Image from source, The Last Word

Oh, the Cult of Mac must be in full swoon at this news. I've always thought that Steve Jobs was pretty cool (in the 80s he was kind of adorkable), though I've had unpleasant run-ins with his company's followers. I think that without Jobs, the 2000s and beyond would look a bit different, and probably not as plugged in. And even if Apple has produced some ugly things (the toilet seat notebook), some things that didn't age well (the original jellybean iMac), and some irritating fans, they've also pushed the computer and media world along with them. It's doubtful I'd have an Android phone/music player without Steve Jobs.

[Excerpt]

Steve Jobs steps down from Apple

The man who brought us the iPod, iPad and those tiny white "buds" that snugly tuck inside ears is stepping down from his position as Apple CEO. Steve Jobs formally announced his resignation today, sending shock-waves through the tech and business world. . .

Read more at: The Last Word

Rewind: Apple's Keyboardless Mac (The Onion)

For some reason, an old post I put up from The Onion has been gathering hits today. I couldn't remember the clip, so I just watched it.  It holds up a year and a half later, and is funnier after having actually gotten an iPod and a Mac laptop.

My Applephobia has taken a slight turn. After familiarizing myself with Mac OS X, and iTunes and whatnot, I'm not as allergic to the whole iExperience anymore. But I do still find the alleged "intuitiveness" of iProducts to be vastly overstated, and the cultish behavior of Cult of Mac enthusiasts to be at turns fascinating, amusing and sad. But who knows. I could still get sucked in. . .

iPad Security Breach

Image from source, Business Insider

Wait, wait, wait. I thought this sort of thing only affected Windows-based products! Isn't that what the Cult of Mac is always saying?  Poor Steve Jobs. First he had an iFail at his iPhone demo, and now this?  Bill Gates has probably hurt himself laughing by now.

[Excerpt]

Apple's Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed

Apple has suffered another embarrassment. A security breach has exposed iPad owners including dozens of CEOs, military officials, and top politicians. They—and every other buyer of the wireless-enabled tablet—could be vulnerable to spam marketing and malicious hacking. . .

Read more at: Business Insider

iGuess it's iDead: My Apple is a Lemon (Updated)

My first foray into the Cult of Mac, an iPod Nano, arrived in the mail yesterday.  Warily, I removed it from its inscrutable plastic pod. I followed the instructions, not content with the alleged intuitiveness of the device. I installed iTunes, which to its credit found all 12,000+ of my songs.  It found my iPod, and attempted to sync the music up for me. This doesn't work 100% since the Nano only has 8 GB of memory, which only stores a little over 1,000 songs. But so far, things were going swimmingly.

I doodled around with the iPod, even figuring out how to play one of the games.  I'm not sure why "less buttons and labels" equals "more intuitive" in Apple-speak.  While I did figure out how to use it, and it didn't take long, I don't understand what is so wrong with an on/off button. I'm a gadget fan, and usually have little problem figuring them out (it's half the fun!). And this little iPod was perhaps slightly easier than most. But I wouldn't call it intuitive.

It is nifty though, and the screen is very clear and easy to read. I like that you can shake it to make the songs shuffle, and the video camera looks promising.  I haven't figured out the "genius" thingy yet, which allegedly builds intuitive (there's that word again) playlists. It worked in iTunes, but not sure what to do with it on the iPod.  But really, all of these opinions have just been rendered moot. My Apple is a Lemon.

After setting it up, I decided to take it to work to show it off. It's kind of like showing off your first cell phone 10 years after everyone already has one. Anyway, I doodled around with a little, set the pedometer to see how many steps I took in my morning. Then I just laid it down on the desk. Screen goes black, and I guess it's off. How do I know? There is no off button.  So, the next time I pick it up (around noon), it won't turn on. At all.  And it charged all night.  So what's the deal?  Figuring that I somehow ran it down after not "turning it off" (which is ridiculous, since my cell phone lasts days on a charge), I decided to just take it home, and plug it into my computer, which I did.

Three hours later, the screen is still black. My Windows 7 computer makes the "badoink" noise if you plug it in, but no iPod shows up in devices. iTunes can't see it. And it will not turn on. So there you have it, my Apple experience lasted somewhere around 16 hours. With me sleeping all night in the middle of it. Nice. Apples are perfect! Apples don't crash!  Join the Cult of Mac, you'll never go back!  Horse pucky.
Oh, and by the way Apple fans, no the "hold" switch isn't on. Pfft. Hold switch. Make it an on/off switch!

UPDATE: After searching through an Apple trouble-shooting page online, I found several things that can be attempted to reset or restore a sick iPod.  Finally, on page 96, I found the trick that worked (here, if you're interested).  It seems to be working again. But Mr. Jobs, I am a die-hard PC, and one of your toughest converts. I am so far unimpressed.

UPDATE THE SECOND: After getting the iPod back into the world of the living, iTunes has been "syncing" it up again. For two hours. "Do not disconnect!" it tells me. For how long? 

Photo of the Day: How to Print from Your iPad

My iPod hasn't arrived yet, so I'm still technically an Apple virgin (iVirgin?). So I still feel comfortable sneering at the oh-so-cool iPad. We'll see how this progresses after my magical unicorn of a music player arrives.

Source: Joe.My.God.

ApplePhobe Takes the Plunge (But Not With iPad)

Image from Apple

I've stated many times here that I'm ApplePhobic (iPhobic?). I've always been a PC, and have encountered far too many haughty, arrogant Cult of Mac adherents. But even I have to admit that Apple's products can be pretty nifty, if a little too precious and a little too pricey. Plus, there's the problem with them aging like cars: once the new version comes out, you're stuck with the old, obsolete one.

