Jasper's Blog

Widget courtesy of MSNBC

Obama '08! Change we believe in.

~jasper

To my one and only viewer of this blog - excuse me for the absence. Here's a new layout just for you. I'll be posting several reviews soon! (just finished midterms)

Note: This is not a review, simply a rant about the issues of the T-Mobile Network @ USC on Monday, September 15th, 2008.

I was furious yesterday. On one of the most important days ever, in which it was essential to be in touch with co-workers and friends in the business, T-Mobile's network @ USC failed miserably. Starting around 9:15 AM, the network went down, not just for me but for everyone I asked who had T-Mobile. I wasn't able to access anything, as my data plan was also non-existent because of this. Usually, the service is good to me. It provides me service most of the time and dropped calls don't happen too often. Yesterday's response from my T-Mobile representative after calling the customer support number with my friend's iPhone on AT&T was not helpful either: she claimed that there were technicians on site as of 11:00 AM. Service did not restore until 10:00 PM that night.

Now most of my friends say T-Mobile sucks. The fact that the network went down like that was unacceptable and made me support that claim. The blinding note of "No Service" on my phone bothered me and I ended up missing many important calls.

Of course, I give the T-Mobile service teams props for sorting the issue out, but the fact that the network went down at such a crucial time for me was really nerve-racking.

Has anyone else had this issue and would like to talk about it? Feel free to leave a comment.

Labels: Rant, T-Mobile

I'm sure most of you have already tried or heard about MobileMe, Apple's replacement for .Mac that allows you to access your photos, files, etc. It's what Apple claims is "the simple way to keep everything in sync." Right. The service is anything but that.

I decided to try the 60 Day Free Trial that came with my new Macbook Pro (which I love by the way). The interface was simplistic and user-friendly like all Apple products. That's the only good part. When I got to the part of setting up, a limitation in the iPhone forces you to clear your Calendar and Contacts if you so choose to use MobileMe with your iPhone. So I backed up my data using iTunes and things seemed to work fine, until I looked at MobileMe's online calendar and realize that nothing was transfered on. Thankfully though, at least the iPhone warns you beforehand that the data will be cleared. Just a slight incovenience right? No, it gets worse.

So the claim, at least during Apple's presentation of MobileMe back in January, was an instant update in which there was "Exchange for Everyone." I decided to try adding an event to my calendar on my iPhone (which has T-Mobile's Data Plan) and I waited for it to show on my MobileMe calendar. Guess how long I had to wait? 30 minutes. Yes, that is no typo. Half a year later, the service is still not ready.

My favorite part of MobileMe though, is when you add Contacts. So I added a contact onto my iPhone. MobileMe is supposed to sync it to my Address Book, and it did that. However, I had two Robert L's in my address book already, and MobileMe replaced both of them (which are different people with different numbers by the way) with the new number.

On a positive note though, the Pictures service within MobileMe was easy to use for viewing pictures. The software does not work well with Entourage (which I use for email, contacts and calendars) and required more than just checking off "Sync with _____ (Apple App) and .Mac" to get set up.

In my frustration though, I cancelled my trial after 3 days. Reverting back was even more of a pain. My iPhone got stuck with MobileMe's settings, despite the fact taht I turned it off. However, I had to resort to restoring my firmware.

The Positives: MobileMe has a lot of potential, picture service is easy to use, overall interface is nice.
The Negatives: It's far far away from reaching that potential, sync services take way too long, push email is too limited.

Rating: 2/5

Note: Thanks to Gizmodo for the image.

Labels: 2 Stars, MobileMe, Review

I've always been a big fan of reviewing what's going on in my life. Like most people, my daily life is composed of shopping, eating and experiencing the things that are around me.

This blog is designed to express my staunch opinion - something that all of my peers can tell you I've always had. All of my reviews will be based on my personal experiences with each group, be it a student organization or a restaurant I had been at.

I hope you find this blog informative and non-biased and I look forward to putting up my first review soon!

~jasper

Labels: First Post, Welcome