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Apple now posting near-daily MobileMe outage updates

appleinsider.com — Taking the matter head-on, Apple is now fully acknowledging the problems it's had with MobileMe in the past two weeks as well as the attempts to fix it -- to the point where company chief Steve Jobs is involved.An anonymous Apple worker has been tasked by Jobs with providing multiple updates per week on a dedicated status page that explain at least

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  • znicket, on 07/26/2008, -12/+101% affected? I realize that it is tremendously bad for those affected but given the headlines I thought the problem was much greater. Tech columnists seem to be a hyperbolic bunch.
    • rootbeerinacan, on 07/28/2008, -1/+4I don't see why you're being dugg down, I totaly thought it was like half the users... 1%... why not just give 'em a refund, continue their service for free and fix the problem after that??
      • natenovs, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3because 1% is actually quite high for a hosted service.
      • TheReport, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2yeah thats like saying "Oh only 1 percent of NY City isn't getting their email thats not to bad. Not like anyone in that 1 percent group is getting important anything anyways, like bills, or notices, or legal documents."

        As far as I'm concerned thats 1 percent to much
  • jzuska, on 07/28/2008, -5/+39Make it free.
    • bradleyland, on 07/28/2008, -5/+4Do you work for free?

      If it were free, it'd have ads, then everyone would be screaming about that. I've come to the conclusion that pleasing users is a logical fallacy.
      • phoomp, on 07/28/2008, -4/+11I don't hear anybody screaming about the ads in Google's products ...

        ... of course, given Apple's behavior with Safari for Windows, Apple's ads may be much more obtrusive than Google's are ...
      • orgazmo, on 07/28/2008, -1/+8Then make it free with ads or 99$ sans ads
      • Xanium4332, on 07/28/2008, -1/+5Google seem to do it pretty well.
      • one111one1one11, on 07/28/2008, -4/+2Google lives of ads. Everyone knows that.

        Apple lives of products. Apple can't link its products (like iLife, Aperture, etc.) to a product that has ads. It wouldn't be right.
      • Kelmon, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1I think the answer to this debate rests on whether a free MobileMe without ads would sell sufficient additional hardware to cover the costs of running the service. Apple has always been about hardware with software as a means to sell it.

        At the present time not even a free MobileMe service would be enticing (web mail is consistently playing up for me) but once they sort out the problems then giving it away for free with a Mac might help drive Mac sales further.
      • Me1000, on 07/28/2008, -2/+2Google doesnt make most of their money off the ads on their own sites. Most of their revenue comes from Google ads on other sites...
    • Peavey, on 07/28/2008, -1/+3Show me another service that offers 20 GB of online storage for free, with web-hosting and elegant online galleries for photo and video. And while there may be other services that offer more space for the same price or even a little less, do they offer the seamless integration and ease of use that Apple does?

      For your average user that doesn't want to worry about writing code or learning wordpress, MobileMe and iLife is a great and easy way to share content with your family/close friends/anyone else with whom you want to share.
  • salomejones, on 07/28/2008, -4/+20Apple is not posting anything near-daily, nothing has changed, and this is the fourth rehash of the same story in the last two days. Here's what actually happened:

    That Apple guy posted another update.
    • Balanced, on 07/28/2008, -2/+5It could be that the outages are near-daily, not the posting.
  • 11oops, on 07/28/2008, -12/+29It just works.
  • MacParrot, on 07/28/2008, -5/+12Instead of blogging about why outages occur, spend that time, money, and manpower in resolving the issue. If this was some free service like Twitter, I wouldn't care, but I'm paying good money for dotmac/MobileMe (and have for years) because I appreciate the integration of iLife services, web hosting, email, and that I can easily upload files and have them available wherever I go.

    Yes, I know most of these services are available for free elsewhere, but not from a single source and not without compromises of their own.

