Apple. I'm Done.

[flashvenom]

Wow. Mobile Me really does suck. For this LONG LONG LONG-time Apple fanatic, it really is the last straw. Let me start off my saying I am typing this in notepad because my mobile me service is down (... again) and I can't confirm my macrumor account. I'll have to post it later after I find out what's happening (After waiting 25 minutes to chat with a support rep online)

SO now, besides the fact that the webmail service is SLOW and unintuitive (I can't jump pages for one example) it just plain doesn't work half the time from my experience, and, IE7 isn't even supported, so I have to use Firefox which just doesn't work for me at my office.

After the disaster of the switch to mobile me, they gave me a whopping 30 day extension (mind you I almost lost my escrow because I couldn't access an important document) and said they weren't going to use the term "Push" for contacts because of an evil storm cloud or some such nonsense. Sure enough, their commercials still claim instantly updated push data. Wow.

Oh yeah, upgraded me and my wife's iPhone to the big 2.0 update a couple days ago- my wife lost all of her contacts. "The backup file is corrupt." Great. And still cannot access data from my exchange server with my iPhone, despite the fact that I have set up 3 Tilts (which I love more and more each day) with no problems. After being ping-ponged between ATT and Apple for support (Apple concluded "You need the Enterprise data plan", and ATT responded "That plan is only for the iPhone 3G!") But I do have monkey ball and a virtual beer to drain my frustration.

I'm throwing up my hands. I'm done. Like that Family Guy episode where he's watching a chick flick. "DONE!" I will not buy another Apple product. Enough of this love-hate relationship. I'd rather be abused from Microsoft because at least I'll know what I'm getting into.

I bought $100 worth of music the night before a DJ gig, and realized I can't MIX this music with serrato scratch. I should have known - for a while Apple was selling MP3s again (am I trippin?) And when I asked Apple for a refund? NOPE they'll only refund one of my purchases- and they refunded the cheapest one. Had to burn everything to a CD and re-rip. Jesus' mother Mary and Joseph.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Apple what have you become. I realize I look EXACTLY like the stereotypical apple employee freaks I see in the stores - young, edgy hair-cut, LA fashion sense (even in OC go figure), cool attitude but still plenty dorkish. I used to be such a huge fan. Now I find myself slowly switching over to the dark side.

Damn you iPod. It's all your fault. Apple tasted the sweet sweet nectar of mass appeal and everything went down hill.

 

[Sky Blue]

Apple have never sold MP3s

 

[JNB]

When one insists on being up with the latest release of pretty much anything from anybody (not just Apple, nor just the computer industry), then you have to be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of Early Adopter Syndrome. It goes with the territory. Granted, the choice to migrate to Mobile Me wasn't a choice, it was a fait accompli on our part, and that one was pretty much a goat rope from the get-go. For the same reason I have backups for my data, I have backups for my communications as well. I can't (and wouldn't) trust my livelihood to a consumer service. Marketing-speak doesn't sway me, no matter how adamant they are--I'll believe it when I see it.

Sorry to see you go, it will get better. Enjoy the Microsoft Experience.

 

[kolax]

You bought music off the iTunes Store to play and mix? Haha! That made me laugh. Aside from the bitrate which really isn't meant for actual DJ's to play through big speakers, it is DRMed too, so you won't be able to use it with your mixing device.

You should have bought from the iTunes Plus Store - it gives you 256 kbps bitrate as opposed to 128.

As for not buying another Apple product because of a bad transition from .Mac to MobileMe, we'll see how long you can keep that for.

 

[flashvenom]

You bought music off the iTunes Store to play and mix? Haha! That made me laugh. Aside from the bitrate which really isn't meant for actual DJ's to play through big speakers, it is DRMed too, so you won't be able to use it with your mixing device.

You should have bought from the iTunes Plus Store - it gives you 256 kbps bitrate as opposed to 128.

As for not buying another Apple product because of a bad transition from .Mac to MobileMe, we'll see how long you can keep that for.

Oh ho ho no no it's not just Mobile Me my good man. You too will feel the wrath of Apple's perpetually growing evil wayz. FYI the tracks are 256 which is plenty good for mixing on most PAs (I ain't Moby). And as stated, forgetting about Apple's ass-tight DRM was a big "DOH!". I've never bought that much music online at once before. I'm a Best Buy/Target typeadude.

