Creative professional based in Arlington, MA. Specializing in web design for political campaigns, nonprofits, and small business.
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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Thank you Apple
Since I blasted Apple on the iPhone 3.1 upgrade sloppiness, it’s only fair that I applaud them when they do something well…and in this case it’s something extremely important to me.
Three days ago, my iPhone stopped switching between silent and normal mode. In silent mode, the volume remained on and the phone vibrated endlessly. Thus, I was forced to remain in normal mode, which put me at risk of having my phone go off in a meeting, at a funeral, etc.
Three days from now, the original hardware warranty on my 3G was set to expire. As you’d expect, I took the first opportunity to rush up to the Apple store and sit down at the Genius bar, hoping that it would be a quick fix (but fearing that I’d lose my phone to some convoluted repair process for a week).
Well, ten minutes after my appointment, I’m happy to say that I walked out with a brand new iPhone 3G, no questions asked. It’ll be a few hours until I can restore my contacts/apps/music from my most recent backup, but that’s certainly an enormous improvement from dealings I’ve had with other hardware manufacturers and wireless vendors (I’m looking at you, Palm, Motorola, and, yes, AT&T).
So, credit where credit is due - that was a kickass response to a problem that would have been more than a minor annoyance, given my reliance on the iPhone for business calls and email. Thank you, Apple.
Black hole sun. iPhone.
iPhone 3.1 Bugs: Got Random Freeze or Shut Down? | The iPhone Blog
Incredibly frustrating iPhone 3.1 abortion of an update continues unabated…as Apple ignores the mounting evidence. My phone is locking up a half dozen times a day, requiring a hard reset. I’ve missed calls, voicemails, texts, you name it. For the first time since I got this thing, I’m more annoyed with Apple than I am with AT&T (who’ve actually stepped up their game a bit this week with the MMS switch-on and the news that tethering won’t be an additional cost). This, along with the Google Voice fiasco and Snow Leopard bugginess (keeping me from upgrading so far), makes for a troubling trend in Jobsville.
FIX THIS, APPLE. I’D HATE TO TURN ON YOU, BUT I’LL DO IT IN A SECOND IF YOU ACT LIKE MICROSOFT ON THIS.
My home screen. Roughly ordered: top row is stuff to read, second is tools, third is reference, fourth row is entertainment. Main bar is essentials for keeping some kind of organization. Double home tap calls up th iPod screen.
In-dash iPhone OS
Something that I’d really like to see: an in-dash computer that runs the iPhone OS. Basically it would be an iPhone, but running on a larger touchscreen (maybe 6”x4”?). The audio would be piped through the car’s system, calls would behave as if you were on speakerphone, and you could run all your apps on the bigger screen. I’m thinking that apps like Pandora would be a great radio alternative. GPS would obviously be more useful with a bigger screen, particularly if you had turn-by-turn voice instructions. The iPhone’s interface would also be a great way to scroll through iTunes. The camera could be mounted externally somehow, maybe pointing at the driver or at the road ahead.
I suppose the icing on the cake would be a dock system where you just slid your iPhone in and the “iDash” took over.
iPhones Overload AT&T's Network, Angering Customers - NYTimes.com
Yes…angered because we pay substantially more for data rates*, and AT&T knew this going in…yet they trumpeted their newfound profits instead of pouring that money back into the network.
* $30 a month for data PLUS $15 for text, which is patently absurd…how is text not data? Nevermind the neverending MMS and tethering delays.
