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May 07, 10 - 09:32 am Comment from: Steve516

I dunno, but cheaper would be nice. Say $20/yr or something.

(1st Cmnt)
Interesting... I would welcome it.. I have had MobileMe from day one.

May 07, 10 - 09:35 am Comment from: Jonk

I've got a rumor - unconfirmed, of course. Apple are going to pay people $99 dollars to use MobileMe!

May 07, 10 - 09:35 am Comment from: HMCIV

I'll believe it when I see it. Unless Apple is that pissed at Google. (Maybe Eric Schmidt didn't pay for his coffee.)

May 07, 10 - 09:36 am Comment from: jtc

(5th Cmnt)

I doubt this will happen.. but cheaper would be sooo much better.

It'd be nice but I doubt it!!

May 07, 10 - 09:37 am Comment from: GeeOne

I just signed up for my 60 day Mobile Me trial, and despite the fact that I can't seem to figure out how to EASILY sync all of my email accounts, I like it a lot. If I could get it for free that would be fantastic!

May 07, 10 - 09:38 am Comment from: HotinPlaya

Would love to see it, and I bet we would see the abilty tobuse your iPad independtly of syncing with a computer

With that new data warehouse they built it North Dakota, I think the timing is just about right :D

Where did the rumor start? How many different sources? I just bought 50 more shares of Apple. Seems like the right thing to do on a otherwise gloomy day.

would be nice but can i get a refund for my purchase then atleast a $50 itunes card or something

May 07, 10 - 09:40 am Comment from: Studio8H

At $99 still a bargain! It ties everything together so seamlessly that it's an integral part of the Apple platform. With the new server farm, Apple should be able to offer more and faster. Best of all, I basically trust Apple ... unlike some of the other clouds (think G).

About time. Now can I get a $500 refund please? Or a complimentary iPad?

May 07, 10 - 09:42 am Comment from: TigerCliff

This would be a big shift and I tend to doubt it, but if you consider the direction of "cloud" computing coupled with Apple's iAds, it could be possible. iAds on MobileMe? Microsoft has lost the could game, maybe Apple will be the real competitor for Google there.

May 07, 10 - 09:43 am Comment from: jtc

@Rike

Shoulda bought yesterday when they dropped to 199

@aCe
North Carolina

With Quattro, apple is sure able to make money with a free mobile me website.

But they better not piss the loyal apple fans off by supporting windows.

They need to make it clear, by saying that Mobile me is for only Apple computers. If they have a PC they need to pay for it.

This simply has to happen. iPhone and iPad are competing with products powered by Google's free online services. Therefore they have to offer the same cloud-based services that Google does. It is imperative for the survival and evolution of these respective platforms. App developers simply cannot assume that their users will have access to MobileMe unless Apple makes it mandatory for all its customers. And the only way for that to happen is for it to be totally free. I for one am glad that Apple realises this now and not in a year or two from now.

@HotinPlaya
Did you type your msg on your new iPad?

May 07, 10 - 09:45 am Comment from: jtc

@bioness

That would most likely get apple sued somehow.

(not bundled iLife software when you buy a new Mac because if you upgrade to the next version, you pay for the stand alone product at the store). But...

Has Apple offered a stand alone product or service for free? Ever??

I think we have our answer to this rumor.

May 07, 10 - 09:47 am Comment from: Amazin1

I'd rather pay a reasonable price, as I have been for a number of years, than get something free that every Tom, Dick and Harriet has gotten. Also, nothing is free, so I'd assumed ads will be part of the free fee - if this ever happens!

May 07, 10 - 09:49 am Comment from: Jersey_Trader

"depends on certain facilities going operational" sounds like the BILLION DOLLAR SERVER FARM that is up and running in NC!

Someone should look into this Maybe I should take a day or 2 off and go see for my self. Could send you all iPhone photos from there.

Apple will add much more features to the 99 Dollar level and maybe offer a free entry version with some basic functionality.

The original .mac was free.

And yes, a simple price cut from $99 to $49 would be very, very welcome.

May 07, 10 - 09:54 am Comment from: MacRaven

I love MobileMe, we've had the family pack for years. I'd be willing to pay a reduced price. But in this economy, free is always exta good.

May 07, 10 - 09:58 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

If they made accessing my iDisk not feel like AOL dial-up circa 1990, it would be nice. I'm debating whether or not I'll bother renewing in the Fall. When I can access DropBox for free, why renew?

A lower price would be good.
$50 for the year? Okay.
A Family Plan like Apple offers for iWork/iLife/Mac OS X?

May 07, 10 - 09:59 am Comment from: Macintosher

I think Windows users who have free Safari and iTunes are probably the only people daft enough to think that everything else Apple does should be free - you only have to look at disastrously hard to use Windows Live to see what happens if you make cloud computing free (don't point to Dropbox, that's just an online hard drive) and don't pour non-customer-obtained funds into making it work. However... A cheaper solution would be good.

May 07, 10 - 10:00 am Comment from: WTFrank

That would be much appreciated I had it from day one until a year ago.

I felt like I was getting less and less each year for what I was paying for.


If Apple is going to truly move to the "cloud" they'll have a hard time if they continue to charge access to it when other services are free, can be shared, and offer more robust services.

May 07, 10 - 10:01 am Comment from: ron

Is there such a thing as a 'confirmed' rumor?

