My Apple Experience
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The Apple fanboi thing always rubbed me the wrong way, but I do love their hardware*. Their software is a mess: buggy, complicated Frankensteins, with UIs that lock up, and a "find me if you can" approach to feature discovery. However, their hardware is slick. Except when it stops working. My iPhone 6 started getting hot. Really hot. So hot that I couldn't leave it in my pocket. Naturally the battery life went from a couple of days to a few hours, and for the life of me I couldn't work out what happened. I removed apps, I factory reset, I turned off every single thing that could possibly be using power. It still ran hot and died. I took it to an Apple Genius (I'm sure they appreciate irony) and the guy held my hot phone and says "it's normal", runs some diagnostics and says "no, there's nothing causing the battery to die. The battery is in perfect condition and there's no history of apps running that could drain it". That's because I closed and deleted all the apps, genius. He suggested all the standard stuff (turn off background stuff, turn off notifications, keep it in a dry dark place and try not to actually use it) but I'd done all that. So instead of saying "your phone's dead" he said "this is normal". Which clearly it isn't. So my backup phone is a backup phone because the battery goes from 40% to 0% instantly. Given that my main phone is unusable I figured $99 for a new battery for the old phone while I wait until the new phones come out in September is my best bet. So they take my old phone, slap a new battery in it, give it back and say "plug it in to iTunes and do a restore and it'll be good as news". Except it isn't. It's a brick locked in restore mode and nothing - not even those "get out of restore mode for free" apps can fix it. It's completely cactus. So. I book another genius bar visit. Except I clicked the wrong time and you can't go backwards (you get an error if you try). So I wait for the email confirmation to arrive and figure I'll just change the time. Except the link to "Manage your reservation" doesn't work: it says my case ID (which they sent me) and me email (which they sent it to) don't match. So stuff them. I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then try and explain how they bricked my phone, misdiagnosed my other phone, and can't manage a simple appointment booking app to a young energetic kid who will assume it's this poor, sad, confused user's fault, and not the fault of a company that has completely lost it's focus, it's passion, and it's unbending
Chris Maunder wrote:
I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then...
Wouldn't it be easier to by a nice Android compatible phone? ;) Marc
Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project! Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny
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But not the photos! PLEASE not the photos!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
It's okay. Chris got a third party to take Sean's publicity photos. They aren't on his phone.
This space for rent
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The Apple fanboi thing always rubbed me the wrong way, but I do love their hardware*. Their software is a mess: buggy, complicated Frankensteins, with UIs that lock up, and a "find me if you can" approach to feature discovery. However, their hardware is slick. Except when it stops working. My iPhone 6 started getting hot. Really hot. So hot that I couldn't leave it in my pocket. Naturally the battery life went from a couple of days to a few hours, and for the life of me I couldn't work out what happened. I removed apps, I factory reset, I turned off every single thing that could possibly be using power. It still ran hot and died. I took it to an Apple Genius (I'm sure they appreciate irony) and the guy held my hot phone and says "it's normal", runs some diagnostics and says "no, there's nothing causing the battery to die. The battery is in perfect condition and there's no history of apps running that could drain it". That's because I closed and deleted all the apps, genius. He suggested all the standard stuff (turn off background stuff, turn off notifications, keep it in a dry dark place and try not to actually use it) but I'd done all that. So instead of saying "your phone's dead" he said "this is normal". Which clearly it isn't. So my backup phone is a backup phone because the battery goes from 40% to 0% instantly. Given that my main phone is unusable I figured $99 for a new battery for the old phone while I wait until the new phones come out in September is my best bet. So they take my old phone, slap a new battery in it, give it back and say "plug it in to iTunes and do a restore and it'll be good as news". Except it isn't. It's a brick locked in restore mode and nothing - not even those "get out of restore mode for free" apps can fix it. It's completely cactus. So. I book another genius bar visit. Except I clicked the wrong time and you can't go backwards (you get an error if you try). So I wait for the email confirmation to arrive and figure I'll just change the time. Except the link to "Manage your reservation" doesn't work: it says my case ID (which they sent me) and me email (which they sent it to) don't match. So stuff them. I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then try and explain how they bricked my phone, misdiagnosed my other phone, and can't manage a simple appointment booking app to a young energetic kid who will assume it's this poor, sad, confused user's fault, and not the fault of a company that has completely lost it's focus, it's passion, and it's unbending
