[NewsPoster]

In a surprise move earlier on Friday, Apple's iCloud team has opted to extend the time period for a free allotment of 25GB of storage given to former members of Mobile Me. The bonus storage, which was set to expire on September 30 and for which the company had sent emails to users warning them of the change, will now continue until September 30, 2013. The move could be due to feedback from iCloud members that didn't feel they had sufficient time or warning of the change, though the extra storage came with clear caveats.

Most iCloud users aren't likely to be taking great advantage of the extra storage, which was given to former Mobile Me members because their previous iDisk contents had stored 20GB of content. Under iCloud, users only get 5GB of storage for free -- but many things users have automatically "stored" in their iCloud accounts, such as iTunes purchase backups and Photo Stream photos, don't count against the total. The 5GB provided is used by most members primarily for their iCloud email account and stored documents, which are mostly iWork files. Apple only recently took the Documents in the Cloud section of iCloud out of beta, so usage of the feature may still be limited. The move will come as a relief to those who were using the extra space, however, such as members who backed up their iOS devices on iCloud or those who used the space to preserve their former iDisk contents. The extra space would normally cost $40 per year, and former Mobile Me members have been enjoying the perk since transitioning over to iCloud, which opened in October of last year. The former iTools and .Mac web service finally closed its doors for good on June 30, and at the time Apple said that the extra 20GB of space would end on September 30 unless members paid to continue it. Users who need extra space and weren't former Mobile Me members can also buy 15GB (20GB total) for $25 per year, 25GB (total) for $40 per year, or 55GB (total) space for $100 per year -- the latter being the former price of Mobile Me. A hint that the company was planning to retreat from the original September 30 suspension of the bonus space came when many members found instead that their storage level had been increased, extended to the year 2050, or both.

[jvr2]

I just got this email and was wondering why they extended it. I had forgotten I had gotten an email a few months ago reminding me that on 9/30 that all that storage I was using over 5GB was a gift from being a MobileMe subscriber and I was going to have to decide if I wanted to pay for more then the 5GB. Hadn't decided what I was going to do and now I have a whole year to forget about it till its about to expire again. Maybe by then I'll want to pay for it. I'm one of those people that has been backing everything up to it lol and am using almost all of the allotted space.

[MyRealGenius]

I was a MobileMe Family Pack user from day one. My extension also came in an email but for the 55 GB option for free for another year. This is a welcome surprise, but I really wish I could mount that 55 GB storage as a Hardrive like Dropbox does now, and the iDisk did in the past. That was an incredible feature of MobileMe that I used all day long between work and home. Plus I really miss the iWeb setup for personal sites, that was the biggest hit I took on moving our entire family history Website over to additional Hosting service. I have found a way to use iWeb site builder with the DropBox system for free, but paid now for 100 Gb year. Still it can be done, just not the same feeling as it was a breeze with the MobileMe system.

(Steve Jobs - Gone 1 year today...We all miss you, but your vision and products will continue to live on as a part of our everyday lives)

ScottG

[Spheric Harlot]

I think they realized that 5 GB isn't enough.

I use iCloud backups, and I own an iPhone and an iPad. The iPhone alone would be okay, but for the iPad, I'd need to purchase extra space. That's a little weird.

[efithian]

This is going to happen for the next 37 years.

[pairof9s]

I'm like Spheric Harlot...my iPhone backup alone exceeds the 5GB limit. So with the Sept 30 deadline coming, I had to change it to backing up to my Mac again, allowing me to maintain the iCloud features of Mail and Docs in Cloud as well as my iPad backup. Therefore, I certainly welcome having the extra year of 20GB space and being able to backup my iPhone to iCloud again. Thanks, Apple!

[Infinitewill]

I find it amusing that Apple touts the fact that they "gave me" complimentary iCloud storage for the last year. I renewed my .mac account 4 days before they announced that it would be free ($130) and refused to give me a refund for the year that I paid for that was now "free".

[jimoase]

Old customers are being tossed in favor of changing market. What is the storage for? Photo Gallery? No, WebPage? No, iDisk? No

Then what? New devices, new customers? New customers that in a year of two Apple will do with as they have done before... toss. Like VW of the 1960s customers are lining up to the street everyday looking for more of what ever the company is offering. Soon some other entrepreneur will notice the "Free Market" and like what happened to IBM those loyal new customers move on to become someone else's "New Loyal Customers". That is the essence of the free market, one company eats their competition's lunch.

