Apple has sent out the following email to MobileMe customers:
MobileMe services are now available
We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.
Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.
Another snag we have run into is our use of the word “push” in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe “cloud,” changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word “push” until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.
We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.
We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.
Thank you,
The MobileMe Team
Apple’s MobileMe: 30-day Extension Eligibility and Details are here.
“At the very least, Apple should add a week to every .Mac subscriber’s term of service. An apology would be nice, too.” – MacDailyNews Take, Monday, July 14, 2008
Good job, Apple. An extra month is above and beyond the call of duty, but we’ll take it!
MacDailyNews Note: By editing the AutoSyncInterval in your home directory’s .plist file you can increase the frequency of Mac to MobileMe sync to as low as one minute. More info via Mac OS X Hints here.
The problems with MobileMe are sporadic but still very real. They seem to be individually tied to certain accounts, because some still can’t receive push contacts, calendars or bookmarks on their iPhones even though I can. And others still aren’t receiving their push e-mail either. Apple still has a lot of work to do getting all of the bugs out of this service. A 30 day free extension was the least they could do all things considered.
@Ron & Macromancer:
When I’m blowing 100 bones every year for a service that hosts personal and professional services, I expect it to work.
The fact of the matter is Apple screwed the pooch on this one big-time. A 30 day extension is nice, but the service is still BROKEN. Outages are daily, syncing and iLife gallery integration are down (at least for me), and of course, the “push” fiasco.
At least they apologized, but I’d rather they just get their shit together.
Usually, you get what you pay for. Except with mobile.me where you obviously get less than you paid for.
Agreed, I’m happy about the 30 day extension, but not so happy that Apple has said everything is working now.. It clearly isn’t..
It’s very sporadic. Some appts push instantly, some still haven’t pushed from last night. Deleting an event from me.com removed it from my iPhone but left it in iCal.. It’s not there yet..
So much hostility.
Just plain bad for you.
Well done Apple. Precisely why it’s customer satisfaction levels make every other company look a bit sick…
And as for the whiners… well all I can say as you must all be a real ‘joy’ to live with… I pity your spouses.
This is why Apple is killing the competition.
It has to be said that a 30 day extension is only a good thing if you are on a free trial.
All of us that are paid members get the apology and nothing else.
It also has to be noted, that this email has only gone out to *some* MobileMe users in the USA only.
MobileMe is not only not working at the same level in Canada, it simply is not working at all at various times. All the PR releases to the contrary, mobileme is still severely broken a week after it’s introduction. I have been testing it regularly and my contacts were still broken as of 6:00 AM this morning, email is still unuseable, iDisk rarely loads and takes a half an hour to transfer a few hundred megabytes… the list goes on and on.
If there is one thing that really bugs me about Apple it’s their reluctance to ever do what you people are all giving them kudos for doing here. Admit there is a problem, apologise, and then fix the problem.
While this press release gives the impression that’s what they are doing, they aren’t actually. They are apologising, but they are packaging that apology with the lie that they have fixed everything when most things are still completely unusable.
In other News:
MacDailyNews editors have apologized for bombarding its loyal readers with obnoxious pop-up ad windows and have hereby committed to going “pop-up free” for the next 30 days.
Their head editor was quoted as saying, “This is just our little way of saying that we appreciate you frequenting our site but please realize that we have to make a living. Pop-up windows will resume in 30 days.”
“MacDailyNews editors have apologized for bombarding its loyal readers with obnoxious pop-up ad windows and have hereby committed to going “pop-up free” for the next 30 days.”
Priceless!!
Macaday,
Look, you really need to stop patting Apple on the back here..
Yes, great, a 30 day extension is nice, it is not above and beyond. it is the right thing to do.. But more importantly, they need to get the service working. They haven’t. It just is not working correctly and reliably. Nevermind “push,” I can’t even get a manual sync to work right..
If this was Sony or Microsoft, it would be okay to complain, MDN would be on the bandwagon having a field day about their failed launch, but because it’s Apple we are winers?
MobileMe iDisk is down right now.