    Just fix it Apple
    • yabos, on 07/28/2008, -1/+11Are you retarded? What do you think they're doing. You think this one guy is the only one fixing it?
    • Balanced, on 07/28/2008, -0/+6That's part of the fun of dealing with big issues like this. Managing the customer notification aspect is as important as resolving the issue at times.
    • willynilly, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2"If this was some free service like Twitter"

      If this WERE some free service like Twitter
  • pavelmah, on 07/28/2008, -6/+1A Blog post of an update, which consists about 20% orginally included on the update. The update has more text the blog post.
    WTF?
  • flyingclutchman, on 07/28/2008, -18/+5***** you, 2 of my friends committed suicide while using MobileMe
    • nothin2g, on 07/28/2008, -5/+2***** me, 2 of my suicides committed friends while using MobileMe.
    • chadisawesome, on 07/28/2008, -5/+2Mobile me, 2 of my ***** committed friends while using suicide.
    • nesagwa, on 07/28/2008, -2/+0Suicide, 2 of my MobileMes committed ***** while using friends.
    • RetepNamenots, on 07/28/2008, -0/+17These jokes aren't funny guys, you just made me commit suicide.

      Edit: ***** you.
      • thailand1972, on 07/28/2008, -1/+6***** you, two of my friends comitted suicide.
  • Kronk42583, on 07/28/2008, -3/+10why does this make the front page so many times in 2 days??
    how many diggers actually use mobileme? i use it somewhat, but its mostly for push e-mail, contacts, and file hosting. i havent had any issues so far.
    i wonder how many of those people here are outraged about a product they didn't even buy not working for some people.
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/28/2008, -2/+2I love my Mac, but .Mac/MobileMe is retarded. I don't mind paying a bit more for my notebook, but paying for email? Hahaha.

      /Those other services you get along with it are a waste too
    • johnpaul191, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2mine works fine
    • Kelmon, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2Web mail has been playing silly buggers again today for me. Some days it's fine and then others I just get a message telling me that it's unavailable. Happily, the unavailable message will link me to a Support article informing me that web mail is unavailable...
  • pell, on 07/28/2008, -2/+8Awesome concept in theory. Now make it free and sync notes. Oh and make it work.
    • johnhummel, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3Amen. Synching with Outlook 2003 is ass. It just made it so I can't edit my contacts list in Outlook - some property ID is borked. I can do it from my phone, and from my Mac if I go get it out of my lovely wife's hands.

      But it needs a lot more work. I'm still on the free demo, because it is a good concept - but come on, Apple. Don't ruin your reputation on this.
    • willynilly, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2Apple has proven time and again that they don't understand syncing or simple PIM functionality. It's 2008, and they still don't have usable notes and tasks, which Outlook has had for a decade and a half.
  • dfunked, on 07/28/2008, -0/+9David G must hate his job.
    ------------------------------------------------
    Mail Update
    Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 8:15pm

    As you know, restoring full email access to the remaining 1% of MobileMe users is our first priority. We turned on web access to their current email yesterday and the feedback has been cautiously positive. Since then, we've restored full email history (minus the approximately 10% of mail received between July 18 and July 22 which may have been lost) and the ability to access email from a Mac, PC and iPhone, to over 40% of these users, and expect the remainder to be restored in the next few days.

    A note of clarification to these 1% of MobileMe users — all of the email you received between July 18 and July 22 was placed on our new server on July 23 and was stamped with that date as a result. If you need the actual date for particular messages you can take advantage of the ability to view long headers in MobileMe Mail (via Preferences) to peer into the log and find the actual mailing time and date.

    We'll report again on our progress in another post early this week.

    David G.
  • waspbr, on 07/28/2008, -4/+2The plot thickens...
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/28/2008, -2/+1The thought plickens....
    • dixhuit, on 09/03/2008, -3/+1No it doesn't. The plot stays exactly the same while all the peeps with half a brain use equivalent free services that work.
  • rayfoy, on 07/28/2008, -7/+0humans still work there right?

    http://www.realitycasting.info
  • xatx2, on 07/28/2008, -10/+2awesome, ***** apple
  • gllopc, on 07/28/2008, -5/+13I've not had a problem with MobileMe since the original outage.
    • jmreid, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2Same here. I'm really liking the push calendars on the iPhone.
  • NaziHatinChimp, on 07/28/2008, -8/+6I'm not paying for that ***** anyway.
  • nvisn, on 07/28/2008, -9/+2Everything about the 3G iPhone sucks. The original was much more stable.
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/28/2008, -1/+4Relevance explodes.
    • nvisn, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2My point is Apple is the new Microsoft. Everything they are putting out is trash. Now bury me fanboys!
      • Me1000, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1I guess you weren't around in the 90's?
      • miggyb, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1Apple might be becoming the new Microsoft, but you're missing the point entirely. Microsoft is still Microsoft. It's not as though Apple becoming a ***** company is making MS any better.
  • peestandingup, on 07/28/2008, -2/+16Charging $100 for this is an insult. Honestly, .Mac/MobileMe should be free with the purchase of a Mac. Just like iLife.
    • Zippo, on 07/28/2008, -1/+3Keep in mind you get a lot more than just Mail.
      Syncing contacts and calendars, 20GB of online space, web galleries, etc.

