Logging in on someone else’s computer isn’t a wise move – Here’s why:

Let’s look at this fictional example: -

The unusual situation that you find yourself in one day is that your computer’s not working for whatever reason, and your laptop or netbook or iPhone is already in for repair. – Therefore you have no computer of your own available. – But your friend very kindly offers to let you use theirs for a session, just to get your pressing business sorted out in the interim until you can get online.

You arrive at your friend’s house, and after swapping pleasantries you sit at their waiting computer and log in to your important accounts, such as your bank, email, Twitter, etc, see to your important pressing matters, thank your friend, and after another coffee, you start out merrily on your way back home.

The following day the geek you phoned for help the day before gets your desktop working again, and you also are informed that your other hardware is ready to pick up and working perfectly. – But when you attempt to get the money from your bank account to pay for the repairs, you find that your balance is in the red. You also find that you can’t log in to your email account, and someone’s spamming Twitter using your account.

Someone has possibly stolen your identity. Definitely they’ve hijacked your Twitter and email accounts, and stolen all your bank balance. – All just at the worst time that you could have had it happen to you.

How did it happen?

Spyware Woes

Since your friend’s machine is a computer that you don’t normally have control of; you have no idea whether or not keylogger spyware on that machine is recording every keystroke you make and sending resultant data to hacker somewhere on the planet. Your friend had no idea that their machine was so infected either, until all their own accounts were hacked into as well. Other types of spyware were also recording which sites and web pages you visited, for how long, what passwords you used…etc, and the criminals raced each other to see who could get a hold of major parts of your entire online identity first.

… But spyware is not the only worry you would have in using someone else’s computer for personal business: -

Browser Memories

In the browser, form fields in particular, the same ones that you enter your banking account ID and passwords into, are remembered. Sometimes they’re remembered automatically, along with the password entered. Therefore someone could possibly see your user name, select it, and be able to login to your account with your password on the computer you’ve just used: Whether it’s your friend’s machine, a public computer, or even a retailer’s box.

Malice Aforethought

- Even your best friend’s little geeky brother, or sister even, could log on as soon as nobody was watching, enter the username that they overheard in conversation, and have full access to your account(s) from the passwords that the browser remembered.

Let’s not forget, it’s fairly easy to purposely install software or set up browser features to record your user name and password automatically. – So if you don’t trust the computer’s owner 101% then this is a particular reason to not use their machine to log on to your personal accounts. – Even if – in fact especially if – they offer to pay you to do so.

On the other side of the coin the person who allows you to use their computer also can get stung with accusations and/or probing from you and from the authorities during investigation into the crime. – I assure you that this will strain even the strongest of friendships up to or beyond breaking point in many cases.

- So, if necessary, let others who won’t listen to your explanations use terminology about you such as “tight”, “selfish”, “stingy”, “mean”, whatever. – It’s a lot better to have some shallow half-brained person insult you than to lose everything.

I used to be very disapproving of Apple under Steve Jobs, or “Jobsweh – the god of all things Apple.” as I referred to him in the past. I assumed that it was Jobsweh ’s greed that caused Apple to charge extortionate amounts for their products.

I do admit that Apple’s products are extremely well-made; which accounts for some of the extra cost. – That’s a fair point. But they seemed to be taking the real retail value of their products and doubling it before arriving at the actual RRP.

That was back in Jobsweh ‘s heyday. Eventually I came to the conclusion that if people were willing to pay a fortune for the Apple logo then that was their problem. I even considered buying a secondhand iPhone myself in time.

(I never did though. I still have my Samsung z750i, and I’ll be having it unlocked and transferred to Vodafone soon. Reason: 1) I can tweet on Vodafone in the UK. 2) 3 Networks, who I’m about to end contract with, are in short, crap. What’s more they operate a call-centre in India. – I’m not racial-prejudiced, but if I wanted to have a hard time in communicating with Indians over a bad-quality line then I’d invest in shares in the Bombay Telephone Exchange. Besides, I get enough of that bad shit with BT and their Indian call centre, who I spend hours in hell with getting nowhere every time I have a BT-related problem. I want to be able to escape from it using my mobile phone if need be, not have more of it!)

Back to Apple. I quote from the aforementioned article:

“Apple said today that the iPhone 3G S costs $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). But that’s the price only for new AT&T customers. The price if you’re already an AT&T customer and/or are upgrading from an iPhone 3G? Try $699 (32GB), $599 (16GB), and $499 (8GB). To quote Peter Ha: “HOLY SHIT.””

Yes; HOLY SHIT just about sums it up. I think Apple have shot themselves in the foot and blown their lower leg off. I now in a way look forward to watching Apple topple over. – And they thoroughly deserve it too. – Yes it might be the phone companies’ greed as much as Apple’s; but this is still inexcusable.

Can you imagine the conversation the phone companies and Apple people might have had in the recent past?

“Look we’re Apple Inc: We can charge as much as we like for our products, to a point, and some mug will still buy them. We’re giving you the chance to cash in along with us. – You scratch our backs and we’ll scratch yours.”

“I’m starting to like the sound of this: We cash in with you on the massive rip-off under the Apple logo; both of us make a fortune, and as a thank-you gesture we reduce the cost of iPhone calls at some point in the future. We’re still vastly in profit thanks to you guys, who have by then made enough to buy a small county. – OK count me in. We have a deal.”

Nothing would surprise me.

I can see them trying to pull something like that in the UK also; and after a week’s outcry the sheep will all follow the leader and start paying out for it too; before complaining about how they’ve been ripped off: .

“…But it’s Apple, so it must be worth it.”

Must it f—k! If I hear anyone say that, or I see it written anywhere, I will instantly start writing my criticisms and pour vitriol upon them. If anyone is gullible enough to believe that then they don’t deserve to have any money. – Sorry; but if I hereby step on anyone’s toes in saying that then tough. – ‘Live with it.

Apple have been conning their customers by using this cult image thing for years. – This time they’ve gone too far. It’s time people woke up and started boycotting them. – End of story.

If you have something to add then please comment.

When I heard the news the first thing that I thought was “Excellent; at last the iPhone will get cheaper.” – If Wal-Mart drop the price of an iPhone then other American stores will start doing likewise; and eventually the price-drop will find its way to the UK and I’ll be able to get my hands on an iPhone at a discount.

There was just one crucial factor that I didn’t consider, though; that being JOBSWEH.

Steve Jobs (Jobsweh) has his finger on the pulse in every way possible; from what an individual user can and can’t run on their iPhone, to exactly how much retailers sell it for, and consequently what percentage of that ends up in his pocket.

‘Cut-price iPhone? Pah; no chance. Not if Jobsweh can help it.

“Employees in the cell-phone departments at five California stores, contacted by phone today, said Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December. Employees are currently being trained on how to sell the device, all five said.”

I dread to think how they’re being trained to sell an iPhone:

“…Yes this is an Apple product. As such it’s immune to any and all malware: Only Microsoft products are susceptible to that. Microsoft’s products suck, but all Apple products are personally controlled by Steve Jobs, aka Jobsweh; God of all things Apple…”

In September, Jobsweh got Best Buy, a US electronics retailer, to start selling iPhones. Apple stores were deluged and overwhelmed back when the current iPhone was released in July 2008. Jobsweh was seeking to expand the market to prevent such a mass rush on his stores whenever there would be a next time. AT&T had also been selling iPhones; but their cred was and still is tumbling down the gurgler, as they tried to lock all purchasers into a long-term contract with them, and then increased their prices while their service standards worsened. Although they still have the exclusive US service-provider rights for the iPhone’s signal, people possibly weren’t willing to give them a profit on the unit itself in addition to that which they made with their service. – That’s my theory anyway – So the market needed to be expanded.

Maybe, though, there is a possibility of a cheap iPhone after all? :

“Analysts say Apple may offer a discontinued 4-gigabyte version through Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart and sell it for $99. Apple currently sells two models at $199 and $299.”

“A $99, Apple-branded cell phone is inevitable,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Brothers in San Francisco. “One of the key things Apple needs to do to drive broader iPhone adoption is to build a more complete product line” with low- end, mid-range and high-end products, Wu said in a Dec. 5 note.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling wouldn’t respond to the report and said the company “does not comment on rumor or speculation.” Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said the company hasn’t made an official announcement on an iPhone offering and has no comment. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel declined to comment.”

Well despite my distaste for Apple in some regards, they are on the up so I can’t knock them. Although their share price has dropped considerably this year, along with pretty much all others, they’re bouncing back and bucking the trend.

Good luck to you Wal-Mart. – But keep your eye on Jobsweh; I wouldn’t put my trust in him totally if I were you.

All quotations are from Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4YIU21gLaSY

There are times when things can be hard to write; and maybe this is one of them, but what the…

OK I’ve been somewhat of an anti-proponent of Apple up until now; and I have to say that I’m still having problems in my mind with what I term "the Steve Jobs modus operandi". I’ve borrowed incidental comments from others and expanded upon them, slating Apple and Steve Jobs in the process. I’ve even used the name "Jobsweh" as a derogatory name for Jobs, (A parody of the all-powerful and demanding Yahweh in the Bible.) which I picked up from a term used once in fun by Ded Ryzing in July of this year, 2008.

