Ars Technica’s crack ninja infiltration squad somehow snuck into the Jobspod and snatched up a copy of the full email his Steveness sent out to Apple last night.
Head on over to read the full text, meanwhile we’ll just note the concluding paragraph:
The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.
That’s not a timeline that makes us happy, but the fact that it’s at least a bit more realistic does inspire some confidence.
While David G. seems to have forgotten his pledge to update us on MobileMe’s status late last week, following what can only be called a disasterous launch, Steve Jobs seems to have just dropped the BOOM! on MobileMe’s status within Apple.
Ars Technica claims to have seen an email sent out late last night in which Jobs admits:
It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.
Instead of dropping MobileMe on/around July 11th, Jobs believes a staggered approach would have been better, where features and WebApps were rolled out one by one, each with considerably more testing. Saying MobileMe was “not up to Apple’s standards”, Jobs also said “The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.”
How so?
Eddy Cue, former VP of iTunes, adds MobileMe and AppStore to his portfolio, and now reports directly to jobs as VP of Internet Services.
Mac nerdery stalwart John Gruber over at DaringFireball has put together a very interesting essay about how iPhone Calendar syncing has evolved from firmware 1.x (1.0 - 1.4) to firmware 2.0, and how the current iTunes syncing differs in functionality from syncing via Apple’s MobileMe service.
From welcome improvements to frustrating choices, from new methods of use to evolving work-arounds, Gruber ultimately comes to the ultimate question:
Whither the “digital hub”?
While iTunes originally served as the one-stop location for all syncing and sync settings, MobileMe now works outside the iTunes universe, but does not offer the options (e.g. selecting individual rather than all calendars to sync) iTunes does, nor does the MobileMe pref pane.
Is there a way for Apple to cleanly present a unified place to manage all iPhone syncing, with a robust set of options?
My vote remains iTunes. When MobileMe is in use, keep the settings enabled, and pass the preferences along to the “cloud”. That keeps data, media, and commerce all in one place, with one interface, in a familiar context. Just “push” choices of calendars, contact groups, etc. back up to MobileMe.
Apple anonymized “blogger” David G. is back with the 3rd in Steve Jobs’ promised regular MobileMe status updates, and this time it’s all good news… at least from their perspective.
First up, the 1%ers, 60-100% of whom have been missing 100% of their email for over two weeks now:
We have completed restoring Mail service, including historical messages, to all of the 1% of affected members. Thank you all for your extreme patience during this trying time. If you have been affected by this issue and are still having problems we have established a dedicated chat line to reach a MobileMe Mail specialist for help.
Next, that nasty sync bug that saw data wiped out for some users over the weekend:
For some users this caused their contact and calendar data to disappear from their devices, but not from their computers or the MobileMe cloud. When we fixed the bug in the late afternoon, the problem resolved itself for most users: their data simply reappeared on their iPhone or iPod Touch. If you are one of those affected users and your data has not automatically reappeared, follow the steps at this link to restore your data.
David G. hopes that with this, Apple’s MobileMe woes will largely become a thing of the past, and they can concentrate their resources on improving the service overall (and restoring the faith of their user-base, right Apple?).
Another update is promised for later in the week.
So, how about it? Anyone still suffering MobileMe mail meltdown? Stuck in sucktastic sync-loops? Has Apple been able to help? Please let us know.
“Another day, another MobileMe problem” is rapidly becoming a — very tired — cliche. This time around its with contacts and calendars. Or more accurately — without them. Yesterday TUAW covered how some users’ data would disappear from their iPhone after syncing from MobileMe (to be clear, it would disappear from the iPhone but remain in MobileMe).
Late yesterday evening, Apple posted a status update addressing the issue:
Some MobileMe members may be unable to sync new, edited, or deleted contacts, calendars, and bookmarks over the air between computers and mobile devices (iPhone and iPod Touch). Service will be restored ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience.
An hour or so later still, Apple updated again:
Apple identified and resolved an issue with MobileMe Sync on iPhone and iPod touch. Although no action is required for most members, some may need to reset their data from MobileMe to sync normally again.
Is it safe yet to call MobileMe the “rockiest” launch in Apple’s history? Read on to find out why it just might be…
Read the rest of this entry »
Thus far making good on their promise of consistent updates, Apple has once again posted as to the status of their beleaguered MobileMe service. David G. — who may be the poster formerly known as “me” ? — chimed back in last night:
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.
