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Rant about poor Apple hardware design
- Thread starter rogerco
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There would be no need to. You can do it with standard USB ports. Look back to the first iMacs. USB keyboard, power button. No special wiring or voodoo is required. The reason there isn't one now is purely aesthetic.
Yeah. Nothing wrong with firmware updates, it's just the deceptively casual way that Apple distributes them along with harmless software updates. Kinda like going down to K-Mart to pick up some milk, some bread and a nuclear missile.Don't get me started on uninstallers!
Ok, I got started
Apple's updates are usually of a high standard. But I hate it that Apple's
updates have the potential to wreck your system and they don't come with
uninstallers. There are two cases, the bad and the terrible.
BAD: Normal updates - no uninstallers - reversible if you reinstall OS X.
TERRIBLE: EFI updates - no uninstallers - completely irreversible.
No matter how good you are, no matter how well you test these things,
eventually something will go wrong. And when it does, you need some
fallback option. For the EFI updates there is no fallback option. Apple
are playing with fire here.
I'm not too keen on the Software Update thingy... for a progressive company like Apple it's a tad outdated and primitive. If an update is found it interrupts you by shoving a big applet in your face. Then you click to install some tiny incremental update and you have to read and sign a huge license agreement (as if you're likely to have stopped agreeing somewhere between version X.0.1 and X.0.2). Then when it's done upgrading, in case you were lucky enough to avoid rebooting, it throws you the big applet again and lists the thing you just installed as a new available update. Crikey, this is what it was like to auto-update Windows circa 1999. Surely Apple can think up something a little more elegant...
Hah, yeah, that's what I've been saying all along cause I... totally didn't forget the original iMacs had buttons that turned them on.
I'd actually been thinking they only turned them off once the power was on. Looked it up.. it looks like after the Summer 2000 iMacs were introduced, they no longer did turn them on, even when present.
I actually think the old Apple II keyboards (which I'm typing on right now..... M3501) looked better with the power button. I like the M3501's half-height power key.
A - FREAKIN - MEN!!!!
Can I please NOT reboot my system because there a quicktime update that allows the iPhone to do some cute thing with the iTunes? Or how about that God awful iLife updates that ALWAYS take up half a gigabyte and need you to REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM.
It would be nice to be able to just tell Software Update to NOT download or show any updates that won't hinder your OS. I rarely use iLife apps if at all so can I just not waste the gig of space on my harddrive?
Hahaha..
It's nice to see there are still professional standards
.
No, but seriously.. FOUR PEOPLE COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO EJECT A CD FROM A MAC PRO???
That is hilarious but also somewhat scary..
It's nice to see there are still professional standards
.No, but seriously.. FOUR PEOPLE COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO EJECT A CD FROM A MAC PRO???
That is hilarious but also somewhat scary..
Tell me about it....
We pay these college grads big bucks to keep our machines in prestine condition and up and running virtually non-stop. And they sat there banging on the side of the machine like apes trying to get the "cup holder" to come out.
PEBKAC!
Tell me about it....
We pay these college grads big bucks to keep our machines in prestine condition and up and running virtually non-stop. And they sat there banging on the side of the machine like apes trying to get the "cup holder" to come out.
PEBKAC!
Yeah, well, it's not just college grads.... a lot of technicians suck. My mother couldn't log onto the Windows 2003 Server via home; it kept telling her the certificate was invalid, something about it being out of date. The idiot technicians couldn't figure out what the hell it was, and said they'd "never seen anything like it"... I guessed that maybe the system clock was set too early, and bingo, it was set to 2003, when the motherboard was manufactured.
I'd never heard of it either, but honestly, using your brain never hurts.
I remembered later I'd done a CMOS reset
There is absolutely ZERO reason that a modern, UNIX certified system should have to reboot for ALMOST any reason.
Anything that is currently affected by a changed file... is a process that can be killed (literally) and re-spawned.
This still irritates me.
Anything that is currently affected by a changed file... is a process that can be killed (literally) and re-spawned.
This still irritates me.
My mention of missing key symbols in a manual related to the option and command keys in my power mac G4 manual. In those days the second symbol on the command key wasnot "cmd" like it is now, so it was even more obscure back then, just
Apple used to. I don't know why they stopped doing that.
Its for reliability its easier to force a reboot as it reduces the probability of problems.
Pretty much all of the updates on XP/Vista that require reboots are the same.
iToaster
Thanks for that tip - I would never have found it (and I have read every page of "Leopard OSX" by Robin Williams). Now that I have my menu bard full of pretty icons, how do I get rid of them?
Alan
Right, but as I understand it, QuickTime and the like is required for the computer to function... it's integrated into the OS, not an extension of it. Unless they changed it from OS 9.. which is possible... lol.
In OS 9 you can't even look at pictures without QT installed, Actually a lot of software won't even run. So yeah.. you'll have to restart.
I agree though, the incremental updates are irritating. Which is why you could turn them off if you want, and don't have to have it automatically install things you don't want.
In OS 9 you can't even look at pictures without QT installed, Actually a lot of software won't even run. So yeah.. you'll have to restart.
I agree though, the incremental updates are irritating. Which is why you could turn them off if you want, and don't have to have it automatically install things you don't want.
that would be a stupid assumption, I'm sorry to say.
the Mac Pro is the mac that is most like your average PC...
it's a big box that you can bring a monitor to and it has room for more hard drives, graphics cards, and other things inside it. It's a mid-tower design.
that's your typical PC.
