If anything irritates you about Apple.. what is it?

[jaxstate]

What type of PIII are you using that's having problems with two or more office apps with IE and Adobe Reader open.

We use Pentium IIIs with 1.5gb of RAM running Win2000 in the office for internal correspondence that struggle with running two or more Office apps with IE and Adobe Reader open.

 

[Mackilroy]

Actually milozauckerman has good points on both of these. If Apple really wants to increase their market share they need a midrange desktop. All-in-ones and compact computers just don't cut it for everyone. I have no interest in an iMac and in no way can I afford a MacPro, nor do I need that kind of processing power. Its all about upgradability. I want a computer that I can expand, put a couple of hard drives in, throw in some PCI cards, but I dont need a 3 ghz Xeon.

As for the Apple stores, the nearest one to me is 5 hours away. Enough said.

Most of the other stuff I disagree with, but those points do have validity.

That's why I said if he could come up with a computer that wouldn't cannabalize Apple's iMac and Mac Pro sales but would have enough power to satisfy him, I'm sure they'd take it.

So? No CompUSAs near you? And there's always the online Apple store.

 

[opik]

to me...is that they have changed policies which they were famous for..an "out of the box ready" computer where they have no proper word-procesors anymore..iwork should be included just like ilife!!!

second.. .mac should be made free again!

 

[baleensavage]

That's why I said if he could come up with a computer that wouldn't cannabalize Apple's iMac and Mac Pro sales but would have enough power to satisfy him, I'm sure they'd take it.

So? No CompUSAs near you? And there's always the online Apple store.

I'm not entirely convinced that they don't have a midrange mac up their sleeve with the way they've made the MacPro base configuration the $2500 model (even though you can strip it down to $2200). I guess we'll all just have to wait and see. With programs like Final Cut Express and many other midrange apps out there it seems really suprising that Apple wouldnt offer a computer to cater to the power users who arent necesarrily pros.

And no, there are no CompUSAs, just Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and a plethera of other PC only stores. If it wasn't for the internet then I probably would convert to a PC (well maybe not). i would love to see an Apple store north of Portland, Maine, though, and Im sure there are other states where there are next to no Apple stores out there.

 

[milozauckerman]

My iBook, iMac and MacBook are quite functional, thank you.

And my Quicksilver G4 was pretty rockin'. Too bad the product lines since then have often had semi-major and major problems that Apple didn't deal well with.

I know someone who's on his third trip back to the Apple Store because they can't fix his 20" iMac CD - motherboard and RAM issues.

And the search for an ever-thinner Powerbook/MBP is simply diminishing returns.

How does this matter? Who cares what colors they are?

Obviously, Apple and its consumers do. Hence the black tax. Aesthetics are a big part of Apple's pitch. And Apple's aesthetics are bland when not simply ugly.

(Heading off your first response, yes, that's an opinion. OMG AN OPINION)

What cult?

The Mac Cult. You know, the 'Mac can do no wrong'/'THERE IS NO WHINE IT'S IN YOUR HEAD' brigade.

Useless to you.

Obviously. I'm buying for me, why do I care if it meets your needs or if Suzy College really enjoys iPhoto so she can put up her Spring Break orgy photos on MySpace?

You're buying a product and the 'lifestyle.'

No, I'm buying a product, from a company that has chosen to forsake innovation, build quality and useful features for wicked awesome graphics and idiot-proofing.

I switched from Windows oh so long ago because I was tired of its desire to do everything for me, or more to the point, getting in my bloody way when I wanted to do anything.

So you expect them to become generic and bland?

As opposed to omnipresent branding? God yes, please, if that's what it takes.

Morons? Evidence? Maybe just the staff at your Apple Store aren't that smart.

OMG you mean my offhand statement doesn't account for the possibility that a Nobel laureate works at your Apple Store? SAY IT AIN'T SO.

But yes, every experience I've had with Geniuses - and every experience of everyone I know from DC to San Francisco has been much the same. Geniuses are one step above tech support call center people - which ain't saying much.

What about it?

Overpriced, not customer friendly. If you're paying upwards of $200-300 for an extended warranty because you have to assume your Apple laptop is going to blow up sometime in the future - then by God they should give you a foot massage when something does go wrong.

Apple has excellent quality control. The 'problems' you refer to have been blown extremely out of proportion.

They have excellent quality control, it's just that there are thousands of complaints about their products? OK.

(If I were a real smart-ass, I'd throw that 'TO YOU'/where R UR FACTS stuff back to you here.)

Maybe you should contact Apple and ask them to put a store in a ghetto. Will that work for you?

Given the choice, I'll always take the ghetto over yuppie scum.

