Apple announced the MobileMe mail beta today with a slew of new features. The feature I have wanted the most, server-side rules, is present.
Rules to keep your email organized everywhere. Mail rules help you reduce inbox clutter by automatically filing messages into folders you select ahead of time. Set them up at me.com, and your rules organize your incoming email on the web and everywhere else — on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC.
I’d like to see the ability to define server-side rules in Mail.app on the desktop in addition to the me.com web site, but that’s a minor quibble.
Interestingly, MobileMe has also added an Archive button along with an Archive folder to the offering. This is very Gmail-like, and I am not sure I like it. I typically file email into specific folders to keep from having to search through a mass of email. On the other hand, Spotlight on the iDevices and desktop is pretty robust. I’ll give it a try and see how it works.
I know there are a lot of Google fanboys out there that will disagree, but these changes really bring parity or exceed Google’s standard Gmail offering. Yes, there is an annual cost, but that’s worth the price of not giving Google even more of my personal info.
Todd and Rod took me shooting last Sunday up in the hills of West Virginia. It was the first time I had ever fired handguns and nearly two decades since I fired a shotgun or rifle. Not only was it a lot of fun, it also gave me the chance to test the iPad Camera Connection Kit.
I took the photo(s) attached with my DSLR and transferred them in RAW format to the iPad – easy peasy. Performance was much, much better than the Asus 1000HE I had previously used on trips. Being able to immediately review the shots on the iPad’s beautiful screen was bonus.
Flowers spotted during an evening workout.
Email from the Mother Ship this morning:
To Our Valued Apple Customer:
Thank you for your recent order of the magical and revolutionary
iPad 3G.
We would like to confirm that your order will be shipped in late
April as communicated at the time you placed your order. You will
receive a confirmation notice when your order has shipped.
You can get up-to-date information about your order, including
shipping status and tracking number, at http://www.apple.com/orderstatus
Thank you for choosing Apple.
Sincerely,
The Apple Store Team
http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/kids_are_all_right
A good read.
Stephen Fry posted his thoughts on the iPad. He waxes enthusiastically about the device, but his thoughts about Apple naysayers are perhaps the best:
I have always thought Hans Christian Andersen should have written a companion piece to the Emperor’s New Clothes, in which everyone points at the Emperor shouting, in a Nelson from the Simpson’s voice, “Ha ha! He’s naked.” And then a lone child pipes up, ‘No. He’s actually wearing a really fine suit of clothes.” And they all clap hands to their foreheads as they realise they have been duped into something worse than the confidence trick, they have fallen for what E. M. Forster called the lack of confidence trick. How much easier it is to distrust, to doubt, to fold the arms and say “Not impressed”. I’m not advocating dumb gullibility, but it is has always amused me that those who instinctively dislike Apple for being apparently cool, trendy, design fixated and so on are the ones who are actually so damned cool and so damned sensitive to stylistic nuance that they can’t bear to celebrate or recognise obvious class, beauty and desire. The fact is that Apple users like me are the uncoolest people on earth: we salivate, dribble, coo, sigh, grin and bubble with delight.
The first thing people say about the iPad is why does it not have $FEATURE?
Why? It’s about the software and experience.
That’s what people miss. Was the iPod a phenomenal device on it’s own? No. Was iTunes the best MP3 album software? No. Did the two, plus the store, create an incredible vertical experience? Yes.
This is what other companies miss. The Microsoft Zune HD is an awesome device. Not allowing people to activate for two days and then gimp software? Not good. Sony eReaders are slick. Is the book buying experience good? No. You need to make the total user experience seamless.
I know the iPad is not for everyone, and you can bet Apple more than understands that. They are selling a device to people that never bought a netbook, don’t know what a smartbook is, and suddenly “realize” they want an easy to use mobile device. They are selling a device to people that have an iPhone that want just a little bit more. They are not selling the device to people that remove Windows from their netbook and immediately install Ubuntu.
The last said…. I still may get an iPad.
