MobileMe - An Unmitigated Disaster

[LongAppleFan]

MobileMe push is an unmitigated disaster. As a lifelong Apple user, I can't express how disappointed and angry I am at Apple for releasing such a train-wreck. Microsoft would be embarrassed to release such a disaster, and would be falling over themselves to make the situation right. From Apple, not a word. No admission of the havoc they're unleashed on their customers, no path forward to correct the situation, not even a warning to its customers not to use some of the MobileMe"services" until they are fixed.

Instead, they allow the customers to blindly use a service that not only does not work, but risks data loss because of its inaccurate and inconsistent behavior.

Tonight, I unregistered all my computers and deleted all my MobileMe data. Then, when I tried to upload my computer's data to a theoretically empty MobileMe database, the system told me I had inconsistent data and told me my password was incorrect. This is after I had to abandon any effort to get my iPhone, laptop and desktop to share the same contact and calendar data. The email syncing seems to be ok, but given the track record, I cannot trust MobileMe to get that corrrect. Email troubles would spell disaster.

Apple has falsely advertised a service as completely push when in fact one aspect of it is not push at all. That's bad enough. But worse, the system has no functional synching system at all. Microsoft Exchange has done this same function for years. Apple, please copy Microsoft. At least its system works!!!

I don't care who is responsible for this, they should be fired. Whether its Phil Schiller or someone else, this is the kind of product that can destroy Apple's reputation and drive its customers back into
the hands of its competitors. Microsoft may not care about the user experience the way it should, but they care about their customer's data.

Apple needs to pull the plug on MobileMe, return the .Mac service to operation apologize to its customers, give them a credit to compensate them for the trouble they've caused, and promise not to release MobileMe again until it is completely push and completely ready.

Steve Jobs built his reputation by showing he knew how to treat his customers. Now's the time to show it, Steve.

[dchao]

They have read your rant, now the MM home page has a more accurate description:

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/

MobileMe stores all your email, contacts, and calendars in the cloud and keeps them all up to date and in sync across your iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. When you make a change on one device, MobileMe sends the new information up to the cloud, then updates all of your other devices. Your iPhone or iPod touch is updated in real time. And on your Mac or PC, it happens automatically every 15 minutes.

Are you happy now?

[nutella69]

Are you happy now?

....of course!

I've paid for a BMW M5 and finally I've got a broken BMW 520 Diesel :(

[Fozziebear40]

Are you happy now?

You think that slight change to mis-selling gets Apple off the hook? I have loved Apple stuff since the first 128k Mac. This is the worst thing it has ever done.

Your data is so important, emails etc these days are vital. To not know what is happening your data and you can't rely on your email service is a joke.

A simple apology and a timeline when it will be okay is needed at the very least.

Plus the me.com thing has upset a lot of people. I have tried to add my wife to MobileMe. No way will she have an email address with @me.com on it.

[Roller]

Tonight, I unregistered all my computers and deleted all my MobileMe data. Then, when I tried to upload my computer's data to a theoretically empty MobileMe database, the system told me I had inconsistent data and told me my password was incorrect. This is after I had to abandon any effort to get my iPhone, laptop and desktop to share the same contact and calendar data. The email syncing seems to be ok, but given the track record, I cannot trust MobileMe to get that corrrect. Email troubles would spell disaster.

It took me a day or so to get MobileMe working properly (syncing an iPhone with two desktops). That required un-registering my main Mac, deleting and re-enabling MobileMe on my iPhone a few times, and specifying Reset Sync Data in the MM pref pane. Before I began, I backed up my iCal and Address Book to my desktop. I only have ~200 contacts, but almost 5,000 calendar events.

I say this not to minimize your predicament, but to illustrate that it is working for some people. And, despite the initial consternation about the lack of true push from the desktop, I have to say that it is pretty sweet. This is the first time I can assure an up to date copy of my schedule on my iPhone without having to connect it to my Mac and sync through iTunes every day.

At this point, can you even sign onto your MM account? If you can, is there any data in the Web apps? Have you tried resetting synced data? And have you tried calling Apple for tech support?

EDIT: I just noticed another thread about lack of syncing between the desktop and cloud and I can confirm that I'm also now having this problem.

[mark34]

Mobileme works great for me. Finally i am synched between my dell, macbook, phone, and web. After the early set-up problems, I am really happy with it.

[alFR]

Apple has falsely advertised a service as completely push when in fact one aspect of it is not push at all. That's bad enough. But worse, the system has no functional synching system at all. Microsoft Exchange has done this same function for years. Apple, please copy Microsoft. At least its system works!!!

