Apple trolls

For me, when I say ‘it just works’, I’m talking more about usability.

Bugs/Problems happen in every area of tech, it’s inevitable and unavoidable.

Why people like apple is the ease of use, hence, ‘it just works’.

Not only that, the computers ‘just work’ for quite a while. I’ve been running Macs since the early ’90s. I’ve had six Macs over that time. Two of them are still running – a Mac Mini circa 2009 and a MacBook Pro from 2011. Somewhere in the attic we have five inoperable Windows machines (plus a couple that would be fixable if we could be bothered) that we’ve had over the last fifteen years. One or two of the older ones aren’t actually broken – I installed Linux on them – but they wouldn’t run an up to date version of Windows. So although I wouldn’t say Apple are perfect (I think they’ve taken their eye off the ball a bit interface-wise in recent years), they do make substantial machines that last.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by holycow.

I’m typing this on the same MacBook Pro I’ve had since 2009. Only thing I’ve done was clone the old hard drive to a new SSD. I’ve been pleased with this laptop but if this machine bit the dust tomorrow I couldn’t afford to replace it again. I also couldn’t really justify the cost given that they are under a fair amount of attack these days. That wasn’t an issue back when I bought it.

I am not an apologist for Apple, and I have some concerns myself with regard to the way they treat developers for sure, however a recent experience makes me think that Apple do take their bugs seriously and have a efficient system for engaging users in trying to sort them out.

I have a new iMac here and I had two problems; one was connecting to an external Drobo Hard Drive which kept restarting the iMac when I shut it down, and the second was the bluetooth keyboard that occasionally went bonkers and needed disconnecting and reconnecting. I posted threads on the Apple Community Forums about this and, a day later, had an engineer ringing from California requesting more details and actively working with me to help solve the problems.

The problems haven’t been solved yet (it was only last week) but the procedure for trying to sort them was open and efficient and at no stage did the engineer get defensive about Apple.

I have had other interactions with Adobe, who are much less responsive, and particularly Wacom, who basically suggest that any problem is someone else’s fault and nothing they can do anything about.

I think there are two things going on here. One is Apple’s complacency, which it has made a big thing about but which is really a legacy from when only 1% of people had Apple computers so the hackers didn’t bother with Apple. Nowadays, with a significant percentage of the world’s population having Apple products in their hands, the various Apple operating systems are much more worthwhile targets.

The second if the Press’s tendency to give Apple problems more attention. Example – the Intel bug from a week or so ago which actually effected most of the computers in the world, but was presented (for a while at least) as an Apple problem.

And the Text Bomb bug isn’t that big a bug really.

A text that can crash a handset isn’t really a bug?

… isn’t a big bug. There’s a difference.

There is potential for all sorts of problems there if the bug can be improved upon.

True so let’s hope that the way this has been found prevents that and Apple respond accordingly. Usually fixes for these things appear in a day or two after the news item which either indicates a very fast response, or that they have been working on it for longer than it has been public.

For me, when I say ‘it just works’, I’m talking more about usability.

@holycow That might have been true 5-10 years ago but it really irks me these days. Generally Windows used to be so s*** that MacOs looked great in comparison. Obviously the iPhone interface was a gamechanger but hasn’t really made massive strides for a while and most premium Android phones can give an iPhone a run for its money.

Disclaimer: typing this on a Windows 8 laptop (work machine) – an ultra light Dell machine with a UHD display, SSD and a battery I can work on for 6-8 hours without having to recharge. It looks utilitarian but is a great machine. I also have a work iPhone (meh, I’ve really gone off iOS recently) and I’ve got a cheapish personal Samsung phone running Android Nougat. At home I have and use regularly a Macbook Pro, iPad and a cheapy Samsung Galaxy tablet. So I think I’ve got enough experience to be unbiased. The problem with a lot of Apple ‘fans’ is that they live in an Apple bubble.

The bottom line is, Apple makes very decent machines and perfectly useable software but in 2018 it is really not anything special and compared to the premium cost markup you could argue it represents poor value. However, their marketing is phenomenal. A great example of the golden circle/start with why approach espoused by Simon Sinek.

a day later, had an engineer ringing from California requesting more details and actively working with me to help solve the problems.

@abdul That’s interesting. The Apple fanboys who appear on the WD NAS forums, demanding that WD fix the problems caused when Apple change their OS, argue that there’s no point raising issues with Apple, claiming that Apple won’t engage with their customers.

I have always thought this a bit odd, and have asked the fanboys why they let Apple get away with that.

So it’s good to hear that the fanboys are talking nonsense… WD have enough problems of their own making, without being blamed for problems of Apple’s making…

The main reason I won’t buy Apple devices (apart from the cost), is what happens when you plug an iPhone or iPad into a computer. You can download your photos but where’s all the other stuff?

Do the same with MS / Android and you can fully access the file system, delete files, copy, paste, rename, etc. Much better.

I’m typing this on the same MacBook Pro I’ve had since 2009.

@abdul Meh

I’m still using my 2007 Acer Aspire laptop which I bought from Tesco. Yes its got an SSD, some extra RAM and a replacement battery, but its still working strong on a daily basis. It started life with Vista but I got rid of that ASAP. I even had a play all those years back with an apple operating system, just for shits and giggles to prove to myself that I could put an apple operating system onto non-apple kit.

At the moment my laptop is running Linux mint, but it was using Windows 7 only last month. I’ve even had Windows 10 on it when that first came out but it would not play nicely with the wifi driver. Maybe that little problem has been resolved, after a few years.

Bottom line, I’m still using a 10 year old laptop on a daily basis that can run any operating system I choose from apple, to Linux to Microsoft. I also believe in eking out every last drop of my kit.

I use android and windows at work and OSX at home, both have their benefits. But with using a personal iPhone, I prefer to use the Mac at home.

Will be a long standing rivalry, but I’m happy to sit bang in the middle haha.