 

[wlh99]

When one insists on being up with the latest release of pretty much anything from anybody (not just Apple, nor just the computer industry), then you have to be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of Early Adopter Syndrome. It goes with the territory. Granted, the choice to migrate to Mobile Me wasn't a choice, it was a fait accompli on our part, and that one was pretty much a goat rope from the get-go. For the same reason I have backups for my data, I have backups for my communications as well. I can't (and wouldn't) trust my livelihood to a consumer service. Marketing-speak doesn't sway me, no matter how adamant they are--I'll believe it when I see it.

Sorry to see you go, it will get better. Enjoy the Microsoft Experience.

Leading edge vs. Bleading edge. Obviously bleading is a worse place to be.
My complaint with Apple is support. I have dealt with Apple support a few times, and also support at Dell, HP, IBM, and Fujitsu. As the "IT guy" at work I deal with a fair amount of support from these companies.

Hands down, Apple is by far the worst. Its not even close. I was flat out denied a warranty claim on a new defective iBook and told the repair would be $800. Further I was told that there was no process to dispute the claim and that it was Apple's policy that I could not speak with a manager or supervisor. It took the filing of a lawsuit in small claims for Apple to step up and honor the warranty. Unbelivable.

The best by far was IBM. An IBM server failed. I called support. One hour later a courier showed up at my door with a box of parts, and an hour after that a tech showed up to fix the server.

The others have all been about the same and are acceptable. Helpfull and cooperative, but not of the expertise one might hope for.

To be fair I must say that Apple stepped up to the plate after mobile me and had no problem with granting me a refund of my subscription.

YMMV - I have heard good and bad about all these companies.

 

[thunderclap]

I think the original poster is just trying to cause a ruckus. His first post on the forums and he's bitching about Apple? Really?

 

[dukebound85]

there was a thread identical to this i believe less than a week ago. same title too or really close and then a complaint about mobile me.

srtange

 

[sushi]

Wow. Mobile Me really does suck. For this LONG LONG LONG-time Apple fanatic, it really is the last straw.
<Big snip>

Whatever works best for you, is the way to go.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I'm sure Apple will miss you dearly.

 

[nick9191]

iTunes is one of the few stores that actually protects the customer and the artist. Lets get this straight, Apple makes next to nothing from iTunes, the reason they do it as it sells iPods.

Basically the story is that, Apple knew that the music labels were getting their asses handed to them by Napster and Limewire, so they went to them with iTunes, which not only protects the record label with the DRM, but also protects the end user by selling single tracks (before this you had to buy an entire CD album or pay way over the odds for a CD single), it also protects the end user by allowing them to sync the music to as many iPods, iPhones, and Apple TV's as you like.

Apple also protects individual artists who are not signed to a record label in the same way. It allows them to keep pretty much all the money they earn off iTunes, it allows them to create whatever music they like instead of the record labels, and it protects them with DRM. If you sign with a record label, you get paid a fair amount of money, but guess what its actually about 1% of what they earn off you, and you have to make the music what they think is popular.

 

[JNB]

Hands down, Apple is by far the worst. Its not even close.

YMMV - I have heard good and bad about all these companies.

Sorry to hear you had to go through so much to get a resolution. YMMV - so true. Apple support is consistently rated the best of all major vendors, and has been for years. Obviously, all it takes is one person's bad experience to make that a less than helpful metric. My own experiences have always been nothing less than stellar. Prompt, correct, and complete in every case (which luckily, the need has been extremely rare in the last 27 years).

 

[spork183]

My own experiences have always been nothing less than stellar. Prompt, correct, and complete in every case (which luckily, the need has been extremely rare in the last 27 years).

Second that. I'm writing on a 24imac that was an Apple replacement for a G5 imac that had repeated issues. Apple was supportive all the way down the line until the tech told me I had a lemon and they could fix it again or give me a new C2D imac. I had to think about that one for a long time...

There will always be people who for whatever reason don't get the service they should, but these issues with mobileme are a nightmare.

 

[Duff-Man]

Duff-Man says....enjoy Vista and Zune....bye...oh yeah!

