Apple Nag

iLooneyTunes is a derogatory, but humorous name for iTunes. I’ve found iTunes to be one of the most unstable, flea-infested apps you publish. I’m sorry, but it’s true.

You’ll notice I haven’t posted anything on this blog for months. Most of my Apple-related comments have been confined to the terse 140 characters of Twitter, and occasionally FriendFeed for slightly longer commentary.

But what I found out today on The MacCast, made me boil over.

It appears that there are two versions of iTunes 9.1.1. Buggy and buggier. There’s the buggier build 11 that causes sync problems when the option to convert to 128 K AAC files on the fly is selected, and the less buggy build 12 that fixes that bug.

Version numbers are for software released to the public. Internal build numbers are for, well, internal use only. Yet you unbelievably released two public versions of 9.1.1 with different internal build numbers and you didn’t let anyone know that you corrected a bug.

To the readers I say, go ahead, check your About iTunes and see if you’re using build 11. If so, run Software Update and notice that Apple does not tell you there is a newer version of 9.1.1 available that fixes this bug.

So if you happen to be affected by the bug, Apple doesn’t care. They’ll let you suffer, and curse, and swear. For what? To save Apple from admitting they’re not perfect and releasing 9.1.2. I’m sure it saves them a bit of work and passes the problem on to their customers. That’s something that Apple excels at.

This sloppy — no, lazy — version management is one more sign of your disdain for your customers.

Here are my observations after using Snow Leopard for a while:

Better: It does seem faster in areas such as networking. But that may be because I was having so much trouble with Leopard networking, that anything is better.

Bug: There’s a bug in Mail where Smart Mailboxes always sort by Subject. I can change it, but the next time I relaunch Mail, it’s back sorting by Subject again. Extremely annoying. [Update: With some judicious editing of a .plist file, I managed to make it so that it always sorts by date. Better, but needs to be fixed.]

Feature: I do like the new white text on black background menus in the dock. I shouldn’t though, because they’re different than the menu bar. I prefer consistency to cuteness, so maybe Apple should try this look in other menus.

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The following is my chronicle of the Snow Leopard installation on my primary computer, an early 2008 MacBook.

Anyone reading this blog knows that I have a lot of problems with Leopard, so I will do lots of backups first. I emit an aura that is deadly for computers and software so I just know I’m going to have problems.
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I’ve used your products primarily since March 1, 1984 when I bought my first original Macintosh and ImageWriter printer. I was proud to be a Mac owner because it was so superior to the alternatives.

In the subsequent years leading up to the present time I became a Mac bigot. Everything else was not only not good, it was trash and I wondered how anyone could use that crapola.

Then Macs started going downhill with quality problems in the hardware and software. Macs just sucked less. I stopped doing unpaid sales and evangelizing for you and kept pretty quiet. When people asked me what kind of computer to get, I would no longer say, “Get a Mac”, I’d say, “What do you want to use a computer for?” I often told them to buy a PC.

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What’s up with trying to disable Palm Pre syncing with iTunes? Are you guys so afraid of Palm and their miniscule market that you’re willing to expend programmer resources to try to block the Pre?

When I was managing software developers I made it clear that I didn’t mind if they put Easter eggs into the code as long as they wouldn’t damage the company’s reputation when they were discovered or leaked. A bit of humour is good for the soul and can make a monolithic company a bit more human.

But there was one caveat. If there were anything other than cosmetic bugs in the code, or if we missed a deadline, I was going to be P.O.ed about them wasting development time on fun when the serious business of robust code or meeting commitments was getting the short end of the stick. There’s a bit more to this discussion, but I don’t want to digress any more.

My question to you is this — why are you directing effort at the Pre when you have so many defects in iTunes and syncing with iPods, particularly my 2G Shuffle? Just look at your own support forums for a huge list of bugs. Get your own house in order before you worry about the Pre — it’s just an Easter egg.

Or are you threatened that much?

Hey Apple, check out this posting by the publishers of 1Password for Mac, and 1Password and 1Password Pro for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Note the candor? Have you considered being as upfront about your own products? You rarely admit mistakes, and then only grudgingly when you’re caught with your pants down.

1Password was one of those applications that when I first heard of it, I didn’t really see the need for it. Eventually, I heard enough about it to check it out. Then I tried the demo. Then I bought it. Now I praise it and can’t live without it.

Hey, I’m the Apple Nag for a good reason. Almost everything you folks at Apple make that I’ve bought seems to be flea infested with UI inconsistencies that drive me crazy. Partially, it’s the “aura” I have resulting in even finely crafted software breaking, but your stuff is too flaky to qualify for supernatural phenomena excuses.

