That is true that I would be paying $99 for 12 months of service and I would get 28 days free. (However, I would change to iCloud in the Fall, which is free) It is also true that when Apple reminded me to pay that $99 on June 2nd, they knew that they would be giving that same service to hundreds of customers, free of charge, simply because they happened to originally sign up for the service five days later than I had. They knew they would be giving that service, free of charge, back to people who willingly chose not to renew their accounts within a few months of the June 6, 2011 announcement. We can spin this story around and around however we want, but the bottom line is, it was a bad way to handle the situation and has left a sour taste in the mouths of many loyal customers. Maybe not you, but many customers. There were options to avoid this, but they might eat into the all mighty profit margin a bit too much.
Agreed - we can spin it around lots. Realistically it's just a matter of perspective though. The facts are:
- Everyone gets more than they paid for.
- A few lucky people have got a totally free year and a bit. Everyone else gets the service they paid for plus some more.
- However Apple had handled it there would have been some on the cusp that would've complained.
- They made it as fair as possible for everyone from the point of going public - this is all that can be expected really from a business. It's a business/trade secret covered under NDAs until going public - this is why the cutoff was when it was.
I do understand why you may feel unlucky. But you still get what you paid for. Surely you don't begrudge a small amount that got lucky by the timing? Would you be saying the same had you been one of those people?
So how are they absorbing the cost of the accounts that people didn't renew in February that are now magically reinstated until June 30, 2012? How are they absorbing the cost of the accounts that were due for renewal on June 7th, five days after mine, that now have until the end of June 2012 for free? You can act like Apple did the right thing here, but they clearly didn't. The plan that I laid out is far more fair and no one would have been able to argue it. If you didn't renew back in February you shouldn't have your account reinstated now through the end of June 2012. If you didn't renew your account in May you shouldn't have it magically reinstated, free of charge. If you were an active account holder you shouldn't pay anything past June 6, 2011 if other customers are not having to pay anything past June 6, 2012. It's total nonsense to treat customers without equity, and a poor business decision.
As I put - it's a matter of perspective. Your "plan" isn't fair at all. It requires Apple to continue to provide paid services - on current hardware, in current data centres, with current staff that has all been setup to an existing business case - and take the entire hit for over a years worth of service.
The costs would just get moved elsewhere. You and I - and also people that have never had MobileMe - would just end up paying in other ways.
The truth is that iCloud has been built to a different business case, with different ways of paying for it.
Apple is end of life'ing MobileMe. There has to be a transition.
It is easier - technically, logistically and from a support perspective - to set an end date, set a date to allow migrations from, and set the process in place, and try and set things up with as few other variables as possible.
I do take your point about those being re-activated from February - had I not renewed previously, I'd be in that number... But those that didn't renew in February have also not had services since then. I renewed on the merits of the services I was getting - have had them since and continue to get them.
Again from a technical and support perspective - it's probably a huge time saver to handle things in this way with the re-activated accounts.
Anyone that's ever been involved in any technical migrations will say the same.
Nobody's paying anything after the 6th June - as you've said Apple should do. All payments were before then. Then everyone gets extra for gratis.
As in my last post - surely you don't begrudge a few people that got lucky? Relatively speaking I should imagine those with reactivated accounts or subscribed/renewed in the last short while are few and far between. You still get what you paid for - a few people (and it's luck of the draw really) got lucky.
