MobileMe: How Apple could make it "a lot better"
I read this posting not long ago where Steve Jobs insists that Apple's MobileMe offering is about to get "a lot better" in 2011. As I'm sure many subscribers would agree, it can't get much worse. Since it's inception a few years back the product has always felt half-done and way to expensive for the features it offers (almost all off which can be had for free through Google).
But that one-line email from Jobs offers hope that it could really become something worth paying for. Here's a quick list of things I'd love to see added in the next iteration.
- Virtual Network Connection baked right in - The whole point of MobileMe is the one-stop synching so that your iPhone, iPad and computer all have the same information at the same time. So why not include the ability to control my iMac right from my iPad? Similar apps exist but why not offer subscribers the ability to access their home computers from anywhere? Call it iDesk.
- More storage - The 5 gigs that are included out of the box just doesn't cut it. When Dropbox offers 2 gigs on a free account, Apple needs to appreciate that a paltry 5 isn't enough. If I want to stream music or use iDisk as a viable storage option, make it easy to use and make it much, much bigger.
- Lower price for current features, or more features for the current price - I think this is pretty self explanatory. $99 is way to expensive for what you currently get, so either lower the cost or offer me way more for my money.
- More apps - so what would those other apps be? Not sure, but how about a really great RSS Reader and a place to save bookmarks (seems timely with Delicious going out of business). How about a photo sharing tool that works more like iPhoto and has better sharing functions from the iPhone?
- Global settings for all my iOS devices - This ties back to the VNC offering, but why not give me the option to tweak the settings on every networked apple product I own? I could tell my Apple TV to download shows so they're ready when I get home, or start a TimeMachine backup while I'm at work. While you're at it, why not offer more synching options and a refinement of the current version. As it stands now It's a pretty limited and I know Apple's never been big on giving it's users a lot of options, so I'm not holding my breath on this.
There's more I could add like a smoother web interface and a first crack to MobileMe subscribers for new apps and beta offerings, but I don't want to sound greedy.
Are you a MobileMe subscriber? What would you add to make it worth the money?