 

[nick9191]

Second that. I'm writing on a 24imac that was an Apple replacement for a G5 imac that had repeated issues. Apple was supportive all the way down the line until the tech told me I had a lemon and they could fix it again or give me a new C2D imac. I had to think about that one for a long time...

There will always be people who for whatever reason don't get the service they should, but these issues with mobileme are a nightmare.

They gave you a 24" iMac

They never made a 24" G5 so why did they not just give you a 20" Intel like the G5.

 

[flashvenom]

Further I was told that there was no process to dispute the claim and that it was Apple's policy that I could not speak with a manager or supervisor. It took the filing of a lawsuit in small claims for Apple to step up and honor the warranty. Unbelivable.

Exactly the crux of my problem. Apple has become an morally bankrupt (played out term, I know) company. I was going to post the chat I had with them, but in short, I asked to speak with a supervisor's supervisor and got this phrase slapped to me: "I am empowered by Apple Management to address any questions or complaints you would have for an Apple supervisor. I would be glad to work with you, not only to address this issue, but to pass on any concerns or comments you would like the Apple Management team to be aware of."
I said that was unacceptable, and I demanded to know the name of the government agency that Mobile Me is overseen by - the FCC for example - so I can file a complaint. He didn't, at first, know. He said try the BBB... (uhhhmm NO). But after putting me on hold and asking the elusive supervisor who is obviously too busy to deal with the lowly loyal customers that pay his salary he said "You're right - the FCC." And off I went.

I know it's my first post here. I've probably posted in the past but I don't remember the username. I'm usually too busy to waste time bitching, but I've spent many many of thousand dollars on Apple products all the way back to the IIe, so....

I also want to mention (sheesh) that I am an Art Director for a large non-for-profit organization that spends thousands on Apple products for educational classes for high schools around the world. They have never donated a single DIME for any of these projects, some of which take place in very poor parts of the world, despite asking repeatedly and having corporate support from many other large corporate sponsors - ATT, Google, Wacom, etc etc etc. (We don't spend any money with these sponsors, yet they still donate their services.)

I did create this thread to cause a rawkus. I *was* the biggest Apple fan - At the first Macworlds in SF, I was the only little kid (12 years old) running around eager to learn about new Mac related stuffs.

 

[kolax]

Oh ho ho no no it's not just Mobile Me my good man. You too will feel the wrath of Apple's perpetually growing evil wayz. FYI the tracks are 256 which is plenty good for mixing on most PAs (I ain't Moby). And as stated, forgetting about Apple's ass-tight DRM was a big "DOH!". I've never bought that much music online at once before. I'm a Best Buy/Target typeadude.

The DRM tracks are 128kbps, the DRM-free ones are 256kbps.

 

[aristobrat]

Wow. Mobile Me really does suck. For this LONG LONG LONG-time Apple fanatic, it really is the last straw. Let me start off my saying I am typing this in notepad because my mobile me service is down (... again) and I can't confirm my macrumor account. I'll have to post it later after I find out what's happening (After waiting 25 minutes to chat with a support rep online)

So what happened? The MobileMe status history page doesn't show any issue other than that one email server that's been down for an unbelievably long time.

and said they weren't going to use the term "Push" for contacts because of an evil storm cloud or some such nonsense. Sure enough, their commercials still claim instantly updated push data. Wow.

AFAIK, push works in every situation except a computer updating the cloud. That still happens automatically, just not "instantly", so they dropped the term push from the website. Guess they haven't reshot the videos yet.

Oh yeah, upgraded me and my wife's iPhone to the big 2.0 update a couple days ago- my wife lost all of her contacts. "The backup file is corrupt."

Contacts should sync with Address Book (on OS X) and either Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Address Book (on Windows). If her phone lost them, and the backup was corrupt, she should only have to resync to get them back.

I bought $100 worth of music the night before a DJ gig, and realized I can't MIX this music with serrato scratch. I should have known - for a while Apple was selling MP3s again (am I trippin?)

Actually, I think you're just confused. Virtually all iTunes songs are 128kbps. Stuff from the EMI label are 256kbps and are sold DRM free. I think you thought that since they were DRM free that they'd be sold as MP3s, but they never were.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Apple what have you become.