Don't forget about all the truly awful Wintel hardware produced by once great (now stupendously horrible) companies like HP, Sony and Dell. Don't forget about the junk Android phones that lasted 6 months before the OS was obsolete - really cheap but still overpriced if you care about your own time. Don't forget about the hundreds of hours you spent installing, re-installing, patching and re-patching Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2K, XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 while MS spouted about how great and secure this new OS will be - only to find out they lied. None of this fixes your obviously broken phone but be careful admiring the grass on the other side of the fence when it wasn't long ago you nearly choked on it.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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Being thoroughly stuck in the MS space I have never considered any of apples gear for no other reason than bigotry. The wife, who is pretty close to being a luddite, took the advice of a girlfriend and bought an ipad mini, much to my disgust. When I got my samsung pad I found the screen to be dramatically brighter and sharper and cost less. I feel my bigotry is justified!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
I've been lucky to have the used the gamut of devices out there. My experience with Samsung has been suboptimal to say the least - especially in regards to their policy of OS updates (or no updates, as is often the case). I've also found the android tablets a little too plastic-y for my liking. I wish the Surface would thin out, lighten up and get better battery life (yeah, I know, I know...). However, even dumb things like the ridiculous rotation animation (pause...screen shrinks...screen rotates...screen expands...pause) bugs me in ways that are irrational. Apple gets the hardware right (except when they get it wrong, cf. single USB-C plug on Macbook). Their software needs some to just bite the bullet and fix it.
cheers Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote:
It's completely cactus.
:confused: My guess - you have been hacked. Probably by the Russians and we will soon see your personal emails on the wicked leaky site. :-\
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
That was my thought too. I mean, I am kinda a big deal...
cheers Chris Maunder
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Don't forget about all the truly awful Wintel hardware produced by once great (now stupendously horrible) companies like HP, Sony and Dell. Don't forget about the junk Android phones that lasted 6 months before the OS was obsolete - really cheap but still overpriced if you care about your own time. Don't forget about the hundreds of hours you spent installing, re-installing, patching and re-patching Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2K, XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 while MS spouted about how great and secure this new OS will be - only to find out they lied. None of this fixes your obviously broken phone but be careful admiring the grass on the other side of the fence when it wasn't long ago you nearly choked on it.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
I have a whole set of rants directed at those other issues. I'm non-denominational when it comes to my frustrations. It really feels like we're in a tech slump. Android is a total Wild West mess that Google is desperate to get under control, and yet Google themselves are so engineer-biased that they seem incapable of delivering a user experience that covers the other 95% safely. Apple...ah, Apple. Enough about them. Microsoft. Wow. I've been digging into .NET Core, ASP.NET Core, EF Core etc this weekend and it's like they sent the engineers off to an island for 5 years and said "Go crazy!". It's a frigging mess. They have the most awesome IDE in existence and yet all you see in demos and docs is an endless series of powershell, command prompt or Nuget console text commands to do things that shoudln't have to be done. So much work in automatic wiring up of all the bits and pieces, so much other work in bypassing it all and getting out the zip-ties and duct tape. I could go on about Garmin, The SQL team, Git repos and Nuget if you wish... :)
cheers Chris Maunder
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There aren't any more "genius" kids. Just millennials w/ brains of mush who will say virtually anything. Sorry you had to learn that this way. Get a flip phone. They run on their battery for like two weeks. And you can even talk to people on em! It's crazy. I go "ooh, looks like I need to charge my phone" - My wife who has nothing short of a train of naughty old smart phones banished to drawers just smirks". She'll say "yeah but my phone does" - yeah whatever mama. :cool:
Ron Anders wrote:
Get a flip phone.