I don't understand why the IT guys didn't look it up before they started using force, but I do understand why they didn't expect the eject key to require holding down to function. No other key on the keyboard (aside from modifiers like shift or option) require you to hold them down for them to work. One assumes that if you're buying a desktop machine with a full-sized keyboard that you won't be accidentally pushing "eject" all the time. It isn't exactly right next to the spacebar, is it?
It is also fairly pointless because unlike a PC, pushing "eject" on a Mac won't open the drive unless the disc inside is completely unused at the moment. I HATE this about Macs and always have. If I push the damned eject button, I want the disc to come out right now. If you can do that in a PC without it freaking out, you should be able to do it with a mac. Especially if you're going to make people hold down the button to get it working.
I say the f word every time OS X tells me that I cannot "put away the volume" because it is in use. It doesn't even tell you which files are being "used" or give you the option to override the warning and eject anyway. That is lame. I mean really, is that the most information they can give me? "nope, you can't do what you want to do right now because an unspecified application is performing an unspecified action on an unspecified file that is somehow related to the volume you wish to unmount"
Thanks. If you guys are going to make fun of someone, make fun of the people who carried that behavior over from OS 9/8/7 to freaking 10.5
Seriously?
Jesus Christ, you have to be either a moron or an ******* to not figure this out, a quick glance at the keyboard would have done the trick, if these guys didn't recognise the universal ejection symbol they need to have it branded on their asses using a red hot poker. Secondly if these guys have no experience with macs, why even except the machine in the first place ????
I hardly call people who took 10 minutes to work out how to get a CD out of a mac pro 'experienced' any experienced IT technician should be competent with both windows and macs.
Furthermore the mac pro is the best internally designed machine out there, the simplicity is amazing when upgrading things and everything is neatly laid out inside, when you find a PC this smart and innovative on the inside i want you to personally message me, until then stop pulling statements out of your arse
I hardly call people who took 10 minutes to work out how to get a CD out of a mac pro 'experienced' any experienced IT technician should be competent with both windows and macs.
Furthermore the mac pro is the best internally designed machine out there, the simplicity is amazing when upgrading things and everything is neatly laid out inside, when you find a PC this smart and innovative on the inside i want you to personally message me, until then stop pulling statements out of your arse
Yeah, but... take a step back and try to forget all you know about Macs and assume you've never seen one close up... why would you be looking for the ejection button on the keyboard, when every ejection button you've seen in your life is located next to whatever it ejects? It is an unusual solution. Someone who's never seen ANY computer in his life would probably find it faster than a seasoned PC user.
Do you know how many people have gotten into a Saab and spent 5 minutes questioning their sanity because there's nowhere to insert the ignition key, only to eventually discover that the keyhole is on the floor between the front seats? That's actually a good design because it won't shatter your kneecap in the event of a crash, but nonetheless even good designs can weird you out.
That, however, is a fair point.
Yep, the internal design is fantastic. The closest I've come is probably the Dell XPS700 series. It still has a bunch of visible cables, but they're unusually neatly tucked away in order to provide maximum airflow.
This whole thread is pretty sad. Am I supposed to believe this was posted in hopes of learning, or thriving off the knowledge of the apple community, or simply attacking them? What kind of trained professionals can't figure out a mass produced computer system? Apple makes how many standard models? And for how long now? Pleaseeee. Take your apple bashing elsewhere. Just because you can't justify spending 2000+ on a professional machine, doesn't mean no one can. To some people this is life, their profession. Many, many people relie on macs each and everyday. I find it highly suspect that YOU are doing any kind of "professional" work with your mac, otherwise you'd know how to eject the optical drive. Ridiculous, IT professionals huh. Did they figure out the smiling cyclops on the front of the macpro was the power button, or did they just get lucky. IT professionals. hahaha.
I read your post plenty well. You made this statement: "With good design you should not need to use google to find out how to do any basic function."
When someone is new to a technology (Windows guy using a Mac for the first time, for instance), it does not mean it's a design flaw if this person cannot figure out every basic feature on their own. That's why there's a user manual. If, for some reason, the manual is not available a simple Google search will turn up the answer. It is unreasonable to expect a design to be so intuitive that every user can figure out every basic feature without the use of a manual.
I love the Mac Pro's internal design A LOT. As well as any Dell XPS, but the one that will forever capture my heart is the HP Blackbird 002.
It's the only tower in the word that makes me convinced that the Windows PC will be far superior to anything Apple can create hardware wise. Apple has the software, but I can only dream of ever owning 10% of some of the unique and outstanding hardware that is available to the Windows/Linux world.
As a side note, there should be no reason why a IT professional could not know how to work any machine or operating system. As a professional photographer I can grab either a Canon, Nikon, or Olympus body and learn how to use it effectively in 10 minutes. Give me an hour alone on a plane ride to my assignment and I would have gotten a good idea how to work many of the camera specific features and autofocus.
There simply isn't an excuse.
All I have to say is that the DVD drive DOES need an external eject button. Especially when in Windows.
I use Windows under VMWare and I just hit the eject button still. Does it work for Bootcamp and Parrallels as well?
I understand Apple products being counterintuitive at first. But then once one figures out what they're supposed to do, it makes complete sense.
My first iPod (a 2g mini)...I had no clue about the touch wheel, and I thought menu and play were for navigation (as with most DAPs)...but once I got it figured out, it made complete and utter sense, and I felt like a moron for not getting it right away.
My first iPod (a 2g mini)...I had no clue about the touch wheel, and I thought menu and play were for navigation (as with most DAPs)...but once I got it figured out, it made complete and utter sense, and I felt like a moron for not getting it right away.