      If anything, MobileMe is pretty cheap. Look up the prices for an Exchange server and the licensing fees sometime.

      I'll admit it should be cheaper (around $50/year would be kickass), but the system would quickly fall with an overload of users if it were free and open. You think MobileMe has problems now? Just imagine if there were suddenly another million users
      • willynilly, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1"Syncing contacts and calendars"

        You shouldn't need a whole Web service for this.
      • tnoy, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1It should be free for the basic services (maybe 1GB of space, push email, syncing, etc) then then extra for things like extra storage, web galleries, etc.

        A CAL for Exchange 2007 is around $67. If you're dealing with a single person, then yes, its cheaper. If you're a business and have a couple hundred people, then using MobileMe is significantly more expensive, even if you take into account Exchange server costing around $700.
    • johnpaul191, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3iTools was free and people abused the online file storage. to be truly useful, it works on Macs and Windows..... so it was not just Mac users using/abusing the service. Apple isn't going to run ads on the service, so they have to make back the money somewhere.
      What's better, the current 60 day free trial for anyone out there, or a year (or something) when you buy a new computer? Now MobileMe is targeted at iPhones, and doesn't require a Mac for functionality, so the free with Mac purchase leaves out iPhone users. Again, it won't be free for everyone because they won't back it with ads. It takes money to run that service, and Apple is not making it platform exclusive. I don't have an answer, but i bet a lower price would bring in a lot more users.
    • counterplex, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2I think Apple should offer up a MobileMe server product that people can buy and run on their own servers. That's still not free but once you start your own MobileMe service you don't have to charge yourself or anyone else that wants to use your service anything. Realistically the server specs will automatically limit the number of people you can let use your service anyway which will still leave Apple with a viable service to provide for the less tech-savvy Apple customers.
  • ibeetle, on 07/28/2008, -0/+11Welcome to Cloud computing. You think it is bad now. Wait until Netflix only offers digital downloads and their servers go down for 3 days. Wait until Microsoft offers only Office as part of the cloud and it goes down for a week.

    We are going to have dark thunder storms for long time before the white fluffy clouds that look like horseies and duckies come in.
    • dixhuit, on 09/03/2008, -0/+4Damn straight. Tread carefully business numpties...
    • willynilly, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1"Cloud" computing? Since when?

      Another ***** term to be thrown around on Digg. Just as we're finally getting beyond the "Web 2.0" *****.
  • MISSIO23, on 07/28/2008, -8/+0Very Good .. It really incredible http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1536177//
  • thesoze, on 07/28/2008, -9/+1where the Apple phagboyz???
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/28/2008, -0/+4Where are the phagboyz? Looks like you beat them to the punch.
    • yikiad, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3in your mom's basement with you.
  • ZephyrNinety, on 07/28/2008, -13/+7***** you guys, two of my friends died because of MobileMe outages.
    • bobbywan, on 07/28/2008, -3/+4Please, tell us you're 12 and you're joking? :(
    • SealandRes1, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1You're obviously missing the meme
  • GordonFree, on 07/28/2008, -4/+1Apple? What's that? Define "Apple".
  • lysdexia, on 07/28/2008, -1/+5I can imagine Jobs' involvement: "Get that fixed."
  • SexyFarts, on 07/28/2008, -3/+3I haven't had any problems with MobileMe...because I don't use it.

    Outlook and Mail Sync - Plaxo
    Folders Sync - FolderShare or Live Mesh
    iTunes Syncing between computers - Foldershare + iTLU
    Firefox Sync - Weave

    They all work. They're all free. They all have Mac versions. The end.
    • jmreid, on 07/28/2008, -1/+3You're not the type of consumer MobileMe is intended for. Why is that so hard to understand?
      • SexyFarts, on 07/28/2008, -2/+2What's so hard to understand that there are better, free alternatives out there THAT WORK? And what's so hard to understand about a knowledgeable user trying to educate the masses that don't know any better?
      • jmreid, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1You're fooling yourself if you think Digg is "the masses". The average computer user, which is the target for MobileMe, does not want to spend time with 4-6 products. $100 is worth their time. If MobileMe worked as it's supposed to, and I believe the bugs will be worked out, it's a better solution than yours for those people.

