Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
50% of iPhones Brought to Genius Bar Have Never Been Synced
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Guess these people never bought physical CDs.
Wonder how they got music in their devices in the first place
How did they set up their iPhones in the first place?
Right, somebody did it for them (as I did for my mother). The same person will also update their iPhones for them.
My wife is one of those. If I don't snatch the phone out of her hands and sync it to our mac it would never get backed up. She'd regret it one day!
She also has about 26 update badge reminders on her App Store app, she doesn't understand how to do it even though I've explained it.
But my goodness I love her.
She also has about 26 update badge reminders on her App Store app, she doesn't understand how to do it even though I've explained it.
But my goodness I love her.
Probably a lot of people like my wife.
She was complaining that she was embarassed by her phone because everyone else she ran into in her business had a smart phone.
So moved her to the front of the pack and got her an iPhone 4.
Now she's mad because it has tons of functions that she doesn't want.
I did sync it initially but she never does. Not really a problem since she only uses it for talking and texting, so nothing to back up really. (She has a freaky memory for phone numbers and addresses so apparently doesn't need a contact list even though she deals with hundreds of clients, doctors, attorneys, adjusters, etc.)
My wife's the same way. I usually have to wait until she's asleep or busy with something before I steal it and update/sync it. She has had an iPhone for 3 years now and still doesn't know how, or even why, I sync it.
And when she catches me doing it, she gets mad thinking I'm "placing more apps on it". If it was up to her, she would only have 3 apps; Messages, Phone, and Facebook.
Doesn't surprise me one bit. If my parents were to go out to get an iPhone... they would have no idea what "sync" even means. They wouldn't even know where to download iTunes from. I know plenty of people who use an iPhone as a PHONE.. and nothing else. Kinda stupid =/
You know, Apple is becoming more of a utility. Just visit the Genius Bar, they will solve all your problems!
The only useful data I can think of (at least in my case) is game saves. Even then I am not expecting miracles when iCloud backups go live with apps having to be updated to support that feature (correctly).
Basically any information that is stored in an app that doesn't already back that info up on the web.
Actually find the exact opposite
Those who never backup that I know just go along with all problems and never complain. Good friend of mine had multiple things wrong with his iphone for years yet just dealt with it b/c he didnt know better.
While those who know the in's, out's, and everything are the ones who can't not take any responsibility for their own issues. Heck, use this forum....people drop their phones or have some minor error that can be corrected themselves and want Apple and others to give them new equipment, money, happiness, etc....
To me, the all-knowings are the annoying ones
People who call them stupid are doing so b/c it makes them feel better on this forum. There really is no need to call others stupid for something like this. Many people I know have had all iPhones an used/loved them for years without syncing. I don't really see the problem other than people wanting others to do what they do or else they are IDIOTS, MORONS, etc....which is a bit comical.
One common argument seems to be that those who don't sync are the REAL problem customers...all the while I am wondering whether these same people read this forum and see the daily, hourly, minutely posts by the "always syncing" crowd complaining about their phones, wanting Genius Bar reservations, etc....
As others have pointed out, we all have our obsessions and loves and people on here loves their phones/electronics while others love other things.
Those who can't seem to understand that not everyone does EVERYTHING on their phones need to grow up a bit. Acting like a teenager on here really won't improve your argument.
Last edited:
My mom had her 3Gs for like 6 months before I got hold of it and realized that she had no iTunes account, and therefore no apps besides the default, and she had never plugged it in to her computer. I set her up though.
I know her computer is right there in her kitchen and her iPhone is probably sitting right next to her, so every now and then when I know she's at home I send her a text message: "You should sync your iPhone!"
I know her computer is right there in her kitchen and her iPhone is probably sitting right next to her, so every now and then when I know she's at home I send her a text message: "You should sync your iPhone!"
Guess these people never bought physical CDs.
Wonder how they got music in their devices in the first place
Don't put music on their phone maybe?
I don't bother putting any music on my phone because I don't listen to music on it. My car has it's own iPod and an iPhone doesn't have the capacity.
