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why is .me usefull?

S

Solesk

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 12, 2007
86
0
assuming for a second you dont need the storage space. why do i need it for email and calender and such?

the key note stated that they will supply push notification for free for apps. so you can bet gmail and other apps will offer push notification functionality.

so after some apps roll out i'll have instant notification of instant messages, emails, calender events, and who knows what else. why pay for .me?
 
we'll you've answered your own question, you dont want the storage.

You get a nice suite of well designed web apps, but personally I dont think I'd use them.

You will not be able to get push mail from gmail etc, due to the fact that Apple make the mail client on the iPhone, and therefore will only make push work with mobileMe and exchange.

You pay for the EASY integration and the over the air syncing to the default Apps. (iPhone, PC, Mac, everything...)
 
.Mac and MobileMe, not .me


anyway, corrections aside, I think the best parts of Mobile me are the near instantaneous syncing and large file sharing.

and if you have any questions about its purpose and use why not check out the apple site. There's a ton of info and a few videos about it.
 
I'd love to be able to have everything synced between home and work computers and iphone, but it isn't crucial enough for me to pay $100.
 
tuffluffjimmy said:
.Mac and MobileMe, not .me
Click to expand...

um. thanks for the correction? but the site is www.me.com and your address will be @me.com. so .me sounds just dandy to me.

as for syncing. i still dont see what .me offers that other push notificiations wont. i'll still know instantly when i get an email from gmail or yahoo ect. maybe it will be more usefull for a buisness user
 
Watch the "guided tour." It keeps your at work exchange server windows PC, your iphone, and your home mac all synced-- calendar, contacts, etc. If it works as advertised it will be brilliant and will allow many people like me (exchange PC at work-- mac at home) to use iphones and ditch partially (or email only) integrated blackberries and palms. It is easily worth $100, when (e.g.) you are used to paying $50 a month for a verizon wireless data plan.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/

Beyond all that it has the hosting and storage capabilities of .mac, and the email and web addresses.
 
rosalindavenue said:
It keeps your at work exchange server windows PC, your iphone, and your home mac all synced-- calendar, contacts, etc.
Click to expand...

that's kinda my point though. all google has to impliment is push notification for new contacts, emails, calender events. you open that app to see the new info. and your updated. it's pretty much the same thing. unless that's not where you like storing files. but it wouldnt surprise me at all if salesforce.com comes out with their own notification app.

and i could keep my email synced between home and work 10 years ago. all you had to do was keep a copy of the file on the server to download from both locations. gmail has made it much easier though.

dont get me wrong. i'm not trying to dis on .me. i'm just trying to figure out what it is i'm missing that people like so much. because i just dont get it.
 
Solesk said:
assuming for a second you dont need the storage space. why do i need it for email and calender and such?

the key note stated that they will supply push notification for free for apps. so you can bet gmail and other apps will offer push notification functionality.

so after some apps roll out i'll have instant notification of instant messages, emails, calender events, and who knows what else. why pay for .me?
Click to expand...


unless you have an exchange server, it's the only wireless way to instantly keep several iphones, work computer, web access, and home computer all in sync. it offers the what a $2k exchange server does at a basic level for $100.
 
Solesk said:
that's kinda my point though. all google has to impliment is push notification for new contacts, emails, calender events. you open that app to see the new info. and your updated.
Click to expand...
That'd cover getting the updates to your iPhone, but what about the rest of your computers?

And how does it work in reverse? You add a new contact to your iPhone. How does that automatically sync back to Google? Wouldn't Apple have to rewrite the Contacts app to support that?

i could keep my email synced between home and work 10 years ago. all you had to do was keep a copy of the file on the server to download from both locations.
Click to expand...
If you're happy with that manual solution, then I don't think you're the market that MobileMe is aiming for. ;)
 
txr0ckabilly said:
it's less than 9 dollars a month. hell i pay more than that for satellite radio i don't even use.
Click to expand...

You might be interested in The Millionaire Next Door. :p:D

I know that I try not to spend money on things that I don't really need! It would be nice to have, but not important to me. I can certainly see the benefit to people who are very dependent on their email and calendars.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I guess I just don't get why there is a cost for this. Google and others offer full cloud computing for free. All your mail, contacts, and calendars live online, and while you can download them to a local computer, you also have access to them from anywhere. Is push really worth the cost?
 
Push notification is just that, a notification.

MobileMe offers push services for contacts, mail, and calendar. If you change a contact on your iPhone, it will instantly be changed on your MobileMe account, as well as on your home computer. If you add an appointment via your home computer, it will also add the appointment instantly to your MobileMe account and then to the iPhone.

