MobileMe To Get "A Lot Better" Next Year?

[Paul Daniel Ash]

MobileMe is set for some improvements in 2011, if a purported email from Steve Jobs is to be believed. A forum user over at MacRumors emailed the CEO to complain about the online service, and asked if it would get any better. The reassurance came in the form of a characteristic Steve Jobs one-liner without a lot of detail.

When MobileMe launched back in 2008, there was a host of problems. Email servers folded under the load of tens of thousands of new users, and reports with deleted emails and data lost in syncing persisted for months. To this day, users still have problems with contacts, emails and calendar entries being duplicated and reduplicated every time they sync.

One user emailed Steve Jobs to vent his frustration:

I love my iPad and iPhone4 and am a huge fan of yours and all that Apple does. I desperately want to stay inside of Apple's ecosystem as much as possible.

However, MobileMe is making it very difficult for me to do so. Unreliable/unpredictable syncing, creating duplicate entries (sometimes scores of them), etc. It's almost unusable.

And I know from forums (including Apple's own support boards) that I am not the only one experiencing these very real and frustrating problems.

Please tell me it will get better, and soon?

Jobs replied in his standard terse way:

Yes, it will get a lot better in 2011.

In context, it seems like he's talking about stability and performance improvements, which would obviously be welcomed by the users who are still shelling out $100 a year for the service. Rumors have hinted at new functionality for years, though, and we still don't know what Apple's doing in the North Carolina woods. It will be interesting to see what the new year will bring.

Source: MacRumors

[feidhlim1986]

I've never had a problem with my MobileMe except maybe the fact that it's over-priced.

[lillewis51]

100$ is alot for how crappy it is right now. an update would be swell

[ClerkDante]

I should consider myself lucky I guess. Have the whole family setup with MobileMe across multiple devices and it's worked brilliantly.

[1shuttle1]

I've noticed that most of these e-mails start with someone stroking Steve's ego. Is that the only way to get a response.

[Jay316]

Better than ****? shouldn't be too difficult

[whereswaldo]

It better get a lot better. I did the free trial, but $100 a month for that glitchy thing? No thanks

[candypaint]

It better get a lot better. I did the free trial, but $100 a month for that glitchy thing? No thanks

$8.33 a month. $100/12mo

[Jay316]

Free would be better

[zoso10]

Glad I've waited to use my free trial and subscription. I guess I'll just wait a bit longer till it gets "a lot better."

[mortopher]

I'd rather have them focus on fixing iPhoto. iLife '11 absolutely destroyed it. Such a pain in the *** now.

[EskimoRuler]

I got free mobile me account when i bought my macbook at BestBuy in 2009 and i had all the problems that the man just described, when i start reading that it has gotten better i might subscribe again but until then ill hold off

[Truckerbear]

Had mobileme since the beginning and its worked flawlessly for me. But I mostly only use it for locating my iphone/ipad and contacts. Never had an issue with either.

[quidam_brujah]

I bought two iPhones, a Mac, and two iPads from the stores and with everyone I've gotten an discounted offer on MobileMe -- which I bought. My current subscription runs out 10/2011 and I've still got another family pack to redeem after that.

Just not having to deal with wired syncing of data (or the not-syncing of data) with two MobileMe accounts and four devices (like I used to when I was using WinBLOWS-based not-so-'smart' devices) is worth it to me. I use the storage a little (overpriced), I use the email a little (it's the give-us-your-email-address-to-win spamdress), I sync all my data a LOT and I use FMiPhone a bunch too. I am irked a little that Apple is now giving that feature away since that was one of the selling points. If not for wireless syncing of iDevice data I would probably not renew and I definitely wouldn't pay full price.

[mortopher]

I bought two iPhones, a Mac, and two iPads from the stores and with everyone I've gotten an discounted offer on MobileMe -- which I bought. My current subscription runs out 10/2011 and I've still got another family pack to redeem after that.

Just not having to deal with wired syncing of data (or the not-syncing of data) with two MobileMe accounts and four devices (like I used to when I was using WinBLOWS-based not-so-'smart' devices) is worth it to me. I use the storage a little (overpriced), I use the email a little (it's the give-us-your-email-address-to-win spamdress), I sync all my data a LOT and I use FMiPhone a bunch too. I am irked a little that Apple is now giving that feature away since that was one of the selling points. If not for wireless syncing of iDevice data I would probably not renew and I definitely wouldn't pay full price.

Wireless syncing is a breeze even without MobileMe. My google account (FREE) wirelessly syncs to my macbook, ipad, ipod and my iphone.

[tudtran]

I' looking forward to that, because I love MobileMe

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Messany-level speculation: They plan to add over-the-air streaming from iTunes (using that company they bought) as a paid feature for MobileMe costumers.

Boom, now everyone wants MobileMe

[Cer0]

Wireless syncing is a breeze even without MobileMe. My google account (FREE) wirelessly syncs to my macbook, ipad, ipod and my iphone.

That is what I use. Love it when I had to get repairs on my iPhones. I would get a new one, have them activate it in store, then sync with google and be set for the day without having to go home to get contacts.

[thetoothfairy]

Never used MobileMe because of the complaints that some had about it.... maybe if it gets better I will give it a try!

[mortopher]

Messany-level speculation: They plan to add over-the-air streaming from iTunes (using that company they bought) as a paid feature for MobileMe costumers.

Boom, now everyone wants MobileMe

Plenty of reasonably priced apps do that already. Kudos on the messany impersonation though!


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