Comments on: .Mac/Google mashup?

By: Spanglelog » Keynote predictions

Spanglelog » Keynote predictions — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 23:16:27 +0000

[...] too much for what you get and it’s time for a rethink.Then there’s this, which the Macalope doesn’t entiely dismiss…SPJ has been saying in recent outings, most notably at D, that [...]

By: Bergamot

Bergamot — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 01:25:09 +0000

Sure, Google is an ad company. Amazon is a book company*, and that doesn’t stop them from leasing out their excess capacity and intellectual property.

Google could easily handle the backend for email, webdav hosting, and PIM syncing, in exchange for some of the membership fees. Apple writes .mac-branded web frontends, and maintains existing application integration in Finder, Address Book, Mail, etc. Everybody wins.

Of course, they could easily do the same thing with Yahoo, so other than a general Youtube-fueled hunch, there’s not much to base this on. I give it maybe a 50% chance.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:59:14 +0000

“For that matter, where was it ever said that just because Google may be involved, that ads or Windows would be a part of the solution?”

Because that’s what Google’s entire business is centered around and how it makes all of it’s money?

By: addicted

addicted — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 17:08:34 +0000

I think this is a fantastic idea. There are 3 ways apple could go about it though,

1) .Mac is exactly like it is now, except with much better integration with Google products. So, for example, not only can you backup your calendars etc to .Mac (however, on Google’s servers, though you would be unaware of this), you could also set it to sync with Google Maps, so when on the rare occasion you are not on a mac, you can still access your calendars.

2) Just replace .Mac with free ad supported Google services

3) A choice of the above options.

Personally, I think 1) is most likely. Not only will it keep most mac users happy, it will also make Google extremely happy. The problem Google faces, is that it is currently a one trick pony. It gets money from ads, and that is about it. Getting a share of .Mac’s subscription fees would help them diversify tremendously! Also, see how both GOOG and AAPL climb on news of revenue sharing between the 2 (and MSFT drop…) It also saves apple from wasting time on something they are not good at (backend Internet data services..see .Mac) and hands it over to someone who is amazing at this stuff.

Win-Win-Win anyone?

By: Ignis Fatuusz

Ignis Fatuusz — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:05:39 +0000

>>“If Apple thinks I’m going to pay $100 a year for ads with a Windoze interface, while some faceless mega-corporation keeps tabs on my data; they’ve got another thing coming.”

>”Where was it ever said that .Mac would continue to be $100/year?”

For that matter, where was it ever said that just because Google may be involved, that ads or Windows would be a part of the solution?

My thoughts are more along the lines that Apple is basically subcontracting Google engineers to come up with some premium web functionality that Apple will host and integrate into the .mac service..

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 22:29:31 +0000

“If Apple thinks I’m going to pay $100 a year for ads with a Windoze interface, while some faceless mega-corporation keeps tabs on my data; they’ve got another thing coming.”

Where was it ever said that .Mac would continue to be $100/year?

By: -joe

-joe — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 21:37:09 +0000

Just heard you on MacBreak Weekly. So glad to see your using WordPress.

By: RM

RM — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 18:01:03 +0000

They would put .Mac (including @mac.com email) into Google in the same month that they tell every new iPhone user to sign up with Yahoo’s free push email service? That would be odd.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 17:54:45 +0000

There is an important difference between .Mac and Google: Ads. .Mac is about integration and convenience (while it’s a little expensive, I love having a rock-solid, never dissapear into the sunset or name changing @mac.com address); Google is about adware, cross-platform adware (read dumbed downed to Windoze level).

If Apple thinks I’m going to pay $100 a year for ads with a Windoze interface, while some faceless mega-corporation keeps tabs on my data; they’ve got another thing coming.

By: ignis fatuusz

ignis fatuusz — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:11:08 +0000

In recent press opportunities, Steve has been saying things like “there are people out there who are better at things than we are, and we want to partner with those folks.” See both interviews at D5, for the most recent examples. This hints to me that Apple has recognized just how good Google is at the “cloud” stuff and that they’re partnering with Google on a lot more than just the iPhone. .Mac would be the perfect project for collaboration between the two. If *anyone* can add tremendous value to .mac, it’s going to be Google. If their engineers are on the project and are working with the usability / UI folks at Apple, then I’m sure we’re in for a treat, and .mac will have indeed “(made) up for lost time.”