While that may be true for you, others play games or use apps that don't backup their data to servers, so there's real data to be lost, not just a few settings.
....Which is exactly the point! Everyone's situation is different. I connect my phone & iPad to my phone only on rare occasions. I backup even more rarely. I am far from a newbie or technophobe and choose not to backup not out of laziness, foolishness or naïveté but because all of the data I really care about is replicated elsewhere. I don't assume that people that backup regularly are fools either - I assume they are doing so because they have good reasons to do so.....though you are one of the few that has actually provided an explanation here as to *why* backups are important to *them*.
Yup, I guessed it was women and teenage girls.
Thank you, Bluefusion.
I had a very strong suspicion that the overwhelming majority of people who never sync their iPhones were women and teenage girls. It's good to have such suspicions confirmed by someone like you who actually worked behind the Genius Bar. Women and teenage girls have a tendency to buy Apple products because they consider them to be fashion accessories and status symbols. The fact that the majority of non-sync'ers are women and teenage girls proves that Apple's relatively good functionality and reliability were not factors for their purchases. (In other words, if they actually cared about functionality and reliability, they would be syncing their iPhones.) The biggest shame in all of this is the fact that Apple constantly caters to such women and teenage girls by compromising functionality in order to maintain thin and stylish form factors.
I still prefer Apple computers and phones over that of other manufacturers, but I easily admit that Apple computers and phones could be so much more in terms of functionality if Apple stopped catering to women and teenage girls by constantly creating thin form factors that can be perceived as fashion accessories and status symbols.
Thank you, Bluefusion.
I had a very strong suspicion that the overwhelming majority of people who never sync their iPhones were women and teenage girls. It's good to have such suspicions confirmed by someone like you who actually worked behind the Genius Bar. Women and teenage girls have a tendency to buy Apple products because they consider them to be fashion accessories and status symbols. The fact that the majority of non-sync'ers are women and teenage girls proves that Apple's relatively good functionality and reliability were not factors for their purchases. (In other words, if they actually cared about functionality and reliability, they would be syncing their iPhones.) The biggest shame in all of this is the fact that Apple constantly caters to such women and teenage girls by compromising functionality in order to maintain thin and stylish form factors.
I still prefer Apple computers and phones over that of other manufacturers, but I easily admit that Apple computers and phones could be so much more in terms of functionality if Apple stopped catering to women and teenage girls by constantly creating thin form factors that can be perceived as fashion accessories and status symbols.
Last edited:
When I first got my iPhone I synced often, but then I was still playing around with music playlists and downloading more apps than I do now. At this point I only sync when I update the OS, which I do several days after each update comes out. The several days being a waiting period to ensure the update doesnt FUBAR everyone elses phone. Any photos I take, I just email to myself.
Ive converted a few family and friends to iPad & Mac, and I just take on the responsibility of updating, syncing, etc myself. Its usually easier than telling them over the phone, See that apple icon on the top left corner
Ive heard apocryphal stories of Einstein (poster boy for geniuses) having all manner of difficulties with the simplest day to day functions. Some people are simply focused on what they need to be to the exclusion of all else.
Ive converted a few family and friends to iPad & Mac, and I just take on the responsibility of updating, syncing, etc myself. Its usually easier than telling them over the phone, See that apple icon on the top left corner
Ive heard apocryphal stories of Einstein (poster boy for geniuses) having all manner of difficulties with the simplest day to day functions. Some people are simply focused on what they need to be to the exclusion of all else.
Announcing the new GuyPhone. It's a 2"x2"x6" brick, and when you unlock it, the screen displays a full 72 column terminal window, in which you have all the power of a Unix terminal.
To dial a number, simply type phone -n [number] while if you want to use a number from your phone book, type phone -b [contact ID] -c [home|mobile|work], where the contact ID is the number associated with the entry in the contacts database. The system is really powerful because you can write your own shell scripts to automatically dial your most popular contacts!
You can download all your favourite apps such as Emacs and Vi, using the simple "apt-get" app store interface.
I can just imagine the queues outside the apple store waiting for the launch of that one.