Cupertino (CA) – Apparently, Steve Jobs has seen enough about the PR mess of MobileMe and is now interested to resolve the situation personally. The management was reshuffled as the CEO gets direct oversight of MobileMe and the rest of Apple's online businesses. In an email to his employees, he conceded that Apple rushed the service to consumers prematurely.
Once again it appears that Ars Technica report has some special access to Apple employees, who leaked an email from Steve Jobs to the publication. Admitting that MobileMe is not up to Apple's standards, the CEO acknowledged many flaws in the $99 a year cloud service, including two weeks long email outage for 1% of users and subsequent loss of messages for some when Apple restored email service.
He also acknowledged what many said before - that Apple should not have gone live with a service that wasn't tested enough. The timing of the availability is one side of the story and the timing of Jobs’ email another: WSJ author Walt Mossberg described MobileMe in an interview with Fox News circulated in a similar time frame as a “dud”.
Jobs wrote in the email there was no reason to introduce MobileMe at the same time when iPhone 3G launched. Instead, he noted, Apple should have launched MobileMe "as a monolithic service", gradually introducing each application as it became ready for prime time. "It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store," he wrote. "We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence."
A PR disaster and its consequences
Despite the problems, Jobs is certain that Apple will learn its lesson and improve the service. "The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services," he wrote. "And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year."
Problems with MobileMe not only outraged affected customers but hurt Apple's carefully crafted public image. Apple tried to avoid a PR nightmare by blogging about MobileMe woes on a dedicated service page only to be ridiculed by media when the first post appeared. "Steve Jobs has asked me to write a posting every other day or so to let everyone know what’s happening with MobileMe, and I’m working directly with the MobileMe group to ensure that we keep you really up to date," an anonymous employee wrote. Two more posts appeared later and were signed as David G.
The PR disaster may have tested Jobs' famous temper. It did not take long until the CEO decided that it was time for management changes: Apple's VP of iTunes Eddy Cue is taking over responsibility for all Apple online services, including the App Store, MobileMe and iTunes. The executive will report directly to Jobs, indicating that the CEO wants a clear view of Apple's online efforts and an open line of communication.
Mobile mess for the rest of us
The $99-a-year suite of cloud services with a nicely designed web interface was dubbed as "Exchange for the rest of us" by Steve Jobs, due to its ability to push email, contact and calendar information to Mac or PC desktops and iPhone/iPod touch, as well as bookmarks and photos. However, the ambitious launch turned into a disaster as users complained about sluggish performance, email outages, problems with file sharing and information synchronization and other hiccups that made it unusable in the first two weeks, causing media to rechristen MobileMe into "Mobile Mess."
Reliability issues spoiled the launch, but Apple apologized - a bit late in our opinion - and added a free month of service to eligible users. As if that wasn't enough, it was later discovered that an issue with Apple's payment processing system caused the company to temporarily overcharge some users for the creation of free trial accounts, prompting Apple to acknowledge the issue and offer an olive branch by adding another free month of service to affected subscribers. The service is largely restored now, but it still has missing and incomplete features.
Once again it appears that Ars Technica report has some special access to Apple employees, who leaked an email from Steve Jobs to the publication. Admitting that MobileMe is not up to Apple's standards, the CEO acknowledged many flaws in the $99 a year cloud service, including two weeks long email outage for 1% of users and subsequent loss of messages for some when Apple restored email service.
He also acknowledged what many said before - that Apple should not have gone live with a service that wasn't tested enough. The timing of the availability is one side of the story and the timing of Jobs’ email another: WSJ author Walt Mossberg described MobileMe in an interview with Fox News circulated in a similar time frame as a “dud”.
Jobs wrote in the email there was no reason to introduce MobileMe at the same time when iPhone 3G launched. Instead, he noted, Apple should have launched MobileMe "as a monolithic service", gradually introducing each application as it became ready for prime time. "It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store," he wrote. "We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence."
A PR disaster and its consequences
Despite the problems, Jobs is certain that Apple will learn its lesson and improve the service. "The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services," he wrote. "And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year."
Problems with MobileMe not only outraged affected customers but hurt Apple's carefully crafted public image. Apple tried to avoid a PR nightmare by blogging about MobileMe woes on a dedicated service page only to be ridiculed by media when the first post appeared. "Steve Jobs has asked me to write a posting every other day or so to let everyone know what’s happening with MobileMe, and I’m working directly with the MobileMe group to ensure that we keep you really up to date," an anonymous employee wrote. Two more posts appeared later and were signed as David G.
The PR disaster may have tested Jobs' famous temper. It did not take long until the CEO decided that it was time for management changes: Apple's VP of iTunes Eddy Cue is taking over responsibility for all Apple online services, including the App Store, MobileMe and iTunes. The executive will report directly to Jobs, indicating that the CEO wants a clear view of Apple's online efforts and an open line of communication.
Mobile mess for the rest of us
The $99-a-year suite of cloud services with a nicely designed web interface was dubbed as "Exchange for the rest of us" by Steve Jobs, due to its ability to push email, contact and calendar information to Mac or PC desktops and iPhone/iPod touch, as well as bookmarks and photos. However, the ambitious launch turned into a disaster as users complained about sluggish performance, email outages, problems with file sharing and information synchronization and other hiccups that made it unusable in the first two weeks, causing media to rechristen MobileMe into "Mobile Mess."
Reliability issues spoiled the launch, but Apple apologized - a bit late in our opinion - and added a free month of service to eligible users. As if that wasn't enough, it was later discovered that an issue with Apple's payment processing system caused the company to temporarily overcharge some users for the creation of free trial accounts, prompting Apple to acknowledge the issue and offer an olive branch by adding another free month of service to affected subscribers. The service is largely restored now, but it still has missing and incomplete features.