MobileMe .Mac and the RDF

[Virgil-TB2]

As a .Mac user I have been mail-bombed with info about the new MobileMe re-branding and the more I read this stuff the funnier it seems. (funnier as in ironic joke funny)

I mean just last week there were a dozen threads about how bad and how expensive .Mac is and how Apple "better do something about it" or else. But a careful reading of the material shows that in fact, all they have done is:

1) rename it
2) add iPhone syncing

and that's it.

How is it, that all you can find *this* week is people talking up about how fantastic the service is and how it's going to "smash .Net" and "rip Microsofts mesh" etc.??

This is pretty much the exact same service that couldn't find a friend last week and it costs exactly the same. The only thing it offers is the only thing it has ever really offered, syncing your computers. Not only that, it dropped support for several .Mac features that were very popular (although admittedly kind of lame).

I mean sure, the service has potential, but it always had. Sure we can assume that in the future it will offer stuff like Google docs etc. but that also was always the expectation previously as well. And remember, we don't actually even know that will happen at all.

So all it takes is a new name and we all have completely re-set our feelings about .Mac???

To me this is classic RDF distortion. Apple is leading our expectations around as if we all had rings in our noses and we are smiling as they tug us this way and that. Ironic no?

 

[sananda]

it will be nothing like it is now; what you will see on the screen after log in will now be nice looking.

no ............. you're right it's pretty much the same. except i'll get loads more storage i won't use because it takes too long to put stuff on idisk.

 

[Diatribe]

I don't know whether I can completely agree but you are certainly not completely wrong either.

These are the changes I see:

- More space 20GB as opposed to 10GB
- Web changeable calendar
- Better iDisk mgmt and file sharing
- Push services (mail, calendar, contacts)

So all in all there are quite some changes that people have been requesting all along. I agree though that there are still a lot missing like to-do support, better note mgmt online within mail, notes sync with iPhone, etc.

The only hope I have that in rebranding the thing Apple is actually commited to it and continues to improve it. But we will see that I guess.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

I don't know whether I can completely agree but you are certainly not completely wrong either.

These are the changes I see:

- More space 20GB as opposed to 10GB
- Web changeable calendar
- Better iDisk mgmt and file sharing
- Push services (mail, calendar, contacts)

So all in all there are quite some changes that people have been requesting all along. I agree though that there are still a lot missing like to-do support, better note mgmt online within mail, notes sync with iPhone, etc.

The only hope I have that in rebranding the thing Apple is actually commited to it and continues to improve it. But we will see that I guess.

Sorry, I totally forgot about the iDisk increase. My bad.
(probably because I don't use it myself.)

Your other points are well taken also, but these are tiny changes really aren't they? I mean all my calendars were already in sync, but now I guess we have one on the web like Google calendar. So that's "new" but still not much new, and the "push" is really something no one needed before it synced mobile devices.

Anyway, not trying to be pedantic. My main point was how funny it is that the mood has completely reversed based on an almost negligible upgrade and a name change.

The RDF strikes again!

 

[aristobrat]

Your other points are well taken also, but these are tiny changes really aren't they? I mean all my calendars were already in sync, but now I guess we have one on the web like Google calendar.

Did you see the part in the demo where they showed that MobileMe is accessible via new webapps that look and act almost exactly like the desktop versions of Mail, Calendar, and Contacts? Do you really consider that they rewrote the entire user interface in AJAX to give it that look and feel to be a tiny change?

So that's "new" but still not much new, and the "push" is really something no one needed before it synced mobile devices.

Really? BlackBerry's built their entire empire around the fact that there's a big market of people want their emails, calendars and contracts pushed instantly to their device, wirelessly. Good, Intellisync, Windows Mobile, etc are also major players in the push market. Believe it or not, having to sync with a computer regularly to update PIM is a hindrance for their workflow.

As a consumer, if you wanted push, you pretty much had to find a company that resold hosted Microsoft Exchange. That wasn't really hard to do, but hosted Exchange typically costs way more than $99/year, and doesn't include many of the other .Mac/MobileMe features, like iDisk, Web Galleries, and Web Hosting. It was simply a pushed email/calendar/contacts solution.

So yeah, when Apple comes along and offered that, plus the other features, for a price lower than virtually anyone else, some people did get a little excited.

 

[OllyW]

It's £10 cheaper in the UK.

Now that's an improvement.

 

[aristobrat]

It's £10 cheaper in the UK.

Now that's an improvement.

Nice!

The single-user cost in the US didn't go down, but the Family Pack went from $179 to $149, which is a little more reasonable.

 

[PlaceofDis]

Sorry, I totally forgot about the iDisk increase. My bad.
(probably because I don't use it myself.)

Your other points are well taken also, but these are tiny changes really aren't they? I mean all my calendars were already in sync, but now I guess we have one on the web like Google calendar. So that's "new" but still not much new, and the "push" is really something no one needed before it synced mobile devices.

Anyway, not trying to be pedantic. My main point was how funny it is that the mood has completely reversed based on an almost negligible upgrade and a name change.

The RDF strikes again!

these might seem like tiny changes. but the usability differences are huge. yes its still a 'sync' service for the most part. but the huge difference is that you won't have to wait for the sync. its immediate. which is what it needed to push it over the edge into usability. mind you, most people are impatient and don't want to wait for their machines to sync. now its done right away. i think this is why the mood has changed. the usability has gone up and hopefully the service will actually grow now instead of sitting stagnant.