Mobile Me, Probably Not for Me

Mobile Me launches tomorrow, apparently, but I'm still pretty sure I won't be signing up for it. That's not to say it's not a great service, with some great improvements over .Mac. I just don't have much need for it, especially for $99/year (or $89 for one year if you buy from Amazon.com)

Calendars
I use Google Calendars, and sync them with my iCal, my wife's iCal, and our office computers via Spanning Sync. My iPod Touch syncs with my calendars every time I sync with iTunes (which, for me, is every morning before I drive to work).

Email
I have no need, really, for push email, since I get IMAP service for free from gmail and Google Apps for My Domain. IMAP mail gets my mail to me plenty fast enough, with my mail.app polling for new emails every minute or so. Same with my iPod Touch.

Address Book
Spanning Sync 2.0 (currently in beta) now syncs contacts with gmail contacts and across computers (also, check this video). My iPod Touch syncs contacts every time I sync with iTunes.

File Sync
I don't have much need for the file sync or online storage, since I use SugarSync to keep files in sync and available for mobile access across multiple computers. SugarSync does charge $24.99/year for 10GB of storage.

Still, the new Mobile Me seems like it will be a nice upgrade from .Mac, and I may even sign up for a generaous 60 day free trial to give it a spin.

Technorati Tags: Mobile Me, .mac, Spanning Sync, gmail, Google Apps for My Domain, SugarSync