But it’s starting to get to my head, and after almost actually, without realising it, trolling in a comment I made on PC Mech earlier, which owner David Risley described in his follow-up comment as a "knee-jerk reaction every time he mentions the word "Apple"", I’m beginning to realise that all that’s happening is that I’m, without meaning to, starting a pointless one-woman-crusade against Apple; which is a ridiculous thing to be doing.

So what got me started on this foolhardy idea in the first place? Well during July I had a long conversation with a taxi-driver whose brother-in-law worked for Apple, and who had passed on some insider-information to him that Apple had rushed out the initial iPhone platform to get the iPhone to market ahead of the LG Viewty. I looked up the LG Viewty on the web and realised that it was a very nice cameraphone. From then onwards I became a proponent of the Viewty in opposition to the iPhone.

At the same time the world went iPhone mad: Suddenly everyone had an iPhone, but very few people owned a Viewty, despite the Viewty’s camera being far better than that of the iPhone. The thing was that the Viewty was a top-class camera-phone, but that’s all it was; a camera and a phone. It wasn’t a mobile personal computer like the iPhone.

At this point I was on the verge of admitting defeat and going with the flow; when suddenly up popped the news that Steve Jobs; control-freak extraordinaire, had a lever that would remotely block any chosen application on any selected customer’s iPhone. The iPhone suddenly became just like a Mac: The property of Steve Jobs, right down to which applications you could run on it. It was no longer a personal mobile computer as in your personal mobile computer; it was Steve Jobs’ personal mobile computer that you’d paid to lease on the proviso that he dictated what Apps you can and can’t run on it. It was yours to do what Jobsweh liked with, literally. It seemed like people were paying Apple for a computer that they were told was their property, but was under the remote control of Apple, with Steve Jobs at the controls. That; to my mind, is a con.

From that point onwards I’ve been expressing my distaste of Apple and Steve Jobs; which is starting to go overboard and is serving no useful purpose as such other than possibly to negatively affect my popularity of late.

Unfortunately it’s time for me to accept the fact: Apple, despite what I may think, and regardless of my opinion, have pulled it off, and they are a successful company, and growing too. Whatever I may think of the tactics of Steve Jobs; they work and they have made him a fortune: More than anything ethical or that I consider ethical has ever made for me. Do I need to redefine ethicality within my own mind? It may be so; maybe not? – I have to think a lot on that one.

Whatever the case; Apple have the iPhone as probably the most popular phone on the planet. Apple are the only company who managed to get everybody excited about their phone product: Think about it; no other mobile device has such a buzz associated with it. Why? The iPhone seems to just work the way people want it to. I don’t know if they envisage Steve Jobs at a remote-control booth somewhere in iWorld booming "I am the Almighty Jobsweh! Thou shalt not run that program upon thine iPhone that I have granted to thee." and pulling the lever. I have no idea whether they see it anything like I do but just put it out of their minds. Whatever they do or don’t do they buy iPhones – millions of them. – And now everyone is trying to make their latest mobile device look nd feel like an iPhone to the greatest extent that they can. Am I missing something here?

Why iPhones? Why not Blackberrys? Why not Sony Eriksson z750i like I have? Why not a Windows Mobile-powered device like I have? Evidently the others seemingly don’t have what it takes. I love my z750i – It’s cute, it’s a cool girly flip-phone. I’m content with my Windows Mobile-powered device to a certain extent too; although it could be better. – But I heard something today which went down like a lead balloon with me: Microsoft are prepping the ancient IE6 to work with Windows Mobile: In itself that’s good news, the current browser I’m using is insubstantial. – BUT would you believe it – here’s the bad news – it’ll require a 500MHz processor to work properly! My device has a 201 MHz processor, 64MB RAM with 128MB flash RAM. Great! No wonder they’re not offering it as an update; millions of people will require a new device! Thanks Microsoft!

Will I be getting a new Microsoft Windows Mobile device? Will I fsck. I’m getting an iPhone next: Not right at the moment; but when I decide to upgrade, which might not be until a better model iPhone is released, I’m getting an iPhone. There you are all those who I’ve slated iPhone to. – Flame bait for you all.

I don’t know if it’s a wise move; I don’t know if I’ll regret it, but in for a penny, why the heck not: It seems to be the better of a bad bunch.

As time goes by I expect mobile devices to improve, and the future is anyone’s guess. Right now; if I can’t beat them – join them.

This report has been the big rumour of the day today; as you may have heard – Setting the gossip lines, blogs, and Twitter, alight with chat:

Apple says the Steve Jobs Heart Attack Report Is Not True.

Of course it’s not true: For one to have a heart attack one must first posses a heart.

Jobsweh may posses an organ that keeps the blood circulating throughout his body; but any outgoing emotion from that organ appears to have been stemmed by his control-freak nature and love of profit at any cost.

Using tactics of mass-mind-control akin to those used on the German people during and just before the second-world war by Hitler and the Third Reich; Jobs has conned the world into buying his substandard products in a hypnotic marketing ploy using deceptive yet convincing tactics to deceive the minds of the masses into thinking that anything bearing the Apple name is the best thing since sliced bread.

What is a Mac? A Mac is a PC with a sturdy chassis and an inflated price tag. What is an iPhone? An iPhone is a small programmable handheld computer/phone with a weak non-user-replaceable battery that is remote-controllable and block-able at the behest of Steve Jobs. What is OSX? Well-developed Linux with its own special flavour – No more and no less.

So an Apple system is no more a sturdy PC made of Apple-approved components in an Apple-defined design configuration running a specialised flavour of Linux called OSX written by Apple, all of which costs twice as much as a normal PC running a normal Linux distro. Maybe this Apple system’s overall operation is slightly better than average; provided that all software is approved by and provided by Steve Jobs at an inflated price. It’s not anything different from the norm in reality: It’s the ultimate con.

Is Steve Jobs worried that he’s taking the public for a bunch of mugs. No; not even an iota of shame or guilt. Does he care that he’s selling a PC as a specialised improved type of technological evolution?

Having said that though – I must admit that I definitely do admire him for his unbelievable nerve. Not even Bill Gates with all his wealth and genius pulled such a massive confidence-trick on so many to get where he is today.

If you’ve seen the 1970/1980s BBC TV comedy series “Only Fools and Horses” then you may remember the episode where Del and Rodney are bottling tap water and selling it wholesale for a profit as “Peckham Spring”. ‘Far-fetched you think? No more far-fetched than Del Boy Jobs selling a PC running Unix as a Mac at an inflated price. No more far-fetched than a mentally-unstable Corporal putting on a display of authority and conning an entire nation into following him and his Third Reich.

The same old confidence-trick in another guise is still just the same old confidence-trick. As Shakespeare wrote in his famous play Romeo and Juliet:-

“That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Prologue Rabbit:

Quite some time ago – 2 years plus; I’m not exactly sure how long, I got an invite from a friend to join Facebook. I’d heard a lot about it but wasn’t really into social networking at that time: Times were good economically, and I was concentrating on getting a computer-building enterprise running. I wasn’t that fussed on spending hours posting my life online and getting chatted-up by lonely losers using the internet as a last-ditch attempt at getting a date with anyone they could find.

Anyway I eventually gave Facebook a try – And I found it so sucky at the time that after not long I closed down my account in protest. I kept a MySpace account going but abandoned it and forgot the login details.

More than two years later; having become a Twitter, FriendFeed, etc, user – I found that everyone and anyone was using Facebook. Yesterday I made up my mind to give them a second chance and opened an account: The new look Facebook is so much better, more user-friendly, and functional.

The Guts:

…And so to the purpose of this article; having released and dispensed with the drivel:-

I’m going to be honest and say that I’m not an iPhone owner or user. What? A geek without an iPhone?!: Dracula without fangs, a tree not made of wood! Well, approve or disapprove; I’m a Wintard and I use Windows Mobile on my mobile phone supplied by BT, and some Linux variant on my Sony Ericsson X750i, I think it is. I simply don’t see the point of buying an iPhone, and I have possible gripes with Apple – But that’s another story. Since I don’t own an iPhone I can’t tell you much about this App from experience: So I’m going to cheat and quote a little from TechCrunch.com:

“While previous releases of the Facebook application supported the News Feed feature, only mobile photo uploads and status updates were displayed. In version 2.0, the News Feed has been completely overhauled to match item-for-item with that of the site itself, throwing news posts, relationship and interest updates, and all photo uploads into the mix. Furthermore, users are now able to comment on any given bit of news, or limit the feed to only the categories they wish to peruse.”

Ah what the heck: Click the link below and read:

Facebook Rolls Out Version 2.0 of their iPhone Application

Yes; maybe it’s not standard practice to just hand over to another blog mid-story: A little deviation from the norm won’t hurt anyone nevertheless; plus I’ve done Michael Arrington, Greg Kumparak, and the rest of the TC crew a favour.

…And Finally…

Something else that’s hitting the headlines is the House of Representatives’  Web site – Which has been overwhelmed this week by a tidal-wave of visitors trying to e-mail their Congressperson and/or download George Bush’s Financial Bailout Bill that the House rejected. The site saw three to four times its normal traffic yesterday, 29th September,, according to Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the House Chief Administrative Officer.