All I have left of Apple's services is an email address. Sooner or later another company, with the willingness to communicate with its customers, is going to make a safe, easy to use computer system. When that happens what is Apple selling that differentiates it from anyone else's products? Loyalty? No

[daqman]

I too had 55 GB as a long time member an unexpectedly had that extended for a year. I'd decided that I didn't need it because, with no iDisk, what would you use it for? My hope is that some time in the next twelve months there's going to be something Dropbox like that would allow you to make use of that much space. As it is iCloud doesn't seem well adapted to managing huge numbers of files. It's more of a bridge between MacOS and iOS and a backup for iOS devices.

Originally Posted by Infinitewill 

I find it amusing that Apple touts the fact that they "gave me" complimentary iCloud storage for the last year. I renewed my .mac account 4 days before they announced that it would be free ($130) and refused to give me a refund for the year that I paid for that was now "free".

BS - Apple gave pro-rated refunds to MobileMe subscribers that renewed. A quick google search on "MobileMe refund iCloud" shows countless examples.

[jvr2]

Exactly, I got a check from Apple for that years MobileMe subscription that I paid for before iCloud was announced. Maybe Infinitewill needs to call Apple to tell them his check got lost in the mail, I'm sure they will be happy to issue you any refund you deserve.

[pairof9s]

Originally Posted by Infinitewill 

I find it amusing that Apple touts the fact that they "gave me" complimentary iCloud storage for the last year. I renewed my .mac account 4 days before they announced that it would be free ($130) and refused to give me a refund for the year that I paid for that was now "free".

Renewed your ".mac" account? MobileMe (.me) had been in place since 2008 before being replaced last summer by iCloud...not sure how you renewed your .Mac account. Perhaps that's why you didn't get a refund!

[Infinitewill]

Originally Posted by pairof9s 

Renewed your ".mac" account? MobileMe (.me) had been in place since 2008 before being replaced last summer by iCloud...not sure how you renewed your .Mac account. Perhaps that's why you didn't get a refund!

I PAID for 5 GB of storage space for my iDisk storage and 3 email addresses that cost me $113 per year. I was not given a refund and when I called Apple support I was told that I would not and never did receive a refund nor credit in any form. If you would like to see the receipts I would be glad to provide them for you.

BTW, iCloud was only offered to those running 10.7, which I was not running at the time as Adobe products didn't support it and further your iCloud storage is also part of your iTunes match/iCloud storage as well correct? Any music that you ripped or that you upload to the iCloud (and isn't matched to tracks in the iTune Store) counts against your storage correct?

[pairof9s]

Originally Posted by Infinitewill 

I PAID for 5 GB of storage space for my iDisk storage and 3 email addresses that cost me $113 per year. I was not given a refund and when I called Apple support I was told that I would not and never did receive a refund nor credit in any form. If you would like to see the receipts I would be glad to provide them for you. ...

Yes, do provide receipts because what you've described as purchasing doesn't sound like anything Apple offered in MobileMe (which would've been the only service you could've renewed prior to iCloud). The minimum individual storage amount was 20GB; the Family pack was 40GB, 20 for the main account and 5GB for 4 sub accounts. So either you're incorrect about what you actually purchased, or you purchased something that was not an official Apple offering, thus the reason they denied you a refund (gray market product).

Originally Posted by Infinitewill 

BTW, iCloud was only offered to those running 10.7, which I was not running at the time as Adobe products didn't support it and further your iCloud storage is also part of your iTunes match/iCloud storage as well correct? Any music that you ripped or that you upload to the iCloud (and isn't matched to tracks in the iTune Store) counts against your storage correct?

So let me get this straight...you're complaining about a free service you weren't going to use anyhow for personal reasons (OS 10.7, Adobe support, music match)?! Which means you weren't going to upgrade to Mac OS 10.7 to even use iCloud but felt you were entitled to get a refund for a product you could/did use.

[shifuimam]

Pretty awesome how I can't view my storage information through the iCloud website anymore...

I only had MobileMe because I worked at Apple. They extended my free subscription for a year, and I guess I'm getting another one. I don't even use it. iDisk, however, was very handy. I don't really get the point if all you can do is backup your iOS devices and use a crappy webmail client.

[Infinitewill]

Are you always such a pretentious a$$ or is this something new you are trying out?

