Daggers Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 T3's words, not mine T3 Ten: 10 things we HATE about AppleThe polo-necks, the smuggery, the price, Bono, Apple TV... need we go on? 1. The smugness Apple rips you off, dicks you around, releases products as virtual public betas, and has the worst customer service department in the known universe. Okay, everyone does that these days - tech products are now so complex, it's virtually inevitable - but Apple do it with the air of Moses returning from the mount with a new batch of tablets. 2. Apple Stores Like airport departure lounges, they're cavernous, soulless and full of bored-looking tourists. They are staffed by "geniuses" who know nothing. 3. The first one's always rubbish From the iMac to the iPod to the MacBook Air, there's always some clanging design flaw in every new product Apple brings out. Sure by generation four, it'll be sorted, but in the meantime you're left with a product with no removable storage, a battery that dies in five minutes and a software flaw that means it doesn't work on Tuesdays. 4. The prices Nobody minds paying a bit over the odds for a premium product, and some iPods are now perilously close to being good value. However, the prices of Apple's computers and, for some reason, the iPod Touch, remain quite mad. Worse, the days when Apple was synonymous with rock-solid build quality are long gone. Our original iMac is still going strong, 8GB hard drive 'n' all. Our last one packed up after just over a 18 months with terminal hard drive and logic board failure. 5. Apple TV A device that allows you to watch video in your front room. Cheers. 6. The "keynote speeches" 2,000 hyped-up uber-nerds whooping like they've just won the lottery, just because Ocelot, or whatever the new Apple OS is called, now makes a slightly more booming "bong" sound when fired up. Apple's product launches are like a Nuremberg rally on dress-down Friday. 7. The iTunes Store DRM? 128Kbps tunes at 79p a track? Constant promotions for dreary, middle-of-the-road toss like Katie Melua? We'll stick to Emusic and illegal file sharing, thanks. 8. The adverts Not the ones with Mitchell and Webb. They're great. No, we mean the ones with "cool" silhouettes dancing to "cool" music by whatever "cool" band (or Bono) Apple has oh-so-easily convinced to whore themselves this month. Ironically, they're usually really bassy, dancey tunes. Have you ever tried getting bass out of an iPod, especially via Apple's earphones? 9. Steve Jobs And his stupid voice, stupid hair, stupid clothes and stupid, unfunny jokes. 10. People who like Apple products Middle of the road bores who've convinced themselves they're edgy. Passive aggressive twerps who go on Apple's own message boards to defend Apple's products from customers with legitimate grievances, saying things like "You're not using it properly" and "You haven't repaired permissions". Beaming evangelists with hyena smiles and thousand-yard stares. Empty men with empty lives. I'm stunned that iTunes never made their list because it's at the top of mine. Any music player where you can't drag'n'drop sucks shit in my book.
Bryn Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 T3's words, not mine I'm stunned that iTunes never made their list because it's at the top of mine. Any music player where you can't drag'n'drop sucks shit in my book. Preach brother, preach. A abhorrent program, possibly the worst I've ever had the misfortune of having to use in 13 years of using computers. I had less trouble using DOS when I was 5.
filbertway Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 T3's words, not mine I'm stunned that iTunes never made their list because it's at the top of mine. Any music player where you can't drag'n'drop sucks shit in my book. What do you mean by that? I'm sure you can drag and drop?
Joe. Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 What do you mean by that? I'm sure you can drag and drop? Nah you have to sync it.
Mark Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 You can drag and drop? But I don't use itunes for playing music on my computer, for my ipod I drag and drop the music I want on it into my itunes music library and sync.
MC Prussian Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 Scorch me. I just bought a MacBook Pro. Yeah, I'm smug. And I love my iTunes. No more computer crashes, little to no viruses. Slick design and Final Cut Express 4. And probably one of the few Customer Services that actually do care about customers. The only real downside to Apple is that their products are pricey. Oh, and Microsoft Office 2008 súcks big-time.
Joe. Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 Personally I have no issues with itunes at all either, I use it all the time to organise my music. And although it isn't drag and drop it's still perfectly simple to add music to the ipod. What is it in particular that is so bad about it Daggers?