 

[Cameront9]

For me, the only annoyance I have with Apple right now is that there is no Closed-Captioning in downloaded iTMS videos. I hope they improve this with Leopard (it does mention CC built into quicktime on the accessability page).

I can tell you that if the shows were captioned, I would have bought dozens of them.

 

[critter]

Have had my first Mac just about a month now, Imac 20 and I am absolutely thrilled with it. The only issues I have:

Cannot believe the same company is responsible for the Imac and the Mighty Miserable Mouse.

A USB port on the side of the Imac somewhere would be nice, camera's etc.

 

[Mackilroy]

And my Quicksilver G4 was pretty rockin'. Too bad the product lines since then have often had semi-major and major problems that Apple didn't deal well with.

I know someone who's on his third trip back to the Apple Store because they can't fix his 20" iMac CD - motherboard and RAM issues.

And Apple is, of course, the only company who has major problems. So they screwed up. So what? Was the problem ever solved, whether through lawsuits or whatnot? I've had very few problems with Macs since 1995, when I first began using computers. There will always be problems, though, because people (and machines) are fallible. If you're expecting perfection then you're always going to be disappointed, because someone else's idea of perfection won't match yours.

And the search for an ever-thinner Powerbook/MBP is simply diminishing returns.

Really? What kinds?

Obviously, Apple and its consumers do. Hence the black tax. Aesthetics are a big part of Apple's pitch. And Apple's aesthetics are bland when not simply ugly.

(Heading off your first response, yes, that's an opinion. OMG AN OPINION)

Yes, it's an opinion. But how many people share it? My point is, Apple doesn't revolve around you.

The Mac Cult. You know, the 'Mac can do no wrong'/'THERE IS NO WHINE IT'S IN YOUR HEAD' brigade.

I haven't seen many of those people on Macs – I see them using Linux.

Obviously. I'm buying for me, why do I care if it meets your needs or if Suzy College really enjoys iPhoto so she can put up her Spring Break orgy photos on MySpace?

You're missing my point. You're expecting Apple to pander to your needs specifically, when they sell machines to millions of people. They have to appeal to the broadest possible base while still making money, which they're doing. If your interests don't lie among the products Apple offers, then go third-party or PC if you must.

No, I'm buying a product, from a company that has chosen to forsake innovation, build quality and useful features for wicked awesome graphics and idiot-proofing.

I switched from Windows oh so long ago because I was tired of its desire to do everything for me, or more to the point, getting in my bloody way when I wanted to do anything.

Real-ly. Show me how Apple no longer innovates, has good build quality (and do NOT bring up the MacBook and MBP because the Internet has blown the 'problems' way out of proportion).

As opposed to omnipresent branding? God yes, please, if that's what it takes.

By 'omnipresent branding' I'm assuming you mean having an Apple on all of their products and renaming the computer brands so they all have 'Mac' in them?

OMG you mean my offhand statement doesn't account for the possibility that a Nobel laureate works at your Apple Store? SAY IT AIN'T SO.

But yes, every experience I've had with Geniuses - and every experience of everyone I know from DC to San Francisco has been much the same. Geniuses are one step above tech support call center people - which ain't saying much.

No, there are no Apple Stores within hundreds of miles where I live.

How many people do you know from DC to San Francisco? How many stores do they account for? I'm curious.

Overpriced, not customer friendly. If you're paying upwards of $200-300 for an extended warranty because you have to assume your Apple laptop is going to blow up sometime in the future - then by God they should give you a foot massage when something does go wrong.

Well, since I don't know why you're whining, why not tell me what your experience with AppleCare is?

They have excellent quality control, it's just that there are thousands of complaints about their products? OK.

(If I were a real smart-ass, I'd throw that 'TO YOU'/where R UR FACTS stuff back to you here.)

There are thousands of complaints out of hundreds of thousands of shipped machines. Now if there were 50,000 or a 100,000 complaints I'm sure Apple would consider it a large problem. But there aren't that many, and it's not.

Given the choice, I'll always take the ghetto over yuppie scum.

Scum? Heh. Some people call the ghetto people scum too. Guess it's all a matter of opinion.

EDIT: Lebowski caught a dumb error of mine. Thanks man.

 

[steamboat26]

I am annoyed but the lack of upgrades (especially for minis, imacs, etc)...
Also, i hate paying a premium, and while i will admit it is worth the extra money, sometimes it is tempting to go out and get some bargain dell. But then i remember that its a DELL

oh yeah, and one more stupid complaint. I wish i could return my nano (only 8 months after i bought it ) pay a little extra money and get a video or a 4G photo, but thats just dreaming...

 

[Lebowski]

dropping the FW from ipods. I dont know about you, but i liked filling a 20 gig pod in minutes, not an hour and a half. USB is cute for a shuffle or a nano, but try loading a 60 giger.

