MobileMe offers another free bite of the Apple

Bet your bottome dollar MS wouldn't do that.

So, apple are being honest, upfront and appologetic.

Even WITH it's one or two teething troubles, it's far better than anything that has come from Redmond.

If apple invented Phorm

If apple invented Phorm I bet the fan boys would still defend it... so so sad.

Re: Bet your bottome dollar MS wouldn't do that.

Free, out of warranty, replacements for XBoxes?

Newflash: Apple, if they were in the position Microsoft is in now, would be 100x worse. They are one of the most restrictive monopolistic companies in tech today.

The depressing thing is the hate MS, love Apple crowd are just victims of branding, marketing and peer pressure.

Cool people love Apple and hate MS, as Apple are cuddly and MS is an evil corp.

All your missing is some tired insult about Vista.

Although I happily drink the Kool-Aid every few days ...

... this MobileMe launch is truly ghastly. I've been a member since the iTools days and the service always did work for me and keep my information on the web and synchronised between Macs.

After the MobileMe transition (the, ahem, three-day-transitionathon), my shiny new iPhone is pretty much in sync with my iMac, my girlfriend's G4 Mini running Tiger, the work Mac I've commandeered running Tiger, and my iPod Touch.

The cloud occasionally gets a little, ah, cloudy - I just do a wholesale replacement of info either from the cloud or from the Mac.

The only hitch I've seen is that my e-mail processed on the iPhone/iPod Touch isn't reflected in the online MobileMe webmail. All those spamity spam spams are still sitting in my inbox. A bit annoying but not a showstopper.

The MobileMe web app interface is still wonky, though - not quite slick, fast and seemless as Apple's web monkeys would have you think. The responsiveness of, say, changing folders in web mail leaves MUCH to be desired.

Still, not soooo shabby - let's just hope the bugs are worked out shortly.

@@ bet microsoft wouldnt have done that

err how long did it take ms to admit the red ring of death issue and up the warranty. Better part of a year wasn't it? Only after thousands of people had been forced to pay for repairs for a design fault and aftermarket accessories developed to lower the chance of it happening?

How long has it taken apple? A couple of weeks?

MobileMe is an absoloute mess!

This is not the only problem with mobile me! I have received non of the emails about a 30 Day extension for the initial teething troubles and the extra 30 days for the mistaken authorisation of £121 (although the money has finally come back into my account).

The mobileme service is has another issue by where it will not let you add any personal domains top level domains unless its a .com and does not include a hyphen. I have tried endlessly to add my .me address and I am further alarmed by the fact you cant add a .co.uk domain!!!

To be frank, I don’t care which company is making this mistakes, be it Microsoft or Apple but these are major flaws and not little bugs. Its a paid for service so users should expect better than this. It is users that keep defending their respective favoured organisations in instances like this that potentially allow these companies to get away with mess ups like this. Im glad that Apple are getting bad publicity for these problems in hope that increases the timescales for these problems to be resolved and once they ALL are, then I will be happy!

Definite ex-apple defender here..

Well, after I had the issue where O2 robbed me of over £400 without actually delivering an iPhone 3G (my credit card company is still working on that one) and Apple managed to mess up the iPhone v2 upgrade, I also was caught out by the MobileMe £120 charge.

However, I've seen sense and cancelled my MobileMe subscription as I've had enough.

That's one less Apple defender out there. I would say I'm not alone.

More problems with MobileMe

MobileMe has, for the most part, been fine for me since its rocky release. However, there are a couple of things that just plain don't work.

You can use a personal domain name with your MobileMe web-sites, galleries etc, simply by entering the domain name in the settings panel, and adjusting the DNS settings for the domain to point at Apple's servers.

Great, except unlike with .Mac, the MobileMe preferences won't accept many valid domains, such as those ending ".me", ".co.uk", sub-domains, domain names with hyphens in them. Even though they are all valid domains, MobileMe say's they're not.

Secondly, with .Mac you could access your webmail with pretty much any crappy old browser. Not any more. You need IE7 (not even 6), Safari or Firefox.

This is totally unacceptable for people who need to access webmail from public computers in Libraries, Hotel Lobbies & Internet cafes, and from locked-down corporate computers, where you can't install or upgrade the usually installed IE6.

So, now thousands of MobileMe users cannot access their email. The whole point of webmail is that it should be accessible from anywhere you can get on the web.

