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Extended MobileMe Email Outage Due To Server Issue
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😕
i've had gmail for over 4 years, and i've never had any downtime at all.
and if there was any downtime from gmail, it must of happened so quickly, that i never noticed. certainly not like MobileFail, which has been complete garbage since its launch.
gmail = free, no downtime
mobilefail = pay 99 a year 🙄
*crosses fingers* come on google...lets sync the calendar, and contacts and its total win!
iLife update
I got a Software Update notification about 9:30 AM, EST, for an iLife update from Apple. Now everything should be aligned with MobileMe, when it's working.
I got a Software Update notification about 9:30 AM, EST, for an iLife update from Apple. Now everything should be aligned with MobileMe, when it's working.
Sad
Well, I have not had any problems so far... at home
My biggest complain is that I can't check my .mac email at work anymore. IT has this "no other software can be installed" policy. IE 6 doesn't work with Me. I can't update IE. I can't install Safri or FriedFox. I have no plans to get an F**ing Rogers iPhone. I can't use wifi here (If I had an iPod Touch.)
Seriously thinking about going away from .Me.
The ironing is delicious.
Well, I have not had any problems so far... at home
My biggest complain is that I can't check my .mac email at work anymore. IT has this "no other software can be installed" policy. IE 6 doesn't work with Me. I can't update IE. I can't install Safri or FriedFox. I have no plans to get an F**ing Rogers iPhone. I can't use wifi here (If I had an iPod Touch.)
Seriously thinking about going away from .Me.
The ironing is delicious.
Incorrect. My statements have no basis in the facts you already know, and you aren't interested in investigating, preferring rather to engage in a one-sided love affairs with abstract groups of people who don't know who you are (or care).
I have a WinMo phone and I'm really happy with it believe it or not. Treo 800w - best smartphone I've ever owned. Fast, stable, tons of features. Plus, with Sprint my plan is so much cheaper and the coverage (where I am) so much better that I could never justify the extra costs with switching to AT&T.
I have a hosted Exchange account (for free) that pushes everything to my phone in real time. As soon as Snow Leopard comes out I wont need MobileMe anymore for sync. BTW, that free hosted Exchange account has been up and fast consistently for the last 2 years with (almost) no downtime. Compared to dotMac now MobileMe it's awesome.
No, you are actually wrong. Google fought Viacom in court to keep YouTube data out of their grubby little paws. They lost - but won the right to make the data anonymous. You are right about there being some data exposure bugs in their services though. What I've found out is that they are quick to fix them. MobileMe doesn't even offer HTTPS service for their sites. I would call that a bigger issue.
bobbleheadbob
macrumors 6502a
To me, it feels like this whole Mobile Me transition was been a disaster: from an IT perspective, customer relations, cost/benefit, corporate, marketplace, service & performance, everything. I've been with dot Mac for several years and aside from hating the new name (I think @me.com is foolish and plan to keep using my .mac e-mail addresses), really would like it to succeed. I think Apple does 90+% of its stuff very well, but the month of July seems like it's been one cluster-fu$k after another for them. 😡
I have to believe these problems are effecting much more than the 1% of users Apple is claiming. I've had off and on problems, but thankfully have been mostly OK (so far). E-mail is a big deal these days and a paid service like .mac and/or .me should NOT be down this long for this many people. I use it for a combination of personal and business reasons. I would be rightly P!$$ED OFF if my access had been down for an extended period of time.
Oh and BTW, I'm still waiting for my apology e-mail and the 30 extra free days. Not holding my breathe on that one! 🙁
I have to believe these problems are effecting much more than the 1% of users Apple is claiming. I've had off and on problems, but thankfully have been mostly OK (so far). E-mail is a big deal these days and a paid service like .mac and/or .me should NOT be down this long for this many people. I use it for a combination of personal and business reasons. I would be rightly P!$$ED OFF if my access had been down for an extended period of time.
