Comments on: The Quest for PIM 2.0: Apple’s Mobile “Meh”

By: AC

AC — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:01:47 +0000

Hey Rick, glad you “digg” it (hint hint)…

By: rdolishny

rdolishny — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:33:53 +0000

Nice commentary.

I have nothing to add.

But this thread made my miserable day less miserable! (working on a Sunday!)

Good work AC and thanks for the tweet. Hell ya some mac-zombie-tard commentary is in order.

By: AC

AC — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:53:42 +0000

Yup — my understanding of it is as follows:

Polling is when your local client is set up to connect with a server at pre-determined intervals, like a desktop email client. On a mobile device this can definitely mess with battery life, depending on how often it connects.

Push is when a new event triggers the server to update all other clients on the network. Only the new information is sent down the pipe. ActiveSync works like this, as does a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or BES.

By: gerrit

gerrit — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:49:03 +0000

Thanks for your answer, AC.

I hope I am getting it right: The connection itself between activesync server and iphone does not effect battery life at all (or only insignificantly) unless there is data transferred? This would mean, the iphone is permanently logged on to the internet? Am I right?

By: AC

AC — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:32:41 +0000

Hey Gerrit,

I do remember that battery life was one of the reasons that Apple chose not to include 3G in iPhone 1.0 — I can’t comment on MobileMe, but with ActiveSync that actual amount of data coming down from “the cloud” is pretty small, unless you’re constantly getting emails with large attachments…

By: Gerrit

Gerrit — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:06:52 +0000

Hi, i’d just like to raise one more question:

Has anyone any information on how mobileme or activesync will affect the battery? I could imagine that with having pushed emails to your phone in the second they arrive it would be necessary to stay connected to the mobileme/activesync-server. This would mean a permantent 3G or 2G connection. And this would lead to only 6 hours of battery life.

No good.

By: AC

AC — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:35:32 +0000

Now now carl, rational commentary clearly has no place here — this is the place where the rabid swarms of zombie Mac fanboys attack me on all sides for daring to point out the occasional misstep of their queen bee!

Of course I’m kidding — about your rational comments not being welcome, anyway…

P.S. Any iPhoners out there looking for a more fully-featured BlackBerry/ActiveSync replacement might be interested in this: http://tinyurl.com/6lb7hm

By: carl

carl — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:44:37 +0000

ok: i bought .mac about two months ago and, almost immediately, i’ve had nagging doubts about its utility (for me, at least). for storage, there are better and much less expensive options out there (and options, i should add, that work very well with osx). also, if you want to set up a web site, iweb is easy but when you go something equally easy (like rapidweaver) you’ll soon see that iweb has limitations that you might not want to get locked into (and i say this as someone who is in no way a web designer). and, for me, i can’t rationalize the ability to sync b/n different macs as making .mac worth 99 us dollars per year. my subscription is up in the first part of next year; so i’ll keep trying to see if i’m missing something. so far, i agree with those who see mobileme as .mac with a bit more makeup.

By: AC

AC — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:54:55 +0000

Hey Jeff, welcome back…

I’m not an idiot, and you have a Windows mentality.

More of a “Windows/Linux/Web 2.0/everything else that’s out there fairly balanced with Apple because I don’t necessarily wet my pants in anticipation every time Steve Jobs takes to the stage” mentality, really…

Funny that you’d expect a personal service to supply you with an email address you’d put on a business card.

And a funny thing about Mac products, and tech in general… You’re allowed to draw outside the lines. For example, I’ve actually used my MacBook, a consumer product, for business!

Likewise, I’ve been in contact with lots of folks who’ve successfully replaced their used their (business) BlackBerry with a (consumer) T-Mobile Sidekick. But with only one allowed push email address, we certainly won’t have that problem with MobileMe. Yay, Apple…

By: Jeff Barbose

Jeff Barbose — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:40:00 +0000

The only real justification I can see for MobileMe’s pricing is the ease of use for someone with exceptionally weak computer skills, like the lost souls who always seem to be hitting me up for free tech support.

I’ve been a Mac developer for 20+ years. It’s worth $99 a year to keep all my machines synchronized at all times.

I’m not an idiot, and you have a Windows mentality. You expect everything to be free and settle for “good enough” in the UI department.

Mac users appreciate that “good enough” isn’t ever good enough, and that you get what you pay for.

Funny that you’d expect a personal service to supply you with an email address you’d put on a business card.