I won't bore you with a number of issues with tech support from both Apple Stores and the telephone support during a recent Xserv purchase for my company.
Now I have an iPod issue. I've had the iPod for eight months & the LCD screen suddenly stopped working. I brought it into my local Mac reseller & they thought they could put a new LCD screen in. Turns out they didn't have a 4th generation screen. So they charged me $25 to waste my time.
So they tell me to go online & register to send it in to Mac for repair. The online site leads me through about 15 pages before it tells me "can't verify serial number". I try again. No luck.
The site gives me a number to call for tech support. I ended up speaking to a woman who could speak very little english, but I beared with it. She told me my warranty was expired, that it was a six-month warranty (which is bullshit) and tried to sell me a two-year Apple Care plan. I said no, the warranty is one year and I didn't want Apple Care.
So then she tells me, yes, it's a one-year plan for online support, not for phone support. I didn't see anything about that in the warranty, and I told her the only reason I was calling was because the website didn't work. So she told me she could have it sent in for repair, but it would cost $30 for shipping & handling. I said that was fine. She again went into sales pitch about Apple Care which I said I had no interest in.
She then put me on hold for 10 more minutes (after originally being on hold twice that long) to "check" something. She then started to process the claim & told me a box would be sent to my house in 48 hours & I gave her my address. She then said she was having an issue with the serial number in the computer & that she would have to get back to me and hung up. She never took my phone number.
I then called back to try to speak with someone slightly more competent, waited another 15 minutes & some jackass picks up the phone doing the "pinched-nose-nasal-voice" thing---"Hello, this is Robert, can I start with your first name". I answered him and even spelled it out. His answer--"Hello, this is Robert, can I start with your first name". I repeated it, thinking he might not have heard me. Again he says -"Hello, this is Robert, can I start with your first name". So this time I just hung up on the fucking smart-ass.
So now the wait to see if I ever get the package. Sorry for the rant, but I don't know what the hell is going on with that company & I'm about ready to make "switch" back to PC.
― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:01 (twenty years ago)
WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU??????????
― IRATE MAMA (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:05 (twenty years ago)
― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)
― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)
― Aaron A., Friday, 4 March 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)
― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)
― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)
All too true.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)
― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)
― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)
― Ed (dali), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)
― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:31 (twenty years ago)
― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:35 (twenty years ago)
― Fish fingers all in a line (kenan), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:40 (twenty years ago)
― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:41 (twenty years ago)
Apple replaced my new iBook's motherboard while I was in Japan. That's hundreds of dollars worth, at no charge to me. Of course, it shouldn't have failed within six months in the first place...
― Momus (Momus), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:41 (twenty years ago)
― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)
― ffirehorse (firehorse), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)
― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)
That's why they charge you double upfront!
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)
― Ed (dali), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)
― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 4 March 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)
Because I don't believe in a company making you pay for a warantee that should be offered for free upfront. I was under the impression that a one-year warantee meant that if something goes wrong in the first year, they actually fix the thing, not put you on the phone with several douchebags who are trying to sell you additional warantees.
Shit, when the first warantee doesn't seem to work, why would I want to buy another one?
― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Friday, 4 March 2005 23:53 (twenty years ago)
But it does sound like you have a problem with your serial number, Jay.
― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 5 March 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)
― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 5 March 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)
― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 5 March 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)
tho when i was waiting there, i did see todd oldham.
― hstencil (hstencil), Saturday, 5 March 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)
― biznotic, Saturday, 5 March 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 5 March 2005 02:36 (twenty years ago)
― Ed (dali), Saturday, 5 March 2005 06:51 (twenty years ago)
― TOMBOT, Saturday, 5 March 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)
― amandasc, Saturday, 5 March 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Saturday, 5 March 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)
― Ed (dali), Saturday, 5 March 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)
― Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 6 March 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)
My tech experience with Apple has been sensational. A friend called me today to tell me that his mini iPod was replaced in less than five business days, and he also got the new generation mini in place of his old one that had died. No charge.
I've dealt with Dell and Gateway and their CSRs are no better than Apple's. HPs can blow me, they've sucked.
― don weiner, Sunday, 6 March 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)
the desktop I have at work running XP has been up and alive for 2 years with barely any reboots. It does everything I want it to do, does it quickly, and I can navigate painlessly without ever touching the mouse if I feel like it.