That’ll teach ‘em to vote “no”: DDOS ‘em as punishment, lol.

And now; Some advertising:

According to reports from sources such as Cnet, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7 has been delayed until the second half of next year. (2009) Microsoft’s partners were expecting to get their hands on at least a beta 2 version early next year; however a Microsoft spokesperson indicated that things had been delayed somewhat.

This delay doesn’t bode well for Microsoft; who have given the surging competition every chance to get ahead of them with regard to their respective launch dates – Microsoft seem to have learned a valuable lesson from their hasty launch of Vista, though, and won’t be rushed.

Despite their cautious approach; Microsoft has given ground to their competitors – And maybe too much ground perhaps: Apple’s iPhone is selling at great gusto, and Google are ready to launch their Android-based smartphone – In fact they may have already done so by the time you read this. What do you think? Have Microsoft lost already?

The software giant hasn’t said much about WM7. The best we can gather is from leaked documents that suggest the inclusion of advanced touch and gesture recognition technologies, as well as advanced speech-control facilities. Other improvements are expected to include an improved browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile, allowing phones running it to display rich Web pages and web-based flash content.

Is this good enough in the face of the competition though? Will it be worth the wait, and most of all will it sell after their rivals have already launched their own offerings?

"Dave Winer, 53, pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in Berkeley, California."

http://www.scripting.com/stories/2008/09/13/whyIphoneIsAnUreliablePlat.html

I think, on that evidence, it would be fair to assume that he knows what he’s talking about: I’m sure you’d agree – So when Dave Winer says that the iPhone is an unreliable platform it should make some people pop their head up from their comfort zone and take note.

Wakey-wakey!

What he didn’t say; and I stress this now so as his words aren’t taken out of context, is that the iPhone software provided by Apple is buggy and unfit for purpose. I’ve not read any complaints about iPhone 2.1 yet; but then again I didn’t read that many about 2.0; even though I knew for a fact from insider information that it was so: The Apple faithful remain tight-lipped about any of Apple’s failings; though one can read between the lines and derive their true feelings by inference rather than by direct speech:

For instance; David Risley posted an article on his blog about his initial impressions of the iPhone while posting to said blog using the iPhone WordPress App. After he made an obvious comment about the fact that it works, he followed it with two negative criticisms; a complimentary remark in the following paragraph to diffuse his last two points; saying that it’s

"…pretty cool that I can even do it at all",

followed by

"End of post because typing on this thing is still a bit slow. ".

So an iPhone is "Pretty cool because [it works - Because it doesn't 'not work']"? Hmm. An interesting definition of ‘pretty cool’ there David. – So; my television clapped out after over 30 years this week: The screen is blue; nothing else; just blue. (‘ironic, myself being a Wintard, that my TV dies with a BSOD!) But it works nevertheless: It still produces sound; and there’s still something on the screen: It’s a "pretty cool" TV then?

(I am aware that there is a track fault on the PCB in the colour synchronisation separation circuitry; but the dear old set is so old I’m not going to bother fixing it: I’ve already got another one.)

My comment on David’s post was:

"So overall you’re saying that it’s a load of utterly unusable crap that is non-user-friendly, slow, and poorly designed; but it’s really cool because it’s an Apple iPhone. Wow!"

I’m not "anti-iPhone" or "anti-Apple" despite appearances: "Anti" is too strong a description: I see it all for what it is, and what it is; or at least was, is no more than a botched rushed attempt from Jobsweh at making a fortune. By combining this with employing a strategy copied almost directly from the previous actions of Microsoft; the gamble paid off, and Apple landed in clover and Jobsweh made his massive profits. Fair play to him.

Back to Dave Winer; who is saying that developing an iPhone App isn’t worth the hassle; because when all’s said and done; apple might reject it after all the work and aggravation has been carried out.

Why would Apple reject it? Not necessarily simply because of an unseen bug that might make it detrimental to people’s iPhone hardware; but because it competes with existing Apps; as in the case of Podcaster yesterday, (13th September 2008.) where Podcaster was rejected because it competed with iTunes. It’s as if Apple are saying:

"We’re the best, and we alone make the best software for our own hardware. Anything that competes with or that appears to be better than anything that we build will be immediately silenced and we’ll just conveniently forget that it ever existed – Because you honestly can’t better Apple; so don’t even try."

Or put another way:

"I am the great Jobsweh; god of all things Apple, and there are no gods, no programmers, no designers, better than me. I am the beginning and the end. I was there before computers existed and I shall be there after they have ceased to exist…"

…Er hang on Steve; aren’t you forgetting something? You’re mortal yes?

I think I’ll end here with the last words of Dave Winer in his article:

"…the Internet is the platform without a platform vendor. That’s the most powerful kind of platform there is because it is the least regulated."

Thank the gods (Excluding Jobsweh.) for Web 2.0.

See also:

http://daringfireball.net/2008/09/app_store_exclusion

After my continuing opposition to Apple’s products; in particular the iPhone; you’ll probably be surprised to hear that I’m glad that Apple have at last brought out a platform-update in the form of iPhone 2.1.

Apple have not only fixed most of the bugs that came with 2.0 but also have added a number of features.

I’m not an Apple user myself; so I’ll not go into all the tech details here; rather I’ll link you to this site for more on that.

But despite this all my previous commentaries still stand with regard to Apple. If you haven’t seen my previous commentaries in this blog you can find them by using the search facility, by clicking on “Apple” in the tag cloud, or through Google/Yahoo by inputting kkomp.com Apple into the search bar.

Apple are becoming the image of Microsoft in my opinion: They produce buggy unfinished software in their rush to get the product onto the market; after which they fix the bugs with an upgrade – Exactly what M$ did with Vista.

(My blog stats show that, despite Windows being the most-used operating system(s); the number of XP users who visit this blog is almost seven times the number of Vista users. (After Vista comes Linux in third place, followed by Mac OSX, and then Windows 98.))

Back in June 2008 I commented in a scoop that Apple had rushed the 2,0 platform through in order to get out ahead of the LG Viewty; which they saw as the major competition at the time. Well that tactic; while being more Microsofty than anything other than Microsoft themselves, worked; and the Viewty didn’t make it as major competition to the iPhone. It wasn’t only that though; the fact is that the Viewty is an excellent camera-phone; and in that respect alone is many times better than the iPhone. However what the Viewty doesn’t have is the ability to run Apps, and neither does it have an App store.

So in the light of the above; was it worth the rush? Was it worth it for Apple to produce a buggy product ahead of time just to beat a partially-competitive product from a rival to market?

Maybe; maybe not: But the proof of the pudding is in the eating – Jobsweh (Steve Jobs) gambled on it and it worked. I can’t knock it. I wouldn’t have done that myself – But that’s probably why Steve Jobs is CEO of Apple and I’m a blogger. No more need be said on that.

Apple have seemingly at last saved face: Good on them; kudos to them. It’s going to boost the Apple image, and no doubt sales figures will be affected in some positive way.

BUT why follow the Microsoft route? Because it works? It does; but there must be a better way; because it’ll end in being tarred with the Microsofty-brush; if that hasn’t started to happen already.

What do you think this move will bring for Apple? Do you agree that Apple are going the Microsofty route? How would you run Apple if you were Steve Jobs? Feel free to leave a comment.

Heading the popular news stories today is an article from the New York Times. I read it with interest, as a geek, because it was introducing a new gadget; and making a meal of doing it rather well at that. Having worked in the sales industry in the past I’m always wary of something that involves a large prologue on a completely unrelated issue before launching into the main thrust of the matter; which is exactly what this article did; and the reason, having read on, appears clear: The gadget in question, to my mind, is a non-starter that will need one heck of a load of hype if it is to ever even get as much as a cult-following.

The article begins by stating:

“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.

That old cliché is more true than ever. Red state/blue state. Pro-choice/pro-life. Mac/Windows.

And, in consumer technology: feature-listers/elegance-appreciators.”

Wasn’t it Clint Eastwood who said “There are two kinds of asshole in this world; and you’re both of them.”?

Moving on…and the article goes on to tell us about feature-listers only judging an article by the number of features that it has; whereas elegance-appreciators judge an item by how well it does what it was designed to do.

So which category would I fit into then? I like something that has a good number of features and that performs those features well; so whether or not that gives me an advantage; I fit into both categories.

Now having relaxed the reader with general waffle, and much ado about nothing as Shakespeare might describe it; we get to the nitty-gritty:

“Make way for another elegant one-trick pony: a pocket-size doodad called the Peek, which sends and receives e-mail. It arrives in Target stores (and getpeek.com) next week, whereupon it will follow the usual cycle of simple, elegant tech products: 1) universal scorn by feature-listers online; 2) quiet, gradual popular acceptance by normal people; 3) bafflement on the part of the feature-listers, who still don’t get that there are two kinds of people in the world.”