Exchange doesn't do sync or push (at least, not to desktops): all the data is stored on the server and Outlook or OWA are effectively just a thin client to the server data. There's no syncing with an offline, local database at all (unless you enable cached exchange mode to let you work offline, but that's apparently problematic so our Exchange admins request we don't use it). It does push to handhelds, however, via ActiveSync.

[clevin]

Apple has falsely advertised a service as completely push when in fact one aspect of it is not push at all.

They have read your rant, now the MM home page has a more accurate description:

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/


Thats exactly what i was talking about in another thread.

Apple doesn't apologize or admit anything, it just silently edits its previous statements and pretends that users shouldn't expect the related functions in the first place.

let me say this, this kind of tactic is dishonest, low, and ugly.

[snakedoctor]

MobileMe push is an unmitigated disaster. As a lifelong Apple user, I can't express how disappointed and angry I am at Apple for releasing such a train-wreck. Microsoft would be embarrassed to release such a disaster, and would be falling over themselves to make the situation right. From Apple, not a word. No admission of the havoc they're unleashed on their customers, no path forward to correct the situation, not even a warning to its customers not to use some of the MobileMe"services" until they are fixed.

Instead, they allow the customers to blindly use a service that not only does not work, but risks data loss because of its inaccurate and inconsistent behavior.

Tonight, I unregistered all my computers and deleted all my MobileMe data. Then, when I tried to upload my computer's data to a theoretically empty MobileMe database, the system told me I had inconsistent data and told me my password was incorrect. This is after I had to abandon any effort to get my iPhone, laptop and desktop to share the same contact and calendar data. The email syncing seems to be ok, but given the track record, I cannot trust MobileMe to get that corrrect. Email troubles would spell disaster.

Apple has falsely advertised a service as completely push when in fact one aspect of it is not push at all. That's bad enough. But worse, the system has no functional synching system at all. Microsoft Exchange has done this same function for years. Apple, please copy Microsoft. At least its system works!!!

I don't care who is responsible for this, they should be fired. Whether its Phil Schiller or someone else, this is the kind of product that can destroy Apple's reputation and drive its customers back into
the hands of its competitors. Microsoft may not care about the user experience the way it should, but they care about their customer's data.

Apple needs to pull the plug on MobileMe, return the .Mac service to operation apologize to its customers, give them a credit to compensate them for the trouble they've caused, and promise not to release MobileMe again until it is completely push and completely ready.

Steve Jobs built his reputation by showing he knew how to treat his customers. Now's the time to show it, Steve.

People think Exchange this magical end all when it comes to email/sync. I am an Exchange admin, it does work well, but there are reasons it does.

First off most Exchange environments are tiny compared to .Mac. Each company runs their own Exchagne environment, so if you have 5000 people at your company that is it. Its NOT like MS has this giant Exchange server sitting some place. Add to that each Exchange environment has its own bandwidth to the internet.

ActiveSync is not really PUSH either. No mobile device is constantly connected. The devices POLL Exchange for updates, if there is an update it gets pushed to the device. The MORE you poll Exchange the faster you battery runs out. Most companies (that know what they are doing) tell their users to set ActiveSync to manual and have their device poll every 15-30min, to save battery life...and this is on Windows Mobile devices, the iPhone is no different. In fact MS has technet articles suggesting this very setup.

Outlook on company LAN is probably the most up to date, provided Outlook is not in a cached mode. Outlook on a LAN constantly talks to the Exchange server. Prior to Exchange 2003, there were two way for Outlook to talk to Exchange server, online (constant communication) or offline (you manually send and receive or set a schedule). As of Exchange 2003 there is a cached mode that has a lot of flexible options, such as data compression, checking bandwidth etc. A Outlook client close to the server will more frequently check the server, over a slow WAN connection it will adjust its checking, no connection, it changes to offline mode....all automatically.

So MobileMe (now finally working for me as of late last night) is just as good in terms of its "PUSH" as Exchange is.

[skinnylegs]

Paint me dissatisfied and discouraged as well.....

I have enabled MM within individual apps. like iCal and Address Book. I have chosen to sync these apps. within the MM pane of preferences but nothing is working. My calendar on the MM website is blank and I have no contacts listed. Of course, it's not sync'ing with my iPhone either.

[Chumkiu]

I think the worst thing about this whole situation is their silence and arrogance. When I say arrogance I mean their failing to make any comments, to release any statements, or to apologize for the fact that thousands of loyal fans stood in line for hours upon end to make Steve Jobs richer then ultimately got pie in their faces with regards to the whole mobileme sync and iphone issues. This is not to mention the problems that just normal .mac users have had.

