This may win the award for one of my shortest blog posts ever... but I'd like to hear a little more from everyone about their experience with MobileMe.  All I've heard so far is a lot of griping.  The most recent being an email from the Steve himself, making clear that the launch of MobileMe was an epic fail.  I've heard of the web apps not working, emails getting lost, and worse.

So, why haven't I experienced any of this? I wrote a first experience review on this a while ago, but now that I've been using it for even longer and it has had time to simmer, here's my current verdict:

Mail

Works fine, no problems.  Haven't lost any mail, at least not that I know of - every one I have sent out since the transition has been fine.

Calendar

Syncs fine.  No, it isn't push, but it works great, and usually syncs in a few minutes.  I tested it, multiple times.  I'm not sure many people *need* their calendar reminders to be updated on all PC's INSTANTLY.  Within 2 or 3 minutes should be fine for most folks.  Just set everything to sync automatically and you should be good to go.  Yes, Apple should not have called it "push," but come on...

Photos

I actually love the new photos access, with Web Gallery.  Everyone who has checked my gallery out has loved how it works.  The web interface is simple and effective.  I don't see the problem here.

Contacts

See Calendar.

iDisk Access

This is the only one I'm not totally happy with.  Still slow, but most WebDAV's I've used have been, including the one that is included with my other web hosting service.  The online app is slick, though, and has worked as promised so far.  My only complaint here is that drag and drop in the web app is a little sketchy... but that's why you enable it in the Finder or Explorer in the first place :)

Conclusion

So there you have it - in my opinion - MobileMe is just fine, and well worth my $100/yr.  I couldn't live without it, actually.  Is it perfect yet... of course not, but give Apple a little time to polish it.  I'm glad we got it all up front, bugs and all, rather than being teased piece by piece.

I'd love to hear what everyone else's experiences are, though!

This past weekend, I went on a road trip to a place very different from where I'm living now, and what an experience it was.  I've done some limited traveling in the U.S., but mostly for work purposes, and never to truly immerse myself into another area's culture.  Usually, I had been too busy putting together spreadsheets, taking remote conference calls, and checking emails to see what was going on around me.

This time, though, is the first time I have taken a non-work related trip to an isolated, relatively tech-free area.

And let me tell you, it was very difficult... and eye-opening, too.

The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem

The insanity began when I learned that I wouldn't have a GPS going down there.  Of course, I had never had problems with past road trips, where I was able to make do with maps, paper, and pencil alone.   Now, it's like I've become completely accustomed to having some sort of navigation system, whether it be the "pseudo-navi" built into the first-gen iPhone or a full blown system.

Alas, this was not to be.  Within hours of driving straight south, I was met with "1-bar-if-I'm-lucky" and certainly no measurable EDGE connection to speak of.  This resulted in taking over an hour to find a simple restaurant outside of our hotel; my stomach turning itself inside out.

We Get Signal?

My descent into madness continued when I discovered the hotel had what I'd like to call "Wi-Not."  Sure, I had a connection with my MacBook, but it was frustratingly slow, and watching web pages load was less interesting than watching my fingernails grow.

That's OK, I have my mobile broadband, right?  Epic fail.  No broadband signal... not one bar.  I broke out in a cold sweat as I gingerly closed my laptop... in shock.

As the little email demon on my shoulder whispered sweet nothings into my ear about organizing my inbox, the downward spiral trudged onward.  Could it get any worse?  Yes.

Can You Hear Me Now? ...no. 

During a beautiful summer afternoon, next to a pool, among the very gorgeous countryside, ALL I could think about were three things:  my laptop, my phone, and work.  My separation anxiety grew worse and worse. 

I got itchy and restless.  I resorted to "cellphone voodoo," waving my iPhone around like some sort of fanatic baton waving traffic director, crossing my fingers and whispering incantations in hopes for the little blue "E" to light up once again.  This was all happening in front of some very welcoming, friendly, and talkative people - who probably wondered why I was so insane.

