Ok, ok. I have to take it all back now.
Despite Apple saying they couldn't supply me with a new power adapter for my PowerBook G4 until they had their stock in which was due on 6th January 2007, I got it today. It just goes to show that it pays to be a miserable moaning old whingebag. I think I'll try it more often.
I have to say that I'm mightily relieved. I'm always 'bigging up' Apple, telling people what a great service they provide and everyone who knows me knows I love using Apple products. They haven't always been good though, service-wise. I remember years ago (just at the time when Steve Jobs had left and not yet returned) I used to think their products were fantastic, but their service was rubbish. Since Steve came back the company has vastly improved. Great products and great service. It was uncomfortable for me to admit that one of my favourite companies had let me down after singing their praises for the last 15 years.
Apple, you have redeemed yourself. Don't let it happen again.
Jodie Foster is looking very thin and gaunt these days. It may have been the part she was playing, we all know how seriously she takes her art. Her character was grieving for her recently deceased husband and had a six year old to look after as they accompanied his body on a flight back to their home in the US.
Firstly I noticed how atmospheric the set was. Inside a (huge) aeroplane at night, everything dark with just those little lights on. I really felt I was there. I'm not a frequent flyer and I've never been in a plane with two decks (and a bar!), but I could feel it all. At first I thought this was a movie for woman as the main character awakes to find that her daughter is not lying next to her anymore and no amount of searching by her or the crew discoveres where she's gone. She is then told that her daughter has not been booked onto the flight and no-one has seen her at any time during boarding onwards. It's all very intriguing, and after a while you realise that the woman is familiar with the layout of this plane (she works as a .................. [ someone who checks the engines will work]). She crawls around the business end of the aircraft which is most interesting to me as I've never seen these bits before.
We are led to assume that she has gone a bit mad since the trauma of the death of her husband. We are also told that her daughter also died in the accident and both bodies are being returned home in the cargo hold.
I'm not going to spoil it for you, but just to let you know it's not a girl's film at all. It pretned to be at the beginning, but redeems itself as the plot thickens (twizzling of mustache - see, genuinely not a girl's film).
After months of the power adapter on my PowerBook G4 fraying and
showing bare wires, on Tuesday it finally sparked as I was plugging it
in to the mains. Damn! I'd been meaning to replace it for ages and now
I couldn't use it at all. Ok, the battery had a full charge, but that
would only last for 3 or so hours.
Tuesday morning: Phoned AppleCare and asked for a replacement
cable. They said they'd get it despatched that day and I could expect
it before the week was out. A WEEK? A week before I could charge up my
laptop? Hell it's my workhorse machine. I take it everywhere! Ok a
week. I'll see what I can do. What choice do I have?
Tuesday afternoon: I received the iPod Nano that I've ordered as a gift for a special someone who has a significant birthday coming up next month. I was amazed. I had ordered it on Sunday afternoon AND I wanted it engraved with a special message and here it was. All perfect and everything.
Wednesday: I receive my new Shuffle. It's been on order since the 1st November. I was told it would be with me on the 21st. I wanted engraving, I wasn't surprised at the wait, but very happy to receive it earlier than expected.
Thursday: Nothing from Apple.
Friday: I 'phoned Apple to see if I could get a tracking number for my power adapter as I was getting concerned that it was taking too long to arrive. I was told that, not only were there none in stock, but they wouldn't be getting any until 6th January 2007! W-H-A-T?
I was told I would have to contact a third party company and take my broken cable to have it replaced by them. I told Apple that because I had taken out an expensive insurance against the machine being usuable I expected them to get the part delivered to me from wherever they could find one. They told me that if my nearest reseller didn't have the part in stock I had to make a 60 mile round trip to go to the next nearest reseller.
Needless to say, my nearest reseller didn't have a cable. "We get them from Apple, so if they don't have them, neither do we". <sarc>Great. Thanks a bunch.</sarc)
I am SO lucky that I happen to have an iBook whose power adapter is also suitable for my PowerBook. And it's a close call I can tell you. It's just about the first model that it applies to. A 500Mhz dual USB iBook G3. Phew. Otherwise I wouldn't just be venting my anger here. I'd probably be on the 10 o'clock news.
I have one of these! It arrived on Wednesday. It's really gorgeous. It so small. Even though I have a 40Gig iPod which is half full of mostly music (some podcasts and some photos) 1Gig is still quite a lot of space. I've never used my 40Gig iPod in 'shuffle mode' as I generally like to hear an album all the way through, just like it was intended (I tend not to buy compilation albums for the same reason). However having the new Shuffle on 'shuffle' is a complete pleasure. I can remember which albums I've loaded onto it and look forward to each track, safe in the knowledge it will be something I really like.
My Shuffle does not like Keane. It has yet to play a single track from Hopes & Fears. It's a shame because I love that album. We're not going to fall out about it though, not yet anyway. We're all entitled to our own music taste. I assumed (incorrectly as it happened) that my iPod was my bitch and not the other way around!
Yeah I know. I went on about how I was looking forward to going, but actually it was one of the most disappointing MacExpo's I've attended. And I've been to LOADS, by the way.
I don't know why, it may be because of podcasts and the internet and such, but there wasn't really anything new there. I just felt that I knew it all already. No big surprises to be had.
The best I had hoped for was the new iPod Shuffles to be available to buy. I've wanted one of those babies ever since they were introduced in September. The Apple Store have been saying OCTOBER availability forever. We did see them, they had demo models. They are damn cute too. Tiny, tiny, shiny, shiny.
I did however buy a bluetooth mouse for my PowerBook G4. I have a small wired mouse, but it's been misbehaving for months now and I'd decided I needed a scroll wheel. It took me a week to get it to work properly and even now it seems to disconnect without warning and I can't start it up again for another day. So, not a total success, but I'm working on it!
Don't worry, I haven't been put off MacExpo. I'll be there again next
year. How can I resist a trade show where the Ladies loos are
completely empty whatever time you visit them? It's BLISS I tell you!
Something I am really looking forward to in the next few weeks is the new animated movie from Warner Bros. Happy Feet. It looks like cute overload! We've downloaded the Quicktime movie trailers from the Apple website. We've shown them to all our friends and we're creating a Happy Feet frenzy!
It's a great time to be a Mac user. Apple are a really innovative
company. Whatever anyone else says (and by 'anyone else', I mean
Windows users) they're lucky to have Apple as a company. Like it or
not, it's Apple that keeps Micro$oft on it's toes. The only reason
they're working so hard is because Apple is designing all this great
stuff day in day out. Don't get me wrong, I know Apple aren't whiter
than white and some of their decisions are a bit iffy, but they're
'pushing the envelope' and we have to applaud them for that. It's easy
for me to say, I've been a fan for about 15 years. Actually that's not
quite true. Back in the early days I was a 'love the product, hate the
company' kind of customer. My colour 4/40 LC was beautiful, but my
local Apple dealer took about a month to mend my keyboard without
giving me a temporary replacement. Steve has changed all that, thank
goodness.
Back then I didn't have the impending new 'micro' gen 2 iPod Shuffle at a pocket money price, to look forward to.
Suffice to say, if it wasn't for Apple, Micro$oft wouldn't have got any further than Windows 2000.
Note to Steve: Where's the replacement battery for my G4 PowerBook?
