Every few months, for the last few years, Internet bloggers have rumored that Apple’s MobileMe Internet service is just moments from becoming free. Recently the rumors have kicked up to explain the massive data center Apple recently finished building in North Carolina. Then there was “evidence” discovered in some of the iOS 4.2 framework files. Still, if you buy a new Mac, or a new iOS device and want “syncing for the rest of us,” you need to sign up, and pay, for MobileMe.
MobileMe is (according to Apple), “a service that pushes email, contacts, and calendar events over the air to all your devices.” Basically keeping your “iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC…in perfect sync,” wirelessly. Preceded by .Mac, MobileMe was released in the summer of 2008. Since it’s introduction, MobileMe has retailed for $99US (per year) for individual users and $150US (per year) for a 5-member-family pack. While I find the price reasonable (especially when divided monthly) and have dedicated several tutorials to maximizing the service, it would still be nice to get MobileMe (or a majority of it’s features) for free.
So, is MobileMe becoming free for the masses? I think it might be, soon, and here’s why:
Loyal Apple fans likely noticed that the mother ship slightly modified their public website a few weeks ago. The tweaks were minor, but fun, bringing us a slightly darker navigation bar and some flashy sprites under the “Mac” landing. Apple made the modifications using HTML5, a new Internet standard that they’ve been backing for sometime. While the modifications were simple and welcome, most people didn’t perk up and take notice too much, myself included. That was until today.
While helping a new Windows-to-Mac convert, I was explaining the benefit of MobileMe, particularly in light of their new Verizon iPhone purchase. “It’s a great way to keep all of your information synchronized and backed up,” I said before jumping online to load up additional reading for the switcher. Instead of just typing the URL to Apple’s MobileMe page (which I know based on their site map/setup), I chose to navigate through Apple’s website instead. In the past, I’d log onto Apple.com, click “Mac” in the navigation bar and then click “Applications” in their product-slider. A little box icon of MobileMe sat, in that section, just after the respective iLife and iWork icons.
But, guess what was missing now? MobileMe. I continued exploring, assuming that it had been moved. I checked “Mac,” “Accessories,” even “Server.” Nothing. Not even a self-promoting banner on the page, like the one that had lived there for-eve-er.
Anxious, I typed in the URL that I had initially skipped: http://www.apple.com/mobileme
BAM. Finally, some info on the service popped up. But, a bit hard to find, don’t you think? Imagine being a new user, someone unfamiliar with Apple’s site, or perhaps not even sure what the “internet service” they heard about was called. Apple certainly isn’t advertising MobileMe in television commercials.
My last stop was Apple’s Online Store: again, there was nothing on the landing page. In fact, there wasn’t a single mention of the service ANYWHERE on the main-store-page. I had to dig to find it buried in “Mac Accessories,” twelve products deep.
It’s particularly odd that Apple adjusted their product matrix just before and during the launch of the Verizon iPhone. MobileMe is such a natural compliment to the iPhone/iPad/Mac that it seems unusual to hide it from millions of potentially new customers.
Unless, of course, you were just about to announce that it’s FREE…another reason for Mac & iOS users to taunt the others.
What do you think?
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Thanks for the Question!
Before I begin, I think some clarification would help: to start, iWeb is a part of Apple’s iLife application suite. iLife comes FREE on all new Macs and is available for other users for $79 US (or $99 US for a family pack). iWeb, along with the rest of the suite, is not available to trial. You either own it, or you don’t. I assume that you already have it pre-installed since you are asking. You can verify this by checking in your dock (where the iWeb shortcut may live) or checking your applications folder for the actual application. See it?
When you launch iWeb for the first time (or set up your Mac for the first time), you are prompted to sign up for a trial of Apple’s “MobileMe” service (you can also sign up ANYTIME through the MobileMe pane in your System Preferences). The service offers a number of benefits, many of which have been covered elsewhere on this blog. Check out the Tutorial Vault for more.
New users (those who haven’t had MobileMe before) can sign up for 60 days, free. After that, a $99 US (per year) fee will be charged to your credit card, annually, unless or until you cancel.
iWeb users have a distinct advantage when using MobileMe because the service offers easy, integrated online storage for your website. After you’ve designed your site, or after you make changes to it, your site can be updated and viewable to the masses with just “one-click.” It’s super-easy (other software requires exporting, uploading, FTP setup, sometimes other FTP software, etc.).
With that being said, iWeb is still independent of MobileMe and it’s auxiliary services. It is an application that is designed to help you build beautiful, interesting websites with drag-and-drop simplicity —- even if you choose not to use Apple’s MobileMe services.