I was raised on Apple and my first job was DTP on a Mac, followed by audio editing on a Mac, more DTP, and so on. OS 7+ had more than its share of problems and stupid quirks but the hardware was rock solid and at least its behavior was predictable.
Since getting my latest-edition powerbook I've put it through little more than I ever tried to do with my old OS
― TOMBOT, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)
...OS
― TOMBOT, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)
My old Quadra used to have a TV Tuner in it and be able to do image captures from live cable broadcasts, then I could import them into my cheap, incredibly easy to use paint program and do whatever with them. I believe it cost approximately half of what my laptop did! My laptop lets me chat and surf the internet. And rip CDs.
― TOMBOT, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:25 (twenty years ago)
― TOMBOT, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)
Well today it decided it wasn't going to wake up again, ever, as I'm being greeted with a totally white screen.
What's funny is that like doing searches on my own to try to figure out wtf this computer is doing right now (I mean not even the sad face x-eye Mac or the question mark Mac! NOTHING AT ALL! WHITE SCREEN! I know how to handle the other things!), everyone who is reporting similar issues to me is like bitching about how they have all this important blah blah blah they were doing with the Mac prior hand. Is it that no one who has this failure who is only using their Mac for chat, porn, and MP3s can be bothered to get in on the discussions, or is it because they don't die if that's all you use it for? Because yeah, it seems like my sleep problem increases tenfold whenever I've been using my iBook more for writing or photo work. If all I've done on the damn thing is use iChat for two weeks, no problems whatsoever with starting it up, back when it, uh, started up.
What does this imply??? Is there like some inherent instability in the majority of the "native" programs that come bundled with OSX or is this just really fucked up coincidence?
Also it seems that this particular issue with the iBook G3 was so bad they threw the whole "your warranty is expired, give us $500" shenanigans out the window, and searching on this same issue with "Powerbook" has not given me the same results--ARE IBOOKS PIECES OF SHIT? wtf?
― Allyzay, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)
*with the exception of my ancient PowerMac that I had when I was 14-15-16, which only died because my sister is a dick.
I am pretty close to deciding to become the female Punisher, except murdering computer firms, instead of bad guys.
― Allyzay, Monday, 14 March 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)
And then kind of ran away????
That was pretty funny.
― Allyzay, Monday, 14 March 2005 18:10 (twenty years ago)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)
― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:41 (twenty years ago)
― nathalie barefoot in the head (stevie nixed), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:46 (twenty years ago)
― TOMBOT, Monday, 14 March 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)
― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)
― RJG (RJG), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)
Does youtube work in safari? Is upgrading the OS an option or have you reached the supported OS limit?
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 26 March 2025 16:02 (five months ago)
upgrading the os not possible, after os 12.something my ipad stopped being supported. youtube might work in safari but the ipad had become so slow, each page takes so long to load that it's not worth the hassle. at this point it was just the youtube app that worked. it had a good 10 year run, i can't complain. a new ipad will feel insanely fast once i go ahead and buy one
― Jibe, Thursday, 27 March 2025 07:58 (five months ago)
I run Plex off a horribly old computer running Windows 8.1. I made the mistake of updating my iPad Plex app, which now tells me I need to update my server (which my ancient computer is incapable of).
Is there any way to downgrade my iPad Plex app to the version that actually worked for me a few days ago?
― mookieproof, Sunday, 13 April 2025 07:09 (five months ago)
i'm guessing the answer is no, and i'm honestly seething about this
― mookieproof, Sunday, 13 April 2025 07:13 (five months ago)
it's not even like it helps apple to make me buy a new windows computer
― mookieproof, Sunday, 13 April 2025 07:15 (five months ago)
Isn’t that a plex choice and issue and not an apple one?
― dan selzer, Monday, 14 April 2025 11:18 (five months ago)
i'm switching to infuse to use as my plex client (still using plex server), hoping that will resolve some codec issues i've been having
― 龜, Monday, 14 April 2025 13:37 (five months ago)
Infuse absolutely rules. You need the pro subscription for Dolby Atmos decoding I think. Very much worth an annual fee to me.
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 14 April 2025 13:38 (five months ago)
I imagine there's not an LG client.
I'm kind of annoyed at Plexamp for just not working anymore for me outside my local network but that's another thread probably.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 14 April 2025 21:42 (five months ago)
did you switch ISPs, or did your ISP switch to using carrier grade NAT? that'd do it. there are some ways around it.