Yes. Well judging by the picture it’s by no means a pretty device; so no points for cosmetic appeal. The article continues:-

“At first, you might not see how the Peek is any different from the BlackBerry, whose design it shamelessly rips off. It’s a plastic slab (4 by 2.7 by 0.4 inches), in dark gray, aqua or dark red, with a screen and thumb keyboard on the face. On the right edge is a thumbwheel, which scrolls through lists and menus (you click inward on that wheel to select a menu command). Below the wheel is a Back/Cancel button. On top is the power button. ”

I have such problems with the American measurement system. OK when I was born we were more or less using it in the UK to a certain extent; but the point is; how do you quantify 0.4 of an inch? 0.4 is a decimal fraction; whereas an inch is a 12th part of an imperial measurement and has absolutely no relation to it: A foot is based on an antiquated base 12 measurement system used in the days of the British Empire before proper technology actually began; when “give or take a sixteenth of an inch” was about as accurate a measure as was needed. To make matters more complicated an inch; which is a twelfth part of a foot is then divided using a binary divisor into a half-inch, a quarter-inch, an eighth of an inch…and so on. Why can’t they measure it in centimetres? : It’s such a no-brainer measurement system: A metre is 100 centimetres, a centimetre is 10 millimetres or a thousand millimetres – A kilometre is 1000 metres, etc.(0.4 of an inch is roughly a centimetre anyway.)

This is detracting from the point: Ok; so it looks like a cheap Blackberry. What does it do though? Come on; cut to the chase: It reads email. Great…and..? There is no and: It reads email – from 3 accounts only.

Is that all?! FAIL. The Blackberry reads email; as does the iPhone, as does my Sony Ericsson flip-phone which cost me sod-all 0n a £14-a-month contract for 18 months. How much is the Peek? $100 + $20 a month! – That just to read email from 3 accounts? You are joking?

The NY Times article has 2 pages on what the Peek doesn’t do; ending with this paragraph:

“So go ahead and scoff, feature-listers; a wonderful world waits for you at blackberry.com, iPhone.com, windowsmobile.com and palm.com/treo. It shouldn’t affect you one whit that there’s now an easy, cheap way for the other kind of people to keep in e-mail contact wherever they go.”

I’m actually rather cross: The Peek is exploiting the non-tech-savvy user in what is basically a rip-off. While I’ve never had much good to say about the iPhone; it certainly puts a heap of money-grabbing low-tech plastic such as the Peek to shame; and initially doesn’t cost much more either. The Peek appears to be the Web TV box of the mobile world at too high-a-price.

My verdict: FAIL.

What do you think?

Actually not “pulled”: More like “rejected for no good reason”

Apple have started being funny about their Apps: One developer had their App, called “Pull My Finger” rejected by Apple on the grounds of “Limited Utility”; despite the App known as “Koi Pond“, which has extremely limited utility itself, being the number 1 App in the App Store at time of writing:

- Wow; a fishpond on your iPhone! Although a fishpond may be one place to dispose of an iPhone; with the limited non-user-replaceable battery charge being rather…limited; I can think of 101 better uses for it.

Going back to “Pull My Finger”: Here’s a copy of the rejection letter from Apple:-

“Hello Developer,

We’ve reviewed your application Pull My Finger. We have determined that this application is of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community, and will not be published to the App Store.
It may be very appropriate to share with friends and family, and we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing.
Regards,
Victor Wang
Worldwide Developer Relations
Apple, Inc.”

Here’s the rejected developer’s vid:-

Little things please little minds. Hmm; what do you make of that? Favouritism? Bloody-mindedness? – Or just plain absurdity? It wasn’t offensive, it wasn’t even tested – it was just seemingly rejected on principle. Why?

What’s your take on it?

We’ve heard moans twice from Apple Fanboi Michael Arrington; but we want to be convinced that it’s not just one voice in the darkness.

Well here it is: The post you never expected to see from one of the new Apple fanboys:-

“Apple Showing Warning Signs”
Posted Aug 28, 2008 by David Risley 

“As many of my readers know, I have converted pretty much everything to Apple products. I am now a Mac user and recently I switched to the Iphone. As of a few days ago, even my keyboard is built by Apple. I am a fan of the company and their products, but I am seeing big red flares that are showing signs of trouble on the horizon.”

(I think that’s meant to be iPhone; but ‘easy typo either way.)

-So David says; and I quote “I am a fan of the company and their products“. Fair enough: Each to their own. He continues:-

“Why I Like Apple“

“It continues to be funny when I witness the emotional reaction Apple can get out of people. A lot of non-Apple geeks are quick to dismiss me as a “fanboy” because I like Apple. Such a reaction is really asinine and, ironically, often comes from people who would buy Apple if not for monetary reasons…”

Help me Wikipedia:

“By 1990 the term was being used in popular music and science fiction circles, and as electronic entertainment gained popularity, the term became increasingly applied to computers and video game consoles – with people often developing an obsessive loyalty towards one platform or brand.”

“Current subjects of such obsessive loyalty include areas of: TV shows; movies; music; anime; comic books; cars; video game consoles, video games and MMORPGs; and computer operating systems, hardware and software—and more recently politics.”

“”Fanboy” was added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in 2008.^“

Next:

 

 

“…But, There Are Warning Signs”

“While I have admired the user-centric design of Apple products, the company has been showing some signs of losing touch. Some examples:

1. Iphone battery life has been a complaint, and it seems really stupid not to have it be user replaceable.
2. The Iphone software has been a bit buggy, worse for some than others. I’ve had my Iphone crash many times. I’ve had it slow down or features stop working that required a restart to fix.
3. No copy & paste on the Iphone? Stupid, stupid stupid. This is OS design 101.
4. The MacBook Air hasn’t been that high quality and many have been reporting stupid problems with it.
5. MobileMe has been a huge ball of fail since it launched, showing once again that Apple is horrible when it comes to anything on the Internet. And the fact that they’re charging money for it when it can all be done for free elsewhere is dumb. Apple tossed users some free time for their troubles, but all that is is free time using a barely functional service. Also, the fact that all the .Mac customers were automatically moved into this crappy service is a case of very poor customer service.
6. There have been complaints about decreased built quality on the MacBooks and MacBook Pros. “

                    Fail                                                   Better

“What I’m sensing is a bunch of Apple users who really want to continue liking Apple, but are having to find ways to explain the parade of bonehead moves and buggy products coming from the company.”

That last sentance was very well written and extremely spot-on-target: Those people are called “Apple fanboys/girls”.

Of course, not being a fanboy himself – and any suggestion that he might actually be a fanboy being “really asinine“; David doesn’t fit anywhere near into that category:

“In all fairness, most computer companies release crappy stuff. I guess Apple is held to a higher standard because of their marketing and the loyal following that they have. Perhaps Apple is just showing us one thing: they’re a computer company just like any other computer company.”

Of course; that’s not actually anything like “ways to explain the parade of bonehead moves and buggy products coming from the company.” : It’s just an excuse for darling Apple’s incompetence – ‘All companies cock-up from time to time: Apple are no different; in fact they’re much better at cocking up than any other company.’

Exactly; just one of the many things they do better than anyone else, isn’t it?

You read it first here; unless you read it first there: Apple cocked up – As admitted under a veil by an Apple…non-fanboy himself.

My analysis? Apple have lost it: I foresee a lot of their market-sector gains dwindling slowly back to much how they were. I see the crown falling from Jobsweh’s head. As a Microsoft fan I don’t see any immediate advantage to Microsoft. I would say that Linux will continue to make small gains from both M$ and Apple, at least until Windows 7 is released.

Do I see Linux reaching 10% market-sector impact? It’s possible but unlikely in my estimation. I won’t rule it out altogether, but Linux had its day; in fact around 3650+ of them. Ubuntu have made inroads in a sense; but the various distros are still proving difficult to give away; even in the light of Microsoft’s shot in its own foot with Vista.

??

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Today is a “Bank Holiday” in the UK; which is Brit talk for “skive”: That applies to the employed-only populous though: I’m continuing much as usual here, although I did get a chance to finally see a few people I’ve been meaning to see for a while earlier.

It’s been a bumper weekend as far as hits are concerned on this blog; and my thanks to all who made it so: I hope you found the information that you were looking for and that it was useful to you.

In this blog entry I’m going to be focusing on operating systems and browsers with regard to the statistics of this blog from the last six days, and try to give my perception of exactly what this means for their respective markets.

Let’s look at some figures in terms of overall percentages for the operating systems used:

I apologise for the fact that the illustration’s not that clear: Nevertheless it can clearly be seen that Microsoft Windows XP is by far the leading o.s. at 75.8% (Of just over 1000 original hits.) ; beating Windows Vista into an un-commanding second-place at only 8.8%. To me that shows a big failure notice for Microsoft’s latest operating system and confirms the fact that people are sticking to XP for the time being, or downgrading their Vista installation to XP where possible. If this graph were to be taken as a representative sample it would indicate that for every person using Vista, there are 8.61 people still using XP.

What of the rest? Unbelievably in third place behind Vista is the obsolete Windows 98 at 4.3%: This also speaks volumes about Vista, as this says that nearly half as many people as those who currently use Windows Vista would rather use an obsolete operating system than Vista.

Let’s tot up the percentages of all Windows usage excluding Vista: We’ve already got XP at 75.8% and Windows 98 at 4.3%. Also there’s Windows 2000 in sixth place at 1.7%, NT4 at 1.1%, Server 2003 at 0.7%, ME at 0.6%, 95 and CE at 0.1% each.

