WW1. This unhelpful computer sometimes does not do what it’s told. It does not always give the same answer.
WW2. I have wasted so much time on figuring out how weird it is. I should sue Mr. Pogue for loss of consortium. My wife says, “Come to bed,” and I tell her, “I have to figure out what is wrong with this dratted computer—or this book.” Sue for tearing out my hair. Loss of sleep.
WW3. Maybe a class action suit? Do you Mac experts think we should?
WW4. I have regularly been driving my son crazy with strange pleas for help. He is so helpful, but it’s a darned shame he has to put up with all these changes and discrepancies. It must drive him nutso when he hears another plaintive call from me.
WW5. I always knew IBM or Microsoft users needed a buddy system, but I didn’t know Macs are just as bad.
WW6. This is perhaps getting to be a good computer, if I learn all the workarounds. But it has been one hell of a struggle to find out how to do it and stop losing memos. I have put in many dozens of frustrated hours, even with expert help.
MM1. I tried to use iCAL to set a reminder on its calendar, and the instructions in the books did not work.
MM2. My son tried to tell me what to do, by phone, and his instructions did not work.
MM3. Of course, my son figured out a workaround. Pogueman says you just type in the colored space. Maybe that used to work, but now you have to type in the not-colored space. Damn the undocumented “improvements.” Apple has so many “nice” features that are so well hidden, you cannot guess where to find them.
XX1. There is a useful program called iGarageband, which sounds like a neat way to record music. But Pogue’s book makes no comment on the specific type of connector you need. It turns out to be a 1/8-in. mini plug.
NN1. I have been taping a lot of reminders to the top cover, because I don’t trust the computer. I used genuine Scotch brand tape.
NN2. My wife told me it looked awful, so I tried to peel off the tape. For an hour it was a horrible struggle.
NN3. After calling my son, he told me to Google up “Remove Tape.” The solution turned out to be butter. No kidding. You still want to peel off most of the tape, but reasonable solvents do not remove the residue. Butter (or lard) does.
LL1. I asked several polite questions of David Pogue, “author” of The Missing Manual, (“The book that should have been in the box”), and got no answer. I did this again and got no answer. After three more weeks, I sent him a strongly worded memo.
LL2. He gave no apologies and no answers to any technical questions. He just said I would not get any response with (nasty) memos like that.
LL3. I assured him that I will definitely get responses on these topics, and I’ll be publishing to 125,000 readers in January.
LL4. Pogueman seems to think if he just ignores me, he can stonewall me, and I will get frustrated and go away.
LL5. But as a muckraker, I don’t work that way. We buy our ink by the barrel. We try to get out the truth.
LL6. Why do I say “pogueman”? Pogue has an e-mail address of david@pogueman.com, so I’m only calling him what he calls himself.
LL7. Pogue claimed that he volunteered to help me with my computer programs. I say he did not volunteer to help me. Ask me about my rebuttal letter.
LL7. I am asking all readers of my column to comment on these and any other unfortunate errors they have found in this pretty good computer or in any of the disastrous books that are supposed to help with the Leopard operating system. Send your comments to me at czar44@me.com.
UU1. I think this computer is jinxed. It’s unreliable.
UU2. I think this computer hates me. But that’s not a surprise. Most (digital) computers do.
UU3. Maybe I should get it replaced under warrantee. It is not reliable.
YY1. Electronic Design extends an offer to Apple Inc. and to David Pogue to comment and reply on anything published in my January 14 column.
ZZ1. That’s okay. I am going to criticize Microsoft and IBM-type PCs next month.
ZZ2. So what’s my point?
ZZ3. I will insist that anybody printing a book about an Apple computer must see that all the commands and instructions do actually work before they push the “start printer” button. I do plan to send all this criticism to each of the other authors. And...
ZZ4. I sure hope Apple can put in a little less effort at changing and “improving” its computers until they don’t work right. And...
ZZ5. Put in more effort at documenting what the computer is really doing, and the “improvements,” so we poor users can use those “improvements.”
*** Comments invited. / rap/ Send to czar44@me.com
P.S. 1: Recently my son recommended that I store my e-mails in folders, rather than “mailboxes,” but he could not exactly explain why I should.
P.S. 2: It turned out that folders and their contents are (apparently) stored on the hard drive, whereas in this IMAP system, the mailboxes are saved on the server and may thus be inaccessible in case of crashes. So now I have one address list in a mailbox, where it is convenient, and a copy in a folder, where it may be more crash-resistant. Good thing—my computer crashed three times yesterday.
P.S. 3: I used to be able to request a new folder, and the computer would ask me what I would like to name it. Fine, but now the computer has stopped asking me to name it and just lists the new folder as “untitled folder 3” or “untitled folder 4,” and I can’t find any way to change the “title.”
If we find more problems, as I am sure we will, we will find a way to post them somewhere. Maybe right below here?
/ Best regards. / rap /