Code strings suggest name change coming for .Mac
Apple may be getting ready to overhaul its .Mac service--or at least change the name.
New code within Mac OS X could mean the end of the .Mac name for Apple's Internet service.
(Credit: Apple)A Russian site called Deep Apple noted that code within the Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.3 software update contains placeholders for the .Mac name that would allow Apple to drop in a new name at a later date. Dmitry Chestnykh of Coding Robots also noticed similar code within Mail and Safari applications.
Apple's .Mac service is designed to help Mac users extend the capabilities of their iLife software to the Internet by publishing Web pages, sharing photos, and storing data, among other things. But it's not exactly the company's most popular service, and looks expensive and out-of-date next to competing services from companies that make their living on the Internet.
The iPhone might be giving Apple a reason to think different about .Mac. If Apple were to revamp the .Mac service and turn it into something that ties Macs and iPhones together--and cut the price--they might be able to marshal an army of online Mac users and add a nice little chunk of revenue to the income statement.
But as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, a service called ".Mac" that is morphing into something more iPhone-centric might need a different name. Long ago, in a distant era (January 2006) Apple trademarked a name called "Mobile Me" that seems to fit the bill, according to Gruber.
The pending code changes could also mean, however, that Apple wants to tie iPhones and Macs into other Internet services, perhaps having decided that others could do a better job providing these types of services.
UPDATE 10:15am - Chestnykh found references to "Mobile Me" in the latest version of the iPhone SDK.
Tom Krazit, a staff writer for CNET News, focuses on all things Apple. He has covered traditional PC companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, chip companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and mobile computers ranging from Research In Motion's to Palm's. E-mail Tom.
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Apple is the MOST proprietary company in the industry, their whole business plan is not giving you a choice but locking you into their choice. Apple pretends its so they can assure good performance, but in reality its done to make sure that your money continues towards Apple after you've bought the mac. There is no way they will be offloading anything to someone they view as a competitor.
Mac Mobile? MacNet? Mac Link? Apple Net? Apple Mobile?
Dear Madam: like Microsoft, Apple is a *business* that issues stock; unlike Microsoft it is *not* a monopoly. This means that Apple is obligated to its shareholders, and to common sense, to increase its revenue by all legal means. This they do amazingly well.
When Apple's market share is as large as Microsoft's share is now, then *Apple* will be a monopoly, and then their preference for "[making] sure that your money continues towards Apple" will be a fit topic for complaint. Not before.