Armchair CEO: Apple
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Dumb and Bummer
dealmac forum - eBay drops support for Macs!!!
Well, we suspected this a few weeks ago when my wife and I tried to put up an auction and couldn't get the pics to load. Ebay now doesn't like macs... Just like a lot of IT guys, school systems, developers, idiots, panderers, pornophiles, cheeseheads, fruit bats, and morons. What good company? But what do you expect from a company that bought a quasi-legal monopoly like "Paypal?"
The less I say about all this the better, as my feelings are obviously biased. Having been a web developer and webmaster, let me just say this: EBAY IS BEING LAZY AND CHEAP.
Further, I call upon all Macintosh users to boycott ebay and email them with feedback regarding this issue. It should be a relatively simple fix. Hell, I've been to iPix, and if THEY can get it to work, surely ebay (a company that's actually generated tons of profit) can do it too.
The great irony here? ebay is now "powered by IBM." Yep, the same company making the fastest chips for Apple has made it impossible for Mac users to do a very simple task: put photos in their auctions.
Last word on this: I know you can host it yourself. But, the point of using a mac is to make things simpler. This, clearly, defeats that point. Perhaps some enterprising young software developer will release some shareware that will post pics on ebay without all the hassle? Perhaps hosting the pics on a .Mac account? Hmmm...
Call me, let's discuss!
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
My littleiBook takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'
At least, we'll see... So I discovered the little plastic thingie in my Firewire port broke in my iBook. The downside of having a laptop is that it's almost impossible to fix things like that, because the controllers are primarily built into the motherboard. DOH!
Not that it laptops couldn't be engineered a little differently. But the cost would go up. What the average consumer doesn't realize is that Dell, and other PC "commodity" brokers are pricing quality out of the equation. Apple used to tow the line on this, and got a rep for being *really expensive.* That's not so true anymore, and they have by and large managed to keep quality up, but gone are the bulletproof days of yore.
Actually, this iBook has suffered numerous insults that normally would kill a lesser laptop.
*water spilled into the keyboard
*dropped
*lid slammed shut
*lots of dusty/hairy/fuzzy environments
*a baby
*general abuse
I could go on, but it's late. Point is, the only thing that the iBook has to show in the way of scars now is a slightly scuffed case, slightly yellowed exterior, sometimes shady backlight, and this broken firewire port which I might very well be able to fix with a little superglue...
Rock on!
Rotten Apples
MacFixIt - Troubleshooting Solution for the Macintosh
Sometimes ease-of-use will kick you in the nuts and leave your computer crying in its sleep mode.
Case in point, Apple's latest .release fiasco. Having been a victim of a previous screwup (some 10.2.x update fried my battery by overcharging it-- and as I speak my iBook's battery is trying to charge, despite being plugged in all night and being BRAND NEW), I'm glad I didn't "update" this time. In fact, I almost did, but something in my head told me to wait and make sure there weren't problems.
Now, imagine if I were an IT guy at a company. Isn't this exactly the kind of thing that Microsoft has to guard against? That is, a reluctance to apply a patch because of the fear it will do more harm than good? Yep. And Apple, in the midst of trying to build an enterprise strategy, is rapidly developing that fear in the minds of everyday Mac users. Brilliant.
Worse, the update killed ethernet for some people (Apple claims a "small number") which means when a fix is posted, how will they get it? No doubt some people who aren't so technically savvy are sitting at home right now wondering why in the hell they bought a mac, when their uncle's eMachine is chugging right along in Windows 98... Even worse yet is that those people, upon reviewing their documentation, are figuring they're just going to have to shell out $50 to call Apple for the fix (which can be accomplished with a Jaguar CD and some patience).
At least calling Apple is an infinitely more pleasant experience than calling Microsoft. Or even Dell for that matter.
Case in point, if you ever have a problem with Windows on a brand-new PC, Microsoft will refer you to the manufacturer because the OS is an "OEM" version (meaning it came with the PC). But the PC manufacturer will refer you to Microsoft because *they* made the OS!!! A business where I worked once lost days of use for a new Dell because of this "circular logic."
That's when Apple's whole widget philosophy makes sense, lousy updates or no.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Koo koo ka choo!
Beatles group sues Apple over trademark | CNET News.com
Well, in a very trippy move the happy and clearly starving artists formerly known as the "Beatles" are suing Apple-- again.
The details are available all over the web, and this was really expected. What's sad is that Apple is singlehandedly doing more to save recorded music than anyone else, and they are now being rewarded by the "world's greatest band ever" by yet another asinine lawsuit.
What Apple ought to do is buy back all of the Beatles songs from Michael "Freakass" Jackson, and give them back to their rightful owners. That would be a fair settlement, considering the Beatles don't need any money really.
And how many people get Apple records mixed up with the computer company?
No, this is just a chip on the shoulders of the parties involved. Personally, I think the Beatles are acting like little babies. I also cringe at the fact that Apple has to put up with this crap.
Ironically both the Beatles and Apple represent what should be the best of our silly species. Great music, great computer/OS. Had Apple computers been around in the 60's, they would have used Macs to mix their albums. In fact, a majority of music is created on the mac, and iPods are the new musical fetish.
Not to mention the success of the iPod and how it appears to be the only DRM/online musical service that makes sense and money.
What the hell is the problem?
And supposedly Paul was the walrus? More like jackass if you ask me.
