Apple's MobileMe Fails Users in a Big Way

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://failmeismorelikeit.com/' target='_blank'>http://failmeismorelikeit.com/</a><br /><br /></div><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1217272018.usr1.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>It's not often that I speak with great enthusiasm about an Apple product, but when Apple announced their MobileMe service, <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/news/show/89483/apple-s-mobileme-service-powerful-stuff.html" target="_blank">I was quite impressed with it</a>. The reality of the service is quite different then the concept - Apple is having some serious problems with it, so serious that it inspired this <a href="http://failmeismorelikeit.com/" target="_blank">deliciously amusing mockery site</a>. Worse than not synching properly, or mis-using the word "Push", <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;articleId=9110798&amp;intsrc=hm_list" target="_blank">MobileMe is now losing email</a>. Apple usually brings products to market in an impressive manner, so why are they stumbling so badly with this service?</p>

[txa1265]

I think it was just too much to bite off and I can't believe the way they have failed! They should have incremented - taken the iPhone traffic there first, then migrated mainstream users over time. I have been suffering badly since it started ... and I can't believe I'm paying $100 a year for this crap.

[Jason Dunn]

I have been suffering badly since it started ... and I can't believe I'm paying $100 a year for this crap.

Ouch - sorry to hear that. :(

[randalllewis]

I am not saying this is what happened because I don't have enough information, but Apple unveiled an upgraded model of its phone, a software update of its original phone and mobile.me all at the same time. That was quite a challenge and they seem to have stumbled on all three, though most significantly with mobile.me. It happens sometimes that successful companies start believing their own hype from reading their glowing press clippings and listening to a worshiping fan base.

Apple does seem to learn from its mistakes though, and I doubt we will see another multi-product launch like this one again.

[Janak Parekh]

Well, there's more to it than just a "multi-launch overload". If you look at .Mac's backhistory, it's not a particularly super-stable service; I'd liken its stability to, say, MSN Messenger. The iTunes Store is also prone to extreme slowness during times of popularity--especially their iPhone activation server, which crashed and burned on July 11. I simply think Apple doesn't know how to make (or makes technical decisions preventing) extremely scalable and resistant services. Also, you'd think that Apple should have realized that the launch would be hugely popular and should have anticipated demand accordingly? :confused:

I treat MobileMe the same way I did .Mac -- as a consumer-grade service. I was debating switching my mail to it from Gmail, but the failures plus the fact that there seems to be no web-based filtering rules, made me reconsider; I'm sticking with Gmail for now.

--janak

[txa1265]

I treat MobileMe the same way I did .Mac -- as a consumer-grade service.

Absolutely agree - .Mac has *never* been Pro-grade. I have never depended on my Mac Mail for serious stuff, so I didn't lose anything of value.

[Jason Dunn]

Absolutely agree - .Mac has *never* been Pro-grade. I have never depended on my Mac Mail for serious stuff, so I didn't lose anything of value.

I guess I differ in that every email, personal or business, is valuable to me - I'd never use a service that lost ANYTHING of mine.

[Janak Parekh]

I guess I differ in that every email, personal or business, is valuable to me - I'd never use a service that lost ANYTHING of mine. Well, that's difficult. There's always a chance that an ISP will lose some of your email; even if you pull down all of it, there's a chance that some incoming mail may be lost due to server or disk outages.

When I say "consumer-grade", I'm essentially saying that MobileMe is reasonably reliable enough for purposes where one's business is not on the line. Data loss has been rare on .Mac/MobileMe, but outages do happen several times a year.

--janak

[Jason Dunn]

When I say "consumer-grade", I'm essentially saying that MobileMe is reasonably reliable enough for purposes where one's business is not on the line. Data loss has been rare on .Mac/MobileMe, but outages do happen several times a year.

I think if you look around you'll see lots of people using it for business, and they're plenty mad. The average person expects that if they pay for something, it will be reliable. Heck, people get mad when their free email service stops working. You won't find the average consumer looking at reliability the way you do.

[Janak Parekh]

I think if you look around you'll see lots of people using it for business, and they're plenty mad. Oh, I'm not trying to excuse Apple at all. It's pretty lame. I was just pointing out how I'd characterize the service myself. I'd freely admit it's not a great characterization. ;)

The average person expects that if they pay for something, it will be reliable. Heck, people get mad when their free email service stops working. You won't find the average consumer looking at reliability the way you do. Indeed, ergo the mad users. Apple's been trying to placate them by offering them a free month here and there, which is a pretty minor compensation for a major hardship for some.

--janak

[rzanology]

would now be a bad time to mention that my mail2web.com services are not only free....but work as advertised? hmmmm....

seems to be apple spent too much time poking fun at vista...instead of actually trying to figure out how to get their products to work correctly.

say what you will about exchange....IT WORKS!!!!! now that apple has been slingshot into the lime light and is now responsible for severing much more than a close minded community (and/cult.... ,) they're seeing how truly hard things like simple "exchange like" environment is to set up and maintain.

sorry to see the people who feel vistem to apple's marketing fall between this madness....but hey! these are the same people screaming "microsoft sucks." go figure!