Afraid
November 26, 2010 at 5:15 pm | 2 Comments »I can’t bring myself to upgrade the iPad to iOS 4.2 because I hate what iOS 4.x did to my iPhone 3Gs. Cut the battery life in half. Made it feel sluggish. And generally spoiled the user experience for very little day to day gain. For the iPad, I will wait until a favorite app requires it. Right now, 3.2.2 feels just about perfect. Third party multi-tasking, folders and the unified inbox are way overrated in my opinion. And the 4.2 specific features like Airprint and Airplay are useless since I’m not buying a new printer or Apple TV. If all this seems overly bitter, it’s because that’s how I feel. I hate that I can’t trust Apple’s updates anymore. Though it’s telling that the underlying OS is so good that piling new features on just slows stuff down.
You certainly have the right to not update your iPhone, but you shouldn’t fear the updates. In 95% of cases there is absolutely no issues with any update, but it also depends on the use of the device. If you primarily use your iPhone for a phone and secondary for entertainment, you would really have no reason to update your iPhone if it is earlier than the iPhone 4…most of the benefits of 4.2.1 are for iPhone 4 only not the 3GS or earlier. But keep in mind that each update can remove any bugs that may have existed in earlier versions. (It would be nice to say such things don’t exist, but we have to live in the reality that no computer process is without it’s flaws) I commend the fact that you take the time to find out what the update does before blindly following directions like so many that dont’ take time to understand the device they have. There are some fearfully ignorant people who purchase these devices without finding out what is entailed in owning one. They don’t want to pay extra for insurance, or expect you to automatically repair the device for any reason, even if they cause the issue in the first place. People, look at it this way, when you buy a car you can’t just drive it and expect it to be just fine. You have to put fuel in it, change the oil, check fuses/spark plugs, and other general maintenance throughout the life of your car, computerized devices need to be maintained the same way. If you don’t want to connect your iphone to a computer to update, back up, or sync the device, which is part of owning one, then you cannot expect the device to function at it’s best or full capacity. Sorry Mark, got a bit long winded and a majority of that was not necessarily in response to you, but just a bit I’ve been wanting to get off my chest about the posts I see about iPhones. One more thing though to anyone reading this and wanting to complain about the iPhone. No one held a gun to your head to buy one, if you don’t like it, sell it, there are plenty of people who are happy with it and follow the suggested maintenance of the device.
Thanks for your response. It’s always gratifying to get a reasoned response.
I think you missed my point. I no longer trust Apple’s updates because recent ones have backfired on my devices. The 4.x iOS update hosed my 3GS to the point that Apple replaced the hardware under warranty. And the most recent version of Safari has bogged down my MBP. Opening a new window results in a spinning beach ball every time.
Either they’re shoving stuff out without adequately testing or, more likely, the updates are designed to slow down older hardware and force a new purchase. Either way, I feel that the proverbial eyes are off the ball. It reminds me of the bad old days of System 7.5.x.