        No questions the MobileMe launch didn't go well. I'm not happy with the problems and I pay for it. No excuses there. But my original point still stands, it's a better total solution than anything else out there and once they work through this rough patch, it will be a great hands-off sync package for the masses.
    • MacParrot, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2and how much extra time do I have to spend to coordinate all those free services? How much extra effort to make sure that all those free services just work. What happens if one of those free services disappear and everything I have online goes with it? How do I coordinate all the services that can use iLife?

      While I'm not at all happy with the recent outages and problems that dotmac/MobileMe has had recently, there is no one service that does everything it has the potential (fix it Apple) to do of what this one service provides.

      You're under the impression that Mac users don't know about these other services. We do know (most of us anyway), but if Apple can provide a service (eventually anyway) that is simple and easy, why wouldn't we pay for the convienence?

      If you're happy with those other services, good luck and no hard feelings, but the problem now isn't finding free services from different companies, but Apple getting this service that we want to be reliable.
      • SexyFarts, on 07/28/2008, -1/+0Once these services are running, you never really have to touch them ever again unless you want to pair another set of folders. Otherwise, they're unobtrusive and like that Infomercial, "set it and forget it". How hard it is to set up, I would imagine, is exactly how it is to set up MobileMe.

        The only difference? MobileMe does most of it in one package, but you have to pay a premium for it. What I'm saying is you don't have to pay anything for free services that have been around for years. Plaxo for Outlook doesn't just do emails, it does notes and tasks. You set it up once and it just works. It has never failed once. Neither has Foldershare which has been around for years.

        And thanks for not being rude with your comment, I appreciate it. It seems whenever you try and disagree or point out a flaw in an Apple product around here, you get chastised. I appreciate your wanting to have a good, clean conversation.
    • bloomanchoo, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2Mine works just fine... and I don't have 4 products.
      • jmreid, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1Mine is fine as well. The issues it's having seem to be blown a little out of proportion at the moment. It really isn't everyone who is affected.
  • beerock, on 07/28/2008, -3/+2Dummies.
  • nonsequitur668, on 07/28/2008, -2/+1What I offer here is an involved yet detached look at Apple's calumnies. Perhaps time, further study, and more reflection will either modify or enrich the analysis offered here, but love of one's neighbor is contrary to Apple's principles. As this letter will make clear, I want to enhance people's curiosity, critical acumen, and aesthetic sensitivity. I want to do this not because I need to tack another line onto my résumé but because Apple will probably respond to this letter just like it responds to all criticism. It will put me down as "brusque" or "invidious". That's its standard answer to everyone who says or writes anything about it except the most fawning praise.

    Sure, some of Apple's bromides are valid but that's not the point. When Apple hears anyone say that many recent controversies have been fueled by a whole-hearted embracing of politically incorrect reports, its answer is to provide nasty conspiracies with the necessary asylum to take root and spread. That's similar to taking a few drunken swings at a beehive: it just makes me want even more to find the inner strength to condemn its criminal ineptitude. One can usually be pretty sure when Apple's lying. Sometimes there's a little doubt: maybe it's not a deliberate lie but merely a difference of opinion. But when Apple claims that the rigors that its victims have been called upon to undergo have been amply justified in the sphere of concrete achievement, there's no room for ambiguity: it's really lying. We ought to resolve a number of lingering problems. That'll make Apple think once -- I would have said "twice" but I don't see any indication that it has previously given any thought to the matter -- before trying to treat people like moonstruck, mumpish smart alecks.

    Apple has no concern for the common good. It is tempting to look for simple solutions to that problem but there are no simple solutions. Although theoretical differences can be drawn between Apple's oligophrenic protests and hypersensitive prætorianism, these are distinctions without a difference. Many people have witnessed Apple burn its opponents at the stake. Apple generally insists that its witnesses are mistaken and blames its lamebrained magic-bullet explanations on dirty sewer rats. It's like it has no-fault insurance against personal responsibility. What's more, if there's an untold story here, it's that there are two classes of people in this world. There are those who demand that Earth submit to the dominion of dour schemers and there are those who fight scurrility and slander. Apple fits neatly into the former category, of course.

