When it comes to reading the paper , you ’ve get your “ amaze to have it every morning ” types , the so - address printed news junkie . You hump the eccentric — they absolutely must have the newspaper first affair every daybreak , they register every page , fold section over , even complete the crossword puzzle . In shortsighted , they ’re paper - hounds , as eager for the dawn paper as they are for that first cup o ’ joe .
Then there are citizenry like me . I get 99 percentage of my news from the Net . By the time I see a newspaper , it ’s unremarkably sure-enough news . As such , I do n’t be given to be the first person in our household to get to the composition . In fact , by the metre I get to it , it ’s been read at least once , perhaps used as a miniature to harbour our girl , and maybe even as a comfy curl - up - bit for the computerized axial tomography . Call me a “ paper free zone ” or a “ net flake , ” but read the printed paper is not something I rush to do every morning . I take my metre . I do n’t want to jump on any voguish “ news type ” bandwagons . I am , truth be told , not alone up to date when it come to bonk what ’s inmy local paper .
So imagine my surprise when I picked up a theme for the first meter in weeks last Friday , and I foundthis columnby one Kristi Turnquist , discussing Apple and theiPod nano . It was hard to escape , too , give that it was on the front varlet of our Living division , with an amazingly large in writing steer - in ( see photograph at right;here ’s a large version ) . The picture take up nearly half the page ; it ’s so large that none of the story is visible when the composition is close down . Obviously , the large computer graphic , witty headline , and scandalous quote ( in the cutout Apple logotype ) are all designed to get you to read the story . And I did , expecting a shameful exposé on some not - yet - let on flaw in the nano ’s plan or usability .
What I found instead was on drug user ’s story of fuss in get iTunes on her Toshiba laptop computer to see her new nano . That ’s it — something very exchangeable to what we mete out with here every day on theMacworldforums , and what chance on countless other site across the Web for OS X , Windows , and Linux users . Everyonehas problem of some form with engineering ; it ’s the nature of the beast . The big difference , of course , is that Kristi writes for the newspaper , meaning her article reached many thousands who probably would n’t have otherwise found it buried on a Web site in the vastness of the Internet .
All of that would be well and o.k. if Kristi just discussed her trouble and its resolving power . Instead , trying perhaps to tone the article ’s focus on flaws in the nano , Kristi presents other grounds of iPod nano issues . For illustration , she write :
Note that Kristi has n’t apparently tested her nano to see what the battery life is like — she ’s just repeating what others have allege . When I bought my nano , I diddle essay it not once but double . In dewy-eyed “ encounter birdcall , no skipping , no random ” mode , I got just about 14.5 hours of playback . ( Apple claims 14 . ) When I used it as I typically do , skipping and in random musical mode , barrage biography dropped to about 12 minute . I also tested it again recently , when look back theRadio Remote — labour the receiving set , the nano live for about eight 60 minutes . I ’m not sure what Kristi is hearing , but my experience is that battery lifetime essentially jibe what Apple stated it would , though ( like fuel fuel consumption rate ) , actual living in function will be less than posit .
Kristi pop off on to talk about Matthew Peterson , who set up a Web site ( which he has since taken offline ) detailing “ issues ” with the iPod ’s screen . She even quote aMacworldarticle in her reportage of the issue . Kristi writes :
What she does n’t distinctly explain here is that there were actuallytwoseparate screen - related nano issues . The first was a general charge that “ they rub easily . ” Apple responded to the scratching issue in the sameMacworldstory that Kristi quoted , but she did n’t include this response in her clause :
“ We have received very few birdcall from customers reporting this problem — we do not remember this is a far-flung issue , ” said [ Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil ] Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller . “ If customers are implicated about scratching we paint a picture they employ one of the many iPod nano font to protect their iPod . ”
That sure does n’t vocalise like Apple admit there was a problem with “ scratch - prostrate screens . ” The second filmdom issue , and the one that Matthew Peterson really set up his Web site to complain about ( at least according to theMacworldarticle ) , was related to a small number of iPod with impoverished screen . And Kristi is right , this problem strike “ a fraction of the zillion units shipped”—Schiller Department of State that it was in reality “ less than 1/10th of 1 percentage of the total iPod nano unit of measurement that we ’ve shipped . ”
Kristi does have some legitimate complaints — but I would debate they ’re with theApple Store in Pioneer Place , not with the nano itself . Twice she visit the entrepot , once without her laptop computer and once with . On her initial visit , she took only her iPod , and the Apple Genius move to convince it for use on a Mac , not a Windows automobile . That ’s inexcusable to me ; I have no idea what Kristi might have provided in the way of background , but clearly , the Genius should experience to ask canonic questions such as what machine the iPod is being used with .
The 2d trip was more successful , as she brought her laptop and her nano . The Genius , a dissimilar one this time , had more fortune , but not before both he and Kristi had trouble finding a download software update . Kristi wrote , “ We agree that Windows XP has — how to put this tactfully?—issues . ” He at last resorted to using a candle installer , and Kristi ’s nano now ferment utterly with her Toshiba laptop computer .
As an apart , Toshiba ’s laptops are apparently somewhat flakey when it comes to iPod connectivity ; Apple even hasa Knowledge Base articleon that very subject . It ’s not clear if the way out is on Apple ’s side or Toshiba ’s side , but if you have a Toshiba laptop computer , you may require to scan the clause .
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So here we have a 900 - parole clause , with a huge characterisation , given front - page placement on the Living section , implying via its title and quote that there may be some sort of widespread outlet with the iPod nano . take the details , though — which is what all that stuff was design to get you to do — and you come up that we have nothing more than a user with a connectivity issuance . This is something that ’s neither rarified nor specific to iPod nanos , or even to Apple products in universal . It ’s a fact of life in today ’s complex multi - vendor , multi - cable , multi - platform earthly concern .
Perhaps I should askThe Oregonianfor a standardised amount of quad , placement , and large imagination to detail the connection military issue I present in trying to get my Brother internet laser printer working with Windows XP . face for “ Printer cut by broken Windows , ” coming soon to the bread and butter section !