Oh and BTW, I'm still waiting for my apology e-mail and the 30 extra free days. Not holding my breathe on that one! 🙁
One further note on this: they've had full account hijack holes, not to mention lesser privacy leaks, that have gone unfixed for weeks. If you get involved with higher-ed or large-ISP mail administrator circles, you'll also discover that they're quickly developing a reputation for turning a blind eye to phishing issues in order to avoid publicly admitting any problems. A number of universities (including AZ State) have found their contracted GMail systems being used as phishing spigots, and thus had their mail blacklisted by large swaths of the world. It's a real mess.
Clix Pix
macrumors Core
I haven't experienced problems with MobileMe.... However, the way I've set things up is a little different. I sync my calendar, contacts, bookmarks, keychains.....but NOT my mail. My mail is completely independent on each of my computers and I've got the accounts set up so that mail is also kept on the server. That way, when I turn on my MacBook Pro it downloads the mail, I can read and respond to it, dispose of it.....and when I turn on my MacBook Air, the same emails are downloaded into that machine as well. Unnecessary duplication? No, because sometimes I'm on one machine and then later switch to another, and that way I can respond to the email from whichever machine I'm on at the time I'm ready to do so. By leaving things on the server, too, I can also check my email via webmail if I'm at a computer away from home.
Works for me......
I don't use my .me account as my primary email, either. The email connected with my domain is what I use instead, as well as the one connected with my ISP. I have a couple of GMail accounts, too, that I use for Yahoogroups mailing lists in which I participate, too, and that works nicely, as then my personal inbox doesn't get cluttered with all those. I only check the GMail accounts via the web, I don't have them coming into my inbox with my regular email.
Whatever works..... As far as some of the other issues with Mobile Me I haven't experienced too many difficulties except, of course, for the first day, when I was trying to download and install iPhone 2.0 software into my original iPhone. I haven't yet experimented with any third-party apps from the Apps store.
Works for me......
I don't use my .me account as my primary email, either. The email connected with my domain is what I use instead, as well as the one connected with my ISP. I have a couple of GMail accounts, too, that I use for Yahoogroups mailing lists in which I participate, too, and that works nicely, as then my personal inbox doesn't get cluttered with all those. I only check the GMail accounts via the web, I don't have them coming into my inbox with my regular email.
Whatever works..... As far as some of the other issues with Mobile Me I haven't experienced too many difficulties except, of course, for the first day, when I was trying to download and install iPhone 2.0 software into my original iPhone. I haven't yet experimented with any third-party apps from the Apps store.
I still have ZERO access to my email through IMAP on my mac. I can check it on the web, but not through Mail App. It's more than pathetic on Apples part. 99 bucks for an email that doesn't work? right...
I don't understand people's comments and complaints about mobileme. For the most part and for most of us, it DOES WORK. It's a little sluggish, but it does work for me. But for a percentage it doesn't work. According to Apple, it's a server problem, not a mobileme problem.
Totally different issue, which sorta supports my point. Google fought Viacom because if Viacom had their way, it would *greatly* reduce YouTube's userbase, who mostly (let's face it, and I'm not saying I'm not one of them!) use it to watch copyrighted material. Whatever we think about copyright, etc, etc, the facts is the facts. So Google was fighting to keep any and all content on their site, to keep attracting users and hence ad views and money. When it comes to mail, they have willingly turned over data for eeextremely broad law enforcement trolling operations, as well as selling mined data to "partners". That data is supposedly anonymized, but as was recently reported to death isn't necessarily so. So you're right in a sense; I overstated when I said they'll sell your data to anyone... they'll do it when their cost-benefit analysis says it will make them more money than they'll lose from the number of users it drives away. 🙂 Personally, I don't find that very comforting.
