Woe is Me

I'd been thinking of checking out MobileMe for the family. I was thinking that it would be a good backup for contacts, data storage and a few other things that I liked the idea of. It had been a tempting proposition until the disastrous launch reports. To get a feel for what's been going on, ust check out the support forums on Apple's own servers. After reading though some of the problems, you just kinda say, "Wow, that's gotta hurt."

Currently there is a "MobileMe" Status page (personally I'm wondering who the staff memeber is that has to pen that page). Steve Jobs must be taking massive heat for all the crap (and I do mean crap) going on in that division. This roll out has definitely effected shares on the stock market, company image and has Microsoft dancing the "Happy Dance." My guess if it hasn't already happened, a few people have been fired. It's a major embarrassment for Job and Co. And I think we all know how ANY CEO hates to be made to look incompetent or just not delivering on products and services.

So what's an Apple fan supposed to do? That remains to be seen. One would think that the real question is, "How would MobileMe" help me in my day-to-day experience. Depending on how you answer that question should determine whether you get the service or not. Reports have been coming in from all over the web that the MobileMe issues are effecting about 1 percent of customers. That's a very small percentage and can make jumping in worth the risk. But for those folks in the one percent, Woe is Me.

~ Jaye Morris

Lifecast - Computing From The Cloud

I just downloaded Lifecast for the iPhone. It took me 63 seconds to configure and setup. As a matter of fact, I'm posting you from my iphone as we speak. After playing around a bit, I only found one to two weaknesses. The primary one is that you cannot go back and edit a post and then republish it. And for Blogger clients, you cannot upload pictures yet. If you use Tumblr, you can take advantage of the image upload.

The app appears quick and snappy. It's really nice especially considering that it's free. As a matter of fact, that one surprised me Lifecast is a very good example of "cloud computing," demonstrating the power of the iPhone as a platform. Enjoy the fun and keep your head in the cloud.

~ Jaye

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Microsoft IMF not so intelligent

Recently I've been testing out Microsoft's Intelligent Message Filter on MS Exchange 2003. My hope and prayer was that it would be at minimum give a little assist to blocking spam. The result? No such luck. It's about as dumb as a box of rocks.

What is lame about the IMF is, very few control and no genuine interface to manage things. If anyone has thoughts or suggestions, I'm all ears. I think the real solution is going to always be some sore of Spam Appliance like a "FireBox."

Jaye

Batman | The Dark Knight

Deb took me out to see Batman | The Dark Knight last night. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate it about a 15. It was that good. The screenplay that was written by Jonathan and
Christopher Nolan is nothing short of sublime.

If your interest is action and amazing visuals, your going to have a great time. If you love and enjoy complex story lines, your going to have a great time too. This is one of those rare moments where a movie gets it right 360 degrees.

If your o the fence about going, hop off and go have some fun.

Enjoy

Jaye

Apple Inc, and Making Things Right

This has been a very interesting week for Apple. Little did I know that my experience was not an isolated incident, not just at the Christiana Mall retail store, but across the board worldwide.

The iPhone 3G server/activation problem was not the only (surprising) stumble for Apple. Mobile Me has been something of a shocker. I have friends who have the service and most where disappointed, yet hopeful for the future. But as one person noted, this is not a free service, but one that will run you for 100.00 to 150.00 per year.

By Tuesday and Wednesday, Apple was in full apology mode, in regards to both products. These problems yielded something that I've rarely seen at Apple. Humility. I think they realized they are not bullet proof and the halo can definitely be tarnished if you don't continue to work at making it shine.

Trial users received extended trial versions of Mobile Me and I actually got a call from the manager at the Christiana Mall, asking me to come in because my wife's iPhone had not been properly activated (keep in mind this is a 2 hour drive for me). When I got there they where as busy as ever, selling more iPhones. The manager came out, talked with me and apologized for what had happened. He had one of his employees activate a new iPhone (properly) for my wife and presented me with a "Gift Card" to make up for all the trouble.

What I found most interesting is that the sales person that the manager had assigned me (Gary), remembered me from the previous Friday and knew what a bad experience I had and said, "man, most people flip-out when things go wrong. I appreciate that you just stuck to the basics and focused on a solution. I actually thought that was a cool way to handle the situation. I'm glad that we can make up for what happened. It's not just about the business, it's the relationship that people have with us and we want that to be a good one."

I left the store, satisfied and happy with Apple again. They took responsibility for what had happened and made sure that I was treated right. They've earned my respect back, which makes me happy. I really do enjoy my Apple products.

Jaye

iPhone App Store Thoughts

First, i have to say that the App Store has a very deep bench. There is a lot to pick from. If you cannot find something you like, I'd be amazed. Despite the depth I do have a small quibble or two.

The thing that troubles me the most about the App Store is that there is no "Try-Before-You-Buy." A good example is my daughter bought a finger painting software app. It turns out that it didn't work the way she thought and was really difficult to use. We paid five dollars which in the scheme of things is not a big deal. But what if you bought 3-5 apps that didn't work the way you wanted? That would add up fast.

I myself bought Omnifocus for twenty dollars, basically on sight-unseen (if you don't include the screen shots). I was dying for a good task manager and what got me to buy it was the reviews. That's all I really had to go on. That can still be risky, especially if the developers are less than honest and create their own viral marketing campaign. Clearly that needs to be rethought.

