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Apple Buys Me.com? .Mac's New Name?
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Is it possible that Apple actually spends several million annually creating disinformation for its products in development and launches? I can just imagine former KGB agents putting disinformation on the Web, and elsewhere to throw people off...This might be one such campaign.
Um.... it doesn't stand for anything.
Me - as in not "you", but "me".
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/me
me: pron. refers to the speaker or writer: that hurts me
arn
Another interesting idea is the fact that the top level domain .me is just becoming available. How much would you like to bet that Apple is looking to register mobile.me?
Heh, actually I found it like 3 years back on another forum I participate in.
I'm not sure I'd want to bet on it, but an interesting possibility nonetheless.
Is Apple Trying to Launch a social networking site?
Apple recently purchased "me.com." Is this just a rebranding of .mac, or is Apple trying to launch a social networking site?
Apple knows it has a fan base that is fiercely loyal. Let's be honest. Many of us loyal Macheads would use Apple's social networking site. We believe Steve would do justice to social networking. They would not screw it up the way MySpace and Facebook have. They would make it seamless.
If Apple is trying to leverage the power of its new handheld platform, what better way to do it than launch a social networking site that brings iPhone users together while they are on the go? If they roll in all the current .mac features, photocasting, sharing movies and audio and video content, add iPhone optimized pages and content, and you've got yourself a site with plenty of users, and more to come as Apple's halo effect works its magic.
Apple also knows it can leverage the power it has in the music business by allowing artists to set up shop on this social networking site. Users can build in links to their podcast feeds or to their content for sale on iTunes. Apple can begin to compete with MySpace Music on the social side of music distribution.
Remember a while back when Apple wanted to patent the idea of an online store where you could interact with other customers looking at the same product?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9923977-7.html
No doubt Apple will roll this into their new networking site as well. Seamless integration to the Apple store allows users to chat with others looking at the same product online.
Finally, since Apple has such close ties with Google, we might see Google partnering with Apple on this. Microsoft has already made its move into social networking by buying part of FaceBook. Apple might work with Google to make a countermove.
-Ryan Brandys
Apple recently purchased "me.com." Is this just a rebranding of .mac, or is Apple trying to launch a social networking site?
Apple knows it has a fan base that is fiercely loyal. Let's be honest. Many of us loyal Macheads would use Apple's social networking site. We believe Steve would do justice to social networking. They would not screw it up the way MySpace and Facebook have. They would make it seamless.
If Apple is trying to leverage the power of its new handheld platform, what better way to do it than launch a social networking site that brings iPhone users together while they are on the go? If they roll in all the current .mac features, photocasting, sharing movies and audio and video content, add iPhone optimized pages and content, and you've got yourself a site with plenty of users, and more to come as Apple's halo effect works its magic.
Apple also knows it can leverage the power it has in the music business by allowing artists to set up shop on this social networking site. Users can build in links to their podcast feeds or to their content for sale on iTunes. Apple can begin to compete with MySpace Music on the social side of music distribution.
Remember a while back when Apple wanted to patent the idea of an online store where you could interact with other customers looking at the same product?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9923977-7.html
No doubt Apple will roll this into their new networking site as well. Seamless integration to the Apple store allows users to chat with others looking at the same product online.
Finally, since Apple has such close ties with Google, we might see Google partnering with Apple on this. Microsoft has already made its move into social networking by buying part of FaceBook. Apple might work with Google to make a countermove.
-Ryan Brandys
Like me. I would be furious...I've had my @mac.com e-mail address for over 8 years. I have an immense number of things tied to it and would be screwed over if it disappeared.
I've always hated that people can register whatever they want and then sell it to you at an outrageous price. From the beginning there should have been a rule that any domain must be developed on within a year, and cannot be sold for more than the cost of developing the site, or something along those lines. If a company wished to make money off of their domain in the form of their volume of visitors and whatnot, then they could sell the company to another company who would then own the domain.
I haven't thought that part through, but it's a pain when you're trying to get your site going and have all of these great ideas for a domain name and they're all taken with a freaking holding page up. I'm trying to do something with the domain name and they're back the internet. It's just not right. Screw it though, if .me comes available I'm going to do it too—just to get back at those *******s who did it to me.
I haven't thought that part through, but it's a pain when you're trying to get your site going and have all of these great ideas for a domain name and they're all taken with a freaking holding page up. I'm trying to do something with the domain name and they're back the internet. It's just not right. Screw it though, if .me comes available I'm going to do it too—just to get back at those *******s who did it to me.
so...what happens to the .mac subscriptions we all have bought? I have one that I bought when CompUSA went out of business that I was saving until my current sub runs out in July.
Hideous name in my opinion...
I wondered how long it would take... That is exactly what I had in mind as a joke. ME is not at all creative or innovative and, in my humble opinion, just plain hideous for a service name.
Previously suggested email accounts also show how likely it is that this thing turns out to be only a joke.
You have the MacMini and now the MiniMe, Wooooot?!
Macintosh Enterprise would be much more understandable (since the Mac Business Unit is somewhere in Redmont, so that name is taken).
Anyway... Just wrote to say I don't like that name, not a bit.
AreYouTalkin@me? (Taxi Driver-like email)
I wondered how long it would take...
That is exactly what I had in mind as a joke. ME is not at all creative or innovative and, in my humble opinion, just plain hideous for a service name. Previously suggested email accounts also show how likely it is that this thing turns out to be only a joke.
You have the MacMini and now the MiniMe, Wooooot?!
Macintosh Enterprise would be much more understandable (since the Mac Business Unit is somewhere in Redmont, so that name is taken).
Anyway... Just wrote to say I don't like that name, not a bit.
AreYouTalkin@me? (Taxi Driver-like email)
OK, I said in an earlier reply to this post that I wouldn't bet on it, but it's still an interesting possibility.
Blairbeckwith, it appears you might be onto something:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?newsid=21323
(via Gruber)
The Macworld.co.uk article, fwiw, is from May 14. And the question is, is Apple actually planning to use these domains as part of a mobile.me service? Or are they simply protecting their copyrights? I guess we'll know soon enough...
A few hundred thousand maybe? Enough to pay 2 developers to work on OS X for a year, which would have been a lot more productive use of it.
I can see the commercials with John and Justin now ...
Hi, I'm an Apple Product ... and I'm a PC.
or perhaps "me" just equals "me"
This would make the Apple Store experience parallel being in a brothel.
Though i would concur that it is "unlikely" they would kill the e-mail addresses, tell that to people that have had their area codes or zip codes changed on them, most specifically businesses, and have had all of their advertising, stationery, business cards, etc. completely redone.
i can just see it now, "just send it to my me" "your you?" "yeah my me" "your ..." "me" "what about you" "im dragonslippers@me send it to me" "yeah dragon slippers at what?" "at me" "i know, but where" "no, to me" "yeah,at you, but where are you at" "Im at me" "no sh it"