Lessons I Have Learned

I've learned some things from this:

• Don't take your tech for granted.  The constant availabilty of cell signal is a blessing.
• Use your head once in a while.  The prevalence of GPS, for example, causes one to forget how to effectively use a map.
• Your email can wait, or at least, it should.  Checking your email constantly on vacation makes it not a vacation.  I have yet to follow this rule, but the obsessive-compulsive side of me breaks it every time.
• Relaxation is more difficult than you think.  It takes a conscious mental shift to adjust to relaxation.  I am used to doing 10 million things at once... it's hard to do only one or two.
• That I'm completely nuts.  The thought actually occurred to me to do a Twitter post (from my phone) about how frustrated I was for not having cell signal.  I need help.

Conclusion

I am truly thankful for all that I have, and I enjoy surrounding myself with glorious, sweet gadgets and blazing fast Internet. 

That being said, I have a lot to learn when it comes to getting back to basics.

I hope that when I go on my big 2008 vacation (which is coming soon) that I will resist the primal urges associated with email, Twitter, Facebook, and the Internet.  I hope that I can willingly and totally accept the hospitality of those who live a more relaxed lifestyle, and try to emulate their peace of mind and friendly nature in my own life.  I hope that I can learn to balance the needs of a fast-paced, tech-oriented lifestyle and gain the ability to slow down or tune it out when needed.

I'm still going to bring the GPS, though.  You know, just in case.

Well, I needed something to do as I sit here feverishly awaiting the "go-live" of MobileMe.

I've been playing with the new App Store today thanks to friends who provided me with the MobileMe installation package and iPhone 2.0 firmware package.  After a brief scare that I may have bricked my precious, I realized I needed to upgrade iTunes to the newest version before I could re-flash.  (Read: almost epic fail.)

But once I knew all was well, and first tried it out, it was bliss.  Like a taste of cool water after trudging through the desert, or that first glimpse of sun after a ridiculously long winter, the release of the App Store has rejuvenated my relationship with this little candy bar.  I'm excited even now that my phone has instantly become about twelve times as functional and at least twice as fun... but even more excited that (#1) I don't need to upgrade to take advantage of it and (#2) I don't need to upgrade to take advantage of it.

So I figured I'd go through the new iPhone apps I've found the most useful so far - in other words, the ones that I can envision myself using every day, not just something that performs a little novelty act then ceases to be of any interest. 

Facebook

I just recently got into Facebook (as in today, actually) and find the iPhone app to be incredibly useful.  I haven't posted any pictures (to preserve the privacy of my friends) but let's just say that it's incredibly useful and simple, too.  You can see your Facebook inbox, recent updates, friends, and more at a glance.  It is for this reason that I think I will actually become more involved with Facebook, since it will be so simple and real-time.

AIM

Finally, a mobile AIM client for iPhone I won't have to jailbreak for.

Google Mobile

Love the search for nearby coffeehouse, Thai restaurant, etc. feature.  It also includes convenient links to other Google Apps.

The New York Times

Lately, I've really enjoyed reading the New York Times.  The editorials are great (and very opinionated), the news coverage is awesome, and I love the tight presentation.  It's my favorite news site and feed, actually.  So naturally, I'm in love with the iPhone client.  It's just slick and maintains the look, feel, and beautiful font used by it's mother site.  You can search news by category, too.  This, guaranteed, will be one of my most used apps for the iPhone.

Pandora Radio

Pandora has helped me to discover a lot of my favorite artists, and I was stoked to see an app for it.  Worked excellent over 802.11, not so sure about EDGE (haven't had the cojones or time to kill to try it yet) but has great potential.

Twitterific

Some have complained that this app is a little slow, but I like it's appearance and slick interface so far.  Let's see how it holds up over constant use, but this could be my new Twitter client of choice.

And on a parting note....

BOO to the NetNewsWire app!  NewsGator, I've been in love with NetNewsWire for Mac for quite some time now.  I adore that I can sync all of my feeds between machines and have a free web-based client I can access from any machine.  Admittedly, I read a LOT of feeds, and I think I broke the app on my phone.  I know, I know, it was just released, but I'm sad.  Please reassure me that the next release will work!

Come on already!!

So, just like the suit-clad Bluetooth-headset-wearing types who press the elevator button 37 times because they think it will make it come up faster, I'm gonna refresh my browser again to see if MobileMe is up yet...