Blush off the Apple
: I used to be a diehard Apple fan. But then I had a string of machines that were not red but yellow; they were lemons. I deserted Apple.
I’ve been tiptoeing back. I got my iPod Mini and yesterday I picked up an Airport Express.
But…
The iPod crashed bad last night — because of Apple’s own iPod updater. Thing was working fine. But after updating it wants to be plugged in. It didn’t think it was plugged in and wouldn’t do anything else. Resets didn’t work. Then a reset apparently hosed the drive. iPod dead. I call Apple; wait forever; told I’m six days past my 90-day phone time; I say it was their goddamned updater that did this to me; he listens; he agrees. iPod dead.
I’d play Taps… if I could.
Fred Wilsons’ iPod crashed yesterday. Om Malik’s iPod died, too. Dreaded clicking noise, just like mine.
The Airport Express is OK, but setup wasn’t the breeze it’s supposed to be. Worse, when I tried to follow the instructions to set up profiles, it kept crashing my Vaio (Apple’s revenge). And the instructions bear no resemblance to the software.
The problem with Apple for years now has been that it pays more attention to design, aesthetics, UI, and advertising than it does to nitty-gritty technical matters. I was thinking about buying a Mac again. Now I’m doubting it.
: UPDATE: Om says it’s more than a coincidence, it’s a good news story: The iPod updater is killing iPods.
: UPDATE: See the post above. A good Apple manager listened to my problem and whining and went the extra mile to try to solve it. And that is the kind of customer service conversation that keeps me around.
