NYT: Apple's MobileMess

by , 3:35 PM EDT, July 24th, 2008

Even though Apple has apologized to subscribers for the glitches in the MobileMe launch, MobileMe's problems are nowhere near over, according to David Pogue at the New York Times on Thursday.

Mr. Pogue suffered through some of the initial problems along with everyone else. However, by July 14, several days after launch, MobileMe worked as advertised.

"Well, actually, not quite 'as advertised.'," Mr. Pogue noted. "... Unfortunately, MobileMe's problems were nowhere near over."

Mr. Pogue noted that after he finished his initial review, e-mail problems cropped up that Apple said affected a mere one percent of the subscribers. That was estimated to be about 20,000 people, and it seemed like every one of them e-mailed the NYT writer.

"Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea for Apple to launch four enormously complex initiatives -- the iPhone 3G, the App Store, the iPhone 2.0 software update and MobileMe -- all on the same day," Mr. Pogue wrote. Worse, when Mr. Pogue, deluged by complaints, contacted Apple to find out what was being done to solve the problem, Apple provided only an apology.

"It's amazing that Apple doesn't recognize this situation. This is an airplane that's stuck on the runway for hours with no food or working bathroom. And the pilot doesn't come on the P.A. system to tell the customers what the problem is, what's being done to fix it, how much longer they might be stuck, and how he empathizes with their plight. Instead, he comes on once every three hours to repeat the same thing: 'We apologize for the inconvenience.'," Mr. Pogue noted with restraint.

"MobileMess, indeed," was his conclusion.