I make that 84.4% of everybody, using Windows but avoiding Vista. Total Windows usage including Vista = 93.2%.

What of the others? Well there are two Linux groupings on this graph: “Linux” and “Ubuntu Linux”. I’m going to add those two together and call them “All Linux”; giving 2.4% of total: That’s not that bad a representative score for Linux in all honesty, and indicates some growth in the usage of Linux; I think somewhere in the region of 0.5% growth of market share.

Now Apple: There’s Mac OS X coming in at 2.9%, and the iPhone at 1.5%. I’m going to add those together and call them “Apple Platforms”; giving 4.4% of overall usage. This shows significant growth for Apple too; somewhere in the region of a whole percent if I remember correctly.

Obviously this isn’t an official survey, and the statistics gleaned from this are only representative of my viewers. If it were an official survey of a small cross-section of users, and there must be at least some parallel with the official figures, it would indicate that:-

• XP remains the prominent OS of choice.
• Vista is a failure.
• Linux usage is growing fairly fast.
• Apple usage is growing even faster.

To clarify; with apologies for the non-clarity of the graph again:-

• Internet Explorer 6: 50% (!),
• Internet Explorer 7: 23.7%,
• Firefox 2: 8.4%,
• Internet Explorer 5: 6.1%,
• Firefox 3: 4.5%,
• Safari: 3.8%,
• Opera: 0.9%,
• Firefox 1: 0.9%
• Konqueror: 0.7%

The other categories are “Firefox” (No number) 0.6%, Firefox 1.5 0.3%, Generic Gecko 0.1%, and Internet Explorer (No number) 0.1%.

I think what I’ll do is group Firefox, Firefox 1.5, and Firefox 1, together and call them “Not Firefox 2 or 3″, giving 1.8%.

Also I’ll group Internet Explorer and IE5 together and call them “Not IE6 or 7″, giving 6.2%.

OK; so IE6 appears to be a clear favourite: Strange that; I thought that since M$ were distributing IE7 as an auto-upgrade then everyone would start using it. I certainly do, and I prefer it to IE6 – I’m in the minority there it seems. IE7, which I use in XP, comes in second with less than half as many users as IE6. If we assume that all Vista users use IE7, then only 14.9% of XP users have adopted IE7. Fair enough.

Firefox 2 in third. Hmm: Although Firefox 3 was a record download it certainly isn’t a record Firefox; 2 still being the prevalent choice out of the Firefox versions.

Strangely enough IE5 with all its many vulnerabilities and its funny GUI has more users than Windows 98, indicating that people are using it with other Windows versions such as ME and 95.

Firefox 3 with just over half as many users as Firefox 2 eh? : That should be a concern to Mozilla perhaps?

Safari at 3.8% – Well there’s the iPhone accounting for some of it, though I’m surprised its usage is that high.

Even more surprising to me is that Opera’s usage is so low at just 0.9% in comparison to Safari’s beating it by more than a factor of 4 times: Maybe some people know something I don’t?

The rest is pretty much academic anyway – So; in conclusion:-

• IE6 is still the most popular browser.
• IE7 isn’t a failure, but it appears that most people would choose IE6 rather than IE7.
• Firefox as a whole has gained a good foothold and is becoming popular.
• Firefox 3 didn’t go down as well as anticipated.
• IE5 seems to have a cult-following.
• Opera is, in my opinion, underrated.
• Safari is, in my opinion, overrated.

I found that statistical analysis quite exhilarating: I hope you found it interesting and maybe in some ways useful.

What do you think? Are you at all surprised by these results? Do you think that this study is a fair analysis that could be used as a representative cross-section poll of users? Do you think these results are typical? What would you expect the results of an official poll to be; similar, or different? Please feel free to comment.

Update: September 1st 2008:-

I’m getting some good hits from loads of Open-Source browsers all of a sudden: Keep ‘em coming! (IE6 is still in the lead.)

 I’m now going to have to review some of these and blog about them. Excellent!

Click Here 

I’m going to quote directly from Michael Arrington’s blog here. Think of Hitler’s speeches to the German people on his Nazi rallies. Fill your mind with images of the Third Reich parading before him with swastika flags on poles; goose-stepping as they raise their arm in a salute to the Fuhrer. Hold that image and read this:

“I’ve been to enough Steve Jobs keynotes now to know that the man is able to take a crowd and bend it to his will. Every time, I’ve been a willing subject – sometimes (but not every time) to find myself in a hangover-like state a day later when I try to remember exactly why I thought that whatever he was pitching would change my life forever.”

“Steve Jobs is masterful and charismatic when he’s on stage and all eyes are on him. And when, like yesterday, the crowd is carefully packed with a throng of Apple developers cheering him on, the press in attendance can easily get caught up in the hype. He’s not nearly so charismatic in person, and I believe that’s why Apple will probably not, as Dave Winer suggests, ever move to a televised delivery of their big news while Jobs is in charge. The videos just don’t communicate the man’s magnetic charm in quite the same way.”

“So while I agree with Charles Cooper that Apple may sometimes get more press, and more compliant press, than they “should,” I think he and others miss the (much) larger point: Apple, and Steve Jobs, stoke our imagination in a way that no other technology company has ever done. Apple is about elegance, design, and potential, and we love them for it.”

The image that you’re holding in your mind and the image of Steve Jobs (Jobsweh) align perfectly don’t they? Just like Hitler; Jobsweh is mesmerising the faithful while pulling one of the biggest cons of the century!

Further down the same page, Arrington continues:

“Ultimately I concede that Android may have a much larger market share than the iPhone. But I’ll argue that the iPhone users will be much happier, even as Apple makes obscene profits off of that smaller user base. ”

Jawohl Mine Fuhrer Jobsweh: Mine allegiance is to you unt only you. Seig heil!

“I love the iPhone for the same reason I love technology in general, and loved Disneyland as a child – it drives my imagination and makes me wonder what kind of magic to expect next. Also, it just works.”

“The new iPhone, like the old one, delivers all of that in abundance. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Apple Uber Allez!

It just goes to show that Hitler was a very powerful salesman; a fact that Jobsweh has noticed too by the looks of things!

I wonder if he’ll ever write his memoirs so that they can be published? “Mein iPhone”?

Click Here 

Latest reports appear to indicate that Apple  aren’t quite as bad as it seems; in fact it might appear at first sight that they had a windfall.

That’s not exactly the case though: Despite news of their taking top customer-satisfaction honours among personal computer manufacturers, as released on Tuesday of this week, there are two things you should note before assuming that Apple are the tops and that this blog is heavily biased against them:

Firstly nobody even thought to ask Kustom Komputa if they even wanted to be included in this award; probably because they knew Kustom Komputa would trounce Apple into second place. On a more serious note, though, the index measures results only for the three-month period ended in June – Before the crap began to hit the fan for Apple, starting with the release of the iPhone.

Also on Tuesday; Apple admitted that a software update for their much troubled iPhone only partly fixes the connection problems it has had in connecting to 3G networks: In other words; honestly this time: “FAIL: We scratched again.”

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

The crap certainly has been hitting the fan lately for Apple; and maybe rightly so too: It seems that Steve Jobs has always been a bit of a dreamer;   and now incarnated as “Jobsweh”; the god of all things Apple; it appears that the power has gone to his head and mingled with his dreams, turning his wallet into a bottomless pit that seeks filling with loot, no matter what the cost.

As reported here on kkomp.com; Apple were recently forced to extend the free trial of MobileMe in a face-saving operation.

“We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make.” Said Apple.

To me that sounds like: “We did it again by releasing a service well ahead of schedule in order to market before the competition: It wasn’t actually ready to be released; but we did so out of a case of having to. We hope we can eventually get it to work.”

If they don’t it’ll end up costing them a few dollars more; which could incur the wrath of Jobsweh!

In the same email Apple stated “We know that MobileMe’s launch has not been our finest hour.” ROFLMAO – You’re telling me! What exactly has been Apple’s finest hour during the past two months? Steve Jobs seems to think he’s Apple’s answer to Bill Gates of late. The question is; is Jobsweh, the god with the bottomless pockets, fit to run Apple any longer? Should someone more competent and less greedy take over?

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This; direct from Apple:

“Why is Apple granting a 60-day subscription extension?
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped.”

First understatement.

“While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.”

How generous of Apple to realise that they cocked up – Again!

“Am I eligible for the 60-day extension?
You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of August 19, 2008 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time.”

Ah I knew there was a catch!

“What if I am currently in a free trial period?
If you were in your free trial period on August 19 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time, your free trial will be extended an additional 60 days.”

Blah blah…Ah: Is this another crafty catch? :

“I have an activation key. Will I lose my extension if I apply the key now?
If you are currently in your trial period, you will lose the remainder of your trial period —including any extensions— as soon as you apply your activation key.  If you already have a paid subscription, you can enter your key at any time and Apple will automatically apply the key to renew your subscription after your extension period expires.”

