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In Brief: Me Mobile Pretty One Day

Apple's Mobile Me Logo

With title apologies to David Sedaris.

While iPhone owners were busy banging their overpriced first-generation iPhones on their foreheads, Apple followers have been fiercely belittling the logo for the new syncing feature, MobileMe. BuzzFeed gathers the links to the best, seemingly endless cheap shots.
By Armin on Jun.10.2008 in In Brief Link

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ScottS’s comment is:

You're kidding me, right? WindowsMe and now MobileMe? Apple's got me confused...shouldn't they have just called it iMobile to keep everything consistent? iPod, iPhone, now MobileMe. Which is it: i, you or me? Arg!!

On Jun.10.2008 at 10:41 PM

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Darran John Gange’s comment is:

I thought the whole cloud logo was crap when I first saw it, but it's grown on me - as for the windows me connotations it's obvious, but does it really matter? If this is a success it will just be another kick in the nuts for Microsoft anyway.

"It's like activestink, for the rest of us"

On Jun.10.2008 at 10:46 PM

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Matthew Moore’s comment is:

Man, I feel bad for the designer who is responsible for this... the whole internet is attacking his self esteem right now :)

On Jun.10.2008 at 11:35 PM

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Jeremy Heilpern’s comment is:

While I'm not as upset over the MobileMe logo as some, I do wonder why Apple felt the need to rename .Mac in the process. Why couldn't the services provided by MobileMe just have been a massive upgrade to the .Mac service?

MobileMe as a name feels very weak, and bears no resemblance to any current Apple offering. The name recognition of .Mac should have been built upon - not replaced.

On Jun.11.2008 at 12:03 AM

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DJ Rizzo’s comment is:

This seems borne of a marketing department instead of an actual designer.

On Jun.11.2008 at 12:11 AM

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Evan Rowe’s comment is:

I think what's most troubling/jarring about the MobileMe logo is the fact that it is such a departure from everything we've seen out of Apple's branding endeavors up until now. That's not to say that the similarity to the branding of certain Microsoft products isn't also glaring, but I think it's just that it feels so different. While that may not be a bad thing, I'm tempted to quote the old stand by; "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

On Jun.11.2008 at 12:59 AM

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Ricky Irvine’s comment is:

We can't forget that Apple isn't only marketing to Mac users with MobileMe. They are also marketing to Windows users, which means they can't stick with dotMac (additionally because it's a negative play on Microsoft's dotNet).

I think the MobileMe logo is perfect for who it is intended for (everyone!). It depicts familiar icons in the 'cloud' as Apple's marketing language describes the service and makes it personally applicable. The word "me" in Myriad Pro would be very impersonal in comparison, don't you think?

On Jun.11.2008 at 01:16 AM

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Kyle Hildebrant’s comment is:

I can't take issue with this. I think it's on brand with the Apple family of products. The name seems inappropriate--especially considering the close typographic relation--when taking the WindowsME disaster into consideration.

On Jun.11.2008 at 01:30 AM

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Kyle Hildebrant’s comment is:

...also as pointed out before, retaining .MAC as a name would have been a grievous error. The I-own-a-iPhone PC user is a big part of the market. The .MAC would have alienated that audience. So, yes it was broke, and it did need fix'n.

On Jun.11.2008 at 01:33 AM

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Darren Alawi’s comment is:

Ricky is correct.

This whole brand is about market appeal. .Mac was great but it didn't appeal to Windows users because of it's name. By rebranding to this cloudy soft brand it becomes more appealing to everyone, regardless of which platform they use. It's all about bottom line.

I reckon the execs decided to avoid an iNames, they are approaching their quota on that strategy.

On Jun.11.2008 at 06:08 AM

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Daniel’s comment is:

I can't see what's so wrong with with it myself. The whole concept of the service is that it's effectively invisible - it's just a way to keep all of your things talking to each other.

It's more than just a logo - it's a pictogram that simply and effectively symbolizes what the service does: a bunch of disparate applications in a cloud that is labeled with a big "Me". I was never quite sure what the point of .Mac was, but this logo conveys what could have been a complicated concept brilliantly.

What everyone should be criticizing is the embarrassing 2 megapixel camera on the iPhone.

On Jun.11.2008 at 06:19 AM

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drew kora’s comment is:

Certainly succumbs the the universal idea that whenever you want to personalize a product, put "me" in the name and write "me" in a hand-drawn/script-esque font.

On Jun.11.2008 at 08:19 AM

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dk’s comment is:

yeah, MAC is pretty much Skynet from Terminator 2... Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger will save us from Steve Jobs hahaha

das good ads

On Jun.11.2008 at 09:07 AM

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LadyN’s comment is:

"Me" or "I" is certainly confusing...it screams windows or something from "T mobile" to me but...


....as cute as a button!! :-D

On Jun.11.2008 at 09:32 AM

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Jose Nieto’s comment is:

While iPhone owners were busy banging their overpriced first-generation iPhones on their foreheads[...]

If anything, the new iPhone is underpriced. The savings come from ATT subsidies, which the users pays back fairly quickly in additional 3G service costs. Since my first-generation iPhone is also getting a hefty upgrade in July, I've been able to keep the head banging to a minimum.

