As Apple gets quick for thefall launch of iCloud , its brand newfangled cyberspace service for Mac and Windows , it seems only right to score ( if not exactly mourn ) the passing play of MobileMe , one of the rare product flop Apple has seen in recent twelvemonth . While there was much to praise about MobileMe , there were too many problem — both real and perceived — that ultimately doomed the service .
What croak incorrect with Apple ’s pioneering Web services infrastructure ? Why did Apple find that its only choice was to destroy the MobileMe steel ? In part , it was a simple matter of established pattern . As we saw with MobileMe ’s forerunner , iTools(2000 - 2002 ) , and .Mac ( 2002 - 2008 ) , when Apple is ready to move on , these services just cease to exist . MobileMe is on the same way , despite its being give an unprecedented yr to flourish goodbye .
MobileMe boast several elegant - looking Web - based app include Mail , Contacts , and Calendar , and offer corporal - style sync functionality to all users . Apple also threw in 20 GB of online repositing , the power to synchronise web browser app bookmarks , an online pic veranda for all computers and machine , and more . The service also functioned as a Web boniface , specifically interoperable with Apple ’s iWeb , itself on the slow route to limbo .
Steve Jobs talks MobileMe during last week’s WWDC keynote.
Despite its worthful features , the proficient problem it finally solved , and the improvements made to the service over time , MobileMe never was able to commnad the respect of the Mac community . Here are some of the reason why .
1. MobileMe could not recover from a miserable debut
No doubt , products have survived a worse rollout and managed to flourish . But MobileMe ’s debut debacle was no perception - versus - reality aberration field . MobileMe ( aka ImmobileMe , MobileMess ) collapsed on physical contact alongside otherwise renowned multiple product launches .
Steve Jobs talks MobileMe during last week ’s WWDC keynote .
Today , we know that because of its technical bug , the boss hated MobileMe from day one , and the only matter more amazing than its initial malfunction was its continued existence .
iCloud will be a free service, Jobs announced last week.
To the inauspicious MobileMe team , Apple ’s CEO Steve Jobs said this : “ It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same clip as iPhone 3 1000 , iPhone 2.0 software package , and the App Store . We all had more than enough to do , and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence . ”
harmonise to a recentFortune Magazinereport , those were some of his more benign remarks to the group he set up at Apple ’s Town Hall auditorium for the functionary dressing down . In that same coming together , Jobs reportedly uttered these unforgettable words : “ You ’ve stain Apple ’s reputation . You should hate each other for having let each other down . ”
To the world , Jobs said this : “ The MobileMe launch understandably exhibit that we have more to discover about cyberspace services . And learn we will . The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and challenging , and we will press on to make it a service we are all gallant of by the end of this twelvemonth . ”
iCloud will be a free service , Jobs announced last calendar week .
Fast forward to last week : It was no chance event that Jobs himself delivered the iCloud portion of this class ’s WWDC keynote . With anamnesis of the MobileMe debacle still fresh in mass ’s psyche , there had to be some way to boost the credibleness of Apple ’s claim for its 4th cyberspace services enterprise . Jobs himself proffer a stinging reminder ( met with grim laughter ) to the consultation : “ Why should I believe them ? They ’re the ones that brought us MobileMe ? It was not our finest hour , but we memorise a lot . ”
2. MobileMe performance remained uneven over time
If MobileMe ’s launch had its plowshare of problem , the public perception of the service never completely evolve , either . There ’s no way to generalize individual experience , but overall , MobileMe was not universally as easy , unseamed , and trouble - devoid as its charge propose .
For some , aspects of MobileMe such as Mail , Contacts , and the new Calendar , as well as synchronize prefs and bookmarks , were unanimous . For others , using MobileMe was like walk into a briar patch . iDisk was often criticized for its ho-hum public presentation . Macworld ’s most recent MobileMe revaluation found that “ in casual use , synchronise files between my local iDisk and Apple ’s servers felt slow and finical compared to Dropbox … iDisk ’s operation bet on what you stash away on it . ”
MobileMe defenders often praise the production in its totality — for its ticket of meld services — rather than call out the merits of any picky lineament . But few people really usedeverycomponent of MobileMe . And even from aficionado , we rarely heard ring accolades .
Steve Jobs promise that the raw iCloud will “ just work , ” and this clip he really means it . The sad part is that many mass did appreciate MobileMe ’s ad - free regard for privacy and did not have problems with the servicing — just not enough people .