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Monday, 14 April 2025 21:43 (five months ago)
hgnghgghghhhhhhhghhh
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 14 April 2025 21:54 (five months ago)
mostly? but neither of them told me the ramifications of updating and it's apple who never ever lets anyone downgrade
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 15 April 2025 02:13 (five months ago)
yeah, sucks all around. sounds like Plex made a breaking change to their client software that didn't let it work with older server versions, Apple aggressively wants you to keep your apps up to date, mostly with good reasons, and nobody wants to support old versions of software forever
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Tuesday, 15 April 2025 14:35 (five months ago)
OK, I really fucking hate Apple suddenly.
Last night I installed the latest Sequoia update, 15.4.1, and now all of a sudden metadata on streaming radio stations doesn't work. I click on WFMU and it shows the station but not the song currently playing. I can click the Favorite star next to the station name and metadata suddenly shows up, but it doesn't update dynamically. If I click away to a different station, no metadata. If I click back to WFMU, metadata is gone and I have to click the star again.
I just got off a tech support call and they said they're phasing out support for metadata on iHeartRadio stations. I said "I don't use iHeartRadio" and he said that was the backend for all internet radio where you get there initially via "Open Stream URL." This is to get people to subscribe to Apple Music and access their internet radio stations that way -- metadata will still be supported there.
So, sorry if this has been covered before, but can the hivemind direct me to their preferred music apps for the Mac? I have an 18,000 track library and a collection of ~40 internet radio stations that I keep up with.
― Resident Neutral (WmC), Tuesday, 6 May 2025 15:22 (four months ago)
Sorry when you say you “click on WFMU” - are you doing this inside Apple Music?
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 6 May 2025 16:57 (four months ago)
Yes. I have a bunch of internet radio stations in the desktop Music app that I've accessed via "Open Stream URL" under File, and gathered together in a My Radio playlist. No Apple Music subscription required.
― Resident Neutral (WmC), Tuesday, 6 May 2025 17:31 (four months ago)
I'm still running Monterey because I'm afraid of losing a whole bunch of software that I regularly use. I may soon have to upgrade to OS...more and more sites are no longer supported by my outdated versions of Chrome and Safari (the best I can run on Monterey) and I can't even buy tickets on my computer anymore, I have to use my phone which is extremely bad with high demand shows. (I already lost out on great seats to at least two shows due to the awkwardness of trying to grab them on the phone.)
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 6 May 2025 17:53 (four months ago)
*upgrade the OS
WmC it’s going to become more difficult to access IP radio and the metadata that goes with it by methods like this, but that’s going to be an iHeart decision I think - they want you to use their app. I don’t know for sure but it’s likely they’ve done a deal with Apple where if someone accesses iHeart stations via a paid subscription to Apple then you also get the metadata. Either way, the old “open a URL” method - whether via Apple Music or some other way - is going to work less and less.
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 6 May 2025 18:07 (four months ago)
boooooo
― Resident Neutral (WmC), Tuesday, 6 May 2025 18:11 (four months ago)
yeah I kind of wonder if that has anything to do with Apple or if Clearchannel's own app doesn't support older macOS, so they're still letting the metadata slip through on platforms their app doesn't support
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Tuesday, 6 May 2025 18:41 (four months ago)
birdistheword have you tried Firefox? Seems to receive updates on older systems still.
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 6 May 2025 21:16 (four months ago)
I have not! I will give it a try - thanks matt!
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 7 May 2025 05:18 (four months ago)
I recommend the “Headphone Accommodations” setting
― calstars, Saturday, 14 June 2025 20:56 (three months ago)
The move circles in the Fitness app don't take cycling into account!
― rainbow calx (lukas), Sunday, 22 June 2025 01:47 (two months ago)
Okay, if I bike uphill slowly enough it thinks I'm walking ...
― rainbow calx (lukas), Thursday, 17 July 2025 01:19 (two months ago)
What would be nice is multiple instances of music apps. Like I’m in the middle of a long playlist but I want to quickly listen to this other unrelated song but not lose my place
― calstars, Friday, 18 July 2025 21:34 (two months ago)
They should also put out an e-ink iPad
― calstars, Friday, 18 July 2025 23:08 (two months ago)
I totally agree with the playlist thing. I especially hate if I accidentally click on sample .wav or whatever and it stops the music to play it, as well as copying a hi hat sound etc to my apple music library on all devices lol.
e-ink cannot refresh / be a touch screen quick enough for that kind of thing to work. ever use a touch screen eink kindle? good enough for flipping pages only really. maybe they're alot better now though. I'm all in favor of a return to black and white screens for many tasks though.
