They make kit that's not shit and embarrassing to explain to non-spoddy types.
So many conversations contain the phrase "I'm sorry. Computers are just rubbish." and yet we put up with it. (And of course computers being rubbish and hateful keeps me in work)
You know, when the Android phone did one or other thing (pulling in another GCalendar or something equally trivial) I actually found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. As if in return for some consumer device working properly I had been so conditioned to cynical disappointment by the general hatefulness of the things that I fully expected the thing to catch fire out of spite.
Yes. They make computer appliances. I find this offensive sometimes (I want something I can tinker with), but I also understand that this makes them better for the general population.
I believe it's still true that the Mac Pro I had until recently was the most capable and reliable Unix workstation I've used. (out of a NeXT, a couple of currant-buns, one or two HPUX boxen and a set of Deadrat and FreeBSD machines)
The Mac Mini is nearly as good, but it's let down by the speed of the HD.
But the same flaws exist with Apple. E.g., my gf and I wanted to play a video that was on her IPod on my computer. So I went to copy the file, and was faced with a folder full of incomprehensible filenames. Maybe I had to install ITunes? But even there, we weren't sure if it would end up syncing with her device, modifying what was on there.
I've seen OS X crash ("it's a driver problem"). I've seen an Apple laptop refuse to wake up from sleep, and refusing to reboot until the battery was left to run out (because you can't even take the battery out). When I first tried to use OS X, I didn't know what the red/yellow/blue traffic lights were meant to do, because I didn't even get any popup text with the mouse.
An IPhone couldn't even do something as simple as copy and paste for years, and I believe still can't run anything like Swype. And you have to explain to people that they've now got to charge their phone every day "I'm sorry, that's how smartphones [apparently] are". If someone's got an IPod Shuffle, you have to explain that their replacement headphones have to be bought from Apple.
Nothing here is anything worse than problems with other companies, but it's also no better - it's all the same kind of embarrassing stuff you have to explain to non-spoddy types.
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andrewducker) wrote2011-08-28 09:58 pm
no subject
So many conversations contain the phrase "I'm sorry. Computers are just rubbish." and yet we put up with it. (And of course computers being rubbish and hateful keeps me in work)
You know, when the Android phone did one or other thing (pulling in another GCalendar or something equally trivial) I actually found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. As if in return for some consumer device working properly I had been so conditioned to cynical disappointment by the general hatefulness of the things that I fully expected the thing to catch fire out of spite.
no subject
no subject
I believe it's still true that the Mac Pro I had until recently was the most capable and reliable Unix workstation I've used. (out of a NeXT, a couple of currant-buns, one or two HPUX boxen and a set of Deadrat and FreeBSD machines)
The Mac Mini is nearly as good, but it's let down by the speed of the HD.
no subject
I've seen OS X crash ("it's a driver problem"). I've seen an Apple laptop refuse to wake up from sleep, and refusing to reboot until the battery was left to run out (because you can't even take the battery out). When I first tried to use OS X, I didn't know what the red/yellow/blue traffic lights were meant to do, because I didn't even get any popup text with the mouse.
An IPhone couldn't even do something as simple as copy and paste for years, and I believe still can't run anything like Swype. And you have to explain to people that they've now got to charge their phone every day "I'm sorry, that's how smartphones [apparently] are". If someone's got an IPod Shuffle, you have to explain that their replacement headphones have to be bought from Apple.
Nothing here is anything worse than problems with other companies, but it's also no better - it's all the same kind of embarrassing stuff you have to explain to non-spoddy types.