MobileMe vs Google

[smtty00]

My free trial period of MobileMe is about to expire, which has prompted me to evaluate whether or not it is truly worth the $100/year investment.

I am a big-time Apple fanboy and for that reason alone, am inclined to stick with the service in the hopes that Apple will make amends for all the things that are broken with it now. Plus, it works great with my iPhone. But as a long time gmail user and a big fan of the Google apps as well, I wonder if Apple will ever be able to match the quality of those products (especially for the price). The push features of MobileMe are great, but the web interface makes me want to shoot myself and it doesnt look like it will be changing anytime soon.

What do you guys think? Is MobileMe ever going to match up with Google? Is it worth sticking it out right now?

 

[7on]

If you're just using the email Apple might still sell a 9.99/yr email service. You could call and see.

EDIT: Just did a google search, can't find any info on it - was it phased out when .Mac became MobileMe?

 

[smtty00]

Gmail is definitely far superior right now, but Im talking about the product line as a whole.

In my opinion, all of the Google apps (i.e. contacts, calendar, etc) that MobileMe competes with are currently better than what Apple has. There is a lot to be said for the push synchronization of MobileMe however. The question is how much the rest of it will improve. If they can get to the point of having a clean/usable interface, then MobileMe is the hands down winner and worth the money. But sticking with it for the synchronization alone is probably not worth it when there are free alternatives, which are far superior in usability and support.

 

[Bobioden]

You can also get Mobile Me from eBay for $40. That is what I did, they emailed me the code and I was good to go.

 

[danny_w]

You can also get Mobile Me from eBay for $40. That is what I did, they emailed me the code and I was good to go.

I second that. I got mine for $32 and would never pay the $99 that Apple asks. If you don't feel comfortable with eBay, I think it is something like $52 on Amazon right now.

 

[smooth]

I am on the free trial of Mobile Me right now. Can I still purchase the subscription from eBay or Amazon? Or because I'm on the free trial, I have to sign up through Apple? Thanks for your help!

 

[Macsterguy]

Steve Jobs himself promised that MobileMe would be something they can be proud of in JANUARY....

In my opinion, I think that will be at the same time Snow Leopard comes out at Macworld. I would wait until then if you can.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

I am on the free trial of Mobile Me right now. Can I still purchase the subscription from eBay or Amazon? Or because I'm on the free trial, I have to sign up through Apple? Thanks for your help!

You can still buy from Amazon or eBay or anywhere else. They just send you a code (or a box with a code in it). When you get it, go into your MobileMe settings and choose the "skip trial" button. Then it gives you the option to enter a credit card number or an activation code. It also gives you the option to start your full subscription at that moment or to have it begin automatically when your trial period ends.

 

[Mac In School]

I understand people's frustrations with MobileMe, but how can anyone not love the Web interface? It's brilliant, imo.

 

[smooth]

You can still buy from Amazon or eBay or anywhere else. They just send you a code (or a box with a code in it). When you get it, go into your MobileMe settings and choose the "skip trial" button. Then it gives you the option to enter a credit card number or an activation code. It also gives you the option to start your full subscription at that moment or to have it begin automatically when your trial period ends.

Excellent! Thank you so much!

 

[smooth]

I understand people's frustrations with MobileMe, but how can anyone not love the Web interface? It's brilliant, imo.

I'm actually very happy with Mobile Me. My issue is that my work still uses IE6 so I'm forced to use Firefox portable. Because of that, it works very slow and for some reason I cannot edit iCal entries.

 

[danny_w]

I understand people's frustrations with MobileMe, but how can anyone not love the Web interface? It's brilliant, imo.

You have GOT to be joking, right? MM has got to be the absolute worst, slowest web interface I have seen in a long, long time. And I used to think that Bank of America was slow. If I had to use the web i/f and could not use a desktop app I would absolutely not even consider MM. It is that bad. Not to mention that many, many users cannot even access it at work or on the road because of IE restrictions.

 

[speedracer3000]

I second that. I got mine for $32 and would never pay the $99 that Apple asks. If you don't feel comfortable with eBay, I think it is something like $52 on Amazon right now.

I also got mine for around $32 through eBay Buy It Now. I've seen MobileMe single go as low as $20's if you don't mind bidding for it.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I understand people's frustrations with MobileMe, but how can anyone not love the Web interface? It's brilliant, imo.

You are actually very correct. Mobile Me's interface is a much better looking interface to work with. To me it's better than the apps on the Mac.

Also, can someone PLEASE tell me why anyone would pay $99 for only webmail?

Whenever someone has to start commenting on MM, it's only about the webmail, then make comparisons to other FREE webmail services......

Forgetting that MM does have a host of other features that does make it worth the price.

 

[XianPalin]

I cancelled my trial. Push mail never really worked that well for me, and I've been using Exchange with my work account for calendar stuff so it's been basically useless to me. The interface is nice, but it's just not worth the money in my opinion.

 

[benfischer]

MobileMe has come a long, long way from where it was then Apple rolled it out earlier in the year. I don't think it's worth $99 a year. Google mail and calendar is superior in my opinion. However, I do have a .mac email address that I use alot so I might buy a renewal key off eBay to keep that and iDisk around.

 

[zap2]

MobileMe is worth it(for me), but my current set up is very Apple based, so its works very well for me.


I still have a Gmail account, and without a question Gmail, Google Docs, etc is a very very good system

 

[smtty00]

Steve Jobs himself promised that MobileMe would be something they can be proud of in JANUARY....

When did he say that? Not doubting you; Im just curious to see the context in which that was mentioned. Is he talking about the interface itself, or just the issues they are having with syncing? I would certainly like to think there will be some big update in the next few weeks that will fix all our woes, but it would seem they have a long way to go to get there.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

When did he say that? Not doubting you; Im just curious to see the context in which that was mentioned. Is he talking about the interface itself, or just the issues they are having with syncing? I would certainly like to think there will be some big update in the next few weeks that will fix all our woes, but it would seem they have a long way to go to get there.

I think he was inferring January from this statement by Jobs:

"The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services," Jobs says. "And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year."

 

[Digital Skunk]

Is it me, or is everyone forgetting the many OTHER features of Mobile Me besides the contact, email, iCal syncing and pushing? 😕

 

[jc1350]

Is it me, or is everyone forgetting the many OTHER features of Mobile Me besides the contact, email, iCal syncing and pushing? 😕

I haven't forgotten. Despite push mail not always working for me, I'm still paying for it after th 60-day trial is over (later this week). I've used "back to my mac" several times and it's nice not having to punch holes in my home router or dealing with the firewalls at work. I especially love the photo gallery.

Anyone who looks at it as nothing more than email for $99/year is missing the big picture. It's $99/year for a bunch of things in one convenient place.

 

[Digital Skunk]

....It's $99/year for a bunch of things in one convenient place.

This is very relaxing to hear. Before Mobile Me, when it was just DotMac I was paying the $99 a year for that, another $99 a year for Box.net (which I still love and admire), and $40 a year or something like that for a host for my site.

Not that my site is better with MM, but iWeb and MM help me get it up there, and the way I need it for just the $99 a year. It's worth the hundred bucks, and it's definitely worth it if you can find it for less or for free.