I'm planning to launch a class action against Apple about MobileMe, anyone up for it?

[Xavier]

People will go to great lengths to make some money.

You don't have a case against Apple. You are expecting your outdated computer to work perfectly with software that is already having problems.

Like people have already said. if you don't like the service, don't use it. Sue Starbucks because I don't 'like' their coffee.

 

[davidjearly]

Have you even tried to use your mail? It works fine for the rest of the world. Next time don't freak out when something changes icons or color.

Yeah, I've pointed this out to him before but he fails to listen and/or comprehend.

MobileMe mail works perfectly fine on Mac OS X 10.3.9 Panther, which the OP has. It works fine in the browser (Firefox), and also in the Mail application on his Mac.

Q. I’m still running Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or older. Can I use MobileMe?
A. Most MobileMe features will not work on Mac OS X versions older than 10.4 Tiger. This is due to the fact that MobileMe incorporates new technologies and capabilities that came along after these OS versions were created. However, some functions will continue to work, including:

Email using Mac OS X Mail
Using iDisk in the Finder
Publishing from iWeb 1.0

See here.

 

[richpjr]

If I understand correctly, his account expires in a few days and he will have been affected for about 2 weeks out of his 52 week subscription. Did you ask for a refund for the time the service was (debatably) unusable? That would amount to about $3.80 cents out of the $99 per year price.

 

[bluenoise]

The OP does understand one thing about Apple and other for-profit companies is that their sole purpose is to make money. The only trouble is that he sees that as a negative. Apple is not in business to make people with old computers happy, but (like any good business aiming for maximum profits) they do realize keeping the majority of customers happy leads to increased revenues from the existing and new customers. Think about all the people Apple pays to work there and churn out (usually) great products. Are all those people evil, too?

Man, all this "profit is evil!!!" crap really bugs me.

 

[jackc]

I've already contacted my lawyer

 

[HLdan]

- please try to remember who supported financially Steve's return to Apple about 12 years ago. Bill bought a large shunk of Apple, well done Bill ! good investment and you also avoided claims against not having competitors to your own "grey company", not bad, Steve still works and Bill travel the world doing good... and pocketing the dividends, still a Love blind ?
Oy mate, the sharks have already eaten the Apple... let me wonder, who got the power in this company, Steve the CEO ? or Bill "grey company" shareholder ? Still dreaming

Oh Boy! Here we go again, why Apple is successful today because Microsoft funded them 12+ years ago..Yada yada yada...

Did YOU forget or did YOU know that in exchange for the meezly $150 mil that Microsoft funded to help Apple, Apple had to agree to have Microsoft's weak selling Internet Explorer installed on Macs? Did you also forget that MS Office came first on the Macintosh and even after it was released on Windows the Mac version sold more and made Microsoft more money? That's why MS was more than willing to help Apple. State all facts, not just what's convenient for you.

Also this world is so sue happy anytime a company sneezes wrong. How would you like it if you had a bad cold and sneezed into someone's face and they took you to court saying you gave them TB? I'm sure you prefer for them to be a bit more reasonable than that. Mobileme has only been in existence for 2 weeks, you have no basis for a law suit, you just want to make a fast buck because Apple earnings are big. Would you have placed a suit against a startup company who had very little funds???

Believe me, you are not the only one going through issues with Mobileme, I'm not at all happy about Apple cutting promised features and the website is slow and sometimes doesn't load but my local iDisk and everything that was .Mac is still in tact. I could still sue on the basis that they cut promised features I really could use but why? It's wrong to sue every time somebody sneezes wrong and BTW no company is legally obligated to support legacy hardware so if you can't afford it and the only option is for you to sue, dump all your Macintosh hardware and cancel anything Apple related and move on. You have OTHER options. Hint. (the big multi-colored flag)

 

[alFR]

Yes, there is a termination clause in the "Mobile Me" TOS. But it is the "Mobile me" TOS not the ".Mac" one...

