Indiscriminate Transgressions

I have Vista x64 Ultimate, and I have an iPod Classic 160GB. When I downloaded iTunes 7.6 a while back, it had a handy-dandy 64-bit version available, so I downloaded that and installed it. So that was running fine for two months or whatever, no problems, etc, etc.

So a few days after the horrific iPhone 3G + iPhone 2.0 + iTunes 7.7 + MobileMe launch day (note to Apple, maybe spread this stuff out a little bit), I get that great pop-up from the Apple Updater, you know the one that downloads iTunes+Quicktime and also comes with the Safari checkbox pre-checked. Sounds like tying, but whatever. So I say sure, update the iTunes.

Afterward, I notice that all of the iTunes related tasks look like this:

So yeah, that’s not really looking very 64 bit, I mean the little *32 means a 32 bit process, so wtf. So I figure that well, perhaps the updater is broken, and it downloaded a 32-bit version and installed it over my 64 bit version from before. So I uninstall, reboot as requested and of course the freaking Bonjour service is still there AND the Apple Mobile Device Support is still running AND the Apple Software Update is still installed. So I uninstall each of those, reboot again, and hey Bonjour is still running. I think Bonjour should be considered a virus, seriously.

So then I heads on over to apple.com and I see:

So I download the 64-bit version, install it, and I get the same exact thing, 6 32-bit processes, not a single 64-bit process. What gives, Apple? Is this 64-bit software? The copy on the download page is confusing, maybe Vista (64-bit) means that it’s a 32-bit version of the software that WORKS on Vista x64? The filename is itunes64setup.exe - that also isn’t totally specific about what is 64-bit.

The whole thing is at least marginally confusing.

I plug in my 160GB iPod classic to sync. This process now takes upwards of 5 minutes.

I play a few (8) songs the PC, so all sync has to do it perform a few simple tasks like update the playcounts and played dates for the songs, then eject. I plug in the classic, 20 seconds later iTunes says “syncing iPod” and then iTunes becomes totally unresponsive for 45-60 seconds. Then it’s responsive again for 30 seconds, then unresponsive for another 45-60 seconds. This continues for 5-7 minutes. I can connect my old 60GB iPod and an iPod mini, and do the exact same thing in 7 or 8 seconds without iTunes freezing.

The first update to the firmware did nothing to fix this.

I called Apple Care last night, and was on hold for 45 minutes. Then I got to talk to a “genius,” or whatever they’re called on the phone, and he told me he had never heard of this issue (even though it’s all over the interwebs). Then he put me on hold for 15 more minutes, then came back and told me to reboot. (Wheeeeeee!) He put me on hold again while I was rebooting, then disconnected me. I called back and got to hear a recording that told me to call during their normal business hours.

Hi Apple you suck.

(full disclosure, I am an apple shareholder)

And I’m not talking about the iPhone. I hear from people that I should sell my Apple stock on Friday at noon because it’s going to tank. One of the reasons given is “there is no on-screen keyboard in landscape mode.” I won’t even go there.

So yeah it’s hot. I’m sitting here in my home office at midnight-ish and I’d say the RealFeel is about 140 degrees and really wet. Yeah, I know, I’m talking about the weather. But I mean I hung up a t-shirt that was wet and an hour later it smelled like mold. That’s some crazy shit. Or sh*t, if you prefer.

Anyhow, now that Safari is out for the Windows, I put one of my Mac Mini computers up on the eBay. (I wrote Mac Mini computers because I didn’t want to pluralize Mac Mini.) And in a few days I will put my MacBook Pro up there. I’m hoping the halo effect from the iPhone bumps the price up a bit.

We’re bidding on a slew of new work all of a sudden, so I haven’t been posting. Some of it actually sounds interesting and hopefully I’ll post about some of it soon.

I don’t like my tray cluttered with useless garbage. The QuickTime tray icon is exactly that. I never actually use the QuickTime tray icon except to turn off the QuickTime tray icon.

Yet, every time that iTunes has an update it installs “iTunes + QuickTime” which, inexplicably, turns the QuickTime preference “Install QuickTime icon in system tray” back on. Why? Just to be annoying? All the other QuickTime settings are saved, just not that one. Accident?

Thanks again, Apple.

I just installed Safari 3 beta on my Windows machine, because I have a need. Many of our web clients have at least one person in-house that will check their site on “Safari on the Mac” and there are usually a few tweaks cos Firefox and Safari don’t agree on standards all the time. So we have a few Macs on hand specifically for this reason.

So now Apple has decided that they will give up their channel of Mac buyers that need to check web work in “Safari on the Mac” (I know of at least 3 people currently contemplating a Mac purchase specifically for this reason). Thank you, Apple! And I mean that seriously.

However, I know that you THINK it’s more usable to have to resize a window from the bottom right corner only, and move it at the top only, but I disagree with you. So does Windows, the platform that you’ve brought your product to. I don’t find this snobbery and rudeness to be anything like “a glass of ice water to a person in hell.” I find it to be frustrating and irritating and more like shards of glass to a person with soft skin.

Personally, I find it easier to resize from the upper right corner or top edge when I’m up there, and then move the window with the window’s title bar, a few pixels away (not thousands away). But in all of your snobbery, you can’t admit that maybe this other way is better and play nice in your hosted environment?

And you’re going to make me do all kinds of extra mouse moving for no real reason? Or for “usability?”

Thanks, assholes.

Plus, it doesn’t even work. Like at all. It loads up about 1/2 of the Apple homepage before bombing out, and I can’t even type in the address bar. I can click the button that looks like a spider, but that just uses 100% of one of my CPU cores. I’m sure they’ll fix that stuff, but I’ll put a million dollars on them not fixing the usability issues. Cos they know it all.

Edit 6/26: I reinstalled a third time and it works.

If anyone can tell me how to fix my Macbook Pro under Windows so it actually looks like I have a battery in the computer, I’d appreciate it. It worked for months, and then one day it just had a big red X over the battery indicator in the tray, and when I mouse over it, I get the message that “No battery is detected.” So now I have no idea how much battery life I have at a given moment, and I don’t trust that I will get warnings if my battery is low, so I’m afraid to use it for more than an hour and a half on battery.

I’ll Paypal you a dollar if you can help me fix this.

Edit: So here was the secret, or at least I think so. I found this quite by accident. I booted into MacOS via Bootcamp, then restarted again into Vista. All seems OK now. Not sure why - I had rebooted Vista a few times and that didn’t help, so some kind of magic OSX battery initialization thing, maybe.