Since you are such an expert in all things Apple try I will more clearly spell this one out:

A) I had a .mac account before MobileMe came along. You do of course remember .mac right? I paid extra for additional iDisk storage. The amount of storage at this point is irrelevant because now I am not sure what the exact storage I paid for was. I also paid for both my son's and my wife's .mac email accounts as they didn't have iOS devices. Does this part sink in for you? You know since you are such a maven and all.

B) I was running 10.6.x at the time mobileme and iCloud were announced. As an Adobe developer, CS5 still had issues with 10.7 with regards to many of their apps so I couldn't upgrade to it and so I had to pay for the service the was free Lion users. I again paid my renew and days later Apple announce that mobileme was going away so I would have to finally upgrade all of my machines to 10.7. I called Apple about the fact that I had just renewed. .mac/mobileme fees for my 3 accounts and now I was being moved to iCloud and Lion regardless. I requested a refund which Apple refused. I was willing to upgrade my machines to Lion but I was essentially paying $100+ a year for something I no longer needed nor had to pay for. Did that make it though your tin foil hat?

C) Fast forward a year or so (about yesterday or the day before) I get an email telling me that Apple is extending my "free" iCloud service with extra storage (although because of a lack of refund I ended up paying for mine). I thought the irony of their offer was amusing as they were now extending it for free; again. You do know what Irony is right. Kind of like having to waste my time explaining to a walking encyclopedia such as you who has all the answers.

D) My true mistake however, was mixing responses to two different post in a single reply of my own. For that confusion I would like to publicly apologize. It seems that I have not only I wasted my time trying to explain myself, but yours as well, now that you will find the need fashion a biting and condescending retort to every word I post. The iTunes match reference was in regard to the post about why anyone even need extra storage. Hard as it may may be to believe, it had nothing to do with you. No, in fact this thread doesn't hang on every post or reply you make.

Hope that clears things up

Now go yourself!

P.S. I can only hope that despite my gratuitous (that means many to the point of excess, just in case you don't understand the really "big" words) use of emoticons, the thinly veiled sarcasm with which this was penned comes through to you, since you can't seem to decipher any of my previous posts.

[pairof9s]

Infinitewill, you've obviously become irritated to the point of making unprovoked derogatory & personal accusations; however, I'll not respond in kind to such rude, childish behavior. (Emoticons...really?!?!)

Regardless, I do not know how you can renew a service that was no longer available after 2008 (.mac). I know because I've had iTools, .mac, MobileMe and now iCloud. So to insinuate that you renewed your .mac account/storage just prior to iCloud's release is baseless...quit trying to state that incorrect point. So I have to assume that you mean you renewed MobileMe (which you probably transitioned to from .mac but is still MobileMe). Fine, let's not worry about the details of whether you renewed 5GB (you can't) or 20GB (you did and is more than iCloud's free offering), although you felt compelled to make it a point and now not.

As such, MobileMe didn't "go away"; so your full year could have been used and was, according to you. Apple only announced that iCloud was now replacing MobileMe...it didn't mean MobileMe would no longer work. Apple made this clear to everyone who had MobileMe, including me. You had a full year to continue to use MobileMe's iDisk for which you paid. I've received numerous emails a month or so ago from Apple stating that iDisk was about to close for good (as well as iWork beta, iWeb, etc.). Since you had reasons to not upgrade to OS 10.7, you thus could not use iCloud. But that was your choice: get Lion and a refund to have 5GB of free storage, or keep iDisk and 20GB for a year...you chose the latter. Still with all that said, you can still get 25GB of storage...another year of your MobileMe 20GB plus the complimentary iCloud 5GB...if you upgrade to Lion/Mtn Lion.

So once again...you're complaining about a product you bought to use but did not get a refund because you were unwilling to meet the requirements to replace it. Considering everyone else's ability to get a refund (in fact, Apple offered me one on my MobileMe renewal), I find your story hard to accept. And considering the composition of your last post, I think it's reasonable for me to have that opinion.

I DO know what irony is...an example would be when someone who tries to convince others of being right by saying things that are wrong. So consider yourself ironic, Infinitewill.

Originally Posted by Infinitewill 

A) I had a .mac account before MobileMe came along.

B) I was running 10.6.x at the time mobileme and iCloud were announced.

MobileMe came out a year before 10.6. You couldn't have been running 10.6 when MobileMe was announced.

All other MobileMe members were offered refunds. Maybe your failure to get a refund was because you called Apple and gave them conflicting information like you did in this forum.