I'm pretty sure that's incorrect; MobileMe and GMail both, totally inexplicably and unacceptably, offer an HTTPS version but send you to the HTTP version by default if you don't qualify your request. GMail only started offering HTTPS relatively recently (18 months ago, maybe?) as they knew that it would be demanded by possible large GApps-for-your-domain users.
Edit to add, re: fixing holes quickly: Google has had full account hijack holes, not to mention lesser privacy leaks, that have gone unfixed for weeks. If you get involved with higher-ed or large-ISP mail administrator circles, you'll also discover that they're quickly developing a reputation for turning a blind eye to phishing issues in order to avoid publicly admitting any problems. A number of universities (including AZ State) have found their contracted GMail systems being used as phishing spigots, and thus had their mail blacklisted by large swaths of the world. It's a real mess.
OK so why can RIM do it?
RIM seems to have no issues (or very, very little issues) handling millions of e-mail from one location (just down the street from me). Granted it's only e-mail, not full sync et al so not sure how relevant the comparison is (but please enlighten me -- I'm no techie so go easy!). Their BIS service is "free" (after you buy a heavily subsidized unit) but is quite elegantly simple, efficient and effective.
The MobileMe fiasco (and the pokey .mac before it) looks to me to be a case of lack of adequate focus -- something that generally happens when companies try to do big things that are outside their core business. Having said that the concept and the direction are bang on - Apple just needs to put "all hands on deck" or the plans to give RIM a run for their money are gone.
And I'm saying this as a new iPhone owner who just left Blackberry and was considering MobileMe to help smooth the transition (push e-mail is addictive). From my point of view (as a mac owner/lover and small business guy) if they get that right, the iPhone is the slam dunk for a whole lot of consumers / small businesses / mobile pros.
RIM seems to have no issues (or very, very little issues) handling millions of e-mail from one location (just down the street from me). Granted it's only e-mail, not full sync et al so not sure how relevant the comparison is (but please enlighten me -- I'm no techie so go easy!). Their BIS service is "free" (after you buy a heavily subsidized unit) but is quite elegantly simple, efficient and effective.
The MobileMe fiasco (and the pokey .mac before it) looks to me to be a case of lack of adequate focus -- something that generally happens when companies try to do big things that are outside their core business. Having said that the concept and the direction are bang on - Apple just needs to put "all hands on deck" or the plans to give RIM a run for their money are gone.
And I'm saying this as a new iPhone owner who just left Blackberry and was considering MobileMe to help smooth the transition (push e-mail is addictive). From my point of view (as a mac owner/lover and small business guy) if they get that right, the iPhone is the slam dunk for a whole lot of consumers / small businesses / mobile pros.
data loss
it all boils down to data loss...
I know as well as you do that they could fire up a new bank of servers to handle the accounts...
however if anyone else has been in the same situation where you have to explain to people that their files are gone, you would know that people flip out and it's the end of the world cause they don't have that one email from five years ago that says "something that they absolutely must have every second of their lives so they can breathe" ...
even if they restored the service and said "hey we will have your data back in a week" it still wouldn't help... I'm not defending their actions, it's just i assume they are trying to get everyones data back so the "world doesn't end"
it all boils down to data loss...
I know as well as you do that they could fire up a new bank of servers to handle the accounts...
however if anyone else has been in the same situation where you have to explain to people that their files are gone, you would know that people flip out and it's the end of the world cause they don't have that one email from five years ago that says "something that they absolutely must have every second of their lives so they can breathe" ...
even if they restored the service and said "hey we will have your data back in a week" it still wouldn't help... I'm not defending their actions, it's just i assume they are trying to get everyones data back so the "world doesn't end"
Rocketman
macrumors 603
Let's start with data loss reduction before we worry about uptime. The internet uptime generally is over 99.9%, so at this moment a 1% data loss is a far bigger problem and harder to recover from.
Rocketman
pbrooks
macrumors regular
I tried sending several messages from Gmail this morning. It was down for ten minutes. All services go down. It's sad to see Apple dropping the ball to the degree that they have on MobileMe. Having said that though, my MobileMe has worked fine with the exception of a few delayed incoming messages yesterday morning.