Lately, I’ve had all kinds of weird Leopard security issues. I’m thinking it’s time for an archive and install in the faint hope it will cure this insanity. I feel like I’m using Windows.

In the months that I’ve used Agile’s 1Password for the Mac and the corresponding app for my iPod Touch, I’m trying to think if I’ve ever experienced problems with it. Next to the OS, security software has to be the most rock solid software on your computer. Even backup software comes third. Leopard is a sickly cat that should crawl into the bush and die leaving Snow Leopard to rule. Fortunately, 1Password has never failed me.

So here’s the lessons you can learn from a small company. Be open and honest with your customers. Don’t be afraid to talk about the future. Don’t design software, craft it. Be self-deprecating, just a bit. Admit mistakes and make them right. Release bug fixes in a timely manner. Respond in a public forum to the concerns of your users.

Have you noticed that Agile has done a vastly superior job explaining why they’re now charging for their iPhone/Touch products than you’ve ever explained about your iPod Touch OS upgrade fees?

Did I upgrade to 1Password Pro even though I own the older free 1Password for my Touch? Did I trust them to come through with the extra features I’m paying a little bit for now that they’ll deliver sometime in the future. Of course! The app costs half of what I paid for an unsatisfactory lunch today, and it’s something that will stay with me even longer than the gas my lunch gave me.

As for trust? Well, I hate to say it guys, but I trust Agile more than Apple.

I started this discussion on Apple’s Support site, Little Snitch catches backup.backupdb trying to contact external IP.

My MacBook backs up to a Time Machine volume on a server on the same LAN. This has been working fine. Today, when I woke the MacBook, Little Snitch caught backup.backupdb (which is Time Machine I believe) attempting to connect to 65.200.200.47, which whois says belongs to Almar Networks.

Of course, I denied both attempts. A subsequent request for Time Machine to backup again was fine.

There is no web server at that IP address and a Google search is not too enlightening.

It happened again this morning. This time I got a screen capture, and it wasn’t backup.backupdb that was the cuprit, it was automountd trying to connect to backup.backupdb.

Click for image page then click image for full size.

So, does my OS X have some sort of infection or trojan?

I told Little Snitch to always deny the connection.

Dear Apple Support,

I see that I’m not alone in experiencing audio popping on my MacBook4,1 from August, 2008.

See this huge thread, and others on your support forum.

I just noticed it now because I’ve switched from a G5 to a MacBook as the forthcoming 10.6 will not run on my G5. Thus, I’ve got the MacBook front and center on my desk plugged into my large monitor and external speakers. Pop, pop, pop, all day long.

You’ve really got to do something about this as this is a long-standing problem. Please.

Thank you,

…Tom

P.S. Here’s an article from MacUser from two friggin’ years ago! Come on Apple, get your <bleep> together and get this fixed. I know you know how to do it. I’m at a loss to understand why you won’t.

iPhoto is a bit rough around the edges. Take Places as an example. It’s a great feature idea that needs some more shaking out.

I visited a beautiful lake on a motorcycle ride yesterday and took some photos. Then, I used your iPhoto Places and tried to locate the photos using GPS coordinates of the form N45.24835 W78.89166 that Garmin’s Roadtrip software uses. That’s acceptable to the web version of Google Maps, even though it gets the position on the wrong side of the road and doesn’t show part of the lake. But, that coordinate format is not acceptable to iPhoto’s integrated Google Maps locator. When I enter the coordinates, I get the spinning gear and then — nothing. Nothing changes at all. Wouldn’t it be better to give an invalid coordinate format error message?

So I tried the format 45.24835, -78.89166. That works, but again shows a terrain without all of the lake. That’s a Google/Tele Atlas problem, not yours.

Once I got the pin, I tried to zoom in and set the circle diameter that controls the relevant area, but I could only zoom in so far and was not offered the circle controller. Yet, if I switched to Satellite or Hybrid modes, I could at least zoom in. We need consistency, guys!

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All this time I’ve been nagging you for not listening to your customers. But I had an epiphany on my walk in the park with the dogs that caused me to change my mind. Yes, your quality is still poor and arguably getting worse, but it’s just what (most) of your customers want. It’s “good enough”.

Once upon a time, your customer base was composed of people who were looking for high quality hardware and software, and most of the time you delivered. That was the differentiator. If you didn’t have that you would have vanished into oblivion years ago.

But now you’re catering to the young people who don’t know what quality is because they’ve never experienced it. And on the rare occasions that they do see quality, they shrug their shoulders and mumble, “whatever.”

I’ve seen my daughter watching a DVD on her MacBook Pro listening to the audio through those tinny speakers while she’s sitting in front of our 40″ widescreen LCD TV with a Surround Sound system! When I ask why she’s not using the TV, she says, “this is fine, dad” in that “don’t bug me” tone.

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