evanseries.org

I just received this email from Apple:

We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.

Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.

Another snag we have run into is our use of the word “push” in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe “cloud,” changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word “push” until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.

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. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.

We hope you enjoy your new suite of web applications at me.com, in addition to keeping your iPhone and iPod touch wirelessly in sync with these new web applications and your Mac or PC.

Thank you,

The MobileMe Team

Foremost, I appreciate the fact that they took the time to write an apology, specifically naming MobileMe’s downtime and their use of “push” to describe Mac to MobileMe syncing. And the 30-day extension is a nice touch, as it makes concrete their stated desire for people to experience and enjoy the service.

I’m also encouraged by their assertion that they’re “going to stop using the word ‘push’ until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too” (emphasis mine). While this may mean that they never use the word again, I hope (and think it’s more likely) that we’ll see it return with the arrival of Snow Leopard, whose Exchange support will presumably require a framework for quickly pushing updates.

So, while it’s a bummer that they, indeed, had a rocky start, I feel like things have been set right by this email.

Thanks, MobileMe Team.