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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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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Aside from my conspiracy theory that you release “security” patches to destabilize the OS in preparation for a paid upgrade — “Anything has got to be better than this OS!” — perhaps there’s another reason for the abysmal stability of OS X Leopard and the mess your applications are in.

It’s all those Windows and Linux switchers who are coming over to the Mac platform. It’s all their fault. Well, mainly.

You look at your market share rising as a result of the poor, down-trodden Windows users seeking salvation with the Mac and say, “Hey, these flea-infested customers are used to having crappy software so why should we expend much effort in maintaining high quality or a consistent user interface?”

When your market share was closing in on the low single digits and was less than half the percentage of people who donate blood each year (yes, that bad), you needed to offer some differentiator to Windows. You tried quality and consistency and succeeded quite well, with the occasional brain fart.

Now that it’s cool to own Macs — geez, even Microsoft thinks that’s true — you’ve been spending time adding features and stealing resources for the iPhone. But, you seem to have forgotten the user interface designers and quality inspectors in that building you sold a few years ago. They might still be there, you should go have a look.

OS X was improving in stability until 10.5 Leopard came along. Now, every time I try to do something I hesitate not knowing what wonderful behaviour I’ll experience.

While you integrate your apps, there’s so much inconsistency between how they function now, that it looks like they were designed by totally different companies. I’ve covered this in several previous postings.

Without the Switchers, there may not be an Apple, but they’re lulling you into a false sense of godhood.

Having Switchers in the Mac camp is like being adrift on a life raft surrounded by salt water. You need water to survive but this water will poison you.

If the following is a typical Windows switcher, you know what I mean …
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[Psst! I'm going to talk about Twitter later. Makes it all worth reading, huh?

Will you ever resurrect the concept of Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) for your desktop computers? I can understand if you don’t want to go down that path again given what happened with the aborted GeoPort Telecom Adaptor. That didn’t work out too good for you, did it?

Many people these days don’t even have a land line connected telephone, instead relying on their mobile phones. I’m not going to get into the pros and cons of each, but I’m just musing about what could have been.

Currently, you’re so hostile towards CTI that you don’t even allow the Address Book application to dial using your USB modem.

And nobody is ever going to accuse you of embracing faxing. While there is support in OS X for both sending and receiving faxes, it’s so poor as to be less of a hobby than the stepchild Apple TV. Although, the sooner faxes become a forgotten technology, the better. I despise faxing.

But there’s a lot more to CTI than dialing out and faxing.

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