When was the last time you checked your e-mail or your calendar or the weather on your flip phone? What about checking a flight status or the scores for last nights game. Maybe edited a document while on the go? Flip phones just don't suffice for a lot of people these days.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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I have a whole set of rants directed at those other issues. I'm non-denominational when it comes to my frustrations. It really feels like we're in a tech slump. Android is a total Wild West mess that Google is desperate to get under control, and yet Google themselves are so engineer-biased that they seem incapable of delivering a user experience that covers the other 95% safely. Apple...ah, Apple. Enough about them. Microsoft. Wow. I've been digging into .NET Core, ASP.NET Core, EF Core etc this weekend and it's like they sent the engineers off to an island for 5 years and said "Go crazy!". It's a frigging mess. They have the most awesome IDE in existence and yet all you see in demos and docs is an endless series of powershell, command prompt or Nuget console text commands to do things that shoudln't have to be done. So much work in automatic wiring up of all the bits and pieces, so much other work in bypassing it all and getting out the zip-ties and duct tape. I could go on about Garmin, The SQL team, Git repos and Nuget if you wish... :)
cheers Chris Maunder
Yeah, I hear ya. I could write volumes on how awful Siemens application software is yet I'm "forced" to use it and probably will be until I retire. Its no wonder stress related illness and depression are on the rise. X|
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
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Ron Anders wrote:
Get a flip phone.
When was the last time you checked your e-mail or your calendar or the weather on your flip phone? What about checking a flight status or the scores for last nights game. Maybe edited a document while on the go? Flip phones just don't suffice for a lot of people these days.
That's what I do. I drink, and I know things. ~ Tyrion Lannister
email: I wait till I get back to the office. weather: I have glass windows - I can see what the weather is. fights: I drive. games: I wait till I get back to the office. Or sports radio. :thumbsup:
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Being thoroughly stuck in the MS space I have never considered any of apples gear for no other reason than bigotry. The wife, who is pretty close to being a luddite, took the advice of a girlfriend and bought an ipad mini, much to my disgust. When I got my samsung pad I found the screen to be dramatically brighter and sharper and cost less. I feel my bigotry is justified!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I've been lucky to have the used the gamut of devices out there. My experience with Samsung has been suboptimal to say the least - especially in regards to their policy of OS updates (or no updates, as is often the case). I've also found the android tablets a little too plastic-y for my liking. I wish the Surface would thin out, lighten up and get better battery life (yeah, I know, I know...). However, even dumb things like the ridiculous rotation animation (pause...screen shrinks...screen rotates...screen expands...pause) bugs me in ways that are irrational. Apple gets the hardware right (except when they get it wrong, cf. single USB-C plug on Macbook). Their software needs some to just bite the bullet and fix it.
cheers Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
bugs me in ways that are irrational
I begin to see our problem :laugh:
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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That was my thought too. I mean, I am kinda a big deal...
cheers Chris Maunder
Well, yes you kinda are. While I was reading your post, I imagined you standing in front of the A-Genius as he told you there was nothing wrong with your phone. You must have frozen for a second or two as images of the dozens of phones, tablets, laptops and desktops you have used over the years ran trough your mind - not to mention the server farms at CP. Don't these guys ask the customers a couple of questions to get a feel of their technical experience? Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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The Apple fanboi thing always rubbed me the wrong way, but I do love their hardware*. Their software is a mess: buggy, complicated Frankensteins, with UIs that lock up, and a "find me if you can" approach to feature discovery. However, their hardware is slick. Except when it stops working. My iPhone 6 started getting hot. Really hot. So hot that I couldn't leave it in my pocket. Naturally the battery life went from a couple of days to a few hours, and for the life of me I couldn't work out what happened. I removed apps, I factory reset, I turned off every single thing that could possibly be using power. It still ran hot and died. I took it to an Apple Genius (I'm sure they appreciate irony) and the guy held my hot phone and says "it's normal", runs some diagnostics and says "no, there's nothing causing the battery to die. The battery is in perfect condition and there's no history of apps running that could drain it". That's because I closed and deleted all the apps, genius. He suggested all the standard stuff (turn off background stuff, turn off notifications, keep it in a dry dark place and try not to actually use it) but I'd done all that. So instead of saying "your phone's dead" he said "this is normal". Which clearly it isn't. So my backup phone is a backup