As pointed out [1] by 9to5Mac, Apple has officially shut down MobileMe services as expected , and has also removed the iDisk and MobileMe Gallery apps from the App Store. MobileMe users who haven’t migrated to iCloud yet can still make the switch, download their photos and files from Gallery and iDisk respectively. Apple introduced iCloud last year with iOS 5 as a MobileMe replacement and has been reminding users from time to time about the transition [2]  for about a year.
Here is some interesting information about Apple’s cloud services:
MobileMe started its life as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based tools for Mac users that launched on January 5, 2000. iTools users would receive a free @mac.com email address and the first iteration of iDisk, among other features. Two and a half years later, Apple rebranded the service as .Mac and added several new features to the bundle, including a virus scanner and a backup utility.
In 2008, Apple once again renamed and revamped the system, calling it MobileMe. The new service launched alongside the 2.0 version of what was then called “iPhone OSâ€, the iPhone 3G and the iPhone App Store. The launch was unfortunately plagued by access problems and frequent downtime, likely due to Apple simply trying to do too much all at once.
In 2010, Apple began experimenting with a free cloud service by offering certain features of MobileMe for free. Specifically, Find My iPhone, which had previously only been available through the $99-a-year service would become available to most users running iOS 4.2.
Apple put the final nail in MobileMe’s coffin in 2011. As boxed retail versions of MobileMe began disappearing from Apple Stores, many speculated that the service would soon be free to all users. Those rumors proved to be true when Apple announced iCloud, an updated version of MobileMewith new features and no price tag.
It is worth mentioning that MobileMe members with 20GB of purchased storage receive a complimentary iCloud storage upgrade of 20GB valid until September 30th 2012, after which the storage will be reduced to 5 GB for free iCloud account holders.
Links
- ^ pointed out (9to5mac.com)
- ^ transition (www.apple.com)
- ^ @DrUsmanQ (twitter.com)
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