USB is tooo slow.

FW needs to be utilized MUCH more than it is. It was revolutionary when it was introduced ( i think apple even got a technical achievment emmy for it) and it seems to be dissappearing from apple products.

 

[Lebowski]

There will always be problems, though, because people (and machines) are infallible.

wrong usage champ.

infallible

One entry found for infallible.
Main Entry: in·fal·li·ble
Pronunciation: (")in-'fa-l&-b&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin infallibilis, from Latin in- + Late Latin fallibilis fallible
1 : incapable of error : UNERRING <an infallible memory>
2 : not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint : CERTAIN <an infallible remedy>
3 : incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals

 

[Mackilroy]

wrong usage champ.

infallible

One entry found for infallible.
Main Entry: in·fal·li·ble
Pronunciation: (")in-'fa-l&-b&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin infallibilis, from Latin in- + Late Latin fallibilis fallible
1 : incapable of error : UNERRING <an infallible memory>
2 : not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint : CERTAIN <an infallible remedy>
3 : incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals

Whoops, stupid mistake on my part. That's supposed to be fallible.

See what I mean?

 

[JMG]

You're missing my point. You're expecting Apple to pander to your needs specifically, when they sell machines to millions of people. They have to appeal to the broadest possible base while still making money, which they're doing.

...not as many as PCs. snap

Real-ly. Show me how Apple no longer innovates, has good build quality (and do NOT bring up the MacBook and MBP because the Internet has blown the 'problems' way out of proportion).

Why can't we mention the MBP? There are problems, blown out of proportion or not, and you can't deny that. Also the iPod nano lawsuit comes to mind. bad clickwheels on iPod Minis, crappy firmware upgrades to the 5G that doesn't fix the album problems, etc... While these are not gigantic problems, they are problems. Did I mention the MBP 15.4 battery recall?

No, there are no Apple Stores within hundreds of miles where I live.

How many people do you know from DC to San Francisco? How many stores do they account for? I'm curious.

Oh come on... have you actually spoken to an apple store "genius"? They read a manual and suddenly they are mac expertes? We might as well bring my MBP to a kiosk to spit out pre-written replies.
[/QUOTE]

 

[spicyapple]

The thing that irritates me the most about Apple is the they sometimes over-design or over-simplify things so that usability suffers. And they are so arrogant about changes even as their user base pleads for it.

Example of over-design: The toilet-seat iBooks
Examples of over-simplification: Mighty Mouse and Cinema Displays you can't turn off separately

 

[JMG]

You're buying a product and the 'lifestyle.'

BAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! !! ! !!

you didn't just type that with a straight face did you? Wow.

 

[Mackilroy]

...not as many as PCs. snap

Well, given that the PC market is much larger than the Mac market, that's a given, don't you think?

Why can't we mention the MBP? There are problems, blown out of proportion or not, and you can't deny that. Also the iPod nano lawsuit comes to mind. bad clickwheels on iPod Minis, crappy firmware upgrades to the 5G that doesn't fix the album problems, etc... While these are not gigantic problems, they are problems. Did I mention the MBP 15.4 battery recall?

You can't use the MBP because it's been overblown to death. I'm not denying the problems – I'm saying they aren't as huge as they've been made out to be. There's a difference.

Oh come on... have you actually spoken to an apple store "genius"? They read a manual and suddenly they are mac expertes? We might as well bring my MBP to a kiosk to spit out pre-written replies.

In case you missed reading it earlier, I said there weren't any Apple Stores within hundreds of miles where I live. And I wasn't saying the Geniuses were experts, I was simply disputing the opinion that they were all idiots.

BAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! !! ! !!

you didn't just type that with a straight face did you? Wow.

Sure did. Of course, I may think of it in a different way then you do. But then, from your post you aren't inclined to actually think about what I said.

 

[Roba]

It irritates me the way that Apple refuse to give some people refunds when they ask for it if they have had a repair job done multiple times. A relative of mine has had two iPods that have failed and now they are requesting for their money back but Apple does not want to give it back to them and they are just trying to fob them of with getting another repair or replace by Apple. They just want their money back though and they do not want an Apple nano at this moment in time. If this happens again and Apple refuse to refund then they will try to get back their money through the courts.
Apple also haven't even offered them anything for their inconvience.

Also, what happened when i bought my MBP 15.4 inch model early has kind of put me of from buying any computer hardware from Apple until a few months after they have introduced a product.

 

[LoveMacMini]

i'm deeply hoping apple learned from it's mistakes with the macbook and macbook pro

but even if they do get their act together, they still really ruined the apple image for a lot of users

 

[bammac]

Bought into the hype a little

For me, it was probably my own fault as I bought into the hype a little about how great these machines (hardware wise) were.

