MobileMe may soon become free

Introduced in June 2008 to much fanfare — although soon derided by critics and consumers alike for a series of shortcomings — Apple’s $99 per year MobileMe service didn’t exactly get off to the best start in life. However, according to a report from MacDailyNews, Apple is planning to make MobileMe a free service “soon.” MDN’s tipster couldn’t nail down an exact date for the change, citing that it all “depends on certain facilities going operational” (read: Apple’s $1 billion, 500,000 sq. ft. server farm in North Carolina), but allegedly everything should be sorted out in the near future. The question is: if MobileMe becomes free, will Apple dole out refunds to those who paid for the service within the past year, and will Apple generate revenue off the free service with iAds?

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