“MobileMe is Apple’s foray into so-called ‘cloud computing’ in which information stored on a computer server, or cloud, can be updated via any device linked to the cloud. Once one device is used to update information, then all devices connected directly or wirelessly to the cloud are updated. It’s one of the company’s main initiatives to expand the reach of its 3G iPhone,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch.
“The MobileMe service includes email, a calendar and contacts, Web-based photo galleries and 20 gigabytes of storage, and works with both Apple’s Macintosh PCs and Windows-based PCs, along with the iPhone and iPod Touch,” Crum reports.
“Apple launched MobileMe the same day it rolled out the new iPhone, and almost immediately, the company became deluged with complaints about service disruptions and lost emails as Apple transferred members of its older .Mac service to MobileMe and added new iPhone customers to the service,” Crum reports.
“Analysts that follow Apple say the MobileMe issue is important because since the company is putting so much on the line with the iPhone, it needs to show it can offer a consistent, reliable service for consumers that want mobile access to all of their important data,” Crum reports.
“Shiv Bakhshi of IDC said that Apple is experiencing some of the growing pains that are common when a company first enters a business segment,” Crum reports. “‘Apple isn’t used to the mobile-platform market, so this is new to them,’ he added. ‘They may have underestimated the scale and pressure of that new customer base.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: In afternoon trading, Apple shares are currently down $6.61, or 4.08%, to $155.51. If this drop is due to MobileMe, then investors obviously do not fully understand the situation and are overreacting. It would hardly be the first time. iPhone 3G does not require MobileMe at all. In fact, the vast majority of iPhone owners most likely do not even know what MobileMe is, much less subscribe to it.
That said, MobileMe is working for us (always has been since the initial first day or two traffic deluge dissipated) and, when coupled with Macs and iPhones, has already become an indispensable service for us.
MobileMe worked for me since I signed up 07-11-2008!
I’m very annoyed they eliminated so much from .mac services. I used a lot of the services that they did away with. Groups was great. I don’t get why they would do what they did.
ANY excuse is good.
In a related story, investors are worrying that Job’s longer than usual beard is a sign of a resigned, depressed man which suggests he may soon retire. His usually 1/4″ beard is now 5/8″. APPL is down another 5%
That said, MobileMe is working for us (always has been since the initial first day or two traffic deluge dissipated) and, when coupled with Macs and iPhones, has already become an indispensable service for us.
The key in the above statement “indispensable” to me this meed near 100% up time no disruptions and no loss of data allowed. As this service is billed as exchange for the rest of us and Apple is licensing Exchange it would be interesting to know if they are running Microsoft Server and if the servers inability to handle the traffic is to blame.
MobileMe push e-mail to my iPhone did not work at all for the first 8 days after the transition, but it has worked flawlessly along with all other MobileMe services for me ever since.
The .mac/mobilme account I set up for my office died for a week—couldn’t get email, it was accepting mail instead of bouncing the mail, and most of the mail it accepted has just disappeared. About a week’s worth of black hole.
We don’t use email for anything client-related so there wasn’t a problem there, but we’re moving to another office building a block away and never received messages from movers, new landlord, etc. that were trying to reach us by email.
It has really been a pain in the ass, and hasn’t impressed anyone with Apple, particularly given that before that we’d tried using idisk for making documents available for work out of the office and had been incredibly disappointed with how slow idisk syncing was, making it almost useless.
Apple makes nice machines and a great operating system, but the people running .mac/mobilme seem like they are folks too stupid to hold onto jobs with the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
MobileMe is working great. I did experience 3.25 hours of downtime last week, and some lost calendar entries, but overall it’s been relatively solid after the initial rocky launch.
The only issue I’m having is the syncing of Mail.app settings. Every day, settings for 2 accounts (I have 10 IMAP accounts set up) toggle on and off, such as whether trash messages should be stored on the server. This is very annoying, and I don’t know the source of the problem, but attribute it to a flaw sync with MobileMe.
The downward trend is purely stock manipulation. If manipulators have been able to threaten the entire economy so badly that the SEC is stopping manipulation of bank stocks, you know they are able to do many things. Their signature is all over this and essentially every unreasonable movement.
MM Mail still down for me.
Just as well it’s a non-essential pro tem.
@ObJ:
Hopefully they will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
There’s no way this drop has to do with MobileMe. Is this Rex Crum guy serious? I bet you call the top 10 brokerage houses, ask to speak with their top tech expert and most havent got a clue what MobileMe even is.
I have had dotMac since its introduction. I have not had any of the problems with MobileMe. I use it on the first gen iPhone and three Macs.
Investors are reacting to the incompetence that has taken place since the 3G launch. Or the incompetence OF the 3G launch.
And I can’t blame them.
Steve Jobs was clearly not running these events. #g launch, mobileme, 2.0, app store. (and let’s not forget quality control of the last 2-3 years of Mac releases)
Investors are reacting to this. And if Jobs was in charge and overseeing this, we all have need to be concerned. He IS sicker than being revealed.
3G, mobileme, app store and 2.0 have made me feel like I’m working on a PC. And if people want to be honest to themselves they will admit they feel the same way too.
Oh-I’ve never worked on a PC, only in Bootcamp to see what it’s about. I’ve been on a Mac since 1994.
There is reason to be concerned about Apple, Inc right now. The company. And their arrogance.
Buying opportunity?
Definitely a buying opportunity.
Dunno… i suspect it will hit 140s before 160s.
There are fortunes to be made on APPL shares.
If ever there was certainty this is it.
@Mozart,
P!ss off. Go spread your special brand of sunshine somewhere else.
@mozart11, shut up.
Or it could be that the broader market in down today.
MM is not working for me, but I just bought a load of aapl.
Faith – confidence.
Working fine for me
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.Mac worked perfectly for me for years — since it became .me it has been a disaster, No mail, send or receive – constant error messages – let’s call it Vista.me!!!
Growing pains. Nothing more. More power to Apple.