I have had 4 laptops from Acer, Compaq, Dell IBM and I'm on my 5th with my PowerBook. With EVERY machine I have had some issue along the line, I did expect with my PowerBook that I would get a more stable machine over the previous ones just like the OS is over XP.

Not so.

When my PB arrived it was DOA, then the 2nd machine had a faulty logic board which meant no USB ports worked. The third machine was fine until:
- The battery lost capcity, to which it lasts 35min max
- The paint started flaking next to the space bar (see pic)
- My upper 1GB Ram module failed (not really Apple I guess)

So I guess I forgot my previous experiences that ALL of my machines have had some issue or rather.

So will I change? No, I still don't have to do a reinstall every 3 months and I still really love it despite the issues.

But I do hate that gut wrenching feeling that every user dreads when they find an issue with a machine that costs over $3000.

As consumers we all expect the thing to work perfectly all of the time, some of us are not so lucky I guess. But just beacuse we love it, it doesn't mean it can't irratate us at the same time!

 

[alFR]

You can't use the MBP because it's been overblown to death. I'm not denying the problems – I'm saying they aren't as huge as they've been made out to be. There's a difference.

Actually, in a survey on MacInTouch an average of 18% of 15" MBPs have needed some sort of repair:

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/macbooks.html

I'd say that's a pretty significant proportion of affected machines. In fact, that's the main thing putting me off buying one (along with the imminent Merom revision). I'd really like to switch, I like the hardware spec and am convinced of the benefits of OSX (unix etc.) but I can't afford a nearly 20% chance of my machine needing repairs soon after I get it. Even if Apple sort it quickly, that's still bound to be inconvenience for me.

 

[After G]

Build quality is suffering lately. It irritates me that Apple can't keep the same quality. But at least the prices are lower, right? I guess I'd pay a little more for guaranteed quality.

 

[JMG]

Well, given that the PC market is much larger than the Mac market, that's a given, don't you think?

yes that's the whole point.

You can't use the MBP because it's been overblown to death. I'm not denying the problems – I'm saying they aren't as huge as they've been made out to be. There's a difference.

Kinda like the war? So we ignore it? Makes sense... not.

In case you missed reading it earlier, I said there weren't any Apple Stores within hundreds of miles where I live. And I wasn't saying the Geniuses were experts, I was simply disputing the opinion that they were all idiots.

so in essence there is not Apple store within a hundred miles of me thereforethere are no idiots at the applestore. Interesting logic. Interesting because it's invalid.

Sure did. Of course, I may think of it in a different way then you do. But then, from your post you aren't inclined to actually think about what I said.

I did think about what you said. I believe that that is what you believe, and probably it's one of the reasons you buy apple products. The apple marketing machine did a good job on you. Now you identity a part of yourself (ie your lifestyle) by the type of OS you run and the logo on your computers. Congradulations. That's funny.

 

[bartelby]

Wow!
A lot of people get worked up about a lot of little things!!

Nothing really iritates me about Apple. There are a couple of things they could look into, such as QC and er...

So there's only one thing they could look into.

I've had problems with products:

The logic board in my PowerBook failed after 11 months, but it was fixed.

My PowerMac 7500 no longer starts up, but that might have more to do with me f**king around with it's insides.

But compared to all the hassle PC user I know go through, I have an easy computing life.

 

[sunfast]

The USB extension cable that came with my Apple Keyboard has a ridge in the connector so that I can only plug the keyboard into it and not any other USB device. It's annoying because I was going to use it to look smarter plugging my peripherals into my MB rather than having back and grey ones.

 

[Mackilroy]

yes that's the whole point.

…and?

Kinda like the war? So we ignore it? Makes sense... not.

Of course not, to you.

so in essence there is not Apple store within a hundred miles of me thereforethere are no idiots at the applestore. Interesting logic. Interesting because it's invalid.

If that were my logic, that would indeed be invalid. However, that's not my logic, so you're wrong. My logic is merely that not every single person at every single Apple Store can be idiots. Make sense?

I did think about what you said. I believe that that is what you believe, and probably it's one of the reasons you buy apple products. The apple marketing machine did a good job on you. Now you identity a part of yourself (ie your lifestyle) by the type of OS you run and the logo on your computers. Congradulations. That's funny.

You know what? You're pretty funny. Go ahead and jump to conclusions like that if you want. I don't identify myself with my computer – if my MacBook was stolen tomorrow I wouldn't be happy but it's nowhere near the end of the world. I use Macs not because Apple marketing says so but because I prefer OS X to XP. Simple enough, right?