Jobs: MobileMe Misses Apple Standards [Updated]

August 4th, 2008 at 3:00 PM - News by Jeff Gamet

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is disappointed with the MobileMe launch and the serviceis performance so far, and he let staff members know. He said in an email to employees that the Internet-based service was launched too early and that it is not "up to Appleis standards," according to Ars Technica.

The leaked email called MobileMe, Appleis cross-platform replacement for .Mac, a "monolithic service," and suggested that it should have been launched in stages instead of all at once. "The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious," Mr. Jobs said, "and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year."

Along with Mr. Jobsis declaration that MobileMe will see improvements by the end of the year, the service also has a new leader. Eddy Cueis roll in the company was expanded beyond his iTunes-related responsibilities to include the App Store and MobileMe, and he will now report directly to Mr. Jobs with the title of Vice President, Internet Services.

The full text from the email, which is short and to the point, is available at the setteB.IT Web site.

"It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store," Mr. Jobs said. "We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence."

"The launch of MobileMe was not our finest hour," he added.

Now that Mr. Jobs has made his objective clear, itis likely MobileMe subscribers will start seeing changes to the service, and odds are those changes will start appearing soon.

[This article has been updated with additional MobileMe information and a link to Mr. Jobsis email message.