Remind me to fire my Advertising Executive

In his blog entry entitled “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges” he goes on to say:

“My obvious enthusiasm for Apple products is fairly evident to readers of this blog. But recently I’ve had a string of bad apples come my way, so to speak. It’s time for Apple to stop screwing around and start paying attention to product quality.”

He then goes on to speak about the single hour of battery life he gets from his iPhone , as well as certain Apps vanishing at the behest of the great Jobsweh with his lever of power; before, in usual fanboy style, declaring his undying love for his dead battery iPhone; symbol of the divine nature of the great Jobsweh. (Waste of time, costs you a fortune, sub-standard.)

- As his following commentary notes, under the heading:

“Mac Mini, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook, All Failed“

* – Read the rest of “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges“. – *

Some of my online associates say that I’m anti-Apple: I disagree; I’m not in any way prejudiced against Apple because they’re not Microsoft, even though you could say that I’m a Microsoft fan. I’m looking deeply into the eyes of Apple and seeing a culture of control, company domination, and exploitation of customers: In fact I see a kind of Pagan-istic-ish fundamentalist cult religion appearing; one where the faithful hang on every word of and would be willing to give their life for, Jobsweh, the god of all things Apple.

- And even though this cult-following; like a flock of ante-Linux zealots, is happening; the faithful are being sold utter substandard crap for a small fortune as massive amounts of profit appear in Jobsweh‘s pockets.

A friend commented that I could be cruising for a lawsuit to be filed against me: Quite obviously Apple strongly discourage the expression of opinion through free speech; but in trying to sue me they’d have to interface American law with British law and probably apply for an extradition warrant, only to end up being paid any settlement from my limited funds at about £1UKP a week.

How many $million was that? Oh well it’ll be paid one day – I can imagine being connected to an Apple-funded life support technology to keep me alive indefinitely until the debt is paid in full; like some frankenstinian contraption from the backrooms of science-fiction in the great Jobsweh‘s research laboratories  – Until suddenly the entire thing fails and I begin to rapidly age and die as technicians rush about to resolve the issue:

“Holy shit: We used an iPhone battery to power this thing! That’ll add another £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT.”

“Don’t worry about cost right now; she’s dying, and Jobsweh will be mad at us if he doesn’t get his money!”

“Man are you serious? We’ll have to take all this equipment to an Apple store and wait 5 working days plus shipping time!”

Today, after a week of iPhone battery jokes and chidings aimed at a certain iPhone user I know online, whose iPhone battery died very quickly on Monday last, I thought it an idea to have a look into the topic of iPhone batteries a bit more deeply with a little research. A quick Google search revealed 16,300,000 results for iPhone batteries. Quite obviously I wasn’t intending to read them all, and as it happened the first one that I clicked on inspired me to write this blog entry:

The following was what I found at http://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone/service/battery/ : Basically it describes Apple’s method of further ripping off the customer post purchase in the event that their battery becomes useless and fails to retain its charge. (I wonder exactly how long that will be? Has anyone actually reached this point already? If so then do please feel free to comment. – Otherwise do feel free to comment anyway.)

The page in question is officially entitled “iPhone Out-of-Warranty Battery Replacement Program Frequently Asked Questions” and begins with the question “What is the iPhone Battery Replacement Program?”

Many iPhone users will be glad to know that there is an official battery-replacement program – Until they hear the cost of it. The article says:

“If your iPhone requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple Technical Support will replace your battery for a service fee. Be sure to follow these instructions for optimizing life span and battery life before submitting your iPhone for battery replacement. “

The instructions in question say; in a most roundabout and lengthy manner, that the more use you give your iPhone the less time your battery will remain charged: That’s quite logical I suppose. The catch is, as with all rechargeable batteries, the more you recharge the batteries the less you’ll get out of them: Fair comment. It then goes into great detail about ways of not using your iPhone so that the battery’s charge lasts longer. (Following which it instructs you to “Use your iPhone regularly”.) I find it rather strange that Apple made a product that is to be used as little as possible; but as we’ll note later, this is a caveat for the process of charging you a fortune to replace a dead battery. “Jobsweh(1)“, the god of all things Apple, is a greedy and profitmongering god who likes to milk his people for every dime that they posses after they sell themselves into bondage with him by buying one of his products.

The article continues:

“How can I set up my iPhone for the Battery Replacement Program?”

“You can take your iPhone to your carrier. You can also contact Apple Technical Support or take your iPhone to an Apple Retail Store.”

Yippee-doo; thank you Apple for being so helpful. Now here’s the sting in the tail:

“How much does it cost to participate in the program?”

“The program cost is £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT. All fees are in Euros. Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse. Please review Apple’s Repair Terms and Conditions for further details.”

EH?! Fifty-five quid to replace a f—ing battery! That’s over $100 USD; and only “if your iPhone has [not] been damaged due to accident or abuse.” – Accident such as the case accidentally disintegrating perhaps? Abuse such as allowing the case to disintegrate in the first place?

Moving on:

“How long will service take?”

“Service through Apple Technical Support normally takes one week (five business days) from the date the unit is shipped to us. Time may vary if it is done through your carrier or an Apple Retail Store.”

Oh the geeks are gonna love that! A whole week PLUS shipping time without the iPhone: $100USD+ to be without your iPhone for 2 weeks; maybe more? Apple are the biggest con out there today – And people moan about Microsoft! – Er, reality check: Wake up!

This may be the answer you’re looking for:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkKQoUlOQg

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———–

1. Credit to DedRyzing ( http://twofourtech.com/ ) for naming the divinity of Steve Jobs.

At 01:40GMT (02:40 BST) this morning the following email was delivered to my inbox. I’ve added my comments to it in regular Arial 12pt text:

“I’m sending you this note because you registered a mobile device
to work with Twitter over our UK number. I wanted to let you
know that we are making some changes to the way SMS works on
Twitter. There is some good news and some bad news.”

“I’ll start with the bad news. Beginning today, Twitter is no
longer delivering outbound SMS over our UK number. If you enjoy
receiving updates from Twitter via    +44 762 480 1423   , we are
recommending that you explore some suggested alternatives.
Note: You will still be able to UPDATE over our UK number.”

What this means is that UK telephone companies are refusing any concessions to Twitter in the interests of their own continued 100% profit; as if they needed to do so – The greedy money-grabbing penny-pinching slimeballs! Doing so might reduce their profits by a fraction of a percent; which might mean the Director will only get 5 paid-holidays and less than £500G a year or something equally ridiculous.

“Before I go into more detail, here’s a bit of good news: Twitter
will be introducing several new, local SMS numbers in countries
throughout Europe in the coming weeks and months. These new
numbers will make Twittering more accessible for you if you’ve
been using SMS to send long-distance updates from outside the UK.”

Note the absence of the word “free” or “Freephone”.

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Starring:

Sharron (Me) 

DedRyzing 

davidrisley 

Bitch that I am I can never resist a bit of “I told you so” bragging: So when David Risley posted the following tweet on twitter:

  “Went to use my Iphone and, sure enough, it’s dead. Frickin’ battery. No comment from @kkomp please. ”

- This war happened:

Me: @davidrisley iPhone, iPhone, falla-diddle-iPhone. iPhone, iPhone, falla-diddle-i…No more need be said…ROFLMFAO!

- At this point DedRyzing opened up on target: 

DedRyzing @davidrisley Well ya know Dave…everyone was saying the iphone battery is dung.  And ya bought two…sad. I feel for ya

DedRyzing @davidrisley Don’t fret though. Disabling the phone will increase batt life for important things like ibeer and the lightsaber thingy 

A feeble response of counter-fire: 

davidrisley @kkomp @DedRyzing Its still the best phone out there, guys. I haven’t seen a phone yet with the same balance of features.

It’s war:

DedRyzing @davidrisley Honestly, yer right. Which says less about how good the iphone is and more about how BAD other phones are.

A shot across the boughs from me:

Me: @davidrisley That’s only because you never bothered to get a Viewty.

A veiled attempt at opening negotiation from the target: 

davidrisley @kkomp Looked at Viewty. Good camera phone. But, it is no Iphone.

Fire 1:

Me: That’s the beauty of a Viewty: It’s not an iPhone! – I ought to do their PR; they’d sell more product than apple!

Fire 2: 

Me: @davidrisley That’s the beauty of a Viewty: It’s not an iPhone! – I ought to do their PR; they’d sell more product than apple!

Fire 3: 

Me: @davidrisley I – Phone but the battery’s dead; so I use the beauty of my Viewty and get straight through: iPhone + dead battery = No phone.

Incoming communication from allied force: 

DedRyzing @kkomp It boils down to this. Other phones do a few things crappy.  The iPhone can do a lot more things crappy.

Incoming challenge from target: 

davidrisley @kkomp DedRyzing Hope you guys will be in the show chatroom tonight so I can argue with you.

Reload tubes. Response to allied force: 

Me: @DedRyzing That says it all : Let’s email LG today and offer to jointly run their PR campaign: KompDedRyzing Promotions Present…

Fire 1: 

Me: @davidrisley LOL you’d better beleive it. Topic = The iPhone battery life and ways to improve it other than not using the iPhone at all.

Fire 2: 

Me: @davidrisley On second thoughts that’ll be the shortest topic discussion ever.