If you were taking advantage of the MobileMe’s trial, and publishing your website to Apple’s host servers, your site would become inactive and disappear if you chose not to renew the membership. The creation files would remain in iWeb and could be republished to MobileMe or to another host.
It’s also important to point out that iWeb doesn’t require that you use MobileMe’s hosting services. Once you create a site in iWeb, under the Site Publishing Settings, you’ll see three options to getting your website online:
-publishing to MobileMe:
-publishing to another host (via the built-in FTP):
-exporting to a local folder
So there you go. If you’d rather use a host different than MobileMe, you can. And still retain “one-click publishing.”
While I personally think the MobileMe service is well worth the price, and it’s integrated service will make your life that much easier, they aren’t required or necessary. You can still take advantage of all of Apple’s incredible iLife apps.
I hope that helps!
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“Hey Christian! I recently bought my own domain name through GoDaddy.com because I’d like to make my own portfolio website. I’m a total novice, so I was thinking about using iWeb to get started. Do you think that this is a wise choice? And, will it be easy to publish my website? Do I need to pay for hosting with GoDaddy.com? Thanks for your help!” – JD
UPDATED: September 7, 2010 (with new MobileMe features)
Well, we’ve got a lot of questions here so let’s get started with the basics…
1) Taking the leap & building your first website
As the economy continues to struggle I’ve noticed some trends: The first is the return of entrepreneurship and the starting of small businesses. I believe that many people were stuck in jobs and decided to re-evaluate their dreams once they were laid off. The second is the desire to start publicizing and promoting those small businesses on a budget. While the economic situation sucks, the fact that it’s pushing more and more people to do what they are passionate about is exciting. And, when you think about starting a new business, a website is a crucial element/concern. Paying a professional to create your site is always advised. Like they say, you will get what you pay for. That being said, I understand the desire to fulfill the need while on a tight budget. Many sites don’t need a full pro-treatment and are a great/fun learning process.
2) Deciding what tools you will need
I wanted to start by saying that you are already off to a great start. You’ve secured the domain [see end of post] that you want. Here’s a short checklist:
- A personal domain name (tho not entirely a necessity)
- WYSIWYG website design application
- Online web hosting/provider
- 1+ hours of time to get things set-up
Here’s a little more information on each requirement and what I’d advise:
A personal domain – this isn’t a necessity, as your host will always provide you with some type of URL to your uploaded pages, BUT, it’s a good, cheap, idea to get one. As you continue building your “brand” and image, this title will come into play. It’s much easier to say, “go to www.MaximizeUrMac.com,” than it is to say, “go to http://www.wordpress.maximizeurmac.com/blog/home.html.” Sometimes you will have to be creative when registering your domain but, they only cost about $10 a year once you find something you like. You’ve already purchased your domain name so we can check that off the list.
WYSIWYG website design app – WYSIWYG is an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get.” Essentially, when you are building your site, the program allows you to change color, drag and drop text/pics/shapes, add hit counters, video, etc and it does the dirty work of writing the HTML markup code that web browsers use. These apps are a godsend to non-experts and they do an excellent job of writing clean, common code. iWeb is Apple’s solution to WYSIWYG web developing & is part of their iLife application suite.
This tutorial will focus on the latest edition (as some features have changed and improved), iLife ’09.
Online web hosting/provider – this IS necessary. There are literally hundreds of options available: many people willing to take your money so that you can host your site on their server-computers. While GoDaddy.com’s services are more than adequate, we won’t be focusing on them here. We’re going to focus on the hosting feature built into Apple’s apps via MobileMe. This is another reason to invest the $99 a year (after the 60 free trial for new members). And, since it’s built into many of their applications, it makes the whole web building process MUCH simpler.
If you aren’t a member yet, I recommend signing up. It will only take a second & when you break down the cost over a year ($99 divided by 12 months = $8.25 a month), it’s very reasonable —- especially considering all that you are getting for that price (not just iWeb hosting).
I have already given a MobileMe Tutorial, which you can find here. More will follow in the coming weeks.
Let’s get started:
First, we want to change all of the default GoDaddy.com settings to point to your private space on MobileMe. Before you start, make sure that you have your GoDaddy.com user #, password, as well as your MobileMe username & password.
In Safari (or any other web browser), head to GoDaddy.com, and enter your user # and password at the top. This will log you into your account.
Any and all of your domains will be listed in this area. On the left side of your screen, in the grey navigation bar, click on the “Domain Manager” which is located under the “My Products” heading.
