Posts filed under 'mac'
I’ve been a user of Apple products since grade school where I fell in love with them. When I was 13 my parents gave me an Apple II+. 20 years later I still use Apple products on a daily basis.
The recent release on the iPhone was an exciting day for me. I’ve used previous smartphone products before the last being the Samsung Blackjack. That particular phone got so much wrong I returned it the next week. During my return I told the Cingular rep that if Apple were to ever make a phone product I’d buy it on the spot.
Here we are 3 months and 3 software updates later. While I’m very happy to see software updates for a phone, I’m disappointed in your lack of willingness to supply end users with DRM free ringtones, flash drive support and UI customizations.
At this point I have a virgin iPhone running 1.0.2. I have no intent of upgrading until one of the following two things occur.
#1) Apple stops pandering to the music industry in regards to ringtones. I have custom ringtones on my iPhone now from songs I own legally. I refuse to pay Apple one cent more for the priviledge of having a ringtone. That is just absurd. There is absolutely no technical reason why iPhone users can’t use any AAC/MP3 file for a ringtone. You’re forcing users down this rabbit hole for the music industry and your own profits. Stop the madness, your ringtone solution sucks.
#2) The user community comes up with a solution to allow custom ringtones as they work today on firmware 1.0.2. I have tremendous faith that the user community will shine again and hack your “secured” firmware. Just like other companies who have failed in their attempts to stop their respective user communities (Microsoft and Sony) you will fail as well.
While we’re on the topic of customizations let me discuss some features I’d like to see in the iPhone. I’d like my custom wallpaper to be displayed on the springboard and not just when the phone is in a call or locked. What UI designer came up with that stupid idea? Scary.
How about showing a little more feedback about calendar events. This is a smartphone after all, so let’s have it act a little more intelligently regarding events. Show a visible number indicator on the calendar icon for the number of events currently listed for that day. When alerted about an event, allow me to snooze the event for additional time. It should function just like Outlook in this regard.
Allow customization for the order of springboard icons and allow customization of which icons reside in the dock. Again, how could your UI designers miss this? Why would that be locked down?
I’m glad to hear that your allowing rotation of email attachments in 1.1.1 firmware but why stop there. Allow for the rotation of all applications like Mail itself, Google Maps, and Notes. The ability to rotate really improves the keyboard not just the screen width.
I personally could care less about iPhone games or iPhone hacking, but I do want simple yet meaningful features that are in almost every other smart phone. Apple, stop the madness. Stop catering to the music industry and refocus your attention on the true fans of your products. We buy your PowerPC Macs, then switch to IntelMac’s. We buy your iPod’s and iPhone’s yet this is how you repay us? By forcing silly restrictions on content we’ve already purchased.
I’ve already started using Amazon’s new MP3 service. I bought a DRM free album today in fact that you also carry. I paid a dollar less on Amazon and I got DRM free and account free music. It’s time to stop sleep walking Apple and to start paying attention to your paying customers. Stop ruining the iPhone.
September 27th, 2007
Finally stepped up to Aperture yesterday. I’d been using the trial ever since we got home from Kona. Managing 1,700+ photos in iPhoto just isn’t happening anymore. The main reason for my switch to Aperture was library management. iPhoto has pretty poor library management for someone like me who has 80GBs of digital photos stored on external media.
The reason I say this is because iPhoto doesn’t have a built in method for managing photos. You basically drop some photos into iPhoto and that’s it. There is no ability to relocate them, move them to different drives, or check them out for editing locally. Aperture handles this functionality.
When I was in Kona I stored all my original files on a portable external drive then linked them to iPhoto. Problem was when I got home I moved those files from the portable drive to my main external storage. Back in iPhoto I attempted to start editing my photos. iPhoto kept throwing hundreds of errors, one for each photo, all 1,700 of them. iPhoto didn’t know what to do because the original files had been moved and it has no method of automatically relinking them.
If I were using Aperture I could have simply told it that the master files had been relocated to my external storage and it would have relinked them all automatically.
Besides the library management functionality Aperture has more adjustments and better RAW support. I’m currently not shooting in RAW but will once I get a DSLR. Aperture also never maintains more than one image file for a photo. In iPhoto you’d be creating duplicates of your images when you edit them, taking up hard drive space in the process. Aperture creates versions of your master image storing metadata for the edits instead of duplicating the image. Very handy. This is beneficial to me as well because I have a separate back up plan for my master images and now I can have my edits managed through Aperture and use it’s built in back up to store them separately.