    When I first became aware of Apple's covert invasion into our thought processes, all I could think was how Apple swears that space aliens are out to lay eggs in our innards or ooze their alien hell-slime all over us. Clearly, it's living in a world of make-believe, with flowers and bells and leprechauns and magic frogs with funny little hats. Back in the real world, if we are powerless to raise issues, as opposed to guns or knives, it is because we have allowed Apple to stifle the voices of those who are simply seeking to be heard. Apple's true goal is to entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of the ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice of acrimonious slobs. All the statements that its lickspittles make to justify or downplay that goal are only apologetics; they do nothing to identify, challenge, defy, disrupt, and, finally, destroy the institutions that thrust all of us into scenarios rife with personal animosities and petty resentments. I'm at loggerheads with Apple on at least one important issue. Namely, it argues that human beings should be appraised by the number of things and the amount of money they possess instead of by their internal value and achievements. I take the opposite position, that Apple is locked into its present course of destruction. It does not have the interest or the will to change its fundamentally pusillanimous solutions.

    Some of the facts I'm about to present may seem shocking. This they certainly are. However, if we're to effectively carry out our responsibilities and make a future for ourselves, we will first have to examine the social and cultural conditions that lead Apple to desecrate religious objects. Apple uses vulgar language and makes obscene gestures at those whose opinions differ from its. However true that is, Apple maliciously defames and damagingly misrepresents everyone and everything around it. There's a word for that: libel. In summary, Apple harbors persistent and inappropriate anger. Is anyone listening? Does anyone care?
    • Xanium4332, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3I'm sorry, that's just too much text for me to bother reading...
    • Kelmon, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1Here's a tip: put the thesaurus down and right plain English.

      It could be that it's the end of the day here, but that was pretty impenetrable, plus nonsense to boot. Get a blog or something.
    • samimnot, on 07/28/2008, -0/+0I get the feeling you write "superfluously" just to get replies (which "in and of itself" is fine...the purpose of these Forums, is to debate the subjects at hand). But I have to agree with Kelmon...please put the thesaurus down, and try to make "some form of sense" with your comments.

      BTW... this has nothing to do with you "dumbing down" your writing and everything to do with making concise "valid points".
  • phoomp, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2MobileMe outrage updates???
  • MyEyesWideOpen, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1Apple is finally acknowledging something we've know about for weeks? What a great company! Maybe next they'll acknowledge that the 2.0 FW is crap. Or better yet, maybe instead of acknowledging it and finding innovative sleazy ways to install software I don't want on my computer, or 'inventing' features like a flush headphone jack, they'll actually start fixing some of this stuff!

  • willynilly, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1"Maybe next they'll acknowledge that the 2.0 FW is crap."

    2.0 Firewire?

    But yes, Apple has a habit of grudgingly fixing gross ineptitudes years later and then trumpeting the achievement as if it's the greatest ever. The flush headphone jack is a minor example; their half-assed two-button mouse is a better one. If they ever make windows resizable from their edges, or add a Delete key to their laptops, look out.
    • samimnot, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1You actually consider a headphone jack, 2 button mouse, "your" preferred way of resizing windows and a delete key / to be (minor or otherwise) GROSS INEPTITUDES ???

      Sounds more like you're just repeating every other, well established MS cliche' in the book.
  • samimnot, on 07/28/2008, -0/+0I converted over to Apple almost 3 years ago. At that time I was so fed-up with MS products that I wouldn't even consider anything "NEW" from them...for at least one year (in that time frame, MS would usually implement enough updates and fixes to make them work, reasonably) from the release date. I am really hoping that this scenario won't repeat itself with Apple, I do love their products. But unfortunately, I can't help but notice "some evidence" starting to point in that direction. This sloppy implementation (most likely due to the rapid growth and expansion, Apple is seeing) is just "BAD BUSINESS"...and at best, is only a short-term excuse as an explanation.
  • bighill, on 07/29/2008, -0/+0Can you put a goldfish in there?
  • thom, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1The email issue only scratches the surface. Syncing is still problematic, and cross-browser compatibility is hot or miss. I hope Apple releases status updates which cover these other concerns as well.
  •  

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