phone because the battery goes from 40% to 0% instantly. Given that my main phone is unusable I figured $99 for a new battery for the old phone while I wait until the new phones come out in September is my best bet. So they take my old phone, slap a new battery in it, give it back and say "plug it in to iTunes and do a restore and it'll be good as news". Except it isn't. It's a brick locked in restore mode and nothing - not even those "get out of restore mode for free" apps can fix it. It's completely cactus. So. I book another genius bar visit. Except I clicked the wrong time and you can't go backwards (you get an error if you try). So I wait for the email confirmation to arrive and figure I'll just change the time. Except the link to "Manage your reservation" doesn't work: it says my case ID (which they sent me) and me email (which they sent it to) don't match. So stuff them. I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then try and explain how they bricked my phone, misdiagnosed my other phone, and can't manage a simple appointment booking app to a young energetic kid who will assume it's this poor, sad, confused user's fault, and not the fault of a company that has completely lost it's focus, it's passion, and it's unbending
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The Apple fanboi thing always rubbed me the wrong way, but I do love their hardware*. Their software is a mess: buggy, complicated Frankensteins, with UIs that lock up, and a "find me if you can" approach to feature discovery. However, their hardware is slick. Except when it stops working. My iPhone 6 started getting hot. Really hot. So hot that I couldn't leave it in my pocket. Naturally the battery life went from a couple of days to a few hours, and for the life of me I couldn't work out what happened. I removed apps, I factory reset, I turned off every single thing that could possibly be using power. It still ran hot and died. I took it to an Apple Genius (I'm sure they appreciate irony) and the guy held my hot phone and says "it's normal", runs some diagnostics and says "no, there's nothing causing the battery to die. The battery is in perfect condition and there's no history of apps running that could drain it". That's because I closed and deleted all the apps, genius. He suggested all the standard stuff (turn off background stuff, turn off notifications, keep it in a dry dark place and try not to actually use it) but I'd done all that. So instead of saying "your phone's dead" he said "this is normal". Which clearly it isn't. So my backup phone is a backup phone because the battery goes from 40% to 0% instantly. Given that my main phone is unusable I figured $99 for a new battery for the old phone while I wait until the new phones come out in September is my best bet. So they take my old phone, slap a new battery in it, give it back and say "plug it in to iTunes and do a restore and it'll be good as news". Except it isn't. It's a brick locked in restore mode and nothing - not even those "get out of restore mode for free" apps can fix it. It's completely cactus. So. I book another genius bar visit. Except I clicked the wrong time and you can't go backwards (you get an error if you try). So I wait for the email confirmation to arrive and figure I'll just change the time. Except the link to "Manage your reservation" doesn't work: it says my case ID (which they sent me) and me email (which they sent it to) don't match. So stuff them. I'll book again, ignore my first booking, and then try and explain how they bricked my phone, misdiagnosed my other phone, and can't manage a simple appointment booking app to a young energetic kid who will assume it's this poor, sad, confused user's fault, and not the fault of a company that has completely lost it's focus, it's passion, and it's unbending
I have personally not had the level of frustration with my iPhones that you have, but I've heard of others like you. They seem to be rare, but that doesn't help the afflicted at all. This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. The few times I have had a problem, I've resorted to having my 22 year old daughter take my phone to the Apple Store. My 5'8", wavy blonde haired, slender, very attractive 22 year old daughter, who has seemingly perfected the art of mentally controlling men, especially the nerds at the Apple Store, and convincing them of pretty much anything she wants, including replacing malfunctioning iPhones for free. So if you have one of those types of daughters, or know someone who does, I suggest giving it a shot. And yes, I am perversely proud of her. Horribly evil of me, I know, but I'm a horribly evil type of person in general.
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I have personally not had the level of frustration with my iPhones that you have, but I've heard of others like you. They seem to be rare, but that doesn't help the afflicted at all. This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. The few times I have had a problem, I've resorted to having my 22 year old daughter take my phone to the Apple Store. My 5'8", wavy blonde haired, slender, very attractive 22 year old daughter, who has seemingly perfected the art of mentally controlling men, especially the nerds at the Apple Store, and convincing them of pretty much anything she wants, including replacing malfunctioning iPhones for free. So if you have one of those types of daughters, or know someone who does, I suggest giving it a shot. And yes, I am perversely proud of her. Horribly evil of me, I know, but I'm a horribly evil type of person in general.
07784 560982 It's my mobile phone number. Can you pass it on to your daughter please.
