Could .Mac Move To Google?

Yuck, I hope not. :-)

Using almost any Google product with Apple's browser is a nightmare because of Google's insistence on making everything open in a new window and Safari's lack of "single window mode" or a similar way of controlling rogue websites. It would be a shame if our web experience had to conform to Google's ugliness.

But something clearly needs to be done with .Mac, for sure.

It took Google quite awhile to get a Safari friendly version of gmail and is still leaving Safari users out in the cold with Jabber Google Docs support. Then there is the whole issue of bookmarks, contacts, and keychain syncing, which I rely on heavily. A lot of 3rd party apps also use the .Mac syncing feature. I'm all for change and realize that the world moves on, but I find it hard to believe that .Mac syncing could be considered a relic of the past -- it is one of the best things about having a Mac.

I'm all for it - with one caveat that I doubt would happen: an option for ad-free group sharing, like calendars, etc. I love how Apple does not use ads for its .Mac stuff, giving a real comfort to people who are wary of sharing over the Internet due to ads and other impressions of data security problems. Since ad revenue is Google's bread and butter, I don't think that this would happen...but no one expected Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to have their joint-appearance recorded for posterity, either.

I agree with SJ Austin that something needs to be done with .Mac. Right now I must say that nothing they offer is really attracting users. Why pay for it when actors like Google offer the similar service for free?

I'm using many of Google's services today with my MB and I'm very pleasead. I have nothing to comment on the interface. To me it looks and works perfect.

There is a trend now among youths to be moore active in sharing information on the Web. Services as Facebook, Plazes, Jaiku, Twitter, Last.fm etc are growing more and more to be a part of many peoples blogs and websites. I suggest that Apple (.Mac) and Google focus in developing this new area of constant (daily) information sharing.

I have been a steady .Mac user since the iTools days, and I grumbled when they switched it to a pay service However, over the past few years, I have found more than enough value in the service to pay my annual tithe. (I have managed to keep it down to $70 by always ordering a box when I upgrade my Mac, and asking family to do the same.)

If we are talking about replacing Apple's services with the corresponding Google services, I do not think that will be an improvement. Here is what I value in .Mac, and why I don't use Google's version:

1. IMAP Mail

There is no good reason for a modern mail service to not provide IMAP mail service. Google does not. Apple's IMAP service allows me to operate across multiple computers, remotely via webmail, and when offline. My efficiency would be severely degraded without IMAP, and I have found no other reputable service that combines IMAP and Webmail service with sufficient storage and reliability.

Plus Apple's webmail client is a work of art... it is almost like using the desktop Apple Mail program.

2. iDisk Syncing
Sure, there are other online storage systems. Some with more capacity - but none with the level of integration with my Mac. With syncing turned on... it is like having a small portable hard disk attached to every Mac I wish to use, anywhere I happen to be. Sure, it is just a nice wrapper around WebDAV, but that wrapper is worth it and makes the difference between me using WebDAV and not using it because it is too much of a hassle.

No one else provides such close integration.

3. Backup
I use Backup to save to external hard drives, so essentially part of my .Mac fee is a "rental" of Backup. It is a better Backup program than many others I have tried... given how valuable having a back up is, that's worth a couple bucks a month.

Does Google do Backup?

4. Everything else Sync
I like how iSync keeps events, addresses, bookmarks, and keychains synced between computers... and makes most of these available via the mac.com web site as well. This has saved me loads of time in the past when I have been away from my computer or transferring to a new computer.

Again, I don't think Google has all the hooks you would need to sync all this.

5. The Web stuff
I keep a few pages up homepage.mac.com, and it is useful for rapidly deploying photos or video onto the web when you need to. With iWeb, iBlog, and other desktop tools which integrate with .Mac, it becomes a convenient way for people to easily and quickly put up web pages without dealing with web-based editors.

I am sure Google has nice online versions that they wrote or bought up... but I want desktop apps that do not require a constant net connection.

Now, if we are talking about Apple outsourcing the servers... sure... if someone else can provide the storage and mail at a better price as reliably, and Apple can save a few bucks, why not? But I would still rather pay a yearly fee and expect better service (I have found them to be responsive to issues, and have found the mail and storage services of .Mac more reliable than most other services I have user, both commercial and free.)

And I have to concur with others when I say that the I do not relish see ads all over the interface i if Apple partnered with Google on this.

_Marcin

Then there is the whole issue of bookmarks, contacts, and keychain syncing, which I rely on heavily. A lot of 3rd party apps also use this. Mac syncing feature. I'm all for change and realize that the world moves on, but I find it hard to believe that.

Anybody who understands .Mac would know it's nowhere near Google's Free service. It would be a bad idea. I think it's more than email, online storage, online calendar. It's the way .Mac syncs into Mac computers and devices that makes the difference. But the whole send migrate its customers who use the .Mac service over to Google, I just don't see that happening.