I’ve been very happy with Aperture 1.5 so far and look forward to any upcoming releases. I’m assuming one is around the corner because I just bought the product. This usually happens to me when I buy something, soon afterwards a new version/model is announced. I’m guessing there will be some kind of update for Mac OS X.5 (Leopard) as well.
September 17th, 2007
I spent a good deal of my morning researching the my Apple iPhone Credit issue, even with a nasty hangover (Neighborhood parties FTW!). After trying multiple times to get the credit via Apple’s online web app, I decided it was time to take my iPhone back to AT&T and see what they could do for me.
Since I had (have) a hangover, I felt I’d give AppleCare one last college try. I spoke with a very nice woman who was very understanding of my frustrations. She even seemed to believe me when I told her that there must be a mistake somewhere in a database between Apple and AT&T because I truly have never returned my iPhone or acquired a replacement. After placing me on hold several times to speak with different people and departments, she deflatedly told me I have to call Apple Customer Relations. “They’re only open Monday through Friday”, she said. So that sucks. But, she gave me a case number this time and told me to call back as early as I could. Ok, fine. I can wait until Monday.
While messing around with our new iMac downstairs, I fired up Safari and gave Apple iPhone Store Credit one last shot in the dark. It’s not going to work I told myself. I was bored so what the hell, right? I enter in my cell number and the iPhone serial number, which I’ve committed to long term memory at this point. Click on the blue “Continue” button and sigh.
Wait a minute… WTF IS THIS! OMG! “Please enter your SMS code.” Success! YES! After waiting a few moments for my SMS code, I plug it into the site and boom, I’ve got my $100 store credit. Wow, unreal.
I truly believe that the nice woman I spoke to continued to work on my case even after we hung up. She went out of her way to help me in the first place, the typical response I’ve been getting from AppleCare support was to email iphonestorecredit@apple.com. Instead of that canned response, she setup a case and worked to close it. Excellent job!
All in all, it was a frustrating experience attempting to get the credit however in the end Apple again pulls it out. This is why I continue to buy their products. They didn’t even need to offer a credit in the first place but they did. And even though I had trouble getting access to my credit, I was successful at the end of the day and that’s what counts.
September 15th, 2007
Update: Apple now says that I’ve had my phone replaced. Haha! How could my phone have been replaced when the IMEI number on my original receipt and the IMEI on my iPhone match? /boggle
Apple says my iPhone isn’t eligible for the credit because I no longer own it. You see, Apple says I returned my iPhone to the iPhone God’s.
I beg to differ.
So, Apple… where is my $100 credit? I’ve been on the phone with you guys 4 different times this afternoon plus I’ve sent my email to iphonestorecredit@apple.com. I’m pretty upset by this whole process. I know that a majority of people have had success, including my brother, but I’ve had the complete opposite. I talked with Apple Sales, AppleCare, AT&T Business Care (I am a business customer after all), and finally an Apple Store employee. No one can tell me what to do other than send an email to an address that replies with an automated response:
Dear Customer,
Your email has been received and your information is being reviewed.
We are making every effort to respond quickly to your inquiry. Please expect a response in 48 to 72 hours.
Thank you for taking the time to write to Apple. And thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
Apple Inc.
I spent $3500 two weeks ago in my local Apple Store. I love Apple products. I’ve never had any issues with anything like this before. So, I’m blaming AT&T for this mess with my iPhone. Why? Because I bought my phone from AT&T instead of directly from Apple. BIG MISTAKE.
In the meantime, I’m waiting for my $100 credit so I can spend even more money at an Apple Store.
September 14th, 2007
My youth has been recovered and found on Xbox Live Arcade. When Marathon 2 was released by Bungie Studios in 1995, I was a young 21 years of age. I was a Bungie fanatic already having become obsessed with Marathon through their first Marathon game in 1994.
The classic Marathon 2 that I played for years on Macintosh has been announced for release on the Xbox 360 Arcade. I’m freaking ecstatic at this news! I’m sure my wife is not. Although this version will offer co-op for the campaign which is a first in the series.
Visit Freeverse, the company responsible for the port, and check out their videos and screen shots.