Daggers Posted 4 July 2008 Author Posted 4 July 2008 What is it in particular that is so bad about it Daggers? The unwieldy interface, DRM, "synching", software bundling, converting files so they'll play....basically, the software is irrelevant. It's an additional step in a procedure that doesn't need to happen. An additional and time-consuming step.
Nationwider Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 I'm confused. I click-hold a track in my iTunes music library, drag it over the ipod icon and drop it in. Is this not dragon drop?
Daggers Posted 4 July 2008 Author Posted 4 July 2008 I'm confused.I click-hold a track in my iTunes music library, drag it over the ipod icon and drop it in. Is this not dragon drop? If you had a cellar then it might be Dungeons and Dragons drop - although you may find lots of single 30something balding men suddenly turn up at your house with lots of dice so maybe you'd better not try it.
Babylon Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 Scorch me. I just bought a MacBook Pro.Yeah, I'm smug. And I love my iTunes. No more computer crashes, little to no viruses. Slick design and Final Cut Express 4. And probably one of the few Customer Services that actually do care about customers. The only real downside to Apple is that their products are pricey. Oh, and Microsoft Office 2008 súcks big-time. Amen... just converted my brother to apple after years of using pc's. I now don't get pestered every five minutes with "what's this error", "it says I need a driver", "what virus protection software shall I use", "why did it just crash".
Nationwider Posted 4 July 2008 Posted 4 July 2008 If you had a cellar then it might be Dungeons and Dragons drop - although you may find lots of single 30something balding men suddenly turn up at your house with lots of dice so maybe you'd better not try it. I'd love a cellar. Not to keep relatives in or anything. Just a workshop for whittling and tinkering, and a designated area for a vast stock of expensive wine. On the Apple thing, I feel dirty that I've taken that path, I know the Nano will bollocks up in time (buying from the US will probably backfire on me), and yet I did it anyway. What strange power is it that they hold over me?
Daggers Posted 4 July 2008 Author Posted 4 July 2008 Amen... just converted my brother to apple after years of using pc's. I now don't get pestered every five minutes with "what's this error", "it says I need a driver", "what virus protection software shall I use", "why did it just crash". What kind of spanner can't install a driver or a free anti-virus?
Babylon Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 What kind of spanner can't install a driver or a free anti-virus? My Brother.
MC Prussian Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 I'd love an iMac if it was half the price. I thought one should practice what one preaches. But I see your point. I've been thinking about buying a Mac for a long time, it was just that my funds were always so limited. Now that I've managed to put some savings on the side, I'm convinced I've made the right choice. It's just that I don't want to be bothered with software or hardware issues any longer. I want to work on my machine, that's it.
Jay Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 I hate ITunes and everything about it!! I can't understand why anyone would want to pay the same price as a CD for a DRM riddled file only good to use on Apple products when you could buy the CD and do what you want with it you also get a higher bit rate so what's the point who and why buys anything from this site? I hate the way Itunes uses that stupid M3A format of whatever it is, through choice I Rip in Windows Media to an MP3 file so that in the future I will be able to do anything with it transfer it to a phone, use on different media players and so on and then transfer into Itunes I can't stand the way like Daggers said you can't drag and drop. That said Apple products are so damn sexy it's untrue I mean take the IPOD some products may offer more be easier to use but as a piece of hardware nothing looks as good as the IPOD it could just be so much better if they opened it up more I mean an IPOD that you could just drag and drop would be immense, so so much better, easier to use and so on.
MC Prussian Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 I hate ITunes and everything about it!!I can't understand why anyone would want to pay the same price as a CD for a DRM riddled file only good to use on Apple products when you could buy the CD and do what you want with it you also get a higher bit rate so what's the point who and why buys anything from this site? I hate the way Itunes uses that stupid M3A format of whatever it is, through choice I Rip in Windows Media to an MP3 file so that in the future I will be able to do anything with it transfer it to a phone, use on different media players and so on and then transfer into Itunes I can't stand the way like Daggers said you can't drag and drop. That said Apple products are so damn sexy it's untrue I mean take the IPOD some products may offer more be easier to use but as a piece of hardware nothing looks as good as the IPOD it could just be so much better if they opened it up more I mean an IPOD that you could just drag and drop would be immense, so so much better, easier to use and so on. No one forces people to buy an entire album from the iTunes store. In fact, I often just get the songs I really like so that I actually save money, compared to buying an entire album on CD (I admit I do still own a few CDs myself, but I've sold most of my stack). And as for the higher bit rate, aren't iTunes Plus products supposed to deliver just that? I agree with the Apple .m4p format issue and I wish they'd finally start to make the choice easier for all users. Still, you can convert them to .mp3 or any other format you want as long as you have the right (free) software. And yes, I thought one could drag and drop in iTunes...