IMO, Apple's become nothing (new). They've never had a great track record when it comes to launches involving services or products that are new to them. If you've really been a long-long-long-long-time fan, you'd know this. Seems like common advice around here to avoid Apple "Rev A" products and services for the very reasons you're wigging out about -- there's always issues.

IMO, Apple's saving grace is that they seem to work through them a lot quicker than other companies, esp. the dark side.

Poor launches and first generation issues are hardly 'evil wayz'.

 

[JNB]

They have never donated a single DIME for any of these projects, some of which take place in very poor parts of the world, despite asking repeatedly and having corporate support from many other large corporate sponsors - ATT, Google, Wacom, etc etc etc. (We don't spend any money with these sponsors, yet they still donate their services.)

Not to make too fine a point of it, but you do realize that these other corporations don't do this because they think you're doing something worthwhile, do you? Officially, they couldn't care less about you. It's all about PR and write-offs. Trust me, if there weren't deductions involved, your benefactors would dry up in a New York minute.

Just because I've been a loyal customer for 27 years, spent tens of thousands of my own money on their products and used them for the betterment of thousands of people--and I have--am I "entitled" to anything above and beyond any other customer?

 

[spork183]

They gave you a 24" iMac

They never made a 24" G5 so why did they not just give you a 20" Intel like the G5.

no, they were gonna replace with a 20", but told me I could pay $399 to upgrade to the 24. Since I'd already told them I wouldn't be interested in a new computer, I also told them I wasn't interested in more screen real estate...

Only down side was I couldn't add anything to it/customize it. I'm stuck with 128mb graphics.

 

[aristobrat]

But after putting me on hold and asking the elusive supervisor who is obviously too busy to deal with the lowly loyal customers that pay his salary he said "You're right - the FCC." And off I went.

I don't think any gov't agency regulates email providers. A few minutes on the FCC site didn't pull anything up.

I also want to mention (sheesh) that I am an Art Director for a large non-for-profit organization that spends thousands on Apple products for educational classes for high schools around the world. They have never donated a single DIME for any of these projects, some of which take place in very poor parts of the world, despite asking repeatedly and having corporate support from many other large corporate sponsors - ATT, Google, Wacom, etc etc etc. (We don't spend any money with these sponsors, yet they still donate their services.)

So they don't donate to your particular projects. Are you aware of the other ways they support the community?

 

[bluenoise]

...I demanded to know the name of the government agency that Mobile Me is overseen by - the FCC for example - so I can file a complaint....

This gave me a chuckle.

 

[adversecamber]

If Apple Inc has the same "See ya later" and "Enjoy Vista... bye..." attitude as you lot, then they're going to have a hard time increasing and keeping their customer base. Every customer is, over their lifetime, thousands of pounds worth of business.

I agree with the OP. When I discovered Apple (around 10.3) I thought they were the dog's bollocks.

I don't recommend them any more.

Complacency breeds failure.

 

[.Andy]

I realize I look EXACTLY like the stereotypical apple employee freaks I see in the stores - young, edgy hair-cut, LA fashion sense (even in OC go figure), cool attitude but still plenty dorkish.

It's worse than this. You also do emo posts on the internet. You've hit rock bottom.

 

[flashvenom]

Apple makes great products - they just forgot their roots - the "pro-sumer." It was die-hard fans like ME that kept them from going bankrupt by spreading and keeping the news about how GOOD the company and products were. So, yeah I do expect a hypothetical free steak dinner gotdammit.

I've had it with their sappy user-friendly, open-source, snobby marketing image they advertise themselves as. Friggin FAKE foo-foo Steve Jobs gab that misleads people into believing Apple is here to save us from our sins. Macs have viruses, hackers, bugs and software issues too... My Macs crash just as much as my PCs.

Re: Contacts backup
I have two iPhones we sync with one G5 Mac Quad. Apple's weak logic that deals with this is storing backup profiles for each device. So when I backed up the secondary iPhone it replaced the old file, and somehow the new backup wasn't clean. Thus - no contacts, and cannot be restored. Thanks to Apple I have a pissed off wife so I had to cook my own dinner (Hot Pockets which were actually quite tasty) and my Xbox time was cut short because I had to find and charge her old blackberry pearl. blah.