Don’t forget, myself and some old online friends published a map pack for Marathon Infinity back in the day.
July 11th, 2007
And I seriously thought I’d be able to resist the temptation to own an iPhone. Haha! That lasted about 12 hours after the official release on Friday.
So far the phone has been fantastic. I really didn’t buy it because it’s a phone, I consider that a really nice bonus. I’ve been wanting a new MacBook Pro for awhile mainly for playing games. But then I came to realize (duh) that I have way too many games. Why do I need another laptop for games? What I really needed was a mobile device that was small and portable. Enter the iPhone.
With the ability to get all my email, surf the web using a real web browser, and play music + movies this was the device. Plus it makes phone calls!
As with any new toy, it’s getting a lot of use right now. We’ll see how that pans out over the course of the next couple months. Will I continue to use it daily or will it turn into a typical phone? I’m hopeful I can start using the iPhone instead of my Powerbook for daily tasks.
July 6th, 2007
Wooters! Thank you Panic!
December 19th, 2005
Completely out of left field, unexpected, and totally AWESOME, one of the premier Macintosh software developers and just a great group of people out in Oregon, Panic, has obtained the holy grail of t-shirts.
The one and only official licensee for Katamari Damacy apparel is now Panic. I’ve always loved their shirts. From the first time I got a free one at Macworld Expo SF for purchasing a license to their ftp software, Transmit. Steven talks about how this came to be in his personal blog, very interesting indeed! I’ve already placed an order for two shirts (elephant and feeling [army]) and you should too. Buy these t-shirts now!
December 14th, 2005
Aspyr announced the cancellation of two games today, some CSI port and the expansion pack to the Black Hawk Down series. Neither of which I’d ever purchase but the reasons behind the cancelling of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre is troubling.
The decision to put Team Sabre on hold was more of a monetary decision. The original Delta Force: Black Hawk Down game did so poorly on the Mac, there simply was no way Aspyr could turn a profit on the expansion pack.
Ouch. This is not good, not good at all in my humble opinion. Why? Well, Aspyr then stated they’re focused on bringing “A” titles to the Mac, like The Sims 2 or Star Wars Battlefront. Hmm. What if I don’t like the current “A” flavor of the month? What if I want something like Pirates! or KOTOR II? I’m a mobile gamer, I enjoy playing in various locations around the house or when I’m on the bus or away for the weekend. I bring my Powerbook and handheld consoles everywhere. I want to play great games on my Powerbook and I refuse to own another PC laptop.
Who decides what is an “A” title versus a “B” title anyway? I know the Black Hawk series sold somewhat well on the PC but why was the first game ported to Mac anyway? The game was released during a period where the Mac was getting a flood of new FPS (first person shooter) games, BH just got lost on the shelf. We need big titles, that have massive PC ad campaigns. We need simultaneous releases of big “A” titles. Blizzard has finally started to develop Mac and PC versions of their games at the same time. This was not always the case. I remember waiting for years for the original Diablo and Starcraft. Aspyr, I know you’re hiring developers amd I know Blizzard doesn’t have a huge team of Mac developers, but you need to start slimming down those porting times. We need weeks, not months of lag time. We need patches released in a much quicker fashion than never or years later. We’re still waiting for a Homeworld 2 patch for Tiger. What about Punkbuster support for Raven Shield? Star Wars Battlefront online fix? These are your big titles, where is the support? It took more than year for you guys to release the much needed Battlefield 1942 patch and look what happened? It created a fire storm of support for the year and half old title. Yet, you’re still selling it for over $60 with the expansion pack Secret Weapons. Where’s the complete deluxe package like the PC has for $20?
I really hope that Mac gaming continues to “survive”. With the dismissal online feature set of an “A” title like Star Wars Battlefront lacking GameSpy support (that hurts big time) not to mention it being a year behind the PC and console versions. How can people be buying Battlefront without GameSpy? Hell, the PS2 version uses GameSpy AND allows you to play on any available PC server and the Mac version can’t even manage to get Mac to Mac play working out of the box correctly. Add in Apple moving to Intel chipsets, the future doesn’t look so bright for the Mac publishers staying power. It’s very frustrating to be a Mac gamer sometimes and when I hear about game cancellations it gets even more aggravating because of all the missed opportunities I see. Someone needs to right this ship and do it fast.
August 23rd, 2005
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