That’s the response that the first month or so of Apple’s newly re-badged replacement for .Mac has received from a lot of subscribers. Tales of devices failing to sync, of MobileMe losing data (shudder), of new iPhones not pushing mail to the server or not having mail pushed from the server have inundated Apple’s discussion boards. Apple acknowledged the problems by setting up a dedicated helpline (read: internet chat service) for users, giving an free 30-day account extension to all, followed by the leaking of an ‘apology’ from Steve Jobs, and finally a further 60-day free account extension.
All of which at least reassures that Apple recognises the damage that is being done by the MobileMe foul-ups to its (often well-earned) reputation for providing a sleek, relatively trouble-free user experience. And yet, the problems haven’t gone away. I had to make use of the help line after hours of frustrating attempts to get my new iPhone to receive push messages and sync with my Mac’s calendars and address book. The problem was eventually sorted by my removing the @mac.com account from my iPhone and replacing it with the @me.com address instead (a step I was loathe to take, as I much prefer the less narcissistic, PR-speak sounding domain). But my iPhone still occasionally refuses to accept push emails, and requires a reboot to sort it out. And, as of last night, my PowerBook has stopped synching altogether: I guess a reboot is due on that machine, too.
Despite these problems, MobileMe still offers a great service (when it works). It’s also ridiculously good value for money when compared to some rivals who attempt to do far less, often at greater cost. My principal fear has been that Apple has been stretching its resources to promise something to a much bigger audience than just us hoary old Mac users (like many – well, a few – I used to use the old service as far back as its free iTools roots). Promising the Holy Grail of Push is one thing, but trying to sell a service many of whose best parts – Back To My Mac, iLife app / webspace integration, Backup – are only available to the minority of Mac users and give nothing to Windows / Unix / AmigaDOS users at all – seems to be tempting fate. A fate wherein its Mac-centric services are simply discarded (presaged already by the removal of Groups and Home Page), or where the service is stretched beyond breaking point by trying to tie disparate platforms together across a range of utilities far less slick than the old Mac-dependent ones – although even they admittedly needed much improvement. Farewell then, Back To My Mac. We hardly knew ye.
But it appears my fears were unduly optimistic. Because, according to at least one informed opinion, Apple has bitten off more than it can chew simply by tackling the issue of true multiple-platform sync services at all. According to the author, in what seems a very well-reasoned article, the service basically stands very little chance of success, and he predicts a lamentable outcome:
Personally, if it was me, I would have let .Mac die a quiet death. The problem set for ubiquitous syncing is just very very hard, and the consequences of failure, in terms of user dissatisfaction are too high. I suspect that, in time, MobileMe will go the same way as the Newton.
Ah.
You know, I really, really hope that doesn’t happen. I’d rather Cupertino just scaled back their plans, dropped ‘push’, dropped multi-platform support, and just tried to make the damn thing workable on Macs and iPhones with old fashioned fetch tech. In other words, I’d rather have a working .Mac than nothing at all.
But these days, that’s even less likely to happen than iTunes reverting back to being Mac-only. It’s simply unthinkable in this cross-platform, Web 2.0, convergence-device world. Apple are playing a high-stakes games with the new service, one where the outcome is starkly black-and-white. You can’t have a service like MobileMe that sort of works, with the occasional screw-up costing you your data. It’s either everything or nothing.
Place your bets.
