Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Really, Steve Jobs? Really?!

I was given an iPod Touch for Christmas. I love(d) it. It was like my little electronic pet that could do awesome things and was always there for me, until yesterday.

I turned it on as usual, and it flashed the 'Restore' screen. Flashed it. Then, booted normally. Then, it flashed the Apple screen, rebooted, and worked for enough time for me to see that the battery level was low. I plugged it in and charged it, thinking that was the problem. It worked for a couple hours after the charge, then went into a boot sequence that wouldn't stop.

Being new to Apple products, I thought, "Well, maybe someone has had this happen to their iPod?" I looked it up - there are thousand of links about this problem. There are tons of YouTube videos with people showing their iPod doing the exact same thing.

Faulty. The iPod Touch is faulty.

I did a complete restore. I do not have a jailbroken iPod. I am a very conscientious user. I backup. I don't get apps from anywhere but the app store. I haven't dropped it, gotten it wet, sat on it, etc. The only thing that's different today than yesterday is an upgrade to the DSL speed at the house, but I don't see how that could affect it.
After the restore, it ran one more random boot sequence before I went to sleep. This morning it turned on fine.I don't know if it's 'fixed'. I can't rely on it anymore. It could turn into a brick at any minute. I've never had any computer/electronic component that I couldn't trust to work, before. See, I'm a PC and though I've complained about Windows and Microsoft a thousand times, I've always had a reliable Windows system.
 

Windows/Microsoft has the greatest share of the computer market. People write viruses for Windows. The newest version of a Windows OS usually has a few bugs, but most of the problems arise from areas that are vulnerable to intrusion. The hardware is rarely and issue. Everyone makes hardware for Windows - and the hardware works.
 

Let's say you run a company that would like to pull in some of those Windows users. You decide you will completely control the hardware for your equipment. Wouldn't you make sure it was the best, most reliable,
hardware you could have made? Seeing as most of the people trying your smaller items - iPod, Touch, iPad - are likely Windows users and this will be their first experience with your brand, don't you want their experience with your product to be great? Don't you want them to have a dependable, stable gadget? Don't you want them to love it so much, they at least consider switching to your computer line?
 

We all know Jobs is about the flash, but I thought Apple was more than flash. I thought the products were well-made. The Apple products are amazing, but amazing for 6 months could be the reason they don't have the market share of Windows. To me, from my first experience with Apple, it looks like they are making 'really awesome crap'. Toys, for adults, that break like dollar store items, without the cheap price tag.
 

Why am I so upset, since the iPod Touch was a gift, after all? I bought my mother an iPad for Mother's Day. It looks very nice, but I no longer trust it to work for more than a few months. I could have bought her a laptop or a netbook and she would have been better off. I didn't know Apple doesn't care if their products work, they just want them to look really cool. I feel like a dupe.

Bill Gates, I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said about you and your OS since 1996. Steve Jobs, you suck.
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