Apple released Leopard update 10.5.3 earlier this week. Interestingly, Finder.app reports that it is version 10.5.4, which has yet to be released. Very interesting.
Archive for the 'Apple' Category
If you’re a mac person and like fixing stuff, check out this quick review I wrote up on the iTunes Store earlier. It’s really a wonderful podcast.
Time is scarce, knowledge isn’t. Today, in an ever-decreasing timeframe, we need to know more about our computers. Although the Macintosh is worlds ahead of the PC, it has its problems. The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab tackles these problems and explores new uses for our macs in an entertaining and informative way.
Its greatest asset? The podcast is divided into chapters so that listeners can quickly scan for questions that they’re interested in. Sick of hearing about networking? Skip it and move onto hard disk problems! A very well-done show, worthy of subscription.
This email address is the key to getting any high-level problems with Apple addressed. It’s worked for me in two instances, and I feel that spreading it only helps people. Of course, if you’re irresponsible and have unrealistic expectations, you may get a humorous reply. I’m now summarizing this article on The Boy Genius Report.
Very recently, one man who was frustrated with Apple Support emailed Steve Jobs with his problem.
Dear Steve Jobs,
I wanted to write and express my concern about some recent problems that I have had with Apple Care. This week, my MacBook Pro unfortunately sustained water damage. I understand this is entirely my fault but it is still something I would like to get fixed. After three or four calls I was finally able to get a straight answer. While I was happy to get a straight answer, I was not at all happy with the answer. It is very worrisome to me that the only way to get my computer fixed is to pay almost $300.00 up front with no guarantee that this will fix the problem. I was horrified to learn that their is no system to assess the problem and bill once all damage is known. I am reluctant to put money into a problem that could easily grow. I have had three Apple computers in a row. I love using them but I am not sure if my replacement will be one. I feel powerless in the situation and the whole experience has turned me off of the Apple company.
Sincerely,
Xxxxxx Xxxx
Of course, Steve Jobs and company owe him nothing. In one of the most impressive and entertaining forms of PR I’ve ever seen, Jobs (or likely an assistant) sent this reply.
Xxxxxxx,
This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage.They are pro machines and they don’t like water. It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself.
Steve
That’s called getting “Steved”, and I love it.
One of my heroes, Merlin Mann, did a talk at Macworld called “Living with Data“. Although I was disappointed that it didn’t deal with my favorite second officer of the USS Enterprise, I enjoyed it. It’s long, but very entertaining. As I watched it last night, I found myself inspired.
I thought my personal productivity system was air-tight. I’ve been getting my tasks done - or so I’ve thought. But as I listened to Merlin’s talk, one point in particular resinated with me.
At 25:12 in, Merlin asks, “Who gets access now?” That is, who will I let interrupt me as I’m working? I looked around my desktop. Gmail notifier, Twitterrific, and Adium are constantly demanding my attention. I’m changing my use of these applications. I’ve decided to only use Adium when I’m actually open for conversation or have to post where I am, I’m axing Twitterrific in favor of the canonical twitter website, and I’ll check my email twice a day or so.
And then I got to thinking about Quicksilver. I love Quicksilver; it’s an application launcher on steroids. One of the plugins I use for Quicksilver is the Camino Bookmarks plugin. I can evoke Quicksilver using my keyboard shortcut (command + enter), type the first few letters of any website I’ve bookmarked, and press return to load that page. For example:
f - facebook
g - gmail
r - google reader
d - digg
p - pownce
Because those time-suck websites are so easily accessed, I go to them far too often. My new productivity experiment is to disable the Camino bookmarks feature of Quicksilver and see how much of my life I get back. Instead, I’ll check those sites in the morning, at night, and maybe when I have a free moment at school.
It’s amazing to realize that the tool you appreciate the most to save time is what’s actually causing you to habitually waste it.
I’m the proud owner of a shiny new iPod Touch. It’s a considerable upgrade from my previous portable music player - a 6GB iPod mini with a broken headphone port. It served me well as a car iPod, though.
The iPod Touch is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a wonderful media player and an even better Internet and email device. But, when you’re looking at your iTunes library on its superb screen, you realize just how badly your ID3 tags and album art are.
I spent a large part of this holiday (happy President’s Day!) cleaning up the cruft from years of accumulating music. Luckily, there are some great pieces of software on the Mac and web services to do this.
- iEatBrainz (Freeware) - The Mac OS X client of MusicBrainz analyzes any tracks you feed it and compares its musical ‘fingerprint’ with a known database.
- Album Art Thingy (Shareware) - This inexpensive app looks up your currently playing track on Amazon.com and tries to find artwork. It does lyrics, too.
- Amazon.com (Service) - Whatever Album Art Thingy doesn’t get, you can get yourself by searching the MP3 store.
- Last.fm (Service) - This social network site helps see if you’ve done your ID3 tags right.
It’s really worth it to clean up the cruft from your iTunes library. You’ll not only delete music you don’t like anymore, but you’ll have a greater appreciation for the music you do like. The album art browsing in iTunes, Front Row, and an iPod is really great looking, too.
Good luck, and be sure to share your experience in the comments.
Countless Macintosh users have been troubled over the last year by a firmware-corrupting update that Apple Inc. released for Matshita disc drives in MacBook and MacBook Pro computers, SuperDrive 2.1 Update. Possible solutions were premiered, but none proved permanent. I wrote this post to help those affected by this problem; if you’re lucky enough not to be plagued by this issue, skip this post.
My complete personal saga with this issue lives in the Matshita SuperDrive category of this blog. I encourage you to read the buildup to my permanent solution. Through these personal experience and heartache, I have determined that the only solution for this problem is a SuperDrive replacement.
First, a recap of my experience. In August 2007, after applying to SuperDrive 2.1 update, I realized that my MacBook Pro wasn’t recognizing or burning certain types of media. I sent my MacBook Pro in for a drive replacement. Unfortunately, Apple’s technicians only reinstalled Tiger on my computer, which didn’t solve my issue. Although I was outraged, I decided to deal with the issue another time. In late December 2007, I came across a firmware patch for my drive and applied it. It was only a temporary fix, as many users have found out. Come late January 2008, I finally decided to try Apple Support again. After two phone calls, I arranged a drive replacement.
After twelve days, I had my computer back with a brand new HL-DT-ST DVDRW GWA4080MA drive.
I believe that the only solution for this problem is to call Apple Support and demand a SuperDrive replacement. As far as I know, Apple have not officially recognized the SuperDrive problem. Here are my tips:
- Take names of your support agents.
- Stay consistent with your story.
- Don’t admit any firmware hacks, period.
- Don’t take “no” for an answer.
- Call back if you don’t get what you want.
- Mention all of the articles you’ve read online of people saying its a corrupted firmware caused by an Apple update.
- If you’re told to reinstall your operating system, tell the support agent you’ll do so and call back in an hour.
- Email all of Steve Jobs’ email addresses. I’m serious. (steve@mac.com, sjobs@apple.com, sjobs@mac.com). Tell your story and show your disappointment in the company. You’ll likely get contacted by Apple’s Executive Office.
Please leave any thoughts and experiences in the comments. I hope every last person affected by this issue gets his or her SuperDrive replaced.
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