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@Corsa

I've just had confirmation from an Apple employee that the six character minimum .mac username was a 'limitation put forward later in .mac's life. Originally there was no limit.'

Mystery solved :)

Well, one mystery at least. :)
 
Not that this thread needs another post, but what the hey.
I'm in agreement with the others that Apple tried to accomplish too much in too short a timeframe. All these services/updates should've been spread out over a week or so, not a day or two. I think maybe they were counting too much on some of that "Mac Magic", and it didn't come through this time.
Morod
 
The major 'flaw' in your reasoning is that if this is such a big operation (which it is) why did Apple allocate only 6 hours to do it and publicly announce that it would take 6 hours. Added to which why, when it was clear the system wasn't working, didn't they post a revised time frame. A lot of this frustration would have been avoided if, after the system went down, the default splash screen had given a revised schedule of when the system would be up - 6 hours, 9 hours, whatever - that way they wouldn't have had thousands of people trying to log on every few minutes - people who had been told by Apple themselves that the service would be working by then. You forget that it was Apple that originally announced the time frame for the works - if they couldn't meet the deadline, fine, I understand it's a complicated problem, but the least they could have done was to post another time frame that would have given them some room to breath and get it right - and their users some kind of explanation.
Have you ever known Apple to give an explanation publicly? That has been part of the frustration in the past with .Mac - it goes down, comes up, goes down, comes up, and never a word from Apple until after it is all over and then nothing more than "all systems are operational" or something like that. I don't think that Apple considers mere uses worthy of an explanation.
 
It is quite useful.

It seems to confirm that this is unexpected downtime and that they did not plan for the service to launch tomorrow or the day after etc.

If they had planned long downtime, then the support staff would have been briefed to regurgitate the same line when asked about date, but we've had several conflicting reports.

It's not useful. 3 or so other people already posted basically the same exact conversation. These "filler posts" are getting repetitive, monotonous and derivative. Everyone just chill out and wait for it to be finished.
 
Michael Faherty: And you are probably going to tell me the service will be available as soon as possible, right? lol
Jessica: You are so right.
Jessica: This may be related to the scheduled maintenance.
Michael Faherty: Do you know when this maintenance will be complete?
Michael Faherty: It seems to be taking longer than it was supposed to be...
Jessica: The technicians are working around the clock to get it up and running.
Jessica: Later on today I am assuming.
Michael Faherty: okay
Jessica: Not completely sure though.
Michael Faherty: thank you
Jessica: Sorry I don't have an exact ETA for you.

At least they seem like actual humans and not some bot interface like other customer service reps.....
 
Originally Posted by Apple Corps
My site does not have anything to do with directly taking orders.
So?
There are other webhosting services that provide guaranteed, high reliability web hosting -- something Apple never claimed.

And something that they specifically "warned" against in the agreement you signed to begin with.
 
Have you ever now Apple to give an explanation publicly?

Exactly - that's the problem. They treat customers like some sort of irrelevant annoyance rather than humans. How about a brief schedule outlining the planned downtime for each service in turn - so instead of frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites - we can just get on with our lives until an appropriate time.

Instead of hanging on, hanging on, hanging on when making purchasing decisions - how about giving us a product routemap like anyone else.

Apple treats us like utter **** - and the majority seem to bend over and LOVE IT.
 
It's rather comical to see how much slack people give Apple! NONE! I thought we all adored Apple and Stevey? Maybe a free kumbaya ringtone for my iPhone is in order?
 
Exactly - that's the problem. They treat customers like some sort of irrelevant annoyance rather than humans. How about a brief schedule outlining the planned downtime for each service in turn - so instead of frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites - we can just get on with our lives until an appropriate time.

Instead of hanging on, hanging on, hanging on when making purchasing decisions - how about giving us a product routemap like anyone else.

Apple treats us like utter **** - and the majority seem to bend over and LOVE IT.

Why don't you read what they already have said? They don't have an ETA to give you, this isn't a roadmap issue. They had trouble obviously, there's no way they could tell you anything meaningful, so they've communicated through the usual channel (apple.com/support) to let us know that the webapps are still down, but the rest of the services are fine, which is absolutely true and more than they are even required to tell you.

jW
 
Exactly - that's the problem. They treat customers like some sort of irrelevant annoyance rather than humans. How about a brief schedule outlining the planned downtime for each service in turn - so instead of frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites - we can just get on with our lives until an appropriate time.

Instead of hanging on, hanging on, hanging on when making purchasing decisions - how about giving us a product routemap like anyone else.

Apple treats us like utter **** - and the majority seem to bend over and LOVE IT.

We love their products and vision, and their customer support is generally top class. They don't tell us the details of everything they do, but that's hardly a deal breaker. Go in to any Apple Store and tell me customers are an annoyance - they have the best retail staff of any store I've ever been in.
 
Exactly - that's the problem. They treat customers like some sort of irrelevant annoyance rather than humans. How about a brief schedule outlining the planned downtime for each service in turn - so instead of frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites - we can just get on with our lives until an appropriate time.

Instead of hanging on, hanging on, hanging on when making purchasing decisions - how about giving us a product routemap like anyone else.

Apple treats us like utter **** - and the majority seem to bend over and LOVE IT.

Jesus. Nobody says you have to be "hanging on, hanging on, hanging on" or "frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites"... That's YOUR decision - not Apple's prescription or mandate.

My gosh. This lunacy and sense of entitlement may yet make me vomit a little in my mouth.
 
Have you ever known Apple to give an explanation publicly? That has been part of the frustration in the past with .Mac - it goes down, comes up, goes down, comes up, and never a word from Apple until after it is all over and then nothing more than "all systems are operational" or something like that. I don't think that Apple considers mere uses worthy of an explanation.