3. The name failed to resonate
MobileMe ’s antecedents bug out living at Macworld Expo 2000 as a service called iTools , Apple ’s “ highly anticipated Internet strategy . ” It paired Mac O 9 with the iTools Internet avail , and everyone was crazy about its impertinence and innovation . First , there was the way - coolheaded mac.com electronic mail address : then - iCEO Steve Jobs exhibit steve@mac.com , and everyone whose first name was not Steve hasten to record their own first name with a mac.com destination .
iDisk ( 20 megabyte ) was very slow , true . But seriously , where else in the twelvemonth 2000 could you find armed service like iCards , HomePage , and KidSafe — for free ?
Two and a one-half years later , as demand for storage space and those still - cool mac.com addresses uphold to soar , everything changed . At Macworld ’s New York Expo in July 2002 , Apple rebranded the iTools service as .Mac and convert it to a $ 100 - a - year subscription , offer 100 MB of host space with augmented technical support . The rebranded service of process work out with the new Mac OS X and offer more feature , such as calendar syncing , anti - virus protection , and backup man .
The name seemed a small awkward , what with the window pane up front . But it was likely the expense of the overhaul that cooled public excitation . After all , iTools had been charge as “ free for life . ” Still , you got to keep your HomePage and your mac.com due east - mail address , and use iCards , even if you were not a .Mac paying client .
4. MobileMe was too expensive
MobileMe be $ 99 a twelvemonth , but for many possible indorser , it was hard to justify paying that amount when you could cobble together corresponding services for costless or less . Even if you purchased MobileMe at a discount from Amazon.com , if you did n’t want to lock into all the Apple apps , or you only needed a circumscribed figure of features , even $ 60 starts to sound a bit on the high side .
Though not without their own issues , Gmail , Google Calendar , Google Docs , Picasa , DropBox , and others have become increasingly pop providers of barren , cloud - based services to Mac users . Sometimes , the free Robert William Service offer a better deal than MobileMe . DropBox , for illustration , offers more storage blank space for a lower price . Sometimes it was more complex to apply a devoid service , but not always . Macworld’sreview of the MobileMe update of late last year posit , “ MobileMe still lags behind competitor such as Gmail and Yahoo ! Mail in some respects . For example , server - based rules are far more limited than what OS X Mail or Gmail offer . ”
Moreover , Apple has been restfully chipping away at MobileMe ’s sole feature film over meter . Apple ignored iWeb in the latest iLife ascent , which was a huge disappointment to users who liked the program and appreciated its convenient interoperability with MobileMe . It freed up the Find My iPhone ( and iPad ) app , which previously had been a significant MobileMe motivator . From both a exploiter and a merchandising stand , it became increasingly difficult to tell apart MobileMe from other Apple or third - company services .
It would be tough to nail whether the deconstructionism of MobileMe was part of a grand scheme , but if it were , would we be surprised ?
Up ahead: iCloud
Apple ’s novel iCloud help harks back to the original iTools in some ways . Once again , the Internet service is barren and proffer an e - mail address . Plus , it features the update heart and soul app of both .Mac and MobileMe . But it also seem ahead and transcends older services as Apple search to unify its offerings and better integrate the swarm into develop new way that Apple customers are using their iPhones , iPads , and Macs .
iCloud requires iOS 5 , which will hightail it on the iPhone 3GS , iPhone 4 , third- and fourth - coevals iPod speck , original iPad , and iPad 2 . On the Mac , you ’ll ask to pass Mac OS X Lion and iTunes 10.3 or later .
iCloud will sync your impinging , calendars , eastward - ring armour , and Safari bookmark between iOS gadget and computers . It will also provide document computer storage , exposure storehouse , and music - sync features , and backing features for iOS devices . iCloud will sync documents created with Apple ’s apps ( Pages , Numbers , and Keynote ) as well as any third - company apps that are adapted to mesh with iCloud .
iCloud ’s Photo Stream feature automatically import any newfangled scene take on an iOS gimmick or impart to iPhoto and stores them for 30 days in the cloud . you could reckon those pic on ( and in some case download them to ) other iOS gadget , computers , or Apple telly . Photo syncing is restrain to 1000 pictures on iOS devices , but is outright on computers .
Anyone who has a me.com e - mail destination will keep it , and everyone eligible for an iCloud accounting can sign up for a me.com vitamin E - postal service address . Anyone who buy MobileMe or updated it recently can get a repayment or a pro - rated repayment .
Few specific detail are uncommitted right now concerning the transition of Galleries , iDisk , Backup , Back To My Mac , or iWeb sites . But current MobileMe reader have a footling more than a year to fancy out a contingency plan for handling the various components of the services they presently utilize .
One matter ’s for sure . You wo n’t get another shot at a mac.com eastward - mail address .
[ Jackie Dove is a senior editor at Macworld . ]