How do we complain? Who can we talk to? The Apple support emails don't cut it for me. Tech Support can't help, so how do we reach those high up in Apple? We can't.....

This is what is disgusting and makes me want to support Apple less. Their stone-faced silence with everything leaves me feeling like they honestly don't care about the after effects of their cock-ups.

Apple are gonna turn out to have the old reputation of "Made in Taiwan" or Casio product. Great products, but they care more about the quantity than the quality.

[MacBoobsPro]

Well they did say it was Exchange for the rest of us. :D

[djellison]

Just got an apology email from Apple which includes this

"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."

[MacBoobsPro]

Paint me dissatisfied and discouraged as well.....

I have enabled MM within individual apps. like iCal and Address Book. I have chosen to sync these apps. within the MM pane of preferences but nothing is working. My calendar on the MM website is blank and I have no contacts listed. Of course, it's not sync'ing with my iPhone either.

Make sure your iPhone is set to sync calendars and contacts. Its not by default for some reason and its kind of hidden. This is where a lot of people are slipping up. I know I did.

If you read the MobileMe set up pages on Apple.com and follow EVERY step everything should work. I presumed everything had been set up by default but it hadnt and there are things you need to change.

[skinnylegs]

Make sure your iPhone is set to sync calendars and contacts. Its not by default for some reason and its kind of hidden. This is where a lot of people are slipping up. I know I did.

If you read the MobileMe set up pages on Apple.com and follow EVERY step everything should work. I presumed everything had been set up by default but it hadnt and there are things you need to change.Thanks.

I've checked just about every single option within the settings of my iPhone and there doesn't seem to be an option to turn off/on sync'ing of calendars and contacts. Where is it?

[jk48]

You think that slight change to mis-selling gets Apple off the hook? I have loved Apple stuff since the first 128k Mac. This is the worst thing it has ever done.

i definitely haven't been using macs for as long as you, but from the experience i've had with pc's and the from my switch to macs about 4-5 years ago, this is indeed the biggest let down i've ever experienced. apple should offer at least offer some money back to the people who purchased the full version of MM for it's full pushing service as advertised.

did Apple think no one would notice?

[mcoyne]

The acrimony seems over the top for an $99 a year service making a (bumpy) transition to a better service. Sheesh! Get over yourselves.

And it's worked just fine for me :)

[MacBoobsPro]

Thanks.

I've checked just about every single option within the settings of my iPhone and there doesn't seem to be an option to turn off/on sync'ing of calendars and contacts. Where is it?

settings > mail, contacts, calendars > tap on your account > set mail, contacts, calendars and bookmarks to ON.

I personally didnt want to sync bookmarks so mine is off.

Once I changed these everything seemed to work.

[dejo]

Apple doesn't apologize or admit anything, it just silently edits its previous statements and pretends that users shouldn't expect the related functions in the first place.

let me say this, this kind of tactic is dishonest, low, and ugly.

Just got an apology email from Apple which includes this

"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."
They've apologized. Shocked, clevin?

[Mikey B]

mobileme is working great for me!

[skinnylegs]

settings > mail, contacts, calendars > tap on your account > set mail, contacts, calendars and bookmarks to ON.

I personally didnt want to sync bookmarks so mine is off.

Once I changed these everything seemed to work.Thanks, buddy!

Actually, paint me an idiot. For whatever reason, I didn't think it was important to sync Calendars and Contacts with my iPhone. I *thought* it would just show up on my iPhone. :rolleyes: So, I'm currently sync'ing these things to my iPhone and I'll see how things work afterwards. It's taking some time because I have over 5,000 contacts and a pretty full calendar. I'll report back (with my tail between my legs once again) after the sync is complete and I actually FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

[MacBoobsPro]

Thanks, buddy!

Actually, paint me an idiot. For whatever reason, I didn't think it was important to sync Calendars and Contacts with my iPhone. I *thought* it would just show up on my iPhone. :rolleyes: So, I'm currently sync'ing these things to my iPhone and I'll see how things work afterwards. It's taking some time because I have over 5,000 contacts and a pretty full calendar. I'll report back (with my tail between my legs once again) after the sync is complete and I actually FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

No problem. Its seems weird though that Apple left this OFF as default. I personally think this is why loads of people are having problems. Really it comes down to not reading the setup procedure but it is also not documented very clearly. Hope its starts working for you!

