With iOS 6 beta 3 having just been seeded to developers, details within the changelog concerning the domain names of email addresses are are just beginning to become apparent, and those with a .me account should be aware that the transition to iCloud.com is now underway.
Before iCloud arrived along with iOS 5 last October, Apple offered a similar-ish service in the form of MobileMe. Like most of the Cupertino company’s pre-iCloud web ventures, it didn’t fare particularly well, leaving many Apple aficionados with a .me email address. MobileMe, although relatively defunct for a while, was officially discontinued on June 30th, and now, those old addresses are being gradually phased out in favor of the newer iCloud.com service.
Any new user signing up for a new Apple ID or activating mail on their iCloud account for the very first time will be automatically designated an @iCloud.com email address instead of a me.com email address. All existing iCloud users with an @Me.com addresses that used on a device running iOS 6 beta 3 will also receive an automatic @iCloud.com email address based on their @Me.com address. So, if your MobileMe address is JohnAppleseed@Me.com, it will now become JohnAppleseed@iCloud.com.
The funny thing about this transition is that the me.com addresses were, only four years ago, implemented to replace the iTools and .Mac services, both of which add to the Cupertino company’s lackluster list of bad web ventures. Whilst Apple does appear to have finally cracked it with iCloud, it’s still rather early to tell whether it will have a lasting place in the market.
After all, as well as the domineering Dropbox, both Microsoft and Google are looking to push their own major cloud services with SkyDrive and Google Drive respectively. One suspects, if Apple were to pick two companies it wouldn’t fancy competing against in a software spectrum it has severely struggled with, Google and Microsoft would be the two. Then again, Apple would certainly take the most pleasure in toppling two of its main rivals, and with 125 million users and counting, it’s certainly off to a flying start.
On the topic of accounts, I would have to say I prefer the @Me.com domain, but with Apple looking to build a solid user base in treacherous grounds, it’s only natural they’d want to get everybody switched.
(via MacRumors)
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