As to the logo,I can't argue with the name (and the me.com URL is pretty sweet), but the mark itself seems like a confused mash-up of literal elements. Wouldn't be surprised if we see a revision in the near future.

On Jun.11.2008 at 10:17 AM

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Daniel’s comment is:

dk - We need saving from the real Skynet first...

On Jun.11.2008 at 10:24 AM

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Ben’s comment is:

I keep expecting yoshi to jump out of it and grab an apple.
Very disappointed in this design, looks like they let the local high school art department play 'cut-n-paste' and give it a more 15 year old glamor appeal.

On Jun.11.2008 at 10:26 AM

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Andrew’s comment is:

Perhaps Apple is thinking broader market with MobileMe. The inclusion of syncing across multiple hardware including your standard PC, would allow non-Mac users into the fold. And once you have them in, you can then show them what Mac is all about. It's a feature that would help possibly convert a few of the hard-nosed PC/Windows users out there.

iMobile or something along the "i" line of thinking is an exclusive Mac only club. Mac knows they're not going to lose their customers, now they want to get more.

Also, I think the cloud idea is a good one. It's an old idea, think data diagrams. The Internet is always visualized as a cloud. Apple just took it and gave it some tangibility, plus it looks like a safe and clean place to store all my important data and contact information...

On Jun.11.2008 at 01:41 PM

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orangetiki’s comment is:

I can't get past how the ME looks like Windows ME. i just can't do it. Why not just call it iSync? They had that from before.

On Jun.11.2008 at 04:22 PM

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Brandon’s comment is:

I guess its a pretty serious band wagon at this point: but I have to agree with the vast majority. From the translucency, to the care-bear-like cloud, to the gradient teal cursive... I'm disappointed.

On Jun.11.2008 at 05:29 PM

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RSG’s comment is:

They are trying to reach the broadest possible target, not just tech-savvy hipsters, so are being as unambiguous as possible: Look - your email, calendar, address book and photos accessible from everywhere! Daniel's right in saying it's a pictogram as much as a logo. It's not slick, but your grandmother will get it.

On Jun.11.2008 at 07:58 PM

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T-Bone’s comment is:

they should just call it iMe

On Jun.11.2008 at 08:56 PM

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abu’s comment is:

well...

as this new Apple product is a platform agnostic web service, I'd say the branding is appropriate.

I mean, they're going to eat the dish of MS, Yahoo, and many "web 2.0" services, so they'are sucking the cliches of those brands to compose their one - a clever parody... sort of =)

On Jun.12.2008 at 07:06 PM

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Paul Lloyd Johnson’s comment is:

As a .Mac user, i'll still use my @mac.com address rather than the @me.com address I now have aswell. However, I don't understand why they didn't call it mobilemac? I suppose they are trying not to alienate PC users as really mobileme is way more than .Mac was, but still mobileme doesn't seem to fit into Apple's existing branding that well. I thought the same when the appletv came out too.

These twoword names look like the future naming system however. macbook, appletv and now mobileme.

Perhaps the iPhone will become the applephone? We shall wait and see. I may not like the name much, but to be honest, I like the logo and well 'cloud' is still better than 'mesh'.

On Jun.12.2008 at 08:26 PM

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Beth’s comment is:

I don't think you have to dumb it down to be accessible to everyone though. That's what this feels like. It is incredibly literal. I think you could give grandma a little more credit. (Especially if she's got an iphone...that's a pretty cool grandma!)

On Jun.12.2008 at 11:53 PM

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mog’s comment is:

MobileMe is a fairly abstract product - you can't walk into an Apple Store and be seduced by it - so I can understand the use of a pictogram to sort of "explain" the concept. And when it's displayed in a two-color version, or at small sizes, the icons are removed, leaving a simple cloud and the huge "me." Not bad at all.

On Jun.13.2008 at 06:27 AM

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David K.’s comment is:

I recall that many of the Mac faithful hated the change from iBook and PowerBook to MacBook and MacBook Pro. Few people question those name changes now, and I think most people will come to accept MobileMe within a year.

On Jun.13.2008 at 10:16 AM

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arnoldp’s comment is:

WTH/F?

On Jun.17.2008 at 02:22 PM

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Puppy’s comment is:

What's up with the Cottonelle inverted logo?
http://www.cottonelle.com

On Jun.30.2008 at 08:02 PM

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Sean’s comment is:

I love the new logo- it describes the service, what it does and how it does it perfectly. Even the daftest of daft could understand it. The 'me' doesn't look like Windows ME, look at the typography it's quite different.

On Jul.04.2008 at 03:38 PM

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Anonymous’s comment is:

Mobile me is not working. I cannot get into my .mac account all day. Wrote Apple and they sent me marketing links. There is no log in! Is it just me or is anyone else having similar problems? I've tried to access with Safari, Firefox and Opera, all latest versions. Was able to get .mac mail through Mail, but that's it. And no official word from Apple, other than marketing BS. Please respond if you have a workaround!
Thanks.

On Jul.10.2008 at 11:24 PM

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