<sigh>

From .mac TOS:

Apple reserves the right to disable your access to .Mac and to remove any Content you may have stored on .Mac (including, but not limited to, email, HomePages, iDisk files and back-ups) under the following circumstances:
At the end of any trial period, if you do not elect to become a paid .Mac member.
Upon expiration of your membership period, if you do not renew, or upon cancellation of your membership.
If your credit card is declined upon renewal of your membership or when you elect to become a member after a trial period, or if your card issuer (or its agent or affiliate) seeks return of payments previously made to Apple.
Apple will notify you via email to your Mac.com Email address, or an alternative email account, that your access to .Mac will be deactivated and that any Content residing in your account at the time of deactivation will be deleted.

and

Subject to any specific license agreements for various .Mac software features (including third party software), Apple may change, suspend or discontinue any (or all) aspects of .Mac at any time, including the availability of any .Mac feature. Apple may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of .Mac, or restrict your access to any part or all of .Mac, in all cases without notice or liability.

Looks pretty like a termination clause to me. Basically:

• You signed the TOS for .mac and accepted the MobileMe TOS when your account was transferred.
• You have absolutely no case or recourse beyond not renewing your account.

p.s. conveniently ignoring any post that points out the actual facts of the TOS you accepted won't change any of this.

 

[bijou]

Good luck with that, Don Quixote!

 

[DiamondMac]

As someone who has gone head-to-head with class action lawsuits before, we would get killed trying, imo

 

[Sun Baked]

As someone who has gone head-to-head with class action lawsuits before, we would get killed trying, imo

I don't know if you throw yourself on the mercy of the court, and claim to be a clueless moron -- they might agree with the later part, and refund you the money for 6 days of service.

 

[DiamondMac]

I don't know if you throw yourself on the mercy of the court, and claim to be a clueless moron -- they might agree with the later part, and refund you the money for 6 days of service.

Been called a moron and many other childish names yet thankfully I come out on the winning side of the lawsuit a high majority of the time.

 

[41qser]

Do people have nothing better to do than WHINE about MobileMe?

GIVE IT A REST.

It will get squared away.

It's new, it needs to be fixed (obviously), and people should just CHILL the F out.

Waaaahhhh Apple this.... Waaaahhhh Apple that...

Go buy a Dell and use Vista and spam the MS fan sites (if there are such things).

 

[richpjr]

Do people have nothing better to do than WHINE about MobileMe?

GIVE IT A REST.

It will get squared away.

It's new, it needs to be fixed (obviously), and people should just CHILL the F out.

Waaaahhhh Apple this.... Waaaahhhh Apple that...

Go buy a Dell and use Vista and spam the MS fan sites (if there are such things).

While I agree that a class action lawsuit for missing 2 weeks of service is pretty weak, I'm not sure why people paying good money for the NEW service should quietly sit by and say nothing. Apple rushed a shoddy product out the door, has had inexcusable down time, is playing semantic games with what push really means, and is now backpedaling on supporting Outlook if Exchange is in the loop. So no, I don't think people need to chill the F out. They are frustrated and you can comment about people whining all you want, but that just makes you look like one of those Apple can do no wrong fanbois.

 

[KiwiLee]

Please help KiwiLee, as a German ? Troll I miss ideas !

And where did i say you was either German or a Troll? Didnt i explain above that should try reading posts first! Doh....
The German and Troll thing was me replying to other posts in your defence, jeez you cant help some people.

AND, you still think i am a New Zealander, READ

Have a good day my friend....

 

[heller14]

You weren't forced to buy 10.5, or a new computer though.

I can't run PS3 games on my PS1, for example.

Ha ha ha !

When you bought your PS1 in 1994 you obviously couldn't buy PS3 games AND
more importantly: Your PS1 games didn't stop to work on your PS1 when Sony launched the PS2 and you can still buy PS1 games... and have fun.

When I subscribed to .mac the OS requirement was:
=> Apple MacOS X 10.3.9 or later (and it worked well with OS9 and was happy whit this)
check by yourself:
file:///Volumes/MacMini%20Maxtor/Users/Shared/*01%20FAMILYs'%20Shared%20Folder/08%20ACHATS%20&%20SUPPLIERS/06%20ELECTRONIC/00%20APPLE/dot%20Mac/Amazon.co.uk:%20.Mac:%20Software.webarchive


Today with Mobile me the requirements are :
=>Mac OS X v10.4.11 or latest version of Mac OS X Leopard; Safari 3, Firefox 2, or later
check by yourself:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB611Z-...sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1216900246&sr=8-1

Indeed i am not forced to buy a new Mac, only a new OS AND it is NOT free ! and in e few month time I will have to buy a new Mac...
But some of you (not everyone) doesn't seem to have families and/or financial burdens like the majority on this plannet. I'm happy for you, but you speak only for yourself between yourself.