― encino morricone (majorairbro), Saturday, 19 July 2025 05:46 (two months ago)
https://i.postimg.cc/DzHCyJt1/Screenshot-2025-09-05-at-9-50-25-AM.png
― 龜, Friday, 5 September 2025 13:50 (two weeks ago)
It is incredible just how bad that search is.
― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 5 September 2025 14:01 (two weeks ago)
it really is, it used to be good iirc (cant even remember now)
― lil $CHUB (Spottie), Friday, 5 September 2025 16:24 (two weeks ago)
glass UI elements are ugly. and they have removed “slide over” and side-by-side view in ipad fs. (side-by-side can still be done but it’s so clunky now - like a 4 or 5 step process)
― ||||||||, Wednesday, 17 September 2025 11:31 (three days ago)
god I am hating the OS 26s, just a catalog of ugliness and glitches with zero added function
― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 17 September 2025 12:42 (three days ago)
It doesn't look like glass. It looks like my apps are zipped inside a plastic baggie.
― pplains, Wednesday, 17 September 2025 14:47 (three days ago)
I'm gonna put this off as long as I can.
― rainbow calx (lukas), Wednesday, 17 September 2025 15:32 (three days ago)
Apple has no one left to run
― Minty Gum (Latham Green), Wednesday, 17 September 2025 17:35 (three days ago)
Cook'ed
― encino morricone (majorairbro), Thursday, 18 September 2025 07:58 (two days ago)
Really not v good is it
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 18 September 2025 07:59 (two days ago)
This is all hearsay, but supposedly this article got a tremendous amount of attention inside Apple design labs:
"VISUAL ELEMENTS OF SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE MODULATE AMYGDALA ACTIVATION"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4024389/
apparently it was popular enough that it's the reason why OS 26 looks the way it does.
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 September 2025 08:41 (two days ago)
Depressingly, whoever was responsible for this failure will undoubtedly bolt - making way for another poor soul to walk the plank on "fixing" the Finder. Which will happen first: California gets state-wide high-speed rail or the macOS Finder looks nice and is helpful?
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 September 2025 08:55 (two days ago)
Tahoe System Preferences is demonstrably worse than the MacOS 8 Control Panel window (which I recall Jobs mocking repeatedly)
― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 September 2025 11:35 (two days ago)
I no longer appear in my wife’s Contacts app when scrolling through it alphabetically. However if she uses the search bar, and searches for me, my entry appears.
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 18 September 2025 11:43 (two days ago)
(in iOS)
Settings >> Accessibility >> Display & Text Size >> Reduce Transparency
This will get rid of the glass, turning the folder and notification backgrounds to black.
― pplains, Thursday, 18 September 2025 13:39 (two days ago)
lest we forget
Frame of preference: A history of Mac settings, 1984–2004
― Brad C., Thursday, 18 September 2025 13:44 (two days ago)
When we first made an apple/itunes account my wife and I shared an account. At this point it would be too difficult to split it but it leads to confusion sometimes when we get new phones or things update.
― Cow_Art, Thursday, 18 September 2025 13:48 (two days ago)
> Frame of preference: A history of Mac settings, 1984–2004
"PowerBook G4 photo by Ashley Pomeroy"... worlds collide.
― koogs, Thursday, 18 September 2025 14:51 (two days ago)
https://www.reddit.com/r/CrossStitch/comments/95b3m8/fo_classic_mac_control_panel_pixel_art_stitched/
wonderful!
― Minty Gum (Latham Green), Thursday, 18 September 2025 16:27 (two days ago)
This is all hearsay, but supposedly this article got a tremendous amount of attention inside Apple design labs:"VISUAL ELEMENTS OF SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE MODULATE AMYGDALA ACTIVATION"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4024389🕸/apparently it was popular enough that it's the reason why OS 26 looks the way it does.
"VISUAL ELEMENTS OF SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE MODULATE AMYGDALA ACTIVATION"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4024389🕸/
If they're taking design cues from this
Real bad sign if taste is no longer the arbiter
― rainbow calx (lukas), Thursday, 18 September 2025 17:57 (two days ago)