MobileMess: Why I Won't Be Renewing My MobileMe Subscription

I've been waiting patiently for Apple to get their shit in gear, but I can't hold my tongue any longer. MobileMe has thus far been a total failure. Every feature included in Apple's subscription service is available for free elsewhere. And you know what? The free versions are better!

Email.
As far as email goes, me.com is sluggish and unpredictable. My emails go through about half the time. If I don't remember to save an email as a draft before sending it, I risk losing the email forever. As someone who considers email writing an art form, I take more time than most in crafting my emails. When they then disappear without a trace, I get pretty ticked off, as you might have guessed from the tone of this post. Despite having had a .Mac/MobileMe account for almost a year, I still use Gmail as my primary personal email address. It's fast. It's reliable. Google is constantly making improvements to Gmail. It threads emails. It has server-side filters. It operates without requiring the unnecessary and obtrusive extra window that MobileMe uses for all replies. Gmail is just plain better. And it's free.

*I've had much less trouble using MobileMe with Leopard's built-in "Mail" program. However, as discussed in an earlier post, I believe Thunderbird is a far superior desktop client, so I don't use Mail at all anymore.

iDisk.
iDisk is temperamental. Upload speeds vary greatly. The web version is clunky and sluggish. No matter what I try, Leopard's "Backup" refuses to upload my Home Folder to my iDisk. I'm not sure what good having online storage space is, if I can't backup my files to it. Considering that I'm unable to backup my Home Folder to my iDisk, numerous other free services like GMX and Box.net are sufficient for storing and sharing individual files.

Calendars.
MobileMe is STILL unable to sync subscription calendars with the iPhone! That means my shared Gcal calendars have to be accessed using Mobile Safari, rather than using the iPhone's built-in Calendar app. Yes, there are workarounds, but they're obnoxious and not worth the trouble (I refuse to sync my iPhone with my Macbook Pro three times a day just to keep my calendars relatively current). As a result, I don't use iCal or the iPhone's Calendar app. I use Gcal. It's better looking, it allows me to keep all my calendars in one place, and it's free. Score another one for Google.

Conclusion.
These are the most important MobileMe features for me. And they're all easily replaced with free services. Moreover, I haven't seen a single legitimate update to MobileMe in weeks. It's as if Apple has given up on MobileMe altogether. Sure, "Push" email on the iPhone is nice (when it works), but it's not worth the hassle of dealing with the rest of the crap MobileMe throws at you.

Anyone out there see a reason to renew my MobileMe subscription when it expires?