Comments on: Followup on: MobileMe Problems Show Apple Needs an Infrastructure Lesson

By: Steven Fisher

Steven Fisher — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:14:52 +0000

I posted a comment something like this over on the other posting before reading it I’m not going to go back and copy-paste, so this will probably be more detailed.
I don’t think the iTunes store needs to have 100% uptime. Don’t get me wrong on that! But it clearly doesn’t have 100% uptime, and I doubt it even has 95% uptime. MobileMe is likely already beating 95%, at least for the majority of users.
When the iTunes store starts failing, people shrug and try the request again. And when that doesn’t work, they’ll try again. And somewhere in the next dozen attempts, the search will probably work.
If this was MobileMe, Twitter and the blogsphere (hate that term!) would be a-flutter with it, and with good reason. MobileMe needs as close to 100% uptime as Apple can reasonably (cost-effectively) get.
But the iTunes store is in failwhale mode RIGHT NOW, and I haven’t seen a single tweet about it, have you? People have just come to expect failures from it, and it isn’t that big a deal.

By: Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:16:42 +0000

Seems to me that Apple could have, like Steve said, done more to spread the load. They didn’t have to roll the iPhone to all those countries on the same day, but it sure helped the (free) PR machine.
They also didn’t have to release MobileMe at the same time as the iPhone. The plan was to have it out beforehand and they delayed it –obviously– because it wasn’t ready.
Steve needs to ease up. He said he would with the release of Leo and it still needed a lot more work before it saw daylight. That, or somehow grow the organization without causing further problems than already exist (as is common with expanding teams).
I know I couldn’t work there. The pressure must be immense.
That said, I love my iP3G but wish AT&T’s network in Denver didn’t suck so much. Very spotty with insane tower locations (hiding in valleys / depressions). Calls are still dropped with v2.0.1. And I waited for nearly two weeks to get it on the 25th and it still took getting up at the crack of dark and sitting in line for two hours.

By: Doug B

Doug B — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:02:44 +0000

Chuq:
Thanks for the great post. All the nattering about SAP took me back to the bad old days of TOLAS.

By: Rudy

Rudy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:21:19 +0000

(From Belgium.) Long time since I read such an interesting and insightfull blog. I think you’re right, putting things in the right perspective, and at the same time giving readers some ‘mental’ food they never thought of themselves – as this one over here. I’ve bookmarked you’re site now. Keep writing. And yes, I have an iPhone. 1st G. Love it.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:57:23 +0000

There were still lines to get in the SoHo store when I was in NY last week. This launch has been something – especially given the current state of the economy.

By: mj1531

mj1531 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:47:09 +0000

Thank you for this post.
I’ve always wondered if Apple’s IT department is like every other IT department I’ve ever worked in. I’m so glad (and not surprised) that it doesn’t seem so.
Would you happen to know if Apple’s IT department writes any Mac-specific internal apps? In other words, Cocoa or Carbon internal Mac applications as opposed to websites running on a Java app server? I know you can’t (and won’t) give details; just looking for a yes/no answer. I suspect that the answer is yes though.