[skinnylegs]

'kinda OT but 'kinda not.....

I'm sync'ing my iPhone right now but as I said, it's taking some time because of the amount of contacts and calendar items I have. My phone rings, on occasion, and I have to answer it. Does this mean the sync resumes after the call or all over again from the very beginning? If it starts from the beginning, I'll have to wait until later on tonight to sync.

[nightcap965]

The acrimony seems over the top for an $99 a year service making a (bumpy) transition to a better service. Sheesh! Get over yourselves.

And it's worked just fine for me :)

Do me a favor and ditch the happy-clappy attitude. I've been paying for dotMac for years. This isn't trivial. This is my data. I pay the dotMac premium precisely so that I could have access to my data wherever I am. I don't like being misled by slick ad copy like this:

"Everything up to date. Anywhere you are. MobileMe keeps all your information in an online server, or 'cloud.' So no matter where you go or what device you use, everything is in sync."

And I especially don't like the fact that it's still broken, and I'm supposed to enjoy being an unpaid beta tester. I've been a major cheerleader for Apple products for years, but right at the moment I'm feeling angry and betrayed, and I don't need somebody telling me that I should smile and whistle a happy tune.

[MacBoobsPro]

'kinda OT but 'kinda not.....

I'm sync'ing my iPhone right now but as I said, it's taking some time because of the amount of contacts and calendar items I have. My phone rings, on occasion, and I have to answer it. Does this mean the sync resumes after the call or all over again from the very beginning? If it starts from the beginning, I'll have to wait until later on tonight to sync.

I'm not sure about that. I got a call when I was syncing and didnt even think and took the phone out of the dock then greeted a client with "****" after I realised what I had done. :D I just plugged it back in and it started syncing again. Whether it continued or restarted I dont know.

[MacBoobsPro]

Do me a favor and ditch the happy-clappy attitude. I've been paying for dotMac for years. This isn't trivial. This is my data. I pay the dotMac premium precisely so that I could have access to my data wherever I am. I don't like being misled by slick ad copy like this:

"Everything up to date. Anywhere you are. MobileMe keeps all your information in an online server, or 'cloud.' So no matter where you go or what device you use, everything is in sync."

And I especially don't like the fact that it's still broken, and I'm supposed to enjoy being an unpaid beta tester. I've been a major cheerleader for Apple products for years, but right at the moment I'm feeling angry and betrayed, and I don't need somebody telling me that I should smile and whistle a happy tune.

Not sure if you have seen on MR there are reports of people getting emails from Apple regarding MobileMe and how the transition has been 'rockier than expected'. As a result Apple have apologised and are giving subscribers 30 days subscription free.

So now you are a paid beta tester. :D

[skinnylegs]

I'm not sure about that. I got a call when I was syncing and didnt even think and took the phone out of the dock then greeted a client with "****" after I realised what I had done. :D I just plugged it back in and it started syncing again. Whether it continued or restarted I dont know.It's 'kinda weird. I slid the slider to cancel the sync (to retrieve some messages) but left it on the cradle connected to my computer and iTunes says "Syncing contacts....." Furthermore, when I hit the phone eject key on iTunes it says.....

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9189/picture1lv7.jpg

Weird. Eh....I'm doing some p/w anyway so I'll just continue to let it do it's thing and when I need to uncradle it I will.

[Aquafina8]

The acrimony seems over the top for an $99 a year service making a (bumpy) transition to a better service. Sheesh! Get over yourselves.

And it's worked just fine for me :)
Well, it's actually more than a $99 service. I own a black berry pearl and was syncing between my mac at home and my work's PC/Outlook using Plaxo. This worked pretty good and any changes I made to my work calendars and my iCal calendars were reflected on each. To sync my BB I had to plug it into my Mac each night. Sometimes I'd forget to do this and given that I am a very forgetful person and need an up-to-date portable calendar to be on time for appointment and to keep me from double booking myself this didn't work perfectly for me.

When apple advertised that the new iPhone and mobile me would sync the mobile device (iPhone) and work PC/outlook and home mac/ical so that any change on any device would be reflected in all devices I thought that was the solution to my organization and calendaring challenges.

So I bought an iPhone even though my BB contract with another carrier is not yet up for renewal. I felt the advantage for my organizational challenges outweighed the cost.

Unfortunately, the functionality promoted by apple has not worked for me. My work PC/outlook has never worked and actually wiped out my mobile me calendar. I have poured over posts here and on apple's discussion support pages, submitted help requests to apple, followed their technical solution guides and still nothing works.

