Jobs: MobileMe launch flawed, "not up to Apple's standards"

Jordan Golson — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:46:35 -0700

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is not happy about the MobileMe launch. In an email that Ars Technica claims went out to all company employees, Jobs allegedly asserted that the launch was "not up to Apple's standards."

Jobs feels the product needed more time and testing and should have been rolled out piecemeal, instead of as one "monolithic service". For example, over-the-air syncing of data to the iPhone could have been released with the iPhone and then the new Web apps -- Mail and Calendar -- could have been released one by one over the next month as they became ready.

"It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store," says the email. "We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence." It seems Apple's penchant for grand entrances and absolute perfection shot them in the foot this time -- but Jobs is well aware of how badly the launch went down.

"The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services."

As a result of the launch debacle, the MobileMe group has been reorganized (translation: heads are rolling) and the team will report to Eddy Cue. He will head up all of Apple's Internet-related services including iTunes, the App Store and Mobile Me -- and he will report directly to Steve Jobs.

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The Industry Standard - Jobs: MobileMe launch flawed, "not up to Apple's standards" - Comments

Jobs: MobileMe launch flawed, "not up to Apple's standards"