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I have personally not had the level of frustration with my iPhones that you have, but I've heard of others like you. They seem to be rare, but that doesn't help the afflicted at all. This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. The few times I have had a problem, I've resorted to having my 22 year old daughter take my phone to the Apple Store. My 5'8", wavy blonde haired, slender, very attractive 22 year old daughter, who has seemingly perfected the art of mentally controlling men, especially the nerds at the Apple Store, and convincing them of pretty much anything she wants, including replacing malfunctioning iPhones for free. So if you have one of those types of daughters, or know someone who does, I suggest giving it a shot. And yes, I am perversely proud of her. Horribly evil of me, I know, but I'm a horribly evil type of person in general.
Brad Stiles wrote:
especially the nerds at the Apple Store
As a semi-proper nerd (I'm no Moss), I take offense to this. The last "Genius" I talked to couldn't event tell me what IP stands for, let alone what it is. It's a little scary when your tech support makes the Geek Squad look good.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
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Apple is much like an apple. You buy one and hope there aren't any sore spots or bugs in it :~
Read my (free) ebook Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly. Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles here on CodeProject.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra
Regards, Sander
On the flip side... after using Android devices since they first came out till last year, I broke down and decide to give an iPhone 6plus a try. There were some music apps that were on IOS that I simply couldn't get for Android that I wanted to take advantage of and I was getting a new phone so I thought I would give it a shot. The 6plus has been a workhorse and been fairly reliable the only complaint I've seen with it is that as IOS has been upgraded it has become more 'Windows like' requiring a reboot now and then to clear it up and get things working smoothly after getting gummed up. If I shut my phone off once in a while this would be completely unnecessary but I don't. I suppose a reboot every other day might do the trick but till I train myself to do something as pre-emptive as that it will have to wait. Regardless, That was a year ago, in May that I got the 6plus. When the iPad Pro came out I picked up one of those with the cellular setup to replace my primary Android tablet and have never looked back. My Apple devices have been a joy to use and have been as I short of the periodic Windows like behavior on the later versions of IOS flawless. I'm considering picking up a Mac for the desktop at home just to add it to make a trio because I get so frustrated with the performance of windows on my desktop at home. I probably wont because my worklife is in the Windows world, but the dark side is so pleasant.
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Well, yes you kinda are. While I was reading your post, I imagined you standing in front of the A-Genius as he told you there was nothing wrong with your phone. You must have frozen for a second or two as images of the dozens of phones, tablets, laptops and desktops you have used over the years ran trough your mind - not to mention the server farms at CP. Don't these guys ask the customers a couple of questions to get a feel of their technical experience? Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
Yeah - I'm a legend in my own lunchtime ;) I've learned that I need to approach these guys carefully. I list everything I've tried, referencing their online docs, and use precise terms. I didn't "reset the phone" I "put the phone into DFU mode and did a full firmware restore via iTunes". That seems to switch their mode of thinking into a more sensible and efficient discussion.
cheers Chris Maunder
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I like such posts because they mark the level of existing problems. I find it to be low. With Android you are on your own completely after a year. A 4 year old iPhone 5 is better than nothing so you can wait until iPhone 7 or what it will be.
Absolutely. I really only have a few grips 1. They were working off what their diagnostic apps said, not what common sense says. I found it fascinating that their diagnostic apps only provide info on apps that are running, not the OS. It's like the OS is a big blind spot that can't (or aren't allowed?) to question. I really just wanted them to say "It's dead, Jim". 2. They gave me back my repaired phone in a non-operable state. It wasn't even turned on and tested after the battery replacement. They acknowledged this was an error on their part (which was awesome of them). I do still have a deep, deep sadness at the direction Apple has gone. It's run by a conservative committee that now follows and chases instead of a single person who leads.
cheers Chris Maunder
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I have personally not had the level of frustration with my iPhones that you have, but I've heard of others like you. They seem to be rare, but that doesn't help the afflicted at all. This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. The few times I have had a problem, I've resorted to having my 22 year old daughter take my phone to the Apple Store. My 5'8", wavy blonde haired, slender, very attractive 22 year old daughter, who has seemingly perfected the art of mentally controlling men, especially the nerds at the Apple Store, and convincing them of pretty much anything she wants, including replacing malfunctioning iPhones for free. So if you have one of those types of daughters, or know someone who does, I suggest giving it a shot. And yes, I am perversely proud of her. Horribly evil of me, I know, but I'm a horribly evil type of person in general.
We are so easily manipulated ;)
cheers Chris Maunder
