I had read where many developers are currently frustrated with the process of getting their iPhone apps online, particularly when updates are necessary. Considering Apple were desperate to get developers on board for the MacOS, the transition to OSX, then to Intel processors, you’d think they’d bring down the walled garden with the iPhone to help grow the platform instead of using barbed wire where they deem necessary. Its also ironic Apple are ‘reviewing’ the quality of these apps, yet we’ve seen some lousy quality control with company’s own software over the years – no more evident than their latest quest to wow everyone with a multi faceted product launch that in part went off like a lead balloon. Looking back perhaps MobileMe(ss) should have been advertised and released as a public beta. So why didn’t they do that? What are they afraid of? Maybe they’re just stretched too thin internally to meet unrealistic product launch dates? Whatever, it’s unfortunate because things like this quickly unravel Apples rep for quality that.

Personally I see Apples desire for control and secrecy as a double edged sword that can work for and against them. This issue over Jobs’ health could have been avoided if they were a little more open and human – like the appealing company brand they’ve created. Instead the robotic PR answer we got just fuelled the fire. Controlling the ‘whole widget’ may work okay when it comes to product launches and the Mac market, but now they’re nibbling on markets like telecommunications, perhaps they may need to learn from, and learn to play with others, rather than trying to dominate everything. In fact, when I recently read Steve’s ‘we never do market research’ comment that really surprised me at first, but may explain why products like AppleTV didn’t catch on. Quick tip: Apple – don’t be afraid to do extensive research on the markets your spending your R&D money on – the success of the product may depend on it. Still I’m pleased they’re taking time with the development of Snow Leopard. Hopefully it’s the first sign of thinking a little different.

I’m mixed on this.

I agree that things could have been better. Apple should not have released 2.0 firmware for old iPhones the same day that they introduced new iPhones. I think it was the pulse of existing users upgrading that swamped the servers.

The .Mac and Mobile Me (hate that name) thing is harder to understand. Is it that hard for a large, tech savvy corporation to set this up?

BTW, I believe I read that in the end no files were lost.

On the other hand I wonder if our expectations aren’t too high? Apple hits a few home runs then we begin to expect a home run every time a new product comes out. Also, as you point out, the iPhone server delays were cleared up in a day and though it took a while the MM problems were fixed as well.

On the topic of expectations, my favorite Joy of Tech cartoon was the picture of the Mac fan by the water cooler looking despondent. Two friends are talking about him. (from memory)
Friend 1: “What’s the matter with him? A great new product just came out at MacWorld.”
Friend 2: “It wasn’t a Phaser.”

I read on another site that NetNewsWire was complaining that the App Store does not update fast enough for them. They are up to version 1.0.7 after less than three weeks. That’s a new release every 3 days. I think Apple Update is on a once a week schedule.

IMHO, any application that requires 7 updates in three weeks should be labeled alpha software, and given a designation of 0.0.7 rather than 1.0.7

I don’t think you should be asking if something is wrong with Apple in this case. Clearly something is wrong with NetNewsWire.

Perfect example of why cloud computing will not be for everybody. Do you trust somebody else to be up 24/7, not corrupt or lose data and not be a bottleneck? Sometimes the cloud is actually dense fog.

I see Amazon has run into problems with its S3 service.

For our sites, we have double backups. One at the datacenter in Dallas, on a secondary drive, and another offsite in New York State. And a lot of that stuff is also backed up on my own computers. Call me paranoid, but I don’t trust any storage system that depends on mechanical gear.

Peace,
Gene

Perfect example of why cloud computing will not be for everybody. Do you trust somebody else to be up 24/7, not corrupt or lose data and not be a bottleneck? Sometimes the cloud is actually dense fog.

.mac was a huge joke for many years, even for something as basic as reliable email.

No surprise MobileMe is just as bad, at least so far.

I hope people realize they currently can’t rely on it for anything critical, and given Apple’s track record, probably never will be able to count on it being “up”.