The second qualm I have is in regards to not being able to share an application with other iPhones in my house. If I buy a game, because we all have separate profiles, I have to but that game multiple times. If i buy a game for Xbox 360 or PS3, we can all use it on whatever machine in the house that we want to. On the other side of the coin, I can see a developers point (especially since I am one) that people should not be able to "just share apps at will." But maybe there could be some sort of "family pack" pricing. Just a thought.

All that being said, the App Store is very nice other than these issues. I'm stunned at how many applications are available. With a starting point of more than 500 certainly dwarfs people who have been playing in this pond for years. It's really amazing, when you think about it. My only advice is, "choose well."

Jaye

Apple Retail Hell

Hello everyone. I'm currently happy to report that I managed to get two iPhones. One for me and the other my wife. I have to say that getting to that point totally sucked. In telling you the story, I will take my 4.5 hour experience (the doesn't count the 7 hours I spent waiting). Please hang with me as I explain.

I decided to get my iPhones at the Christiana Mall, in Newark Delaware - since there was an Apple store there. I got there at 1:00am but had to wait around until 6:00am when they opened the mall doors, so we could get in line. It turns out that I was the first in line and I was feel pretty stoked. My 12 year old daughter was with me and we had a terrific time just talking and spending time. I'm thinking right on, this is great. On top of that, I guess because I'm number one, I got interviewed for a Wilmington TV station and Newspaper. This was going to be "Flawless Victory," right? Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

I went and asked for a a 16gb black and white iPhone. They bring them out and had it to the person with the so-called "easy-pay" machine. They did my line first. Bing-buda-bing the transaction was completed in about 7 minutes. Sign this, sign that, can we have your credit card. Transaction complete expect for activating the phone. Now for my wife's iPhone upgrade. Everything was going down the same path until, Apple's easy-pay machine lost connection. It activated the phone, but something happened on the payment sided and they could not complete the transaction.

The associates supervisor came over, talked to an ATT rep on the phone. They told the Apple Store the phone was activated, just collect the money. Well guess what, they couldn't because their system was down. So they got another iPhone and tried to restart the transaction. As they processed it, instead of the price being 299.99 it was 499.99. The server error caused me to lose my upgrade eligibility.

As several people from the store looked mystified, they appeared unsure about what to do. At that point I called ATT to see what the issue was. They talked to the Apple store assistant manager named "Fred." During the conversation it was obvious that she asked him, "do you think he activated a phone anywhere else?" Fred responded, "I cannot be sure about that. I looked at him and said, I've been here since 1:00am and I have two calls made to my wife's phone while I was here. The phone was working and you messed it up which is why her iPhone 2G is bricked and now we cannot complete the transaction. Fred then said, "I can complete it if you give me 500.00. I'm sorry you lost your upgrade, but that's the price in the machine and there's nothing that I can do about it. Whatever pricing is coming form the ATT server is the price we must charge.

I was furious, but maintained my composure. I reached in my wallet and pulled out my Apple proCare card and told him that he is obligated to fix this problem, otherwise he could have it back. Fred didn't respond except to say that "it's ATT's fault. Their system has messed up." He then walked away and then came back saying if I wanted the iPhone, I need to give him 500.00. I thought about it but then decided to call ATT back (since Fred was okay with throwing them under the bus).

This is where things got really good. I ended up speaking to an ATT customer service person named Tashia. It turns out this woman is a real pro who was interested in have my problem resolved. Over the next 2 hours she talked to Fred, several store associates and 3 ATT stores attempting to locate the color and size that I wanted. The problem with that was that ATT stores got fewer phones than the Apple store. Finally after my daughter and I talked about it, I decided I would give up the extra 200.00's so that my wife would have a phone, despite the fact that it was the Apple store that bricked her phone.

During that time Tashia the ATT Rep called back. I told her that my wife cannot go without a phone so I was going to suck it up and pay the extra money. She said that it didn't seem right and asked if I could wait until the next day. I pointed out to her that I came from 2 hours away and that I had to go to work and the way gas prices are, traveling so far was just too much to deal with. She said, I don't think you should pay it, because you really are entitled to upgrade pricing. I thanked her and said, that's probably correct, 200.00 is a lot of money. We decided to leave.

My daughter and I hiked though the mall to leave. As we entered the food court, heading to the exit Tashia the ATT rep called back (for the 3rd time). She asked me where I was, and I told her, "almost to the exit, I was going to head south and hopefully figure out a way to unbrick my wife's first generation iPhone. She asked me to sit down and she would call me back in 5 minutes. We sat and waited. She said, "It turns out that Fred is not the manager, he's an assistant manager, who sounds like he's not going to help you. I talked to Kassie, she is the actual manager. I want you to go in and ask for her. I will call you back in 15 minutes to find out what happened."

My daughter and I went back to the Apple store and asked for the manager. She walked out and had a bag. She pulled out a box that had my name on it. I recognized it from the fist transaction more than 4 hours ago. She asked me what my wife's phone number was and I told her. She handed me the bag completing the original transaction. She said "ATT somehow fixed the situation. They didn't like how you had been treated and wanted to resolve the situation for you. When you go home, connect the phone to iTunes to activate your wife's iPhone and it will work." Wow.

Tashia the ATT rep called back to check and see if I had received the iPhone. I told her what happened and she seemed satisfied. She stated if the activation did not work to call ATT and the would make sure the problem is fully resolved. I was stunned. Somebody at a big corporation cared enough about my problem to take my situation seriously and help me. ATT earned me as a customer for life at that very instance. They acted and conducted business as professionals, unlike the amateur hour(s) at the Apple Store. They provided real customer service, rather than hyping themselves as having it. They treated me with respect. Fred just wanted the number appearing on the screen.