Even my iCal wouldn't sync reliably and even when I did get it working it didn't last for long before I got error messages "couldn't synce because of inconsistent data" and so forth.

I have contacted Roger's (my iPhone service provider) and have requested instructions on how to return the iPhone on the 30 day return guarantee.

I will be returning to my black berry and Plaxo. I'll also upgrade my BB to one with a full keyboard to make remote calendar entry easier (i found the pearl awkward to enter calendar entries and so often would wait until I got home, by which time I had often forgot).

[wlh99]

MobileMe push is an unmitigated disaster. As a lifelong Apple user, I can't express how disappointed and angry I am at Apple for releasing such a train-wreck. Microsoft would be embarrassed to release such a disaster, and would be falling over themselves to make the situation right. From Apple, not a word. No admission of the havoc they're unleashed on their customers, no path forward to correct the situation, not even a warning to its customers not to use some of the MobileMe"services" until they are fixed.

Instead, they allow the customers to blindly use a service that not only does not work, but risks data loss because of its inaccurate and inconsistent behavior.

Tonight, I unregistered all my computers and deleted all my MobileMe data. Then, when I tried to upload my computer's data to a theoretically empty MobileMe database, the system told me I had inconsistent data and told me my password was incorrect. This is after I had to abandon any effort to get my iPhone, laptop and desktop to share the same contact and calendar data. The email syncing seems to be ok, but given the track record, I cannot trust MobileMe to get that corrrect. Email troubles would spell disaster.

Apple has falsely advertised a service as completely push when in fact one aspect of it is not push at all. That's bad enough. But worse, the system has no functional synching system at all. Microsoft Exchange has done this same function for years. Apple, please copy Microsoft. At least its system works!!!

I don't care who is responsible for this, they should be fired. Whether its Phil Schiller or someone else, this is the kind of product that can destroy Apple's reputation and drive its customers back into
the hands of its competitors. Microsoft may not care about the user experience the way it should, but they care about their customer's data.

Apple needs to pull the plug on MobileMe, return the .Mac service to operation apologize to its customers, give them a credit to compensate them for the trouble they've caused, and promise not to release MobileMe again until it is completely push and completely ready.

Steve Jobs built his reputation by showing he knew how to treat his customers. Now's the time to show it, Steve.

Apple DID copy Microsoft. Apple licensed Active Sync from Microsoft for the iPhone. It works great. If you want push that works, find an exchange server. Hopefully there will be a way for macs to access exchange soon.

[Tannerozzy]

Maybe he just doesn't know how to use the service...

I've been using it all week and it's been flawless. I couldn't be happier.

[amakh007]

At work we have IE 6. Can't upgrade the browser. Guess what...mobileme won't work on IE 6 and works poorly on IE 7. So what a waste of money since I can't access it....

[albeli]

Hours after the apology email, and I still can't get my calendar to load on the web app, which is supposedly working now. And this is on Mozilla.

ETA: I tried Safari--totally unable to load Calendar. Then I tried IE7, and after a hiccup it sort of works. Bizarre.

[d21mike]

Hours after the apology email, and I still can't get my calendar to load on the web app, which is supposedly working now. And this is on Mozilla.

ETA: I tried Safari--totally unable to load Calendar. Then I tried IE7, and after a hiccup it sort of works. Bizarre.

Someone else share about adding a dummy group and mine has been working ever since. Hit escape and the with + in lower left add group.

[benmrii]

I don't think you know what "disaster" means if you can use it so flippantly.

Repeat after me... mellow... mellow...

[taytho]

Plus the me.com thing has upset a lot of people. I have tried to add my wife to MobileMe. No way will she have an email address with @me.com on it.

why wont she have it? she doesnt want it? i guess i just dont follow.

[Mikey B]

At work we have IE 6. Can't upgrade the browser. Guess what...mobileme won't work on IE 6 and works poorly on IE 7. So what a waste of money since I can't access it....

did you not check browser compatibility before you bought it?

[Silver-Fox]

I really wish people would give this a rest, they have said sorry they are giving you a month free, they are trying to fix it, give apple a break.

Some of you lot are so impatient and demanding it is stupid

[Fozziebear40]

why wont she have it? she doesnt want it? i guess i just dont follow.

@me.com just doesn't sound Professional... it smacks of 'oh it's all about me' seems self centered me me me. I have got used to it now sort of, still trying to convince her.

On another note, I have just received my email notification of a reply to this thread...... 24 hours late. Is that Apple or is it MacRumors: Forums..... you decide.