Is MoblieMe Working?

Apple’s new MobileMe service has come under a lot of fire since it’s launch and has encountered a number of severe difficulties involving uptime, faux push functionality, and lost customer emails. The whole thing has seemed quite un-apple like. I by no means have the intention of piling on, but I am going to anyway.

This is because the issue that I have encountered is so mind boggling, that I simply must address it. The issue is that Apple, masters of the user interface, seem to have left off the “working” icon. Apple pretty much invented the concept of a visual indication that the system is working on a request when they introduced the original Macintosh and an image of a watch showing the process. Virtually every computing system since has had some form of confirmation of a click and process in action.

MobileMe, however does not show processes (occasionally, a spinner appears when getting new mail) and leaves the user wondering whether their click has been registered at all. Click “delete”, and you are left to stare at a perfectly stagnant screen until (if you are lucky) the deleted item disappears. Double-click on the button and you are presented with an ambiguous error message explaining that the message cannot be found. Buttons don’t even have hover or click states! Say WHAT??? This is basic web design people!

I find it downright shocking that Apple of all companies would leave off something as fundamental as a feedback within their interface. It just shows how prematurely this product was pushed out the door.

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