the_bowman Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 I prefer to download songs from Play.com - no DRM on there
Jay Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 No one forces people to buy an entire album from the iTunes store. In fact, I often just get the songs I really like so that I actually save money, compared to buying an entire album on CD (I admit I do still own a few CDs myself, but I've sold most of my stack).And as for the higher bit rate, aren't iTunes Plus products supposed to deliver just that? I agree with the Apple .m4p format issue and I wish they'd finally start to make the choice easier for all users. Still, you can convert them to .mp3 or any other format you want as long as you have the right (free) software. And yes, I thought one could drag and drop in iTunes... like a portable hard drive plug it in anywhere, drag and drop, add things remove things on any computer and so on without having to use Itunes for the pleasure
StroudFox Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 I'm confused.I click-hold a track in my iTunes music library, drag it over the ipod icon and drop it in. Is this not dragon drop? Yeah, I can drag'n'drop. You have to select manage music manually. But you can't do that with Podcasts which does annoy me. Edit: what does annoy me is that you can't have something on the ipod and not in itunes unles I haven't sorted it out. Because I want to delete stuff from my itunes to release space on my computer but without erasing it from my ipod.
Trav Le Bleu Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 Much as most have said, Apple are very good, but their price doesn't merit what you get. I'd rather have a generic MP3/4 player that I can use on many different systems, not being bound by DRM and all for a lower cost. Many generics have equal or superior build quality and longer battery life (which is a BIG plus when you're out in the sticks walking for a few days - whats the point of having 1000 hours of music and an 8 hour battery life ). And DRM... the thing that makes it most annoying is that it is easily bypassable anyhoo (burn to CD, then RIP as a standard MP3 without DRM - sorted) - easy, but time consuming. Besides which, when a person buys a piece of music they should be buying exactly that, the music, with the choice to play how the hell they want! Not some digital coding.
Finchy Posted 6 July 2008 Posted 6 July 2008 1 thing i love about Apple... Can't wait to get mine on Friday
Daggers Posted 6 July 2008 Author Posted 6 July 2008 I thought one should practice what one preaches. But I see your point. I've been thinking about buying a Mac for a long time, it was just that my funds were always so limited. Now that I've managed to put some savings on the side, I'm convinced I've made the right choice. It's just that I don't want to be bothered with software or hardware issues any longer. I want to work on my machine, that's it. Why can I not hate the company and its huge list of faults without appreciating a sleek bit of design? The iMac looks lush and I'd have one for my design work - but this machine does everything as well as a Mac - it's just a bit of a munter. I really wonder about all the complaints of nonfunctioning software and hardware: The hardware of a machine is a totally separate issue to the operating system running on it and failure rates for iMacs & iPods have been non too impressive...build quality is not what it should be in Casa de Apple considering the price premium. I paid a decent price for a computer with good build quality and it has been running glitch-free for years...I have never had a computer fail apart from the laptop I dropped in Bogota airport. Software issues? Aside from Vista being a bit of a pigs arse upon launch I really don't see how anyone can fault it for any normal home or office application beyond cost (and Apple ain't cheap either). It runs fine. As long as anyone has half a brain to install a decent piece of anti-virus software then I wonder what has been done to the machine to make it faulty. Anything your average idiot does to a Windows PC they'll be doing the same to a Mac...with, I guess, similar performance issues. And DRM... the thing that makes it most annoying is that it is easily bypassable anyhoo (burn to CD, then RIP as a standard MP3 without DRM - sorted) - easy, but time consuming. Besides which, when a person buys a piece of music they should be buying exactly that, the music, with the choice to play how the hell they want! Not some digital coding. For what it's worth - an even easier solution is to run Linux. I can play any DRM tracks without any problems on Linux - and burning them to a virtual disk drive means they can be shared with anything else I own. I'm trying to kill the music industry - my BASF Chrome II didn't do the job so I'm trying to finish it off with bitrates.
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