A couple of commenters in yesterday’s Screens Around Town thread mentioned this “me too” similarity:
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A couple of commenters in yesterday’s Screens Around Town thread mentioned this “me too” similarity:
Gilbert
on 19 Jun 08I think the mobileme logo is Apple’s worst logo ever! Maybe they want to attract the Windows crowd too?
Ben J.
on 19 Jun 08That is kind of funny.
I agree it’s not a great logo but at least MobileMe won’t end going down in history as possibly the worst version of an operating system ever.
Jeff G.
on 19 Jun 08What is it that makes me think that MobileMe will be just a scosh easier to use and nicer looking than Windows ME…
Dmitry
on 19 Jun 08To be fair, the mobileme logo makes sense - the handwritten me symbolizes the personal and human element of the service, i.e. you. I don’t know why Microsoft chose to write their Millennium Editions “Me” like that. I like the mobileme logo - it looks nice and does the job—I think it’s biggest weakness is that it’s not distinctive enough, it’s just a little bit too plain and generic, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s Apple’s worst logo.
relativesanity
on 19 Jun 08Okay Dmitry, you got me – what is Apple’s worst logo?
I think this is one of those situations where two designers have approached a similar problem (make a tech product with “me” in the title friendly) and have solved it in similar ways. I also agree that I shuddered when it was unveiled.
I guess it’s been a long time since ME (Wasn’t it 1999?) and Vista pretty much wins the “biggest OS crash-and-burn” contest these days, so maybe Apple felt it was safe to go back in the water.
Still, if it had been me working up that logo, I wouldn’t have slept till I found another way…
Marc Tiedemann
on 19 Jun 08@ relativesanity agree! I feel what you’re saying in your last sentence.
Anchovy Dave
on 19 Jun 08MobileMe won’t end going down in history as possibly the worst version of an operating system ever.
Vista is a thousand times worse than ME was. While I would agree ME was a step down from 98, Vista was like falling off a cliff from XP.
the mobileme logo makes sense
It may make sense, but it looks like someone at Apple ripped off Microsoft. Thats just sad. Really sad.
Tor Løvskogen Bollingmo
on 19 Jun 08Dmitry, if we continue down that path, of making the type describe the service, would you typeset a logo for a dog kennel with a typeface made out of dogs?
AnkurJ
on 19 Jun 08I like the logo.
GeeIWonder
on 19 Jun 08To be fair, the mobileme logo makes sense – the handwritten me symbolizes the personal and human element of the service, i.e. you. I don’t know why Microsoft chose to write their Millennium Editions “Me” like that
I can’t understand this logic. It’s just begging the question. The Apple one is better because it’s better.
I don’t think it’s the worst ‘ripoff’ ever or anything, and probably not even the worst ‘similarity’ Apple has pulled. The 37s guys might disagree…
Jamie
on 19 Jun 08C’mon, wasn’t Microsoft Bob worse than both ME and Vista? (Ok, technically not an OS, per se, but definitely a colossal failure.)
Grant
on 19 Jun 08Despite my apple fan-boyish tendencies I’ve got to admit that, logo aside, I don’t even like the name. I’ve tried to get used to it, but it just feels weak – it seems to fall into the category of market-ease names with products that don’t live up to their potential. Now, I’m guessing apple’s service will be able to live up to the hype, but I don’t understand why they would lead with a name like this.
I think part of it is that I shudder a bit any time a large corporation tells me their solution is my solution. It’s a bit presumptive.
Arthur Klepchukov
on 19 Jun 08I think it’s biggest weakness is that it’s not distinctive enough, it’s just a little bit too plain and generic
I second Dmitry’s point. I understand the more casual, friendly approach with the ‘me’ – but why not focus on ‘mobility’ instead? The banners for mobile me feel a bit too cluttered with the cloud, the apps, an iMac, an iPhone, and a MacBook.
Dave Rau
on 19 Jun 08Despite the terrible logo and name, the service looks awesome.
brendan Lee
on 19 Jun 08I have an apple, not a fanboy, but it goes to show how much, ahem, apple is starting to look like the company they demonize …
and how design-by-peanut-gallery produces flaccid, derivative design.
They could have hired some bright-eyed kid out of school, and 9 out of 10 that kid would have done something more creative. Maybe not as “mature” or “corporate”, but it would have been more creative
bill
on 19 Jun 08Guess Apple is leaning its branding strategy to use more PC-like terms :P
After all, I guess most iPhone users connect their phones to PC’s iTunes.
Dudu P
on 19 Jun 08There something to notice:
It’s Windows M.E. —abbreviation for Millennium Edition. It also has that horrible explanation below it, which you can see makes its application terrible.
I don’t find the Mobile Me’s logo that terrible. I think it’s even does a good job—my problem is the name of the brand itself. It would be so much better if it was just called “Me”.
Every time I hear “mobile me”, I picture Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil. :)
Gavin Laking
on 19 Jun 08If they wanted to attract the Windows crowd they should of used Comic Sans MS as the typeface, those Windows users love that stuff. If they didn’t want to alienate Mac users they could have used Marker Felt. Nothing says ‘me’ more than handwriting I guess. Oh, other than my finger print or any one of my other ten million unique genetic properties.
Anonymous Coward
on 19 Jun 08I agree that it’s a lame name, but I never understood the Vista hating.
It runs great on my Tablet PC.