G. goes on to clarify how some email is now time-stamped by server transfer rather than send time, and explains how to view long headers to extract actual send time info, and promises another update soon.
Kudos to Apple for stepping up the transparency. Given their corporate culture is so immersed in secrecy, its likely a painful, but hopefully transformative lesson for them to learn. Sympathies, however, for the some 60% of the 1%ers still waiting for their 90%…
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Steve Ballmer (allegedly!) only throws chairs and smashes furniture. Can we even imagine what Steve Jobs must do to those who harshen Apple’s mellow? Probably makes Dark Force lightning pale by comparison, as the MobileMe team has no doubt been finding out these last, long two weeks. Thus the new MobileMe Status page with its preface: “Steve Jobs has asked me to write” (though “me” him/herself is not named).
At first we’re reminded Apple can stick to the talking points better than half the pundits in Washington, as all our favorites are recycled: “rocky road”, “1%”, but then — remarkably — we get this:
Last Friday a serious problem with one of our mail servers blocked those members’ access to their MobileMe mail accounts. As of today a team was able to restore limited web access to those accounts so the affected members can use their browsers to read mail that has arrived since last Friday (though not before) as well as send and receive new mail. The team has already begun rolling out restoration of full access for all the accounts and expect to finish by the end of next week. We particularly regret to report the loss in the affected accounts of approximately 10% of the messages received between July 16 and July 18.
The mystery “me” goes on to explain some of the problems with the WebApps (unexpected traffic surge at launch), and says they’ve fixed some IMAP mail issues, Calendar bugs, scaling problems, and general performance.
Overall, good first step, but as anyone used to dealing with Apple knows, there’s plenty a trip twixt each step on the way to accountability. Let’s keep them coming, “me”!
And if you’re one of the 1%-ers still without email, you may want to subscribe to the page’s RSS feed so your favorite newsreader can alert you every other day or so when a new update gets posted.
Note: There’s also been an update to Apple’s Knowledge Base article on the matter.
(Via MacRumors)
UPDATE: Ask and you shall receive-ish. Apple has posted a Knowledge Base article detailing (part of?) the problem (via Macrumors):
Symptoms Updated: July 22, 2008, 4 p.m. PDT. On Friday, July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18) we experienced a serious issue with one of our MobileMe mail servers. This issue is currently affecting approximately 1% of MobileMe members. Affected members are unable to send or receive email at www.me.com or access email using any email client software such as Mail on a Mac or Microsoft Outlook on a PC. Products Affected MobileMe Mail Resolution We understand this is a serious issue and apologize for this service interruption. We are working hard to restore your service.
Original post after the break…
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Another day, another potential problem with MobileMe? Fair enough, some Windows users were made a little hyper-sensitive a while back when Apple included Safari as a pre-selected update alongside Windows iTunes 7.6. An uproar arose, and Apple responded by shifting Safari slightly downward and into its own section.
Now comes word that iTunes 7.7 installed a MobileMe section into Windows Control Panel (similar to the Quicktime section) — whether you use MobileMe or not.
Sure, Apple is engaging Windows users like never before. Their largest iPod and iPhone installed base, Windows users have had Quicktime forever (Microsoft’s own shenanigans in that arena aside), iTunes for a long time, Safari last year, and now MobileMe (kinda sorta, depending on whether or its or not at any given moment). Some, however, are taking issue with the methods of this engagement, and the “trojan horse” like way Apple is choosing to slip new initiatives in alongside established applications.
Are you a Windows user? What do you think? Are you happy Apple is providing features even if you don’t currently use them, or would you prefer they wait until you ask them for those features before installing on your machine?
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In the continuing saga of the launch that’s more and more like a sputter (though hopefully not a full crash and burn, right Apple?), MobileMe is reporting:
1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience.
TUAW is saying that the problem might be (or getting ready to become), larger?
Personally, I’m having NO PROBLEMS whatsoever. Email, fine. Push, fine. Web access, fine.
How about you?
Is the faulty launch making everyone hyperaware and quick to find (and post) problems? Or is MobileMe really cursed by scaling bugs?
