I strictly use MobileMe to sync email (me.com & yahoo.com accts) contacts and calendar with my iPhone 3GS. I use a PC w/iTunes, but do NOT have Outlook. I don't want it, as the web-based email, contacts and calendar suit my needs just fine. I logged in this morning and my calendar wouldn't load.
Here's an edited transcript of my chat w/MobileMe support (I'm "Dave", support specialist is "Charles B"):
Dave: After logging into me.com, my calendar won't come up. I can see mail, contacts, photos, etc., but not calendar. Tried Safari 4, IE and Firefox, clearing cache and cookies on each.
Charles B: Hi David. I'll be glad to help you with this calendar issue.
Charles B: Please clarify what you're seeing, and we'll go from there.
Dave: me.com says "MobileMe is unable to load your calendar. MoblieMe could not load your information from the server."
Dave: I see my calendar fine on my iphone
Charles B: OK. What about in iCal on a Mac or in Outlook on your PC?
Dave: i don't have a mac and don't use Outlook on my PC. I only use web-based email, calendar, etc.
Charles B: We may have little ability to help with that setup. MobileMe is not designed or intended to be used solely between an iPhone and http://www.me.com
Charles B: I'll see what we can do, though.
Dave: it's been working fine for months!
Charles B: OK - thanks for that info. One moment while I check with our resources.
Charles B: How many calendars do you have on the iPhone, by the way?
Dave: I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but under the iphone calendar app, the choices are "Calendar", "Home" and "Work", although I only use "Calendar" on both the iphone and on MobileMe.
Charles B: OK. How long have you seen the error message on me.com/calendar?
Dave: This morning (for about 2 hours now). I saw my calendar fine yesterday.
Charles B: OK. Do you have Outlook on your PC at all?
Dave: No
Charles B: Sorry, David, but there is no way to keep MobileMe syncing with the iPhone without Outlook on a PC or iCal on a Mac.
Charles B: The process to correct the issue that you see would require two steps:
Charles B: syncing the iPhone with Outlook using iTunes,
Charles B: and then pushing the good data up from Outlook to replace the currently damaged calendar on MobileMe.
Charles B: At this point, my only recommendation would be to invest in Outlook 2003 or 2007 so that you can sync your calendars.
Dave: Then why has it been working for months? How did the calendar get damaged?
Charles B: David, you might review a couple of pieces of information:
Charles B: http://www.apple.com/mobileme/pricing/
Charles B: This page lists system requirements for MobileMe.
Charles B: it recommends Outlook 2003 or later because MobileMe calendar does not sync without it.
Charles B: Also, as for the question of why it worked before --
Charles B: It was not designed to work that way. So Apple cannot in any way answer why it accidentally worked in a way that was not intended.
Charles B: Sorry.
Dave: But it is a "push" application. Changes on MobileMe go to the iphone and vice-versa. I don't understand the requirement of Outlook?
Charles B: It was never designed to work ONLY on the web and the iPhone. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
Dave: The system requirements also say "Compatible device: Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPod touch." It doesn't specifically state that a Mac or PC is required. It says "OR iPhone".
Dave: If that's really the case, it should say "Mac or PC required. iPhone or iPod touch optional".
Charles B: Again, I'm sorry this is not more clear
Charles B: But MobileMe DOES NOT WORK with only an iPhone or only an iPod Touch.
Dave: It also says "For PC: ... Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later recommended." NOT REQUIRED
Dave: Is there any way you can see if my mobileme calendar is actually damaged?
Charles B: No, I actually had our support specialists check into this for you, to see if we could help in any way -
Charles B: We actually see the same thing you do, where MobileMe can't load the calendar info on the server anymore.
Charles B: Unfortunately, this is probably caused by months of using the calendar in this unintended way, without being able to periodically refresh the calendar online with info from a computer.
Dave: Can you please then pass on the info that the system requirements should include that a PC with Outlook or a Mac with iCal is REQUIRED, not RECOMMENDED as currently stated on the pricing page?
Charles B: It's not required, as all other functions of MobileMe work without Outlook.
Charles B: I will surely pass this along internally because the marketing information needs to be more clear,
Dave: I will. Just venting now, but the #1 reason I paid for mobileme was the calendar sync with my iphone. i'm perfectly happy with other email & contact web programs, but there is no other easy way to get a web calendar to sync w/iphone.