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The bigger question ought to be is when is Apple going to acknowledge the battery draining issues since the 2.0 update.
Can’t even leave my phone unplugged overnight without it losing 100% of its battery charge.
ok, everyone, BREATHE IN – AND BREATHE OUT.
Its a new service. Instant gratification and perfection is unreasonable. No one ever claimed it would be 100% from the start.
A free month is like an $8.25 in your pocket, or a discount off the $99/yr price. And if you got it from amazon, that makes it even cheaper.
@Steve516
Understood, the problem is Apple keeps insisting that everything is up and operational. It clearly isn’t..
So who is to fault. Apple or us?
I have to say, apart from Friday (which was expected anyway), I’ve been able to use MobileMe in perfect order.
And personally I have no problem with Apple charging for the service, since it goes towards maintaining the server infrastructure. I never found .Mac to be problematic any more so than the alternatives. And hey, you got to be like Steve himself! With the cool @mac.com suffix.
I think a degree of the commotion over the last week was seized upon by people who live to complain.
Apple did what it could and even actually apologized. That’s more than enough to absolve them of any sin.
A good user would keep Apple on its toes to do the best it could – not put a gun to its head with every ill conceived tantrum of the day.
You know, this is why Apple is tops in customer relations. They know they messed up and acknowledged it. And this is way beyond the call of duty. So there should be no whining out there!
Kudos to Apple. This was a big upgrade and bugs and issues always crop up – no matter who the company is. A month is a big concession. So for those who are whining, STFU.
@Ferf & the others who are patting Apple on the back:
They claim Sync services were working from get-go. They were not, and in fact ARE STILL NOT. Lies, a pat on the head, and send you off to bed.
I’m happy w/ the apology and the extension.
Now…if they’d only get the service working flawlessly…there’s still no auto-complete in the email web app, and there are some quirks in the contacts web app as well.
By the way, there is a much sought-after “hidden” feature in MobileMe that was not demonstrated in Schiller’s presentation or the Apple.com guided tour. For those who may not have noticed, the Calendar web app does have To-Do items that sync w/ iCal and Mail.app. This makes me happy, but I cannot reach sync Nirvana until this feature makes its way to the iPhone. Enjoy.
@Jaime:
You may be the only one who is satisfied, but I must be the only one who NEVER forgot the old adage about not upgrading immediately after a new OS or big fix comes out.
I’ll admit it’s more important if you use Doze, but it applies to Apple as well, to a smaller degree.
I’ll get to the AT&T;store at some point, but it appears it won’t be any time soon.
Tops in customer relations.
Let’s see, they promised a “true” push service, “exchange for the rest of us.” They promised iDisk file sharing.
They delivered a service that has been down for a week and is actually only 50% “push” and 50% “sync,” while pulling the iDisk sharing feature.
They have since changed all marketing materials and wording. They have pulled the Guided Tour video showing all your devices “pushing” within seconds. They have pulled the slogan “exchange for the rest of us.” They have added the information, that desktop apps will not “push” they must be “synced.”
They are now a week in without functioning service, they send an apology and a free 30 day extension (great,) and they say that services are now up and running, yet they aren’t. Even manual syncs are still not working. iDisk is down. Homepage is down. Our Push service is not really a full push service.
Yet you think we should STFU? Hmmm. Interesting..
Google offers a hot stone massage to paying customers who have a service interruption.
You even have your choice of masseuses: petite French girl, or Big burly Swede.
I just emailed myself from Outlook at work. I got my email back into my iPhone in less than 20 seconds – it seems like it is working for me. Not that I give a crap about it. I am busy doing work, and as far as I’m concerned, e-mails can wait till I get around to it.
@MikeK,
If you’re going to kick off in such a brattish fashion, you should at least get your facts right. MobileMe went live officially last Friday, so unless you are posting from 2 days into the future, your statements about MobileMe being down for a week is bullshit. It hasn’t even been running for a week.
@jamie
.Mac went down last Thursday.. It’s now Wednesday.. Six days is close enough..