Once in the Domain Manger, click the checkbox next to the domain you wish to use (you may only have one like this sample) and then click on the “Nameservers” icon located just above the listing.
A lightbox will appear; select “I want to Park my domains” and click ok. You will be notified that your changes have been submitted. You can click ok, again.
Keeping this page open, open a NEW page in Safari: Under the File Menu, choose “New Window.” Another website window will appear. Head to http://www.me.com/ and log-in with your username and password.
By default, MobileMe will take you to your mail account in their webmail interface. Now, at the top-right of that screen click on the icon/button that holds your account name. Select “Account” from the drop-down menu.
If you are asked to verify your account password again, go ahead. On the left side of this screen you will see a section for “Personal Domain,” click here.
Here is where we will configure MobileMe to receive your GoDaddy.com account. Click the “Add Domain” button and input the domain you’ve previously registered with GoDaddy.com.
MobileMe will confirm that you have entered the domain correctly and will then indicate other changes that need to be made at GoDaddy.com. You can click “Done” and close this window.
You should still have your GoDaddy.com website open from before. We’re now going to Forward your domain to MobileMe. Start by clicking on the “Forward” icon above your domain list (if these icons are dim & not selectable, make sure you have a selected checkbox next to the domain you are adjusting). A small menu will appear; choose “Forward Domain” NOT “Forward Subdomain.”
Another lightbox window will appear. Be sure to fill out the top field as shown below. Include the “www” with your domain name in the top field and make sure that your advanced settings match too (you’ll have to click “show advanced settings”).
Click “Ok” when you are done.
We’re ALMOST done!
From here, we need to exit the Domain Manger and return to your main account page. In the top of your GoDaddy.com page, you’ll see the “breadcrumbs [see end of post]” next to the GoDaddy.com logo. Click on “My Account.”
In the grey navigation bar, on the left of the screen, click “My Products.”
Occasionally GoDaddy.com will request that you “log back in.”
If your screen does not look like the one below, enter your user # and password at the top of the screen one more time.
Under “My Products” click “Domains.”
In the main/middle area of your page, you should see your domain(s) listed. Under the domain you’ve been working with, click the “Manage Domain” button that is located just below your listing..
Don’t be overwhelmed by all the settings that appear here. While you won’t want to change most of them, we will need to adjust your DNS. In the middle of the page, you should see a header that says, “Total DNS.” Just below that a link that says “Total DNS Control,” click it.
Another crazy screen! Check the checkbox next to the “www” row, and click the “edit” icon (in the same row, just across on the right) to modify:
You will be asked to confirm that you want to modify the “CNAME,” click “Ok.”
A window will appear at the top of your screen. Leave the first field as is, but type “web.me.com” in the second. Leave TTL at 1hr, and click the “Ok” button.
You may now close the Safari window, as you are done with GoDaddy.com.
You’ve officially adjusted your GoDaddy.com settings to point your new domain to your MobileMe website. This really IS the hardest part, because there are lots of little details. If you head back to Safari (or any other browser), you can try typing your domain in. If everything is working, you should get a warning sign from MobileMe saying that the page was not found. That’s because you haven’t published anything yet! But, it means that the settings are all working as they are suppose to. It should be mentioned that this process doesn’t always happen instantaneously. Sometimes, after adjusting the settings, it can take hours (even days) before they are fully active.
If you weren’t a MobileMe user before this tutorial (and you just signed up), you’ll need to give your Mac your new info.
It will only take a second: Select “System Preferences” from the Apple menu at the top of your screen.
Then choose the MobileMe preference pane and enter your information.
Quit the System Preferences when you are done.
If you don’t see the iWeb icon in your dock, head to your applications folder and launch it.
Once iWeb opens, you’ll see how easy the drag & drop interface is. Apple provides a number of really good tutorial videos for getting started. I recommend you check them out here. Look for more specific tutorials, from MaximizeUrMac.com in the future.
The most important thing to note, NOW, is that your domain is linked directly to the “one-click-publish” feature of iWeb. Once you design your site (and even when you modify it in the future), you will only need to click the “Publish Site” button in the lower left to active your site to the masses.
While that may not seem like a big deal, it IS. Trust an expert.
Have more questions? Don’t hesitate to let me know by contacting me here.
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[1] A domain is the address users will type into their web browsers to find your site. They commonly end in .com, .org, .edu and .net, but many others exist too.
[2] Breadcrumbs are the geeky way of describing where on a site you are. If you have clicked through several areas, this path describes where you are so that you can click back to any of the previous steps with ease.
