MobileMe still sputtering
Apple's MobileMe service promises features which, like the release of Mac OS X Leopard, made me regret the recent purchase of another Windows Vista laptop, at least for a moment.
Having lost two laptops and five years of life history to theft several weeks ago, the allure of having precious data pushed automatically from a laptop to the "cloud," coupled with Time Machine backup, feeds my desire for security as well as my laziness (yes, I review software, and I didn't have a third backup). It seemed MobileMe could serve me better than the new iPhone would.
It's all about Me.com not working this week.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)The replacement for .Mac subscriptions can synchronize mail, calendars, contacts, photos, Safari bookmarks, Dashboard widgets, and more among Macs, the iPhone, and iPod Touch. It lets you stash 20GB of files on Apple's servers, and it even cooperates with Outlook on Windows computers. Plus, MobileMe's online applications would let you check in on all that from any Web browser.
I tried to find .Mac users to share their cheers and jeers about that $100 annual service, but many colleagues at CNET said they couldn't afford it. However, MobileMe sounds like a better value, with expanded tools that aren't available elsewhere in a cohesive package.
I finally was able to use the calendar at Me.com once. But online e-mail still hasn't worked for me.
(Credit: Elsa Wenzel/CNET Networks)In advance of the release, I wrote a first-take CNET preview of MobileMe, hoping to follow up with a rated review, after exploring the nooks and crannies. However, I've barely been able to skim the surface of the product, and many other subscribers share the frustration.
If Apple's servers are overwhelmed this week, you might blame me a bit for refreshing Me.com for what has felt like every five minutes. Despite wearing out my trigger finger, I was only able to access my MobileMe account twice yesterday, for a total of two minutes. What a tease. I figured things would improve once the company finished .Mac migration.
MobileMe was due to be complete on Friday, with the full "push" synchronization intact. Around noon, I was able to synchronize mail, contacts, calendars, and upload some photos from a MacBook to Me.com. Hooray! Oops, I cheered too soon.
Yet another error message spoiled playing with Me.com, just when it was working for 10 minutes.
(Credit: Elsa Wenzel/CNET Networks)Today I've been logged in and out of Me.com countless times. The service kicks me out against my will, just when I feel that a new feature I hadn't tested must surely be within reach. I haven't been able to stay logged on to Me.com for more than 20 minutes at a time. Attempting to verify my account on an iPhone also failed.
So far, there are more than five dozen comments, most from similarly thwarted .Mac users, on a CNET News story about MobileMe's failed launch. You'll find the same frustrations repeated in this and other publications chronicling the marred release of both Me.com and the iPhone 3G.
I agree with some users who mused that those at Apple must have had their heads in a cloud by scheduling the .Mac migration for a weekday. Between 20 and 25 percent of .Mac subscribers use the service for business purposes, according to Apple. At least I'm not relying on a former .Mac account for a job. A few hours of downtime could kill a potential gig for, say, a freelance photographer.
Nevertheless, I'm withholding judgment of a rated review of MobileMe today until I can give the features more than a cursory glance. If it stops working like an alpha release from a cash-strapped start-up, the service might yet live up to its promise as Microsoft "Exchange for the rest of us." Who knows?
For now, this botched launch highlights both some pitfalls and promises of relying increasingly upon Web 2.0 services for work and play.
Before my computers were stolen, I could have at least uploaded my personal writings to Google Docs, or synchronized my photos with SugarSync, or entrusted everything to online storage, such as Box.net. But I felt wrong in my gut about sending those things to unseen servers, no matter how secure. I never got around to buying a backup drive. Instead, my stuff went out the window, literally, with a thief.
If your own computer crashes or disappears, you might have only yourself to blame. But providers of online applications and remote storage services bear a greater responsibility than makers of desktop software, when they hold the keys to our data. For .Mac users whose pictures and Web galleries were held hostage on remote servers, the epic failure of MobileMe may simply dull Apple's polish. The rocky start drives home the very need for a service that does what MobileMe is supposed to do: keep our data safe and accessible in more than one place.
Other than the name, how exactly is MobileMe different from .Mac? I don't see any substantive differences. I certainly don't want to go through the hassle of changing my personal email address and I wouldn't do so for such a lame domain name as "me.com". It sounds like something Microsoft spent millions on in the late 90s. Email me @ "x@me.com? Huh??
.Mac has never been a popular service; Why is Apple alienating the small community of subscribers that stuck by the product all these years?
http://www.gadgettrak.com/products/verey/
It uses the built in camera to capture video of the thief along with other useful information such as location etc. They also have software coming for the iPhone.
http://www.gadgettrak.com/products/verey/
It uses the built in camera to capture video of the thief along with other useful information such as location etc. They also have software coming for the iPhone.
And how is the MobileMe service any different than this???? Oh, right - because it happens to be Apple that has the unseen server ...
1. if you use Yahoo Mail or GMAIL, you have all your contacts and calendar and email online, no need for any sync software. I use Yahoo and don't use POP3 since 2000
2. there are tons of free online services for file sharing and photo sharing (for ******** photo and video sharing with iphone support for little fee there is smugmug)
p.s. did you really loose laptop 2x or are you just saying that to make this dramatic reason to get mobileme? If you lost two laptops then you have real issue doctors can help with. lol
I am really surprised how Vista Lovers keep making stupid comments like these after the huge success of the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone and the Mac.
p.s. iPhone and mostly MAC computer are not huge success, look at any phone or OS statistics before you say that, btw MAC os is less secure than any other OS out there (linux, unix, windows). You might not like to hear this, but ... well search symantec or McAfee sites.
