One Writer's Story about Upgrading His Ipod
Entry for Sunday, 13 July 2008
I have an Ipod (two actually). One is the newer "Itouch" - not to be confused with a sexual harassment warning. It has only two buttons: One to turn it on, off and asleep, the other to "Wake" it, and move from an active program to the home screen. If you want to know more - go to the Apple.com site. This is a story about Upgrades.
I synchronized the Itouch a few days ago and up came a note saying that there is an upgrade that will allow my Itouch to stay current with files shared with the Desktop and laptop Macintosh computers. This sounds like a good deal because I need to keep my contact list (now over 500 contacts) identical for all three devices. I click "Tell me more" and so began this tale - three days and many hours looking at unhappy faces - mine and on the computer screen.
I visited the website and clicked "Learn More" and find out that the upgrade is not free. The price wasn't much as these things go. So I clicked the "Buy Now" button. My First Mistake.
The first thing that happened was a notice appeared "The Itunes Store is currently unavailable - try again later." WTF?!? Okay - so they took my money and then tell me that I can't download my purchase because the store wasn't available? The store seemed happy enough with my money but not happy enough to relinquish my purchase. Imagine paying for a case of beer and then find the cooler is locked. Your money is already in the register and the person behind the counter is already dealing with the next customer.
I tried several times over these last few days. The sites have NO - "Contact us with problems" button. The store was definitely NOT available for three days. Earlier today was I was able to get to the store. The download started but - wouldn't you know it? the download halted in midstream - the case of beer is still closed and halfway from the cooler and then pulled back into the cooler. Several hours later, I tried again several times. No dice.
TONIGHT it finally arrived and installed and works.
I will say this about Apple, Inc. They could do a LOT better when releasing updated software. They shouldn't offer an upgrade immediately after releasing the most sought after cell phones in cell phone history. Poor timing. They could have a "Contact Us" button for downloads that don't happen over a three day period.
On this topic - Apple was nearly (NEARLY) as bad as Microsoft - and you have to travel down a steep trail a long time to get down there with Microsoft. I hope Apple is not trying for a NEW LOW in service.
The dogs liked the walk last night. I think they were a bit tired today. They slept most of the day away - or at least the portions of the day I was able to be home. I also napped because the schedule work ran long after midnight. Life is sometimes like that.
I have been looking for movies with Buce WIllis in them. I usually like his work and the characters he protrays appeal to me - underdog with little chance of success until he gets "upset" and then cooly deals with the "Bad Persons". So, with NetFlix's extensive collection as my agent, I've been tracking down BW's movies.
I watched him in "Last Man Standing" Friday night. It was possibly the worst movie - story and acting - I've had to sit through with BW in it. The premise was a bit off: He's a hired shooter seeking "Down Time" by heading for Mexico. He stops in a dusty dying Texas town near the Mexican border. There are two gangs in town warring over the alcohol trade (substitute drugs for a more modern setting) and he decides to get in the middle by seeking employment from each gang to do bad things to the other gang. The dialog is so badly miked that I understood less than half of what paid actors said. There were at least two heavy thunderstorms in less than five days - not common in dusty Texas in the 1930's. The action scenes were nothing more than BW pulling out two automatic pistols (45 Cal) and blazing away at many equally armed folks who are shooting back. In the whole movie, he is wounded once. He manages to kill 23+ men - I lost count late in the boredom. If you get a chance to miss this one - take it.
MTF,
Doc
Grade: 5.4
I must be grumpy today. My whole post is complaining about things- not whining exactly, but not a very happy post. (sigh)
I have an Ipod (two actually). One is the newer "Itouch" - not to be confused with a sexual harassment warning. It has only two buttons: One to turn it on, off and asleep, the other to "Wake" it, and move from an active program to the home screen. If you want to know more - go to the Apple.com site. This is a story about Upgrades.
I synchronized the Itouch a few days ago and up came a note saying that there is an upgrade that will allow my Itouch to stay current with files shared with the Desktop and laptop Macintosh computers. This sounds like a good deal because I need to keep my contact list (now over 500 contacts) identical for all three devices. I click "Tell me more" and so began this tale - three days and many hours looking at unhappy faces - mine and on the computer screen.
I visited the website and clicked "Learn More" and find out that the upgrade is not free. The price wasn't much as these things go. So I clicked the "Buy Now" button. My First Mistake.
The first thing that happened was a notice appeared "The Itunes Store is currently unavailable - try again later." WTF?!? Okay - so they took my money and then tell me that I can't download my purchase because the store wasn't available? The store seemed happy enough with my money but not happy enough to relinquish my purchase. Imagine paying for a case of beer and then find the cooler is locked. Your money is already in the register and the person behind the counter is already dealing with the next customer.
I tried several times over these last few days. The sites have NO - "Contact us with problems" button. The store was definitely NOT available for three days. Earlier today was I was able to get to the store. The download started but - wouldn't you know it? the download halted in midstream - the case of beer is still closed and halfway from the cooler and then pulled back into the cooler. Several hours later, I tried again several times. No dice.
TONIGHT it finally arrived and installed and works.
I will say this about Apple, Inc. They could do a LOT better when releasing updated software. They shouldn't offer an upgrade immediately after releasing the most sought after cell phones in cell phone history. Poor timing. They could have a "Contact Us" button for downloads that don't happen over a three day period.
On this topic - Apple was nearly (NEARLY) as bad as Microsoft - and you have to travel down a steep trail a long time to get down there with Microsoft. I hope Apple is not trying for a NEW LOW in service.
The dogs liked the walk last night. I think they were a bit tired today. They slept most of the day away - or at least the portions of the day I was able to be home. I also napped because the schedule work ran long after midnight. Life is sometimes like that.
I have been looking for movies with Buce WIllis in them. I usually like his work and the characters he protrays appeal to me - underdog with little chance of success until he gets "upset" and then cooly deals with the "Bad Persons". So, with NetFlix's extensive collection as my agent, I've been tracking down BW's movies.
I watched him in "Last Man Standing" Friday night. It was possibly the worst movie - story and acting - I've had to sit through with BW in it. The premise was a bit off: He's a hired shooter seeking "Down Time" by heading for Mexico. He stops in a dusty dying Texas town near the Mexican border. There are two gangs in town warring over the alcohol trade (substitute drugs for a more modern setting) and he decides to get in the middle by seeking employment from each gang to do bad things to the other gang. The dialog is so badly miked that I understood less than half of what paid actors said. There were at least two heavy thunderstorms in less than five days - not common in dusty Texas in the 1930's. The action scenes were nothing more than BW pulling out two automatic pistols (45 Cal) and blazing away at many equally armed folks who are shooting back. In the whole movie, he is wounded once. He manages to kill 23+ men - I lost count late in the boredom. If you get a chance to miss this one - take it.
MTF,
Doc
Grade: 5.4
I must be grumpy today. My whole post is complaining about things- not whining exactly, but not a very happy post. (sigh)