Small-arms attack on target from allied force: 

DedRyzing @davidrisley Geez man…every show I argue with either you or @frostedside. Man…stop picking fights.

Fire 3: 

Me: @davidrisley I hope Apple never develop an electric car…

Incoming communication from allied force: 

DedRyzing @davidrisley Just start running OpenBSD and use an OpenMoko Freerunner and everything will be ok

Response to allied force: 

Me: @DedRyzing …Or he could always invest in a Viewty; as I suggested before he wasted his money on a dead battery – I mean an iPhone.

Nothing further from target – Scanners detect target neutralised.

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It’s called the iPhone Apps Blacklist Feature; and sitting at the remote-cut-off controls of your iPhone is none other than Steve Jobs himself; playing god with your purchase.

It must be a comforting thought for all iPhone users that the great Steve Jobs has control over what Apps you can run on your iPhone that you paid for.

Jobs said that the intent behind the capability is “high minded”: It sounds to me like a case of a control-freak mentality:

“I am the great Steve Jobs; God’s boss, and I shall decree with my awesome power what you will and will not have on your iPhone.”

“Hopefully, we never have to pull that lever,” Jobs said, “but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull.”

It certainly removes a massive element of control by not having it.

What next? MacBooks saying “I’m sorry user; but Steve Jobs has decreed that you are not allowed to run this program; however there is a similar program available from Apple for $$$”?

Apple allegedly need this function to deactivate potentially hazardous software: In other words so that they can instantly defeat any attempt at hacking or at running any open-source Apps from the Open-Source club and the Linux zealots etc.

Last week there was a rumbling and concern amid reports of the so-called “Kill-Switch-Ability” This week the Apple CEO confirmed it himself. We used to think that Microsoft impinged upon personal freedom in computing: This, however, makes Microsoft’s previous alleged control-freak mentality less than academic.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball spoke with an “informed source” at Apple on Friday, who confirmed the presence of a URL inside the iPhone’s Core Location API that downloads a blacklist of applications designated as malicious. Independent iPhone developer and author Jonathan Zdiarski discovered the URL earlier in the week.

Remember; when you are using your iPhone; big Uncle Steve is watching!

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Mozilla won’t be developing Firefox as an iPhone App: Mozilla Chief Executive John Lilly says Apple has made it too difficult a task to accomplish. Instead Mozilla will focus on other mobile platforms and in particular the LiMo project, aimed at putting Linux on other mobile devices.

Development of desktop Firefox is still going ahead in leaps and bounds: The alpha release of Shiretoko; AKA Firefox 3.1 has already happened.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/3.1a1/releasenotes/

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/3.1a1/releasenotes/#download

Besides adding new filtering features to the Awesome bar where users can filter their searches to show browsing history only, Mozilla are particularly set on improving the Gecko rendering engine and adding a new visual-tabs feature.

What of Microsoft and IE8? Well IE8 is in beta and available for download. I’ve heard that installing this beta kills the Microsoft auto-update ability of Windows to receive critical updates and patches from M$ Update: I don’t know if that’s still true or if they’ve updated the beta to prevent this?

According to Microsoft:

“Some of the new features designed for developers include a developer toolbar and improved interoperability and compatibility…Internet Explorer 8 will take the web experience beyond the page.”

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/features.mspx

- Beyond the update too it appears? I don’t see anything immediately outstanding about enhanced security features; although a Google search reveals this:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=IE8+enhanced+security+features&meta=

The good thing is that IE8 beta is available for download to Windows XP as well as to Vista – I hope this is also the case with the final retail version.

Why, though, has IE8 been in beta so long, while all other browsers are advancing and releasing newer versions? Who knows the mind of Microsoft? Does M$ itself know it’s own mind after the departure of Bill Gates?

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On August 1, 2008 Apple Inc. issued patches for 17 vulnerabilities in Mac OS X, including one meant to fix a critical bug in the DNS

The DNS patch doesn’t seem to be very effective though; according to Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security Inc. “The difficult news this morning is that we thought we were getting a patch, but we haven’t gotten anything”

Last week after the technical details of the DNS vulnerability were revealed exploit code appeared; this week attacks began against unpatched servers. Apple’s boob, a patch that doesn’t patch, isn’t going to stop further attacks.

Tests revealed that systems running Mac OS X weren’t randomising ports as they should have been doing if the supposed fix was working.

One would have thought that after Apples recent history of poor performances; such as releasing a buggy firmware platform early in order to beat the competition to market, http://kkomp.com/archives/214 and producing an auto-disintegrating case for the iPhone itself, http://kkomp.com/archives/664 they’d have made a special determined effort to get things precise and spot-on from that point. Apparently not though: It appears that Apple’s catalogue of disaster is continuing to be revealed. Perhaps Steve Jobs should make way for a better candidate – But if Microsoft is anything to go by then the same power-struggle will happen with Apple too.

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The US news-sources – In fact the whole world – is a-buzz with the story of America’s new so-called “Terrorism-prevention” measures; which open the floodgates for racism, sexism, all sorts of other-isms; and which seem totally ridiculous anyway.

The good old FBI are now allowed to seize a traveller’s laptop, PDA, alarm clock, mobile/cellphone, wristwatch; in fact any electronic device – Especially if they like the look of it. Who knows; they might just allow that beautiful middle-eastern woman to keep the devices strapped to her body following a strip-search and a sexual bribe?

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If you see the men-in-black waiting at the point you’re just about to cross America’s borders at then kiss your brand new notebook farewell; an FBI agent has already decided that he/she prefers it to his/her current model. They are allowed to take the device(s) to an offsite location, e.g their home, for an unspecified period of time, e.g. until the device breaks down through natural wear and tear/usage, without any suspicion whatsoever.

The policies cover “any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form,” including hard drives, flash drives, cell phones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover “all papers and other written documentation,” including books, pamphlets and “written materials commonly referred to as ‘pocket trash’ or ‘pocket litter.’ ” I suppose that’s at least a way of passing on an iPhone: They’re the only people who’d want something with cracked casing. http://kkomp.com/archives/664

They can also steal any data contained in or on said devices, and there’s nothing to prevent them selling anything to interested parties, rival companies, Al Quaida, North Tibetan Militia, Russian Mafia … From your porn to your personal details; it could easily end up in the hands of the highest bidder.

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These ridiculous policies were issued jointly by the US Customs and Border Protection and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Both of which are to do with the DHS. (Department of Homeland Security.)

DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. That is the biggest load of crap I’ve heard in years! They think that nicking people’s laptops etc is going to stop anyone bringing illegal data into the USA? Err, just a dad-blamed cotton-pickin’ minute there Mr Redneck, but ain’t y’all gone and forgotten the internet?

Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter. Ah right: The FBI have been stealing people’s devices for years but nobody noticed: That explains it and makes it all perfectly acceptable then – NOT! Maybe they diverted people’s “lost” luggage at Heathrow Airport, UK?

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“You want all electronic devices?”

It’s already started for real: The Washington Post reports that “…an increasing number of international travellers have reported that their laptops, cellphones, and other digital devices have been taken — for months, in at least one case — and their contents examined.” No reports of any disappearance of equipment yet then? Maybe the data on then made more money at sale and wasn’t as traceable?

The policies state that officers may “detain” laptops “for a reasonable period of time” to “review and analyse information.” It is claimed. however that ” Searches have uncovered “violent jihadist materials as well as images of child pornography” – So it’s not all bad news then.

‘Want to view the policy in detail? Click here. 

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The new Apple iPhone: Probably the most popular and well-known product around in today’s market. What will cause an ongoing problem with the iPhone; both the old model as well as the latest offering, is the buggy software platform developed by Apple which is currently being used as an operating system in all Apple iPhones.

Although many people swear by the iPhone and think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread; there is a better product out there; and one which Apple both fear and beat into submission by gazumping the market with an early release, causing a buggy and underdeveloped platform to be issued to users ahead of the intended release date.

I discovered this fact today in the strangest and most unexpected of ways: The story goes like this:-

Today I went to town to buy a few things and tie up a few loose ends: It was a sweltering hot day with broken cloud and extremely high humidity. I so longed to be back in my air-conditioned office with a cool breeze from the fan; but right now I had several carrier bags tied to my handbag and was trapsing through the hot streets toward the chemist’s (Pharmacy). As I sat on the waiting bench in the shop in lieu of my prescription being assembled I thought I’d try out my new mobile device on the wi-fi hotspot nearby by posting to Twitter: That was easier said than done. I got through and was told that I was on a 30-minute session and that I had to sign up to The Cloud via McDonald’s which was where the nearest hotspot was located. This I did and was then shown hundreds of screens giving information on The Cloud. I emerged from the maze confused and bewildered to a web browser sponsored by McDonald’s that required me to log in again and provide loads of personal information, fill out a survey regarding my customer experience with McDonald’s, and give my impressions of their internet service. Having answered everything with the word “crap” I was sent back to The Cloud’s index page: Nowhere could I find a decent web browser and I just gave up.