Of course, I wasn't one of those idiot waiting in line for hours for an iPhone, so I don't feel I have so much vested in this great product launch debacle.
1% my ass. Apple knows this is BS yet they still stand by that number. I know 6 people with MM, and 4 of us can't use it. Not to mention the whole "push" debacle which was a PR stunt from the start. Not to mention we haven't seen mac updates in forever. Not to mention that I called AppleCare last night and the guy didn't even know there were problems with mobileme, that or apple has been telling there customer service people to play it off as something minor.
Apple is spread too thin. They refuse to grow, refuse to hire more developers and teams, and they are doing 5 times as much stuff as 5 years ago. And then there is all the rumors that Steve might be pretty sick again, and the board won't answer questions about his health. It is the first time since I became a mac fan 6 years ago that I am a bit worried for the future of my favorite software/hardware company.
Apple is spread too thin. They refuse to grow, refuse to hire more developers and teams, and they are doing 5 times as much stuff as 5 years ago. And then there is all the rumors that Steve might be pretty sick again, and the board won't answer questions about his health. It is the first time since I became a mac fan 6 years ago that I am a bit worried for the future of my favorite software/hardware company.
Which works better the surge or MobileME
The rumors are rampant about causes of Apple's ME generation product failures 1) initial large outage caused by cut optical cable. 2) current 1% outage caused by single server.
Lets say there is no truth in any rumor. What is known then. 1) a single problem can take down much of Apple's promised and paid for service. 2) If there was a disaster plan it does not seem to be working. 3) If there is a back up system it too does not seem to be working. 4) If there were redundancies built into the system they don't seem to be working.
What is questionable is if there was a well tested primary system in place for this new product rollout? Considering the crabbing Apple has been doing with their apology letters concerning their rollout marketing there is considerable evidence that a tested system maybe a generous, although doubtful description of the system in place at the time of rollout.
None of my comments goes to fixing Apple's ME generation product rollout, that's Apple's problem. People and companies tend to do what they have done before. We get to decide who we want to be a conduit for our treasured thoughts and information in the future. Our frustration today is largely based lack of service and lack of open communication between our trusted service provider and us the customer who have already paid for that service. Most of us have had email service for years from other providers, maybe tens of other providers. We need to ask ourselves if Apple's service and conduct is typical? I am retired for the computer industry, worked the last 20 years as a test engineer. What is going on at Apple with this ME generation product release does not speak well for the field of testing, but you already know that.
Jim
The rumors are rampant about causes of Apple's ME generation product failures 1) initial large outage caused by cut optical cable. 2) current 1% outage caused by single server.
Lets say there is no truth in any rumor. What is known then. 1) a single problem can take down much of Apple's promised and paid for service. 2) If there was a disaster plan it does not seem to be working. 3) If there is a back up system it too does not seem to be working. 4) If there were redundancies built into the system they don't seem to be working.
What is questionable is if there was a well tested primary system in place for this new product rollout? Considering the crabbing Apple has been doing with their apology letters concerning their rollout marketing there is considerable evidence that a tested system maybe a generous, although doubtful description of the system in place at the time of rollout.
None of my comments goes to fixing Apple's ME generation product rollout, that's Apple's problem. People and companies tend to do what they have done before. We get to decide who we want to be a conduit for our treasured thoughts and information in the future. Our frustration today is largely based lack of service and lack of open communication between our trusted service provider and us the customer who have already paid for that service. Most of us have had email service for years from other providers, maybe tens of other providers. We need to ask ourselves if Apple's service and conduct is typical? I am retired for the computer industry, worked the last 20 years as a test engineer. What is going on at Apple with this ME generation product release does not speak well for the field of testing, but you already know that.
