iPhone: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Chapter 14. MobileMe

Ever since the original PalmPilot came along in 1996, the world has been captivated with the idea of having a pocket-sized satellite computer. Imagine having your whole address book and calendar on a tiny computer in your pocket! Why, you could consult your schedule just about anywhere!

Which is all fine, except for one thing: To bring that pocket-sized computer up to date, you have to connect it to your computer with a cable. That's a time-consuming, awkward process. Worse, while you're away from your desk, your electronic datebook and Rolodex could be changing in different ways on your various machines as you and your family or co-workers make changes.

MobileMe, Apple's $100-a-year suite of Internet services, solves that problem rather neatly. It keeps your iPhone updated constantly with changes that are made to your Macs, PCs, or both. In fact, it keeps them all synced with each other: your Windows machine at work, your Macs at home, your spouse's iPod Touch, and, of course, your iPhone.

Make a change on your Mac, and watch it appear on your iPhone and your PC. Add a new friend to the address book in Outlook Express in Windows XP, and it appears in Windows Contacts on your Vista PC. Change an appointment in iCal on the kitchen Mac, and know that it will wirelessly wing its way onto your traveling spouse's iPhone four states away.

Not just your address book and calendar, either—all your email remains in sync, too (if you use the [e-mail] address that ...