If your Playstation / car or broadband subscription stop to work after only a few month I do not think you will accept it.
Or maybe you'll be happy with it, it is your choice !

On this point every one can have a different point of vue and not be treated has retarded / troll / ass or other or lectured about "innovation" by people who really think of themselves as very clever guys. Or maybe is it only a joke, Ah Ah Ah !

 

[heller14]

And where did i say you was either German or a Troll? Didnt i explain above that should try reading posts first! Doh....
The German and Troll thing was me replying to other posts in your defence, jeez you cant help some people.

AND, you still think i am a New Zealander, READ

Have a good day my friend....

I was only trying to keep the pressure down and do some little humour like most of the people around here...

and KiwiLee I really apreciated the defense, it helps calm down a little in this moment of IT madness
I'm sure most of you had your own "that's enough time" in the past regarding IT problems... Nope ?

My English is not good enough next time I will post in Dutch / French or German, ... (again, only joking !)

No offense my friend !
And yes, I very well understood you are not a New Zealander or ... a Troll ! (again, only joking !)

By now

 

[heller14]

Good luck with that, Don Quixote!

Great reference bijou.
Yep ! I feel like a Don Quixote at the moment...
well, a Don Quixote in the Ben Hur / Gladiator arena (colosseum?) would be more apropriate !
with lot of thumbs down.

I think I should maybe launch a new post:
Don Quixote is looking for some Sancho Panza, anyone up for it?

No worries, just another stupid idea.

 

[liptonlover]

They cost what they do...because shareholders (Bill, Steve etc...) need feeding

Steve is not like most big business CEOs. You can tell when he's talking. He cares about what his company makes, he cares about his products and his customers. But he also cares about innovating. Now why did I quote you? Would it surprise you to know Steve has a salary of exactly $0? The only money he gets is from stocks or whatever it is. (I get lost in all that) sure he's still rich, but if he was just some greedy corporate CEO why wouldn't he go for as much money as he can? He could be SO much richer if he wanted.

 

[Xavier]

Ha ha ha !
When I subscribed to .mac the OS requirement was:
=> Apple MacOS X 10.3.9 or later (and it worked well with OS9 and was happy whit this)

Today with Mobile me the requirements are :
=>Mac OS X v10.4.11 or latest version of Mac OS X Leopard; Safari 3, Firefox 2, or later

Indeed i am not forced to buy a new Mac, only a new OS AND it is NOT free ! and in e few month time I will have to buy a new Mac...
But some of you (not everyone) doesn't seem to have families and/or financial burdens like the majority on this plannet. I'm happy for you, but you speak only for yourself between yourself.

On this point every one can have a different point of vue and not be treated has retarded / troll / ass or other or lectured about "innovation" by people who really think of themselves as very clever guys. Or maybe is it only a joke, Ah Ah Ah !

You are expecting a new service that has been out for a week to be backwards compatible with every mac? You can't possibly expect Mac OS 9 to last you forever and be able to work with the latest software. So you upgraded to 10.3.9. Great. You are just around 4 years to late. Now you are appalled that MobileMe upped the system requirements because it has more demanding service and better software, now needed Tiger. Tiger is STILL a few years old. This is similar to me wanting to sue because Apple is eventually going to drop PPC support and I wanted to upgrade my OLD PPC G4 to the latest OS.

No one is saying that the OS is free. You stated earlier that you would have to buy a new Mac altogether to use MobileMe, which is not true. In my eyes, a $160 OS (or whatever Leopard costs) compared to a $1000 computer, is a much better option.

And as for financial situations, you obviously have enough to pay for the .Mac or MobileMe service, but are unwilling to upgrade your OS so that your computer will support it. And you want to sue on that basis. lol

You don't really have a case, you are just upset that you are unable to use this software on outdated computer hardware/software. I am sorry for you. But in the computer world, thats just the way it is. Computers that you buy say a year ago get outdated by something new. I'm not saying that your one year old computer will not run any of the new software, but you have to expect to upgrade at some point.

You don't have a case, and now it seems you are just upset that MobileMe isn't working perfectly for you. Like I said before, its like suing Starbucks because you don't like the way their coffee tastes.

 

[DiamondMac]

Do people have nothing better to do than WHINE about MobileMe?

GIVE IT A REST.

It will get squared away.

It's new, it needs to be fixed (obviously), and people should just CHILL the F out.

Waaaahhhh Apple this.... Waaaahhhh Apple that...