If you dare post about it, (even some constructive feedback suggesting an alternative basic webmail client for those who need it), on Apple's MobileMe forums, your post is likely to be deleted by the forum moderators.

I'm what some may regard as an Apple fanboy (although not the vocal type), but Apple's arrogance is even starting to piss me off considerably now.

Apple continues to say that only 1% of users are affected by most issues. They've removed their technical support email links from the Support site. They delete posts from the Discussion Forums, and they don't reply to support requests when you can get to send them.

It's just not acceptable for a paid-for service.

I have to resort to picking up my MobileMe email via GMail when using a non IE7/Safari/Firefox PC, so why am I paying for a supposedly superior service from Apple?

Bank charges

What happens to people that have had this holding charge taken out and incurred bank charges because of it (either by the monet being taken out of missing other payments due to insufficient funds)?

Curiously...

...It's been plain sailing for me. I love it.

I'd like to see how many users they have, and how many have got problems.

Anything else is just so much internet drama. It's pretty much a proven fact that people love to complain, but aren't so vociferous in praise. Because if you are happy with what you have got, and how it's working for you, why would you find the need to make yourself heard telling everyone?

I'd also quite like to see how many affected people have actually lodged an official support request (I'm not saying it would necessarily get you anywhere) versus just moaning about it in discussion forums etc. I'm willing to bet your average Joe Bloggs (who doesn't like to comment in forums etc, and probably wouldn't even know where to look if they wanted to moan/praise) has just see a bit of slow webmail access now and then, and the odd me.com timeout.

But as ever, the vocal minority make the headlines.

Apple products,

Glad I have never owned any Apple products, so I will keep it that way.

Apple have shown absoloute disregard for their customers

@ DAN

I have been reading the reg for many years and it is the first time I have been compelled to write and complain about any service or company. What you do not seem to grasp is that this service is being PAYED for and the service is simply not doing what the company is saying it should!

If it was a free service fair enough but its not. I sent 3 support requests from which all I have received is acknowledgment of receipt but no actual support. It was only after I emailed the reg (as I am sure many others did) about the £121 pre-authorisation troubles and the issue being publicised that Apple miraculously issued an apology. If it can get away with it. The worst part is that the company is not showing any sincerity to its users by at least making them aware or keeping them up to date. Each instance when apple has offered a 30 day extenstion has been when various news sites have publicised the issue and unless this happens it appears that Apple seem to do nothing.

MobileMe System Status - 12:35pm PST - 7/21/08

Latest: System Status

1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience. MobileMe Mail All other MobileMe services are online and fully operational =================================================================================================

System Status Recent History

* 7/19/2008, 22:30 - 7/20/2008, 00:30 PDT * Jul 20, 12:30 AM * MobileMe members could not access MobileMe services. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/18/2008, 16:33 - 7/19/2008, 21:49 PDT * Jul 19, 9:49 PM * 1% of MobileMe members could not access MobileMe Mail. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/18/2008, 16:00-20:00 PDT * Jul 18, 8:18 PM * Some MobileMe members may have been unable to change their password on www.me.com/account. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/18/2008, 10:15-10:30 PDT * Jul 18, 10:58 AM * MobileMe members may have been unable to change their password on www.me.com/account. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/9/2008, 20:00 - 7/16/2008, 22:00 PDT * Jul 17, 4:07 PM * MobileMe members were unable to access groups.mac.com or the HomePage application. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/16/2008, 09:15-23:45 PDT * Jul 17, 12:44 AM * 1% of MobileMe members could not access MobileMe Mail. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

* 7/12/2008, 13:00-14:00 PDT * Jul 12, 5:11 PM * MobileMe members may have been unable to sign in to MobileMe in Mac OS X System Preferences. Normal service has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience.

=================================================================================================

@Shaun

If your account would be overdrawn, the bank charge would not be applied until the money was actually debited from your account (i.e., charged), not pre-authorized. This is VERY well known, especially in certain cases where rental car companies may pre-authorize thousands of dollars against your debit card as a liability hedge, even if the anticipated car rental is only a few hundred dollars.

So, there is no way ANYONE experienced bank charges from this, although certain people with near zero balances could have been prevented from charging any more against their account until the pre-auth was reversed. But frankly, if your bank balance is that near zero you are probably not buying an new iPhone, you are spending your last remaining money on groceries, booze, or drugs...

Not too bad

I've not had many problems really. I mainly use the web apps with my iPhone tho. I tried Outlook but found that hideous before any problems could occur.

