Apple's Find My iPhone Now Free

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-coming-today-soon' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-c...ming-today-soon</a><br /><br /></div><p>Last year Apple launched its Find My iPhone feature that works similarly to the MyPhone but up until now it has been part of the $99 annual fee for the MobileMe service.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1290956421.usr9.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>Once again, Apple is leading the way and will get credit for their visionary leadership. Oh, wait. Microsoft's MyPhone has been free from the start. Well, it doesn't matter. Now is obviously the right time to make the service free. The world wasn't ready for that in 2009.</p>

[benjimen]

They might not have been first to offer it free -- but they were the first to offer it, which is more a point worth mentioning than who offered it at what cost.

[Fritzly]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-coming-today-soon' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-c...ming-today-soon</a><br /><br /></div><p>Last year Apple launched its Find My iPhone feature that works similarly to the MyPhone but up until now it has been part of the $99 annual fee for the MobileMe service.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1290956421.usr9.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>Once again, Apple is leading the way and will get credit for their visionary leadership. Oh, wait. Microsoft's MyPhone has been free from the start. Well, it doesn't matter. Now is obviously the right time to make the service free. The world wasn't ready for that in 2009.</p>

You forgot to mention that they were the first to offer this service; the follower offered it for free..... because it was the follower.

Nothing new honestly.

I remember when the cellular phone service began to appear in this Country people paid roaming services jsut travelling trough different Counties........

[randalllewis]

Apple was first and charged for the service because they could. Microsoft took their idea and made it better. To its credit, Apple quickly realized this particular income stream had come to an end. To its credit, Microsoft correctly recognized that this was a service that ought to come with ownership of the device and made it so for a huge segment of the smartphone market (their own still limited segment and Apple's).

[benjimen]

[BLAH BLAH BLAH] ...Microsoft took their idea and made it better... [BLAH BLAH BLAH]

...better...? In what way?

[randalllewis]

...better...? In what way?



Not the first time you've chosen snark as a response to one of my comments.

It seems kind of obvious exactly how Microsoft took Apple's idea and made it better. Read Ed's original post.

[benjimen]

Not the first time you've chosen snark as a response to one of my comments...

Just a simple question... If you're unable to come up with a response, you should just say so -- it's ok to be mistaken ;)

[Macguy59]

I guess that it was free from the start automagically made it better ;)

[Deslock]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-coming-today-soon' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-c...ming-today-soon</a><br /><br /></div><p>Last year Apple launched its Find My iPhone feature that works similarly to the MyPhone but up until now it has been part of the $99 annual fee for the MobileMe service.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/wpt/auto/1290956421.usr9.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>Once again, Apple is leading the way and will get credit for their visionary leadership. Oh, wait. Microsoft's MyPhone has been free from the start. Well, it doesn't matter. Now is obviously the right time to make the service free. The world wasn't ready for that in 2009.</p>

That's an interesting take on it. Is this more or less the order of things?:

1 Apple offers Find My iPhone as part of MobileMe
2 Microsoft launches a similar Myphone service, including a limited free version as well as a more feature-rich pro version (according to wikipedia)
3 Apple makes Find My iPhone available to all users for free
4 Ed H mocks Apple as getting undeserved credit because Microsoft offered a free version from the start
5 I chuckle and scratch my head over Ed H's post since I've yet to hear/read of anyone praising Apple as a visionary leader for making Find My iPhone free

P.S. While I don't use MobileMe personally, my wife does. FYI it's $69 when bought with a Mac or iPad and ~$40 on EBay.