Wouldn't that be a 'fact'?

Basic Mobile Me free, pay for increased storage. It would be a smart thing to do.

Another feature I like and use is direct Web site publishing from iWeb.

May 07, 10 - 10:04 am Comment from: WTFrank

@Thunderdome - "The original .mac was free."

That may stop some old timers from going with a free service from Apple based on the way that was handled.

I've just renewed my acc. - excellent value, in the UK = 16p (?10c) per day - getting it free would be a bonus...but I won't hold my breath or make a major purchase on the possibility.

At that "price" I'd reconsider it as a replacement or companion to Dropbox which--RULES!
(I'm not in any way affiliated with DropBox but here goes the commercial: DropBox.com

Files sync seemlesly by their mere placement in a folder across as many computers as you designate, the DropBox web interface, your iPhone, iTouch, iPad.

And get this--ulimited restore of deleted files!

If you have a dead battery on an iPad, Apple is going to give you a new one for $99. When I read that, I thought about all the first generation iPads that will be used for a VERY long time even if relegated to book readers. This sounds like Apple would apply MobileMe usage to the same "warranty". As long as you've got an iPad, you've got MobileMe.

If they sell a TON of iPads and the driving factor is being able to sync for free... without having to pay for a service, it could pay for itself in the volume if iPads and other cloud devices easily.

Don't make it free!!!!

Although free would be good for people that just want FindTheiriPhone, it would encourage people to get accounts just for the sake of it.

Make it cheaper, $9, $19 or even $29, but not free, not $99

@ron,

I think the term "unconfirmed rumor" indicates the information has come from a single source, and has not been corroborated by any other sources (yet). Thus, there is such a thing as a "confirmed rumor" when one gets the same (or sufficiently similar) information from different unrelated sources. These sources might include employees of the mothership (but they are placing their continued employment in jeopardy, unless it is a planned leak). Of course, the original rumor will remain a rumor until the mothership makes an announcement either way. And we all know the sometimes the mothership makes an announcement denying the rumor, only to release a product later that confirms the original rumor.

May 07, 10 - 10:19 am Comment from: ron

Thank you Uncle Kevin.

May 07, 10 - 10:21 am Comment from: disposableidentity

"At $99 still a bargain! It ties everything together so seamlessly that it's an integral part of the Apple platform. With the new server farm, Apple should be able to offer more and faster."

It may be a super bargain, but that price (actually not that price -- any price) has kept me from trying it. It's a psychological barrier.

If Apple gives it away it's the best billion dollars they ever spent to improve the experience for all iPhone users. Definitely puts them way out ahead of the competition once again. Combine that with the new iAd (here), a home-grown mapping app (soon), and a search engine (hopefully), and Apple has just sidelines Google in the mobile space forever.

May 07, 10 - 10:22 am Comment from: Wade Smith

The type of service that MobileMe is would be more than welcome as a value-add to the purchase of an Apple. Bottom-line time. Yes, Apple, make it free if it's break-even.

I don't see this happening. I actually think they will start offering more features instead, like this article talks about http://www.macdaddynews.com/?p=3008

Glad to help you, young man.

May 07, 10 - 10:29 am Comment from: silverhawk

@jtc
lol!! I wish. I hear this morning that all trades made between 2:40 and 3:00 will be "undone."

May 07, 10 - 10:30 am Comment from: spinoza2

It's a silly rumor that makes no sense once you look at what would be necessary. I manage several Websites using a Family Pack, and I point several domain names to them. Along with all the other things mentioned above, MobileMe is just too complex and multi-faceted as a cloud-based computing service to give away for free.

As others have said, it's possible that once the South Carolina facility goes operational this summer there will be new features and services made available. I predict this will happen this fall some time, after Apple has had time to test things at the new server farm.

May 07, 10 - 10:31 am Comment from: keithbporter

If they did this, i would instantly stop using gmail. If there's a reason to do this, it might be to help break people off from googles clutches.

May 07, 10 - 10:34 am Comment from: kevt

Used to use .mac, but stopped after a couple of years, because of cost. I've have never used MobileMe because of the cost. I'd use it if were free, and I'd pay if the cost were in the region of 20$.

May 07, 10 - 10:48 am Comment from: fwm2008

That is not going to happen. I bet that Apple will improve iDisk to compete with DropBox.

One word: iAds. Of course MobileMe will be free; like Google and Yahoo, Apple will be able to search through email, uploads, etc to track comments and purchasing habits so as to offer even better targeted advertising. Making it free will ensure that virtually every person who uses an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is using MobileMe to feed more info into iAd. With the Lala acquisition, they can offer cross-platform syncing via MobileMe and get even more users' info. All of this is completely independent of what OS the home computer uses- Mac OS X or Windows.

The paltry sum that Apple makes off MobileMe now is nothing compared to what they will make off of iAd by linking the two together.

(and is nothing compared to the power of the force

May 07, 10 - 10:57 am Comment from: jocknerd

@keithbporter

Break people off from googles clutches? So they can be trapped in Apple's ecosystem?

I prefer my cloud to be around Google. They are good at it. I'll use my Macs, my iPod touch and my iPad to access this data I have stored in Google. With Google Sync, its all seamless.

Slowly but surely tie the noose tight around the neck of Google.