You aren't quite grasping exactly what it does, and how it is useful for any busy person, or independent contractor type business person. It gives any user Exchange abilities for the very low cost of $100 a year. You are lucky if you can get hosted exchange access for less than $30 a month when you combine the hosting fees, usage fees, and the higher data plan you need to be allowed to access it.

Like someone above said, if you have to ask this question, it probably isn't a service for you.
 
dsyntax said:
I guess I just don't get why there is a cost for this. Google and others offer full cloud computing for free. All your mail, contacts, and calendars live online, and while you can download them to a local computer, you also have access to them from anywhere. Is push really worth the cost?
Click to expand...

Its cheaper than what I pay for exchange hosting and that doesn't include any general use storage space. Its certainly worth it to me.
 
dacreativeguy said:
I'd love to be able to have everything synced between home and work computers and iphone, but it isn't crucial enough for me to pay $100.
Click to expand...

Geez, that's worth $100 to me NOW and I don't even have an iPhone!

I pretty much pay for .Mac just so my iCal, Address Book, and Safari bookmarks stay the same on all 3 of my Macs. How is that not worth that amount of money? I'd probably give away my laptop in frustration without it. What use is a computer if it doesn't have any of my information on it?


And heck, it's real nice that I can do this...

www.samanthacarpenter.com

...in about 20 seconds using iPhoto. Seriously. Just pick the photos, then publish. It's even got cover-flow and slideshows! Can you make a webpage with cover-flow and multiple sized images (thumbnail, preview, and download) on your own that quickly? I can't. Flickr gives more options, yes, but when I show my family photos I want a nice presentation. Not keyword searches.
 
dsyntax said:
I guess I just don't get why there is a cost for this. Google and others offer full cloud computing for free. All your mail, contacts, and calendars live online, and while you can download them to a local computer, you also have access to them from anywhere. Is push really worth the cost?
Click to expand...

Does Google calendar allow you to make changes on your local machine that are then uploaded to the server and redistributed to other computers and mobile devices?
 
CrazEtooN said:
Push notification is just that, a notification.

MobileMe offers push services for contacts, mail, and calendar. If you change a contact on your iPhone, it will instantly be changed on your MobileMe account, as well as on your home computer. If you add an appointment via your home computer, it will also add the appointment instantly to your MobileMe account and then to the iPhone.

You aren't quite grasping exactly what it does, and how it is useful for any busy person, or independent contractor type business person.
Click to expand...

google does all this. what exactly am i not grasping?

Does Google calendar allow you to make changes on your local machine that are then uploaded to the server and redistributed to other computers and mobile devices?
Click to expand...

yes

the only difference is google stores everyting on their servers. you change it via the web. .me sounds like it downloads everything separately for each device. either way you need an internet connection. and either way security is the same concern since your data still travels and is stored on a remote server.

in both instances you know your calender, when new email arrives, and have full access to all of your contacts.
 
gauchogolfer said:
Does Google calendar allow you to make changes on your local machine that are then uploaded to the server and redistributed to other computers and mobile devices?
Click to expand...

Yep. Because the calendar exists completely on the server. While you can work locally offline, as soon as you're connected it syncs with your account and the changes are live online, accessible by any other computer or device.
 
I work in large corporate enviroment- basic windows shop with Exchange and Blackberries given to managers.

At home I'm all mac. I'd love to have my work calendar on my iPhone. I was doing this somewhat succesful upto last week with Plaxo but it is not 100% there.

I'd love to be able to push my Exchange stuff from work up to .Me and then have it automatically appear in iCal and then on my iPhone. Then I can avoid a blackberry and just have one device.

I'll also use the gallery for sharing photos and iMovies and .Me email for personal use.
 
Solesk said:
google does all this. what exactly am i not grasping?
Click to expand...
That Google hasn't actually written anything that over-the-air pushes calendar and contact updates to the iPhone.

Have you watched the MobileMe Guided Tour video yet?
 
It seems like they are also planning to use this (or allow its use) for any app that needs persistent data. So instead of allowing background applications any app that would need to persist some data would send it to the the mobile me server and could be pulled back again when that app was reopened. Seems slower, and has some potential privacy concerns, especially if they go that route for some instant message app or the like (how they are storing your messages and how long, etc).
 
aristobrat said:
That Google hasn't actually written anything that over-the-air pushes calendar and contact updates to the iPhone.
Click to expand...

at this exact moment in time. you are correct. but by aug or sept it will. you'll have a little gmail icon on your home screen and it will pop up notification of new incoming emails.
 
Solesk said:
assuming for a second you dont need the storage space. why do i need it for email and calender and such?

the key note stated that they will supply push notification for free for apps. so you can bet gmail and other apps will offer push notification functionality.

so after some apps roll out i'll have instant notification of instant messages, emails, calender events, and who knows what else. why pay for .me?
Click to expand...

...because it's exchange for the rest of us! ;)
 
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