After I informed Captain Clueless about my account issue, it took him 15 minutes to even acknowledge that a problem existed with my account. Then I informed him that this was a widespread problem, and he said he hadn't heard of it. No wonder, because the minute you post this issue to the Mobile Me discussion forums on Apple.com, the thread disappears. It took me another few minutes to make him understand that this was not an isolated incident. Needless to say, Captain Clueless didn't get high marks on my Customer Satisfaction survey.
This has been a HUGE fiasco. The worst part is Apple doesn't even acknowledge the problems. And the fanboys are quite upset at the rest of us who (God forbid!) are a bit ticked off that we're not getting a service that WE PAID FOR.
I expect this from Microsoft, not Apple. It appears that Mr Jobs and Mr Gates have become interchangeable. Meet the New Boss, same as the Old Boss.
This is a good one:
"Nevertheless, I'm withholding judgment of a rated review of MobileMe today until I can give the features more than a cursory glance."
This type of patience would not exist for any other company. But when it comes to Apple we must all bow down because surely it cant be an Apple problem.
This was my other favorite quote:
"But I felt wrong in my gut about sending those things to unseen servers, no matter how secure."
He is OK with sending is sensitive data to Apple but no one else. Does he have a key to Apples server farm? What is the difference? Do you really trust Apple with all of your data including your email. I'm sure corporations will love to see users "syncing" their outlook email with Apple....
Give me a break!!!!!
I wanted to have an IPhone3G but ATT said I am not eligible for the pricing, I have to wait 10months, looks like I should wait 10 months to get this before apple fixes all the problems.
" ....thank you for a classic comment form a jackass .... who told you I'm Vista lover?
p.s. iPhone and mostly MAC computer are not huge success, look at any phone or OS statistics before you say that, btw MAC os is less secure than any other OS out there (linux, unix, windows). You might not like to hear this, but ... well search symantec or McAfee sites."
Hmm... do you prefer to go by the name pot or kettle? You may not be a "Vista Lover," but the tone of your comments alludes to the probability that you're another misinformed, misguided, and horribly unabashed Windows user.
Before you start bashing people for not knowing their statistics... you might want to brush up on them yourself. The iPhone isn't a great success?? Have you even checked the sales numbers? For a device that's been out for a year... and has only been available on one carrier, the iPhone has sold phenomenally and now that Apple has addressed the main issues that have plagued the device, it will sell even more so.
The same goes for the sale of Macs... Unless you've had your head in some hole over the past couple of years (or are just too plain stubborn to admit such things), the Macintosh has been posting solid, steady gains in market share due to sales which have been constantly outpacing not only other specific manufacturers, but the PC industry at large. What would constitute a success to you... immediately jumping to what - 30%, 50%? Just in the past year, Apple has jumped from 9% of US market sales to 14%... that's a considerable gain... and their worldwide "web presence" has been making marked, incremental gains especially since the move to Intel. So really... you might want to follow your own advice.
OH! And the Mac OS is less secure than any of the other operating systems on the market?? Could you please back up such a claim... I'm going to assume not since it's such a ridiculously ignorant comment based on nothing but your own biased opinion. Who am I to verify such a claim with?? Symantec and McAfee?? Two companies that make money by selling anti-malware products... yeah, that's a reliable source. Of course such companies would have less than positive things to say about a computing platform which has no need for their products. The unfortunate (for you) reality is that the Mac OS is as secure as pretty much any flavor of Unix due to the fact that it's built on top of... wait for it... Unix and is inherently much more secure than anything Microsoft has on the market.
Perhaps if you actually went out and did some research on things you know nothing about... you'd find that you'll actually learn some things.
OS usage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_desktop_operating_systems
security (I have found two interesting articles which were updated in less than 1 year)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=758
http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/27/day-two-of-cansecwest-pwn-to-own---we-have-our-first-official-winner-with-picture
as far as iPhone, yes it's great product, but apple has long way to go to win corporate market, as you can see they are not winning at all http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9957776-37.html?hhTest=1
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by MiamiWebDesigner
August 1, 2008 4:47 AM PDT
- Web 2.0 Is Like Pornography
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See all 22 Comments >>Like so many tech articles posted since Tim O'Reilly coined the term in 2004, this one references "Web 2.0" as if it were something tangible--or at least a concept with clear, concise definition. It is not. In 2006, Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee sagely observed that "nobody knows what it means":
http://tinyurl.com/y6ewzy
And now in 2008, the most honest thing we can say is that "Web 2.0" means whatever the techno-marketeer (ab)using it wants it to mean. Otherwise, why would intelligent people like Isaac O'Bannon still be writing articles asking "What is Web 2.0?":
http://tinyurl.com/5solok
And, why would McKinsey's just-released best-of-breed report entitled "Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise" ...
http://tinyurl.com/6sxls7
... include no attempt at defining the term other than to list the "Web 2.0 Tools" that comprise or enable it? And even there, the chief ingredient is identified only as "Web Services", adding more mystery to the mix as one ethereal term is offered up to explain another.
As originated in an Onstartups.com website design posting that no longer exists...
http://tinyurl.com/57a2u4
... "Web 2.0" is like pornography: Nobody has defined it, but you know it when you see it.
Bruce Arnold, Web Designer, Miami Florida
http://www.PervasivePersuasion.com