I think you are being a bit harsh. I do actually think Apple tries very hard to follow through on customer experience - I've had nothing but extremely positive relations with their customer support - but even so...

I am willing to put it down as a blip - I expect it is headless chicken time down at mobileme server central - we're getting pretty hotheaded on this forum, but that's probably nothing to what it's like in a room where your multi-million pound launch has just gone belly up and is being watched by millions of your competitors...
 
No matter how many times you tell people to just relax and wait for it someone will always post their complaint and make it seem like their birthday was violently taken away because MobileMe isn't fully operational. We know you're angry, trust me, we're all fully aware of this situation.
 
Jesus. Nobody says you have to be "hanging on, hanging on, hanging on" or "frustratingly bashing away at the mouse trying to find bits of websites"... That's YOUR decision - not Apple's prescription or mandate.

My gosh. This sense of entitlement may yet make me vomit a little in my mouth.

So you think it's sickening that people should expect to get what they pay for.
 
Oh wow! This interaction is EXACTLY like all the other conversations people have had with Apple's customer support online. That's SO interesting. Wow. Neat. Thanks for all that useful insight you gave by cutting and pasting.
:rolleyes:
I talked to a chat person on the online store in the MobileMe section, and she said MobileMe will officially go online tomorrow.
 
Pity the coder

Having read (most) of this thread, I can see a lot of opinions and criticisms and defences, so I figured I would try to add one (and hopefully keep it balanced.)

I work in IT too. I've architected and overseen some big-ass server migrations (dozens of servers physically moving, changing IP network, changing name, new OS, all sorts of things, and ALL at the same time.) Sometimes things crop up. It's NOT because there was bad planning, it's simply because something came up that NO ONE had thought about. Not because the people are lazy, stupid, incompetent, simply, no one thought about it. An honest mistake. Let's assume for the moment that is what happened.

That said, customers don't have access to promised services, and they're annoyed. They have every right to be. But the rage should be directed at Apple, not the people involved. If it turns out that they really did totally screw up and missed something obvious, then they will be fired. And deservedly so. But right now, there are a lot of coders, testers and the like killing themselves to get this up and running. They don't get millions of dollars from this launch. They're just salaried workers trying to get this done. Cut THEM some slack. Be annoyed at Apple by all means, for they, as a company have let you down. Time will tell what went wrong. Starting a blame-game before the thing is even working is just not helpful to anyone (although I'm sure venting helps!)

So, as I said. Assuming it was an honest mistake, be annoyed at Apple, the company. NOT the people who are working hard, have had little or no sleep and are trying to get it up and running. If it was a collosal screw up by someone who should have known better, or someone who ignored information they were given, or decided to launch when they were told it wasn't ready, then someone can, and should get fired. But even then, the little guy trying to get it fixed is quite unlikely to be the cause of the problem...

Just a thought!

be well

t
 
The major 'flaw' in your reasoning is that if this is such a big operation (which it is) why did Apple allocate only 6 hours to do it and publicly announce that it would take 6 hours. Added to which why, when it was clear the system wasn't working, didn't they post a revised time frame. A lot of this frustration would have been avoided if, after the system went down, the default splash screen had given a revised schedule of when the system would be up - 6 hours, 9 hours, whatever - that way they wouldn't have had thousands of people trying to log on every few minutes - people who had been told by Apple themselves that the service would be working by then. You forget that it was Apple that originally announced the time frame for the works - if they couldn't meet the deadline, fine, I understand it's a complicated problem, but the least they could have done was to post another time frame that would have given them some room to breath and get it right - and their users some kind of explanation.

I agree with you, and it's very disappointing and frustrating what they're NOT doing. They leave customers in the dark not letting them know about the extended downtime - they don't change the default message, or add one to the MobileMe page - NOTHING!
I understand that with a migration (transition, upgrade, w/e the word is) of this degree there may be unexpected problems, but come on :apple:, SAY SOMETHING AND ADMIT THE DELAY!
DAMN IT! :mad:

Edit: At this point is not even about the service not being up, it's about their lack of acknowledgment and failure to communicate it to us.
 
Where do you go to talk to a MobileMe or Apple representative that knows this stuff?

go to this site and at the bottom of the page it will let you click on to chat with someone live someone will be on in less than a minute they are responsive and have been getting hit all day with the same question, they will answer to the best of their ability

http://www.apple.com/support/dotmac/account/

be nice people they are "mushrooms" in the dark, just as we are here, they are only being fed basic info of what is happening, this morning I had to email the senior tech the mobile me software link they did not have it
 
No matter how many times you tell people to just relax and wait for it someone will always post their complaint and make it seem like their birthday was violently taken away because MobileMe isn't fully operational. We know you're angry, trust me, we're all fully aware of this situation.
But it's even more fun to sit back and watch people complain and yell at each other. I love being a spectator. Reading this thread is more entertaining than most of the tv shows on nowadays. Go Gladiators, Go!

And so the saga continues ...
 
Things are getting a little fraught in here, so just chill. Thanks.

Second that! We're all excited and really impatient. It's like being a kid Christmas morning. "Where's my Red Rider BB Gun?!?!?!?" Don't worry guys. The Red Rider BB Gun is behind the couch. Relax. They'll get it working.
 
But it's even more fun to sit back and watch people complain and yell at each other. I love being a spectator. Reading this thread is more entertaining than most of the tv shows on nowadays. Go Gladiators, Go!

And so the saga continues ...

haha yes, I totally agree, speaking of sitting back and watching people yell at each other...pass the popcorn!
 
It's good to argue and discuss but I've had to delete a number of personal attacks, so let's just bear that in mind.
 
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