Charles B: I'm sorry for the trouble! I wish that MobileMe was currently able to work this way, with just the iPhone.
Anyone see any way to get around the Outlook requirement and get my calendar on MobileMe rebuilt?
Here's an edited transcript of my chat w/MobileMe support (I'm "Dave", support specialist is "Charles B"):
Dave: After logging into me.com, my calendar won't come up. I can see mail, contacts, photos, etc., but not calendar. Tried Safari 4, IE and Firefox, clearing cache and cookies on each.
Charles B: Hi David. I'll be glad to help you with this calendar issue.
Charles B: Please clarify what you're seeing, and we'll go from there.
Dave: me.com says "MobileMe is unable to load your calendar. MoblieMe could not load your information from the server."
Dave: I see my calendar fine on my iphone
Charles B: OK. What about in iCal on a Mac or in Outlook on your PC?
Dave: i don't have a mac and don't use Outlook on my PC. I only use web-based email, calendar, etc.
Charles B: We may have little ability to help with that setup. MobileMe is not designed or intended to be used solely between an iPhone and http://www.me.com
Charles B: I'll see what we can do, though.
Dave: it's been working fine for months!
Charles B: OK - thanks for that info. One moment while I check with our resources.
Charles B: How many calendars do you have on the iPhone, by the way?
Dave: I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but under the iphone calendar app, the choices are "Calendar", "Home" and "Work", although I only use "Calendar" on both the iphone and on MobileMe.
Charles B: OK. How long have you seen the error message on me.com/calendar?
Dave: This morning (for about 2 hours now). I saw my calendar fine yesterday.
Charles B: OK. Do you have Outlook on your PC at all?
Dave: No
Charles B: Sorry, David, but there is no way to keep MobileMe syncing with the iPhone without Outlook on a PC or iCal on a Mac.
Charles B: The process to correct the issue that you see would require two steps:
Charles B: syncing the iPhone with Outlook using iTunes,
Charles B: and then pushing the good data up from Outlook to replace the currently damaged calendar on MobileMe.
Charles B: At this point, my only recommendation would be to invest in Outlook 2003 or 2007 so that you can sync your calendars.
Dave: Then why has it been working for months? How did the calendar get damaged?
Charles B: David, you might review a couple of pieces of information:
Charles B: http://www.apple.com/mobileme/pricing/
Charles B: This page lists system requirements for MobileMe.
Charles B: it recommends Outlook 2003 or later because MobileMe calendar does not sync without it.
Charles B: Also, as for the question of why it worked before --
Charles B: It was not designed to work that way. So Apple cannot in any way answer why it accidentally worked in a way that was not intended.
Charles B: Sorry.
Dave: But it is a "push" application. Changes on MobileMe go to the iphone and vice-versa. I don't understand the requirement of Outlook?
Charles B: It was never designed to work ONLY on the web and the iPhone. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
Dave: The system requirements also say "Compatible device: Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPod touch." It doesn't specifically state that a Mac or PC is required. It says "OR iPhone".
Dave: If that's really the case, it should say "Mac or PC required. iPhone or iPod touch optional".
Charles B: Again, I'm sorry this is not more clear
Charles B: But MobileMe DOES NOT WORK with only an iPhone or only an iPod Touch.
Dave: It also says "For PC: ... Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later recommended." NOT REQUIRED
Dave: Is there any way you can see if my mobileme calendar is actually damaged?
Charles B: No, I actually had our support specialists check into this for you, to see if we could help in any way -
Charles B: We actually see the same thing you do, where MobileMe can't load the calendar info on the server anymore.
Charles B: Unfortunately, this is probably caused by months of using the calendar in this unintended way, without being able to periodically refresh the calendar online with info from a computer.
Dave: Can you please then pass on the info that the system requirements should include that a PC with Outlook or a Mac with iCal is REQUIRED, not RECOMMENDED as currently stated on the pricing page?
Charles B: It's not required, as all other functions of MobileMe work without Outlook.
Charles B: I will surely pass this along internally because the marketing information needs to be more clear,
Dave: I will. Just venting now, but the #1 reason I paid for mobileme was the calendar sync with my iphone. i'm perfectly happy with other email & contact web programs, but there is no other easy way to get a web calendar to sync w/iphone.
Charles B: I'm sorry for the trouble! I wish that MobileMe was currently able to work this way, with just the iPhone.
Anyone see any way to get around the Outlook requirement and get my calendar on MobileMe rebuilt?