Jim
Agreed. Pretty lame email isn't secure. I guess it doesn't matter right this minute anyway because I'm apparently still a 1%'er.
Are we talking reliability or repeatability
Starting from "we can improve anything to the degree that we can measure it" I think once we have figured out how to get reliability we have also learned how to measure it and therefor we can repeat and scale reliability. Good example, a 1960 Ford compared to a post Asian invasion Ford of today.
Apple is not new to reliability in either hardware or software. This ME generation Cloud deal is looking more like a management issue with each passing day. Garbage in, Garbage out. According to Apple 1% of their customers are not getting service and haven't been for several days.
The rumors are rampant about causes of Apple's ME generation roll out problem 1) initial large outage caused by cut optical cable. 2) current 1% outage caused by single server.
Lets say there is no truth in any rumor. What is known then. 1) a single problem can take down much of Apple's promised and paid for service. 2) If there was a disaster plan it does not seem to be working. 3) If there is a back up system it too does not seem to be working. 4) If there were redundancies built into the system they don't seem to be working.
What is questionable is if there was a well tested primary system in place for this new product rollout? Considering the crabbing Apple has been doing with their apology letters concerning their rollout marketing, there is considerable evidence that a tested system maybe a generous, although doubtful description of the system in place at the time of rollout.
None of my comments go to fixing Apple's ME generation product rollout, that's Apple's problem. People and companies tend to do what they have done before. We get to decide who we want to be a conduit for our treasured thoughts and information in the future. Our frustration today is largely based lack of service and lack of open communication between our trusted service provider and us the customer who have already paid for that service.
Most of us have had email service for years from other providers, maybe tens of other providers. We need to ask ourselves if Apple's service and conduct is typical? I am retired for the computer industry, worked the last 20 years as a test engineer. What is going on at Apple with this ME generation product release does not speak well for the field of testing, but you already know that.
Jim
Starting from "we can improve anything to the degree that we can measure it" I think once we have figured out how to get reliability we have also learned how to measure it and therefor we can repeat and scale reliability. Good example, a 1960 Ford compared to a post Asian invasion Ford of today.
Apple is not new to reliability in either hardware or software. This ME generation Cloud deal is looking more like a management issue with each passing day. Garbage in, Garbage out. According to Apple 1% of their customers are not getting service and haven't been for several days.
The rumors are rampant about causes of Apple's ME generation roll out problem 1) initial large outage caused by cut optical cable. 2) current 1% outage caused by single server.
Lets say there is no truth in any rumor. What is known then. 1) a single problem can take down much of Apple's promised and paid for service. 2) If there was a disaster plan it does not seem to be working. 3) If there is a back up system it too does not seem to be working. 4) If there were redundancies built into the system they don't seem to be working.
What is questionable is if there was a well tested primary system in place for this new product rollout? Considering the crabbing Apple has been doing with their apology letters concerning their rollout marketing, there is considerable evidence that a tested system maybe a generous, although doubtful description of the system in place at the time of rollout.
None of my comments go to fixing Apple's ME generation product rollout, that's Apple's problem. People and companies tend to do what they have done before. We get to decide who we want to be a conduit for our treasured thoughts and information in the future. Our frustration today is largely based lack of service and lack of open communication between our trusted service provider and us the customer who have already paid for that service.
Most of us have had email service for years from other providers, maybe tens of other providers. We need to ask ourselves if Apple's service and conduct is typical? I am retired for the computer industry, worked the last 20 years as a test engineer. What is going on at Apple with this ME generation product release does not speak well for the field of testing, but you already know that.
Jim
Scooterman1
macrumors 6502a
I haven't received any either. Do you think that it may be because we weren't receiving the email that they were sending us?
Anyway, I'm getting mine now.
One of my .mac email addresses just plain dissappeared after the transition. Apple won't even reply to my emails to MobileMe support. It's been about 8 days, 3 requests for support, and nothing but silence from Apple.