The web apps are bloody slow though. They also seem to crash Safari after about 30mins. Also, anyone got a fix for DST in the damn calendar? It presently thinks I'm in Algiers so the appointments appear at the correct time.

Galleries are nice even though the limited browser support is annoying. It works as a backup anyway.

@ AU

I grasp it in it's entirety, for a number of users there are genuine problems causing genuine hassle and heartache for a paid service from which you ought to expect more. I pay for it too, and it has been nothing except fine for me. Maybe I'm just naturally lucky. I'd be pissed if it was broke for me, but it isn't.

I stand by what I said, I think you are in the minority, and you (like others) are being very vocal about it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be, maybe it's the only way to get the attention of anyone at Apple (that's another story), and I'm not saying that the responses that you have been able to elicit are acceptable.

I'm glad you are causing a fuss, it may help me when they release "mobile hive mind" in a few years, but while it can't help make you feel any better, most people really are just fine. I hope your stuff starts working soon, cause if it worked like mine does, you would be happy too.

Having said all that, 1% (Even if it was 5%...) may be a small minority, but it can still be a shed load of people. Hence wondering what the user base was. So despite being thoroughly happy (did I mention that? ;) ) I know full well that in the ideal world they should have:

a) Not tried to tie it in with the iPhone release - no need really. I don't have an iPhone, but I still want this

b) Not forced people over from .mac, just maybe phased out the ability to renew .mac so that within a year they would have to *choose* (as it were) to use mobile me instead, in there own time, therefore making it look more like a consumer choice, and reducing the huge transfer of accounts.

The silver lining is that they know they haven't been good enough, and in their own way are making a better stab at making amends than maybe they have with previous problems...and I get a free month for nothing.

Disclaimer: I have a Mac. And 3 PCs, and an Amiga, PS3, DS, Dragon, CPC464 (2, both with 3 inch disk drives), several Ultra Sparcs, a palm and solar powered pocket calculator. No Linux though. I'm a fanboy, but not an Apple one.

@ Micheal

A termite mound has less bugs than windows mobile. Are you sure you want to go there? Ex T-Mobile Data support guru here.

Why pay?

Why are aple devotes willing to pay for this service when you can do exactly the same with Googlemail/calender and goosync all for free!!!!!

Apple users are constantly having the wool pulled over thier ideas with good marketing.

£726 pre-authorisation

I had a pre-authorisation amount for £726 on my account. Now I'm not stupid, I know not to hit the refresh button when signing up for anything on the internet. Because of the unusual amount (i.e not £59 for MobileMe) and after spending an hour and a half on the phone with my bank, we had to conclude there was an attempt of fraudulent activity on my account. I've had to cancel my debit card which has been hugely inconvenient. That and the fact that the amount has taken me well over my overdraft facility, which I've had to increase so that I had funds until the mess is sorted.

After reading the original story here on the Register I had a rather snotty conversation with Apple support stating that they couldn't comment on third party hearsay and because the bank couldn't tell me who the merchant was (because no claim to the funds had been made), who was I to blame Apple.

Funny how the following day I was sent an email to apologise and offer yet another 30 days on top of the other 30 days due to the problems accessing the service.

I'm still waiting to hear from the MobileMe team regarding what happened to me as a 30 day extension doesn't really cut it.

As a MAC user, having been one of the "1%" of customers without email for 7 days

I've got to say that a Service is somthing I've not recieved from Mac for 1 week now.

Hotmail, never failed me in 10 year (free)

Yahoo, never failed in 10 years.

MAC 1 week loss in 4 years (but I pay for this one!)

Oh and no responce in a week from MAC Support dispite loggin a lot of requests,

enough said

Patience

I run Vista using BootCamp on an iMac and have never figured out what all the whining is about. I have had very few problems with Vista and only run a virus check once a month. But then again I'm the only one in the house allowed on the Windows partition. I primarily run OSX but support both. I am also running Ubuntu on a Dell laptop just for the challenge. They all have their problems including Linux. Considering the amount of code involved should we be surprised?When a new version of an operating system comes out the consumer is part of the test team and I don't see that changing. As far as the change away from .Mac, I have had very few problems.

Uh-Lidderate Bunch huh?

I'm not saying that there's anything Apple specific here, but the comments on this story seem to be overly rife with spelling, grammar, and language usage errors.

And for the Internet that's saying something....

Maybe typing on a touch screen has its limitations?

Paris - there has to be a touch screen joke in there somewhere....