My macbook pro had some severe problems a couple weeks ago (see Is Applecare Worth It?).  As a result I was without my macbook pro for a couple of days and needed to find a way to be productive at work.  I had a SuperDuper backup drive, but in the perfect end to the tech week from hell, it too failed.  Thanks a lot Western Digital.  I was left with nothing but my old iMac and MobileMe.  Here’s my experience:

1.  iDisk.  This feature allows you to store files in the cloud.  Fortunately my work files were backed up there.  I was able to easily create links to send to clients for easy download.  Most of the time I was able to download files from the cloud.  Occasionally, though files failed to download.  After repeated tries of logging out and back in I would eventually be able to get the file.  Another annoyance with iDisk is its lack of compatibility with file types.  Some files just fail to upload.  I’m not sure why but its annoying because every time it tries to sync an error box pops up.  You just have to move the offending file out of the syncing folder in order to get rid of it.  Grade: C.

UPDATE:

Here is another problem I have discovered with Mobile Me.  The iDisc does not have the ability to sync files from folders on you hard drive.  What you have to do is work with and save files in the local iDisc (a copy of the cloud iDisc that lives on your computer).  Here are the problems I encountered.

1. I use colored folders to help me quickly find files.  Over time those custom icons for folders were replaced by the pale blue default icon.
2. I kept getting a 0KB file called “Icon” in each of my local iDisc folders.  What I eventually discovered is that these first two problems were related.  Upon sync, Mobile Me was placing the Icon file in my local iDisc.  This held the information regarding colored icon I’d put in for the folder.  When I deleted the Icon file my folder color went with it.
3. Time Machine DOES NOT back up the local iDisc copy!  This is insane.  The whole point is a safer backup system not less safe.

Apple needs to fix this.  You can sync mail, calendars, notes, etc. through Mobile Me but not files.  A simple UI similar to selecting playlists and movies in iTunes to place on your iPod would be perfect.  Allow me to choose what files I want synced in the cloud.  Updated Grade: D

2.  iPhone syncing.  This works flawlessly for me.  Its easy to setup on the iPhone and has never failed me.  I recently replaced my iPhone and walked out of the Apple store and within minutes had all my contacts, calendars, and mail on the new phone.  Grade: A+

3.  Website Host.  I host my family website through MobileMe.  I have my own URL and it was easy to setup and easy to upload changes through iWeb.  I don’t get Google Analytics or great SEO tools, but this is not its intend and I don’t need it for a family site.  Grade: A

4.  Mail.  This is where things really get bad.  I was unable to send mail from my work account which is setup through Google Apps.  In the Mail app I’m able to setup mail rules and send from whatever account I want.  These rules don’t sync to MobileMe so I was left with only being able to send mail from my MobileMe account.  This is confusing to clients and and unprofessional.  I have the same complaint on the iPhone.  To make matters worse, Mail was buggy.  I had lots of problems sending mail and adding attachments.  I was able to read my mail fine, but the rest of the experience was pretty bad.  I would not use mail through Mobile Me again unless forced too.  Apple should feel embarrassed by how poor this functions.  Grade: F

5.  Calendars.  I don’t use the to do functionality of iCal so I can’t speak to that.  But I was able to view my calendars and add new events.  The only annoyance was I didn’t have access to subscribed calendars.  Minor annoyance for me.  Another downside is that I could add attendees to new events from MobileMe.  I don’t do that often but it should be there.  There was also no way to enter alarms and reminders.  I can do it from my iPhone but not from MobileMe.  What is there works but there just should be more features.  Grade: C-

6.  Contacts.  Contacts were also buggy.  As you can see below the names were a jarbled mess.  When you could make out a name you could click on it and it worked as it should but this was ridiculous.  Grade: D

A Jarbled Mess

Overall: For my normal usage of Mobile Me it is worth the cost of $99 a year.  It gives me easy website publishing, great syncing with my iPhone and an emergency backup of critical work files.  It also allows me to sync selective data between my macbook pro and iMac.  But MobileMe fails when you have to use the web interface.  Its buggy and unreliable and does not even do the limited functionality it has well.  Apple should address these issues immediately and bring the cloud experience up to par with the desktop experience.  When they do that not only will it make more sense to spend the annual money, but it might make more sense to buy their upcoming netbook type device that will likely depend heavily on cloud services.  Overall Grade: D+