purchased a 3g iPhone you can get it at the discount price of $69, well it's either 69 or 59.. now I can't recall..

But again, if you're not doing the trial, I would highly advise to do the trial before committing to purchase.. you may turn out to dislike it.

[DiamondMac]

Originally Posted by nparmelee

Get the 60 day trial and decide for yourself if it will work for what you need.

Best advice that could be given

I am one who loved using my .Mac email but others did not that I know who are big Apple people. They just prefer to use GMail or other email services

Try a trial period and see what your thoughts are on it

[JNB]

Originally Posted by alphaod

Don't use MobileMe for a business.

Originally Posted by xXriderXx7

Why not?

Main reason is that it is a consumer product. It is not advertised, featured, implied to be suitable, or otherwise oriented to run a business from. Also, since it takes data away from your physical environment, do not rely on it solely for time-critical personal needs. If you don't have an internet connection, you can't use MM.

It is a service that adds some redundancy and convenience to a home/family multi-machine computing environment. It's kinda nice (or will be once all is straightened out), sorta handy, but if you need five nines reliability and robust feature set, look elsewhere.

[DiamondMac]

Originally Posted by JohnNotBeatle

Main reason is that it is a consumer product. It is not advertised, featured, implied to be suitable, or otherwise oriented to run a business from. Also, since it takes data away from your physical environment, do not rely on it solely for time-critical personal needs. If you don't have an internet connection, you can't use MM.

It is a service that adds some redundancy and convenience to a home/family multi-machine computing environment. It's kinda nice (or will be once all is straightened out), sorta handy, but if you need five nines reliability and robust feature set, look elsewhere.

Well, I understand what you are saying but I have used .Mac for the last 2 years for my business and love it. I had stability, I used iDisk almost daily for backup, and I added new email addresses for those in my family and office.

Maybe it wasn't the best choice but I had everything I needed

[JNB]

Originally Posted by OrleansMac

Well, I understand what you are saying but I have used .Mac for the last 2 years for my business and love it. I had stability, I used iDisk almost daily for backup, and I added new email addresses for those in my family and office.

Maybe it wasn't the best choice but I had everything I needed

I know that many do use it as you do, I think the key thing to remember that in the event of--pardon me--an epic fail, one understands that that was a recognizable risk. Other backup/communication strategies must be part of any business disaster recovery plan (regardless of who causes the disaster! )

[DiamondMac]

Originally Posted by JohnNotBeatle

I know that many do use it as you do, I think the key thing to remember that in the event of--pardon me--an epic fail, one understands that that was a recognizable risk. Other backup/communication strategies must be part of any business disaster recovery plan (regardless of who causes the disaster! )

You're right

I did plan for that....on iDisk though

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Originally Posted by FSUSem1noles

if you purchased a 3g iPhone you can get it at the discount price of $69, well it's either 69 or 59.

How do you get the discounted price?

[TLewis]

Originally Posted by xXriderXx7

Why not?

MobileMe is a consumer-level product. For consumers, it's a great deal (assuming that they finally iron out the current major issues), and I haven't seen anything that comes even close to offering similar features at a comparable price point.

(Well, not quite -- I have seen some cheap providers. However, here's a hint: if you want to check into some company, say "ABCDEF", do a google search for "ABCDEF sucks", and judge for yourself.)

However, for businesses, you want guaranteed levels of uptime, as well as backups. If your business depends on a web presence and needs email, you need a reliable service. As nice as MobileMe is (well, "will", once the bugs are gone), it has no guaranteed levels of uptime, and it doesn't necessarily backup your data. Look at it this way: if you used MobileMe for your business, and you were one of the unfortunate "1%", your email was probably out for days/weeks. Can your business handle a 7+-day outage? Well, you might say, "That was just startup issues -- it won't happen again." Maybe, but you really can't say that, and Apple makes no guarantees. It all boils down to how important net access is to your business.

(Frankly, most consumers don't need this kind of service, and so Apple's been able to lower the price by not guaranteeing service levels.)

[farhad.khan]

exactly what I wanted to ask! How do you get the discounted price?

[d21mike]

Originally Posted by farhad.khan

exactly what I wanted to ask! How do you get the discounted price?

Not sure Apple is still giving the discount when you buy a new iPhone. I did see they offer the discount if you buy a MAC.

However, Amazon has it for a pretty good discount. Check them out for current price.