Rich
on 19 Jun 08I think Apple’s eWorld logo was their worst…
Ricky Irvine
on 19 Jun 08The real difference between these two logos, which no one seems to have recognized, is that the “Me” in the Windows ME logo appears very timid or afraid of something it sees and is backing into Windows for fear of it’s life.
The “me” in MobileMe is very confident and forward-moving.
They both sport some energy, but Windows ME is negative energy whereas MobileMe is positive energy.
This, to me, is the most important difference between the two logos.
Anonymous Coward
on 19 Jun 08Funny Dudu P, I dont see periods on the Windows Me Logo…
I agree that it’s a lame name, but I never understood the Vista hating.
No hatred, its just as slow as a snail in a salt maze. Even optimized on a computer that should run 2xs as fast, Vista is still slower than any of my XP installs. By default Vista gets in the way of everything you do. I shouldn’t have to buy gigs of memory to run my programs becasue Vista hogs most of it.
@Ricky, HUH? Maybe no one recognized this assumption cause… HUH? Also your site doesn’t work in IE6.
john
on 19 Jun 08@Gavin If they wanted to attract the Mac crowd they should have used a douche-bag with low sling jeans to sell their [product xyz]. Those Mac users love that stuff.
Charles
on 19 Jun 08To avoid controversy, Apple has renamed the product:
Free Universal Customer Knowledge/Mobile Edition.
Or better known as F.U.C.K./M.E.
Anchovy Dave
on 19 Jun 08@Charles
LMAO!
Ricky Irvine
on 19 Jun 08@Anonymous Coward — Thanks for the IE6 heads up. It used to work, but it looks like there’s a width issue pushing the body down.
And…look at the “me” type forms! They communicate differently. Even if MobileMe and Windows ME were next to each other on the same shelf in the same store (which wouldn’t happen for 2 really important reasons), one would attract and one would repel.
Outside Apple’s expected design context, their MobileMe logo is a good one because it works — I don’t mean it’s adequate — I mean it really works for them.
Ben
on 19 Jun 08That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the Keynote, it kind of made my gut wrench, no joke.
You’d think they would want to stay as far away from that as possible.
Derick
on 19 Jun 08Not to mention the fact that MobileMe’s tag line is “Exchange for the rest of us.” At this rate the new iMac will have seven different blinking status lights, some to the right and some below the screen.
David Andersen
on 19 Jun 08I think the whole “me”- “my” (My Yahoo, My Reports, My Documents) personalization meme has jumped the shark. Time to drop the false intimacy.
apmeehan
on 20 Jun 08Interesting, Ricky. Something about the Windows logo just didn’t sit right, but I couldnt put my finger on what until you got out your hammer and hit the head of that nail therewith.
Graphic design/typography graduate I guess? :)
MIchael
on 20 Jun 08As usual Apple does it better.
joshMshep
on 20 Jun 08I am shocked Apple would dredge up bad memories of WindowsMe, the worst version ever released of Windows. (It was Microsoft trying to combine Windows95 with WindowsNT, but without any real coding – total disaster.)
I had WindowsMe on an HP laptop bought in 01. It was the curse of my life – was in repair more than in use.
Peter Cooper
on 20 Jun 08These are ‘similar’? I’m assuming the ‘similarity’ here is the word ‘me’, despite being in different colors (one even with a gradient) and using radically different fonts (one being separated letters in a whimsical display face, the other seeming to be a custom joined-cursive.. perhaps not even a ‘font’ at all).
There seem to be many false cries of ‘rip-off’ and ‘similarities’ between visual types.. some of it is warranted, but if people think these two examples are similar, at least their opticians shouldn’t be going out of business any time soon!
V
on 20 Jun 08Apple shares dropped in my heart!
Matt Radel
on 20 Jun 08As bad as the logo is, I really feel that the name of the service is the real strike against Apple. Someone in Apple marketing/branding has truly screwed the pooch here.
But it looks like a cool service, finally .Mac that’s actually worth the money – so it’ll prolly be successful despite its terrible name & logo. For what it’s worth, I am happy that the name didn’t involve some sort of “i” prefix.
JF
on 20 Jun 08The real difference between these two logos, which no one seems to have recognized, is that the “Me” in the Windows ME logo appears very timid or afraid of something it sees and is backing into Windows for fear of it’s life. The “me” in MobileMe is very confident and forward-moving.
Great observation, Ricky.
Alastair
on 20 Jun 08”...service looks awsome..”
Duh!! it is the same mail client which I use everyday.. granted they did change the colors, I hardly call that a feature leap!
GeeIWonder
on 20 Jun 08It doesn’t look like it’s backing away to me. The ‘e’ has an earlier ‘pen’ lift, but the size of the logo was never as small (I don’t think—was it?) as it’s shown here, so no wonder it looks ‘timid’.
CJ Curtis
on 20 Jun 08Pretty embarassing logo, if you ask me.
Almost as bad as the Verizon redesign a few years ago.
It’s strange to me when huge companies put out logos and such that makes you think the designer just got their first version of Photoshop and they’re finding all the “neat things” they can do to otherwise ridiculously boring text.
Grover
on 23 Jun 08I’d be inclined to agree, but I don’t flinch at “MacBook” anymore and grown men are marching into stores and comfortably asking for a “Wii”, so at this point I’m reserving judgement on pretty much all branding.
This discussion is closed.