Before iCloud became the backbone of the Apple ecosystem, it spent more than a decade evolving through three distinct services: iTools, .Mac, and MobileMe. So here's the story of how iCloud became iCloud, and the shoulders of the three prior giants it stood upon. And then there was MobileMeAt launch, MobileMe allowed users to sync emails, folders, and messages across platforms, the way that iCloud does now. Unlike MobileMe, iCloud would launch as a free service as part of iOS 5 and OS X Lion. And, it's just as impressive that Apple's managed to expand upon iCloud in the nearly 15 years after its launch.