Despite all that, I've taken the plunge. Or maybe just stuck my toe in the iWater. I belong to a survey group that gives you points for staying in the program, and I've accumulated enough points now to buy something big from their rewards program. Coincidentally, the number of points I have is just a smidgen over the price of an iPod Nano 5th generation 8GB. I thought about it for a couple of days, and then thought, "why not?" The deal was clinched when I saw that an FM transmitter/caddy/charger can be had for my car for $15 or so on eBay. So that will be my total price for the thing. We'll see if I get infected with iGottaHaveIt for every future iGadget.

For now, I don't know what I'd want with an iPad. I think they're super cool gadgets, really neat-o toys. But I don't see much that is practical there. I'm sure it will evolve, and people will find new indispensable reasons to have one, but right now I don't see it. Especially for a touch-typist like me. If it had a hidden slide-out or fold-out keyboard, I might be on board.

My iPod Nano arrives in 6-8 weeks, so I'm sure I'll do a follow-up after I'm no longer an iVirgin.

[Excerpt]

Why I returned my iPad

Last Saturday at nine in the morning UPS delivered my very first Apple; the new iPad. I had high, in retrospect, unrealistic, expectations. The iPad didn't fulfill them, so I took advantage of the 14-day return policy to ship it and the keyboard dock I bought back to the company for a refund. And I'm not alone. . .

Read more at: WalletPop

Computer Woes: The Big CD Project

My new Mitsubishi Galant has an MP3 CD player, much like my Jeep did. But after much trial and error, I figured out that the Galant's player only plays actual MP3s. So, all of my music that was in WMA (Windows) format would not play. No problem, since I found a program that will do a conversion for me. Unfortunately, it leaves the original file intact, which is causing a huge duplication problem.

Add to this, the fact that I'm undertaking--finally--a CD ripping project. I'm taking our 400-500 disc collection, and ripping them all to the computer. At least I figured out how to do that relatively automatically, and in the MP3 format in the first place. But I already had 5,000+ tunes on the computer, and this is making the duplication problem grow by leaps and bounds.

I've found programs that allegedly will help you find duplicate music files, and delete them. But it is far, far from perfect. Songs with sound-alike titles, or different versions of the same song pop up in the delete list. So, I think I'm going to have to do this deletion project manually. On thousands upon thousands of songs.

My car doesn't have an input for an MP3 player (though one is available for over $200), so I'm sort of stuck with the discs. But once this project is complete, that's really not much of an issue. MP3 CDs hold over 150 songs after all. But I still feel like I'm a step or two behind current technology. But it is a step.

Apple iPad: Maxi, Mini or USB?

As I've said before, I'm something of an Apple-phobe (MacPhobe? iPhobe?). After many years on the PC platform in the graphics industry--the sign industry being nearly exclusively PC--I have had many run-ins with obnoxious Mac artists. So it isn't an entirely irrational stance on my part. But for a liberal, I am staunchly against change in this area.

That doesn't mean that I don't recognize that some iProducts are kinda nifty. They've got a built-in "cool" quotient. But I do notice that the coolness wears off as soon as version 2.0 or the iSomethingNewer comes out. Remember the toilet seat iBook? Yeesh. And I get annoyed by products that are overly simplified. I like figuring out how things work, I don't need them to assume that I'm iStupid.

So I watched with a wary eye as the newest iThing, the iPad was introduced. OK, so it's a touch-screen computer with no keyboard. Um, OK. It's snazzy and stuff, but I'm a touch typist. No problem, it has an optional plug-in keyboard! Which makes it a touch-screen desktop computer. Whatevs, y'all. I'm probably missing the boat here, and it's going to be the wave of the future. Or something. But where have I seen that name before?

iGOP: There's a Rep for That!

His is just great. Funny, and a little sad at at the same time. Laugh or cry?

Apples and Apples: An Evolution of Apple Computers

Photo from The Stranger

Many of our memories are colored by nostalgia, rendering them better or at least more prized then they have any right to. For instance, old computer and gaming systems from my past, like the Atari 2600 and the Commodore 64. Both offer little entertainment value today. If you don't believe me, buy one on eBay, and see how long you play with it after opening the box.

But the memories are fond ones. Now, what about a product you rarely have used, and have no special memories for? That would be the case for me, with this video about the evolution of Apple Computers (yes, two posts in a row about Apple). Outside of my 1984 senior high school computer class, and the rare times when I've had to, I've not used Apples. No iAnything for me. So when I look at this video, I see mostly a mixture of undistinguished and often times ugly beige and grey computer boxes.

It's not until two minutes in to the video that some color and interesting designs come into play, with the iMac (unless you include that toilet seat looking laptop). The rest look no better (and sometimes worse) than the equivelant HPs, IBMs and Packard-Bells of the day. So thinking of Apples as sleaker, more refined and "a step above" design-wise is more recent than I thought.

In any event, I do enjoy seeing the evolution of almost anything, so it is interesting, whether you're in the Cult of Mac or not.

New from Apple: The Mactini, the World's Smallest Computer

No, it's not for real, but it is funny!

Apple Computer Pledges $100K to Fight Prop 8

Image from source, Qweerty

I was happy to see that Apple Computer has pledged $100,000 to fight Proposition 8 in California, the resolution that would take away same-sex marriage. Since I am in one of those marriages, I have a vested interest in the subject.

But being a Mac-phobe, I'm having an internal conflict (does not compute!). I mean, Apple is spending all this money and time to get us to swtich to their product. What if I was born a PC? Heh. But then again, they did have a rainbow colored logo for 20 years or so.

Anyway, good on you, Apple. And I'd really like to see the conservo-bots ditch their iPods. . . They'll have to go back to playing their Lee Greenwood on 8-track!

[Excerpt]

Apple Gives $100K To Bite Prop 8

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. . .

Read more at: Qweerty