Go buy a Dell and use Vista and spam the MS fan sites (if there are such things).

Is that why you complain about calendar subscriptions on mobileme here? https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5832818#post5832818

And complained about Leopard Mail here? https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5264256#post5264256

If people want to tell others to stop complaining, please stop any sort of complaining from yourselves first

That is the annoying part. Being told to be quiet as the other person continues to complain in other threads

 

[liptonlover]

wow wait a minute... I didn't even know you're using mac os ox 9. You think they should support that far back?!?!?! Are you kidding me? sad...

 

[heller14]

<sigh>

From .mac TOS:



and



Looks pretty like a termination clause to me. Basically:

• You signed the TOS for .mac and accepted the MobileMe TOS when your account was transferred.
• You have absolutely no case or recourse beyond not renewing your account.

p.s. conveniently ignoring any post that points out the actual facts of the TOS you accepted won't change any of this.

Like in every democracy, in Belgium (and I will restrict my example to Belgium only, it would be too boring for everyone to go through EU / German / French / UK etc... laws in detail) there are laws on commercial practice to protect consumers:
I refer to this Belgium law (and some other EU countries does have the same or tougher than that):

"LOI DU 14 JUILLET 1991 sur les pratiques du commerce et sur l'information et la protection du consommateur
Art. 31, 32, 33 / Section 2"

In 2 words, and in English, this law says the following about abusive clauses / provisions:

"TOS / General provisions, etc... (however you name it)
clauses / provisions should not infringes a legal or statutory clauses / provisions that protect consumers, said clauses / provisions shall be deemed not to apply to those consumers and are forbiden and considered as non existant."


I do not know if my translation is precise but the point is that most of the following Apple clause will infringes Belgian consumers rights and as a consequence this Apple/.mac clause will be not accepted by Belgian courts:
"Apple may change, suspend or discontinue any (or all) aspects of .Mac at any time, including the availability of any .Mac feature. Apple may also impose limits on the use of or access to certain features or portions of .Mac, or restrict your access to any part or all of .Mac, in all cases without notice or liability."


And I think this is also clear:
when you buy a product named ".mac"
you do not buy a product/service named "mobileme" stuffed with different features, look, service, price etc...

The court would also agree with this.


And I am NOT the only .mac customer who feel the same, this is the problem.
If it was only myself being rip off 8 Euros for 2 weeks loss of service, I wouldn't be here losing my time and yours.
There are hundred of thousand of families and professionnals using .mac who are in the same or worst position than me.


Thanks alFR for the .mac TOS extract. and you contribution.

 

[liptonlover]

ok lets get this clear. You want to sue them because they stopped .mac, replacing it with mobile me. Correct?

 

[Xavier]

ok lets get this clear. You want to sue them because they stopped .mac, replacing it with mobile me. Correct?

More like:

ok lets get this clear. You want to sue them because they stopped .mac, replacing it with a free upgrade to mobile me. Correct?

 

[heller14]

wow wait a minute... I didn't even know you're using mac os ox 9. You think they should support that far back?!?!?! Are you kidding me? sad...

No liptonlover I am NOT kidding you, and don't be so snobish.

My 9 year old OS9 computer sitting next to my my MacMin is like my 40 year old Mercedes 280SL next to my 2 years old VW Eos:
It runs very well and every day, very robust, not as fast thani, and not as many features, OK.
But the 2 old things are still pretty surprising and enjoyable and very usefull when the modern one is failing.

And this is one of the reasons why I've been a huge Apple FAN for now 20 years: Great and very robust computers, great system - the best - , great innovation and most of all, if you take care about your stuff you're happy to still use them happily 9 years later ! (even itunes - 1.1 - run on my OS9)

And on top of that .mac was running well until about 6 months ago and I am using my great webmail at pair.com with this OS9 since 1999.

What's wrong with loving and keeping old great stuff ? (one of you use a Cube - really great, I would love to have one !)
Would you preffer me to dump a very good computer because it is "old" even if it does lot of stuff pretty well...
Are we not already questionning ourself about the polution created by computers components and the futur of our plannet, etc... (OK I stop here, I'm not going to annoy some of you with tree huggers lectures )

It also happens that this B&W G3 seating on my desk impresses more my friends than my normal MacMini, it is a great statment to the ability of the Apple company to make the best Home computers in the world... beleive it or not.

But I think this is not the point today.