Results

It’s still aggravating. There’s so much about Apple products that work, it’s just those few things that don’t work that ruin everything.

Take for example last week’s MobileMe debacle paired with the worldwide rollout of iPhone 2.0. Who in their right mind would plan so many things to all happen on one day? I’m not surprised that there were problems - in fact, it seems that nothing went right.

I took it all in stride, though. I wasn’t going to let it bother me. MobileMe (relying on “push” technology) was later than expected, but .mac e-mail still worked, so I wasn’t worried. I was in no rush for the new iPhone/iPod software, so all the bitching and complaining on the Mac blogs was falling on dead ears.

The aftermath, however, is a different matter altogether. You’d think, once all the bugs were worked out that it would be smooth sailing for me. Well, no, not quite. The three areas where I have all my info, namely, my MacBook Pro, my iPod Touch and the MobileMe website, are nothing even close to being mirrored copies of each other, dangerously so. The way it’s supposed to work (and this is taking into account Apple’s after-the-fact revisioning) is that if I, say, make an appointment on my iPod, then that’s instantly synced with the MobileMe website, then something like 15 minutes later (depending on my settings) that gets updated on my MBP. Sounds fine, if of actually worked that way. I’ll pick on the appointment example: if I set an appointment on my iPod, sometimes it will show up on the MobileMe site, sometimes not. If I DO manage to have an appointment synced in all three places, then modify it in one of those places, 8 times out of 10 it will just delete the appointment entirely!

Not the most helpful thing in the world.

I have to admit, mail works amazingly well. I’ll often hear the ping (yes, iPod Touch actually makes sounds now since the upgrade) before it even hits my laptop (when it works, that is: the other day I received a new e-mail notification on my iPod for a message I’d read three hours before). But, if deleted appointments are the price I have to pay for speedy e-mail, then I’d rather wait a few seconds more, thanks.

The iPod Touch upgrade (another $9.95 in Apple’s pocket for accounting reasons apparently) is a mixed bag. Like I said, I’m happy about the “new mail” chirp, and the App Store is a definite bonus, the “closed” iPod architecture was starting to make me feel suffocated. Bit, I do have to admit, after a day of wildly installing apps, I only kept two (Facebook and Twitterific, which, except for the odd warble when I open Twitterific, don’t seem to be allowed the luxury of notification sounds); might have been three if I could actually get the Remote app to work. I’ve searched everywhere for a solution and have practically ripped the network apart here, looking for the problem. I feel like I am back on Windows, and as a Mac user, that’s not something I’m supposed to ever feel.

But, having said all that, I am typing this post expertly on my iPod touch, and I’ll use MobileMe to send it to my MacBook Pro so I can post it properly (what, no WordPress app yet?), so I can’t complain that much, can I?

It’s just, after years of being an Apple fanboy, and always having everything work, 100% bug-free, it’s agonizing to slide back into a Microsoft-style world of configuring, reinstalling and troubleshooting. Just spoiled, I guess, like all Mac users are.

Update: Apple has apparently sent out an apology to MobileMe customers (I say apparently because I have yet to receive one) offering a one month extension to their subscription. Details here.

Related posts:

1. Play nice IMAP …
   Having problems setting up GMail to work seamlessly with Apple OS X Mail? I was. It was the bane of...
2. Heh … Free New NIN Single … just click!
   Wow, Trent Reznor is really doing this whole online distribution thing properly; first it was a very affordable 36-track epic,...