Apple apologizes for MobileMe transition problems

Apple this morning sent an e-mail apologizing to customers of its MobileMe service who experienced a tough few days. And to soothe ruffled feelings, Apple said it would extend their MobileMe subscription by a month.

MobileMe is Apple's new service that keeps your contact information, e-mails, etc. up to date across all your devices, including the iPhone and computers. MobileMe replaces Apple's .Mac service. The full letter to MobileMe customers can be found on an Apple discussion group here.

Bill Evans, a spokesman for Apple, confirmed the news, which was reported this morning by Macworld and Engadget. He would not say how many people were affected.

"The .Mac to MobileMe transition was a lot rockier than we had hoped, but everything is now up and running," he said. "We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge."

The apology comes days after Apple struggled with its iPhone 3G launch. On Friday, some people who downloaded the company's free software update to their older iPhones found the device rendered unusable. And those waiting for the iPhone 3G outside stores around the world saw lines stall as activation of the new devices through Apple's iTunes periodically came to a halt.

The MobileMe and iPhone problems are part of the company's "teething troubles," said Shiv Bakhshi, an analyst at the research firm IDC. "Apple is trying to enable a connected universe, and the greater the number of nodes, the more the opportunity for failure, which means more testing and working out the bugs becomes critical."

-- Michelle Quinn

Photo: Pope Benedict XVI apologized for a speech about Islam. Credit: Pier Paolo Cito / Associated Press

Comments

[Deborah]

I don't understand why Apple decided to launch Mobile Me just before the release of the new Iphone. Both new ventures must require a ton of new server space and reorganization. It seems to me that they're getting extremely greedy about acquiring new customers by offering all kinds of ways to exchange pictures, play games, download music e t c ! Meantime they're neglecting the basic and very necessary email requirements of their oh-so-loyal customer base. What really chaps my hiney is that not only do they have the gall to post an announcement that claims only 1% of customers are affected by the the current outage, (yeah right!), but apparently photo storage and other entertainment features ARE working. Perhaps someone needs to remind Apple that email is essential for conducting business. This is of particular importance in the current economic climate.
30 days free extension? Give me a break! How about giving loyal customers one free year.

[Chelmsford's Favourite Son]

"I chose the Pope to illustrate this story about Apple apologizing, because it is a picture of the Pope apologizing."

Purely and utterly the most ridiculous justification I have ever seen.

On this premise ought we to publish pictures of Princess Diana each time the economy crashes, or pictures of G. W. Bush each time incompetence is mentioned in an article?

[MacSmiley]

For those who are inquiring, Apple iCards were discontinued at the inception of MobileMe.

I am very upset with Apple for nixing the .Mac services... especially iCards.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macsmiley/2652541101/

Apple iCards were simple, they were elegant, and they didn't plaster recipients with advertisements, HTML, and flashing GIFS.

I got responses from sending iCards I never got from sending emails... not even emails with pictures. The combination of whimsical images and text in one small, savable JPEG in the iCard message was hard to resist.

Despite a couple of homemade alternatives, iWant Apple iCards Back!!

There are two petitions clamoring for Apple to bring back iCards. Feel free to join the chorus!

http://www.petitiononline.com/ic110608/petition.html

and

http://www.petitiononline.com/06291970/petition.html

Also...

Apple's Discussion moderators deleted this comment from an iCards thread, so I'm plastering it all over the Web:

"Everyone, call Apple Customer Relations at this number to complain (I found it was the best # to call after trying several). They say number of complaints matters.:

800-767-2775 "

— k2graphics