Comments on: Filling the Unlocked iPhone Gap with .Mac

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Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:29:38 +0000

[...] Filling the Unlocked iPhone Gap with .Mac Apple – MobileMe I really like to hear from readers. Comment in the Forum or email me with your ideas. [...]

By: stefn

stefn — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:37:48 +0000

If we define “free” as completely “ad free,” then nothing with a brand or logo on it can be called free. And since no product or service exists without a brand or logo, then literally nothing is free. In other words, that definition is useless.

I define free as a product or service I don’t pay money for and that does not demand I do anything further in the way of service or behavior to purchase it. So iTunes is free and so is Gmail, by that definition.

By: lowededwookie

lowededwookie — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:36:25 +0000

Google is NOT free in the truest sense. You have to pay for Google in the sense that you have to put up with all the ads on the site. True no money is offered upfront but there is still a price to pay.

What I would like with .Mac is my profile stored on my .Mac account so all my documents are stored there instead of my machine. I believe Daniel has highlighted this before. Think of it as roaming profiles over the Internet (and also that works).

By: stefn

stefn — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:08:22 +0000

@gus2000

In fact, there is “free.” For example, iTunes is free. I can use iTunes as my music library and never purchase an iPod or download music.

Same thing holds for Google mail. I can’t even tell you without looking what is advertised on it. Can you?

No business model? I agree with Daniel that selling premium services, as he outlined, is a great business proposition. Offering free .Mac is simply a way to market the .Mac service broadly. Not to mention all the tiny ad bits Apple could place on the service.

Just like Google.

By: gus2000

gus2000 — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:33:21 +0000

Errr, no. Nothing is “free”. Google gives away software/email/etc. because that drives traffic to their advertising-supported services. Apple is not running a business model that includes as revenue.

I’ll be happy to pay for the value I receive. I do believe that Apple gives away a 3-month trial of .Mac with each new system, but the small fee keeps out the rifraf (as Daniel has pointed out) and allows that business unit to show revenue and justify new expenditures.

I still haven’t figured out why Apple has not staffed up at .Mac and really improved the service offerings. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of Windows IT guys looking for work. :)

By: stefn

stefn — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:15:30 +0000

I like all that Daniel suggests. And all of this would become possible if Apple would take one step: Offer free .Mac access with every Mac, Pod, and Phone. Just like Google. Two reasons:

* Client side: We need offsite backup of our documents, along with our inhouse backup systems. I use Gmail for this, sending notes, files, and versions by mail to myself, thus locating a copy on the Google servers. Simple, secure, and searchable from Google Desktop.

* Server side: Once Apple has millions onboard and learning the ease and reassurance of the free service, all the premium services in “.Mac Pro” can be developed and sold over time.

By: lowededwookie

lowededwookie — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:50:43 +0000

It’s interesting all the comments about Mail’s junk mail filter not being very good. I disagree. I’ve had very little spam in my account with the first two in over three months occurring yesterday.

That being said I don’t sign up to a lot of dodgy sites either. ;-)

Admittedly it’s taken a bit of training but I hardly get any spam now.

I like this .Mac idea. I’d sign up for it just to get the iPhone which is not available in New Zealand officially yet. I know I could buy an unlocked phone but I’d prefer a legit phone instead of a hacked one.

I like the idea of using .Mac to buy stuff.

By: mattrad

mattrad — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:55:48 +0000

The real power of extending .Mac’s sync to the iPhone would be over the mobile network and Wifi. Mobile carriers have been half-heartedly suggesting that customers should backup their phone data, but the vast majority do not bother. Extending .Mac to do sync anywhere would be an important major leg-up over other mobile platforms. S60, UIQ, Windows Mobile can all do it but Apple would remove the hurdles I’m sure.

I’ve actually just written about this today as well:

http://www.allaboutiphone.net/2008/04/theres-something-else-in-the-air/

By: lmasanti

lmasanti — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:54:39 +0000

quote:
“Pass .Mac over to Google, and let Apple concentrate on what they do best.”

What “Apple do best”, IMO, is integration… and for that, they control every part of the system.
So, to “do what they do best” I think they must keep .mac (improving it, of course!)

By: dscottbuch

dscottbuch — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:03:58 +0000

Re .Mac: I’ve always liked it, and don’t think that <$9/month is that much but what recently sealed it for me was Back To My Mac. This is an incredible feature that, since 10.5.2, has just worked. Multiple macs behind each of multiple routers that I can see and get to from everywhere I’ve roamed on travel. My father has his macs on my account as does my two macs at home, along with my backup (TimeMachine). I accidently deleted a file at work and just brought up Time Machine and get it from home from my backups. Its slow, and I wouldn’t want to retrieve a large file but it worked. BTTM is so much more than screen sharing. Its a great VNC client, file sharing, ssh/sftp connection and browsing around in Bonjour there are the hooks for photos and printer there.