Later on; sweating like a pig in the humidity and heat, whilst laden with carrier bags I made it to a taxi-rank and got into a taxi cab. Somehow I got talking to the driver about the Apple iPhone. I explained that I was a blogger and that I’d written an article or two about the iPhone; particularly regarding the buggy platform software that Apple had issued as an operating system, and although people were trying to blame the App developers for the failure of the software from the App store; it was the fault of Apple themselves. It was at this point that that the driver gave me the scoop:-

Evidently his brother-in-law was a manager at Apple and had revealed that Apple had rushed the platform development through to be out ahead of the release of the LG Viewty (Pictured above.)

 http://viewty.lgmobile.com/uk/ 

- A MUCH BETTER cameraphone with software that works properly and which would have wiped the floor with Apple.

In order to get their inferior product into full sale ahead of a decent much more user-friendly and higher-quality competitive product, Apple employed some dirty tricks at the expense of both customers and quality.

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39030107,49292601,00.htm 

http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/lg-viewty-ku990.htm

Had Apple not been such a big name, and had they waited until their platform was properly de-bugged, the LG Viewty would have been incredible and quality competition against the iPhone: It’s similar-looking, more functional, and runs totally bug-less software. In the dog-eat-dog world of business however it’s no longer the better product that makes it; rather it’s the better-known producer with the snidiest tactics that gets the top spot regardless of the product.

So it is with (Cr)Apple: Dirty tricks and concentration on sales volume rather than customer satisfaction – The mark of greedy Steve Jobs, who somehow manages to sell a load of bad jobs for a fortune. Hola cowboy!

Just a cotton-pickin’ Apple-pushin’ gazumping cowboy. Yee-haah!

Come along; it’s all wrong: get ripped off at the Apple App Store:

We have software – that isn’t working; – and we want to sell it all to you.

We are snide; and we lied: Have a ride on our faulty platform;

Because your money – is what we’re after: Steve Jobs wants to be a bill-i-on-aire.

- Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

“CUPERTINO, California—July 14, 2008—Apple® today announced that iPhone™ and iPod® touch users have already downloaded more than 10 million applications from its groundbreaking new App Store since its launch late last week. Developers have created a wide array of innovative mobile applications ranging from games to location-based social networking to medical applications to enterprise productivity tools. Users can wirelessly download applications directly onto their iPhone or iPod touch* and start using them immediately. More than 800 native applications are now available on the App Store, with more than 200 offered for free and more than 90 percent priced at less than $10.”

““The App Store is a grand slam, with a staggering 10 million applications downloaded in just three days,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Developers have created some extraordinary applications, and the App Store can wirelessly deliver them to every iPhone and iPod touch user instantly.””

Inside the iPhone  

Take a look inside (Don’t) 

Full of bugs

You pay your fee; you download the application you’ve just bought from the Apple App store to your new iPhone, you open the application, get a blank screen, and are returned to the home page; or the phone resets. Great: Thanks for nothing. Thank you Apple for making developers rush to meet your deadline with buggy progs.

…And the developer community say it’s Apple’s fault also: it turns out that it’s not the applications that are buggy after all apparently: From the crash logs it appears that the problem is with the 2.0 firmware’s instability; therefore although Apple made developers rush to meet a deadline; didn’t even build a solid platform on which developers could build.

People who have seen the crash logs in question themselves appear happy with the developers’ opinion; although there are reportedly some not-so-excellent applications in the App store it appears: It doesn’t matter how great the hardware; if the software’s not up to scratch you’ll have problems.

I foresee a game of buck-passing coming up; with Apple blaming the developers who in turn blame Apple – And then I expect to see large firmware updates appearing and being downloaded: All this has the whiff of Microsoft to my mind!

You are reading the third edition (Final Retail) which has replaced all other editions. Each edition is extremely similar to the previous edition but with added content.

Ok here’s my first thoughts about the whole damn thing:-

Today everywhere has been alive with iPhone buzz: FFS it’s only a phone! Networks are overcharging, Apple are overcharging, but the crowds just keep charging up to the counters for the pleasure of getting ripped off so they can say “Ooh look at me; I’ve got the latest gadget -Just like everyone else!” Pfft!

Big deal! Clever you with your new toy – Moving on: In a case of perfect timing WordPress have announced WordPress for the iPhone: Now you can blog with your new toy too if you know how to read and write. Remember that thing called school that you tried to avoid? At school they taught you how to read and write…Oh never mind; go play with your iPhone.

Don’t hold your breath on wpiPhone though. (That’s WordPress for the iPhone for the benefit of iPhone owners.) I have a weird premonition that it might just go to pot as they try to make it bloom. Keep watching for nipples and if you see more than one then wpiPhone has probably gone tits-up.

I just cannot credit the hysteria about a phone – Holy carp!

I set out to be brief on this article; and brief I shall be. When the hype has ceased to have any residual effect and networks send people their bills for using the phone.

(Phone is what it is and it’s not mine and probably never will be, so why call it an iPhone? Information – pah! Try reading classes first. ROFL. I wonder; can Chris Pirillo’s followers read the instructions? PMSL!

Google – Help; I’m in hysterics!

Chris Pirillo <—Yay! AVG 8. 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=pirillo

I always and without fail crease up every time Pirillo announces an apology in his posts that certain things may involve reading. I bet Apple never thought to include a text-reader in their new phone though did they? – Hey don’t take it personally; you got great advertising out of it.)

The new iPhone – The perfect escapism for the cyber-escapist – Until the first bill arrives: You just wait. <chuckle>

iPhone, iPhone, folla-diddle-i-phone; iPhone, iPhone, folla-diddle-i.

iPhone, rip-off, overcharged by networks; goon-fad, boy’s toy, I will never buy.

I could be wrong; I have been known to be so before; but I reckon it’s all a big hyped up load of trash and people will end up regretting the day they ever set eyes on an – Oh I’ll utter it then. – iPhone. <shiver>

That’s all; that’s my twopennethworth.

No it isn’t: I lied: ‘Still same day and already the problems have started!

“Software problems bug Apple’s launch of new iPhone” Friday July 11, 1:59 pm ET

My thanks to David Risley of  PCMech for providing the following link via Twitter

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080711/apple_iphone.html?.v=27

And so it begins:

“”Steve Jobs knows what people want,” Web developer Lucinda McCullough told the Christchurch Press newspaper, referring to Apple’s chief executive. “And I need a new phone.”"

-Quoted from that linked site.

Then why the hell am I trying to sell unique quality desktop computers? If Steve Jobs really does know what people want I’ll get a few old wrecks that no longer work properly out of the spares cabinet, give them a quick identical case mod, and sell them at an exaggerated price: Who cares whether they work or not provided they all look the same and are the latest fad eh Mr Jobs? While we’re at it Steve Jobs; perhaps you’d inform me why it is that you’re named after a polite english slang term for crap?

Brilliant Headline from Gizmodo.com:-

“Apple and AT&T Stores Having Difficulty Activating iPhones (UPDATE: It’s the iPocalypse)” (Linked)

“Even the iTunes link on Apple is gone. “

Throughout the entire United States and Canada; in fact seemingly worldwide, Apple’s servers have crashed or are over-capacity

“So How Did This Happen:
The source of the iTunes crash/slowdown seems not be those buying iPhone 3Gs from Apple/AT&T stores at all but the millions of people updating to the new firmware at home. Firmware 2.0 isn’t like other firmwares in that it needs to update the phone and reauthenticate the service. And in turn, when the servers are slammed and the phone reaches for reauthentication, the server isn’t always there to reactivate the service. This is how some of those newly bricked iPhones are occurring, and a source tells us that even first gen iPhones are susceptible.”

Unacceptable: There is no other word for it. The internet isn’t to blame: The wiring isn’t stretched to capacity, the isps are taking the load without trouble. The problem is Apple – Nobody else: Sheer incompetence!

“iTunes activation servers go down, iPhone 3G customers being sent home unactivated, first-gen iPhone customers stuck with dead iPhones.”

From http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/11/itunes-activation-servers-go-down-iphone-3g-customers-being-sen/

“Update: Apple has confirmed to us that activation is down, and that customers are being asked to take the phone home and activate via iTunes later. We’re not sure what good that’ll do, since the servers are down no matter where you are, but Apple says it’s “working on a solution.” In the meantime, it looks like the new SIM works in first-gen units, so at least upgraders aren’t totally phone-deprived. Oh, and remember that updating a first-gen iPhone to 2.0 requires hitting the server as well, so if you haven’t taken the plunge we’d say hold off until this all gets sorted.”

“Update 2: In related news, those updating their first-gen iPhone to 2.0 are also getting caught in the activation shuffle, leaving some with bricked iPhones. In our test case, the activation servers came back up after about 45 minutes just long enough to get 2.0 running on our first-gen iPhone, but not all have been so lucky.”

<Fits of laughter>

“This does not look good. Apparently people at home can’t even upgrade to firmware 2.0 and the problem is afflicting iTunes on an international scale.”

This is the end of my coverage for this article: Follow this link for the continuing saga:

http://gizmodo.com/5024187/apple-and-att-stores-having-difficulty-activating-iphones-update-its-the-ipocalypse

The Joke is on Apple.

Why not go buy a Mac?… ROTFLMAO!

 I just have to add this: It had me in stitches:-

From Steve Rubel on Flickr: