MobileMe Launching on July 9th Between 6pm-12am PT

[Agathon]

Since buying a Mac I've been puzzled as to why people pay up for .Mac or now MobileMe other than to join a fan club.

I don't want a .mac or .me email address; and I don't want to use iMail as Gmail is much better - even better you don't have to worry about sync issues when it stays in the cloud, so you don't need the sync service for your email either that .me offers!

As for iDisk, lots of others offer online storage solutions, I bet many better than iDisk and what's wrong with just FTPing to a server that you have space on.

The only other benefit is to sync your contacts because you think paying for this service is easy than putting the iPhone into the cradle to sync it!

Please do let me know if I am missing something, but I only see the service is a way of saying "Steve, I pay homage to you, here is some cash to prove it".

For most people it is the sync services. Until recently, I had three macs (now only two). I need all the mail, passwords, contacts, and bookmarks to be available on all of them and I want it to work without me having to do anything. .mac does this for about $2 a week, which is less than the price of a good cup of coffee. I also use Back to My Mac to access my work machine when I am at home (this feature has already saved me about a day's work).

I also host the sites for my courses on .mac. iWeb makes them easy to manage and I've never had a problem with downtime.

Oddly enough, a couple of months ago, I said that Apple should do push email with .mac.

It's a whole new ballgame now. I have been using my iPod Touch as a PDA for a few months. Mobile Me and the app store look like turning a useful gadget into my most important possession.

The one thing they need to do is allow for the syncing of notes and to dos between Leopard Mail and the Touch.

 

[leegordon79]

iPhone, therefore I am.

So glad to here MM will host my website! That makes it totally worth the $69 or $99.

Two questions I have not seen answered:

(1) How to get all my archived data from Gmail to my MM acct so I can see ALL my mail, not just new mail.
(2) They show iDisc as a removable disc on Vista. Will I be able to see it like this on XP -- without having to open a browser and navigate to the iDisc?

Thanks!!!

 

[Eric S.]

I would gladly pay $100/year, or more, just to avoid the ads that Google forces on you.

 

[Sky Blue]

The last day of .Mac

Goodnight, sweet prince

 

[Diaresi]

So glad to here MM will host my website! That makes it totally worth the $69 or $99.

Two questions I have not seen answered:

(1) How to get all my archived data from Gmail to my MM acct so I can see ALL my mail, not just new mail.
(2) They show iDisc as a removable disc on Vista. Will I be able to see it like this on XP -- without having to open a browser and navigate to the iDisc?

Thanks!!!

1) If you have them both in Mail (using IMAP) then just drag all the emails from the folder you have on Gmail to the folder you have on MobileMe.

2) From what I could gather from the news items, to get iDisk in Windows you Map it as a Network Drive. Windows XP has the feature (right click on My Computer > Map Network Drive)

 

[hayesk]

I just bought two .Mac boxes. One was delivered as a box, and the other one I got the code emailed via eBay. Each one was about $64, Great deal if you ask me.

I just entered the second code to stack them and I got a message saying my account will auto-renew next June. Has anyone done auto-renewal using an activation code?

Yes. It will just auto-renew and use the code. You can't really see that it's in there, and in fact, I think it said it will charge your credit card when it auto-renews, but it doesn't. The code is considered a discount off the bill.

 

[hayesk]

A few times today I looked at my iPhone and thought, "Damn I wish I had push email...

Uhm... why didn't you just tap "Check Mail" or set it to check every few minutes? I'm still not seeing the need for push email for 99.999% of the people who say they need it.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Glad to see this coming out. I was thinking just about this this morning.....gawd bless time zones!!

 

[jflash07]

Nevermind, I called them... I do have to wait for the box... lame

Not a loop hole, but I somehow got t a place where I could still buy a .mac membership and did... so I'll be good to go tomorrow! No waiting for a damn box.

 

[dissdnt]

Uhm... why didn't you just tap "Check Mail" or set it to check every few minutes? I'm still not seeing the need for push email for 99.999% of the people who say they need it.

Cause we are fancy.

 

[andiwm2003]

Uhm... why didn't you just tap "Check Mail" or set it to check every few minutes? I'm still not seeing the need for push email for 99.999% of the people who say they need it.

as i understand it it's a bit more than that. the mails get pushed to my phone when i'm away from my phone. when i don't have reception i still can read them offline withoput having to wait for the edge network to download them. that is convenient. the same is true if you're not all the time on your computer.

also the same mails are on your computer and your phone regardless if you pushed check mail.

and since bookmarks, mails, calendar, to do's, contacts are all push synced it saves you more than just one click.

but i agree with you somehow. if it was only push mail it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[MacPhilosopher]

I somewhat agree...

Uhm... why didn't you just tap "Check Mail" or set it to check every few minutes? I'm still not seeing the need for push email for 99.999% of the people who say they need it.

If you think of push email as just a service for checking your mail, you are right. However, it is the continuity between environments (desktop/laptop/iPhone) that makes push worthwhile. Mail is actually the least of the push items I am concerned with. iCal and Address push will make the syncing process seamless(lets hope). However, even with mail, I will be happy to have my most recent sent mail from my iPhone placed automatically in my set mail folder at home.

 

[leegordon79]

iPhone, therefore I am.

(1)Am I to assume that sometime this evening, I'll be able to buy MM and start uploading things to my galleries and iDisc?

(2)If it is true that you get a $30 discount on MM if you also buy the iPhone, do you think you'll have to buy MM at the ATT store (i doubt it)? Maybe they'll give a coupon? How has this been done in the past?

(3)Is it doubtful that the .mac site will be down for even close to the 6 hours they have announced? You'd think they'd have the MM site up and running by 7pm?

Glad to hear your opinions.
Thanks!

 

[zedsdead]

I didn't care that they were dropping the "Bookmark" service, but when you think about it, this should be part of their whole "Push" movement. They are doing contacts, email, and calender, why not Bookmarks in Safari since they are part of Sync.

I really am hoping MobileMe will eventually provide iPhoto Synching.

Nonetheless, I am very excited that by the time I wake up tomorrow, MobileMe will be active.

 

[kolax]

I really am hoping MobileMe will eventually provide iPhoto Synching.

Considering most people have iPhoto libraries of more than 2GB's, it won't be for a long time (i.e. when the whole ISP bandwidth issue gets resolved) that we see the ability for that. But I reckon in about 5 years time, the consumer will be able to upload such high amounts of data very quickly and error free.

 

[andiwm2003]

I didn't care that they were dropping the "Bookmark" service, but when you think about it, this should be part of their whole "Push" movement. They are doing contacts, email, and calender, why not Bookmarks in Safari since they are part of Sync.

I really am hoping MobileMe will eventually provide iPhoto Synching.

Nonetheless, I am very excited that by the time I wake up tomorrow, MobileMe will be active.

the point is that they made bookmark syncing part of the push process. they push sync new bookmarks to all computers and iphones.

what they dropped is the stand alone bookmark tool that allowed you to access your bookmarks from a computer in an internet cafe or from a friends computer. i don't see why they had to drop that feature. maybe it comes back since a lot of people want it.

photo syncing is unlikely because of the huge data amounts. maybe document syncing but then that's what you get the idisk for. i guess there will be third party tools that allow manual syncing to all computers via idisk.

 

[jflash07]

Gmail

Hey, does anyone know if you will be able to set up email accounts in mobileme? Like Gmail has with its ability to send from multiple addresses. In other words can I select what email account an email comes from in mobileme?

The reason I ask is because in gmail I currently have my college email and work email routed through gmail, letting me reply to emails from college people using my college address and so on.

 

[ifonline]

Ungh... .Mac goes down for the last time at 9pm EST. Great... another long evening. Not that I have to wait for the new service to start, mind you, but because I want to!

 

[smiddlehurst]

My now-ex-workmates gave me a leaving gift of an Apple gift certificate last week (seriously, is that the most imaginative thing they could have come up with? Oh well) so decided to take MobileMe for a spin. As it's not out yet this involved going to an Apple store and getting a .mac subscription but what the helll, at least this way I know what the service was like before they make it 100 times better / stuff it up totaly (delete as appropriate)

First impressions of .mac are surprisingly good. A tad slow perhaps but the integration is really nice and it's surprising just how natural it feels in OS X, almost like it should be part of the retail pack *cough*. Haven't bothered with E-mail until MobileMe goes live but chucked a quick web site together and published a photo album... so far so good.

One of the nice things with the switchover is that for ONCE the time difference works in our favour in the UK. I can go to bed happy around mdnight as there's no way I'm staying up all night to watch this and, in theory anyway, when I wake up MobileMe should be live and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to grit my teeth and give Apple another few precious pounds in exchange for iPod Touch Firmware V2...

Seriously though, I'm really excited to see all of the push functionality in action and, if it works as advertised, it could be a major benefit to both personal and business sides of my life. Come on Apple.... *crosses fingers*

 

[leegordon79]

Damn! I misread 6pm PT for 6pm ET. Perhaps I will get even less work done tomorrow morning.

 

[Joeski]

I just went to the Apple store in the Garden State Plaza and bought .mac. I told the guy I was given a MBAir last week, and in turn he gave me a $30 discount! I don't have the time tonight to set it up, so when I do set it up tomorrow it should be MM right?

 

[ziggyonice]

Bye iCards...

 

[Sky Blue]

Will we get our .Mac exclusive widgets today ?

 

[aethelbert]

Bye iCards...

View attachment 122991

No more iCards? Damn

 

[maverick808]

After 6... GO....