It’s been a month and a couple of days since I told Netflix to drop dead. Got to admit that I did have a bit of trepidation about axing a service I’d had around for years. But you know what? I could careless.
The Tivo still bulges with shows we need to watch. iTunes still regularly stops updating subscribed podcasts because I don’t watch them fast enough. Still have far too many unanswered messages filling my inbox.
In other words, I still suffer from media overload even without three DVDs hanging around and a passel of movies/tv episodes waiting to be streamed.
Good riddance Netflix and your egotistical CEO. You’re an idea whose time has expired.
Even with online ordering open for a week, there are dorks sleeping on sidewalks outside Apple stores? Get a life people. It’s just a hunk of silicone and metal, duplicated in the tens of millions and obsolete in 11 months.
Since I know you’re breathless to find out how my move to iOS5 went. I’m happy to report that the iPad and iPhone 3GS are both running the new OS without issue. No delays on the downloads or core errors. Whew. The only wrinkle seems to be moving into iCloud. Other people want to update also? How annoying.
I know the next iPhone will be announced on Tuesday and probably available in a few weeks. Will I buy one? It’s certainly time. We’re both still on two-plus-year-old 3GS models so AT&T will pony up.
Still, it’s far from a done deal. I avoided the iPhone 4 because I hate the industrial design—Apple’s worst since the PowerBook 5300 debacle. And storage tops out at 32GB—exactly the same as the 3GS that no longer holds my entire iTunes music library. I had to sacrifice music videos last month in order to keep all my songs in my pocket.
Not that anyone cares but here’s what I need to see if I’m going to replace my iPhone 3GS before it stops working:
-64GB storage, minimum. The iPod Touch has offered that capacity for years. Come on Apple; it’s not a matter of fitting the chips into the case. iCloud seems sexy and garners headlines from the tech-blogger sheeples but real people still listen to music in areas where data coverage sucks. I will happily hand you the needed premium over today’s lame 32GB models if you’ll just take my money.
-New form factor. Actually, I’ll settle for a back to the future approach here. The original iPhone with its finely-pebbled metal back looked and felt great. I still regret giving mine up. Apple knows they got it right the first time since they designed the iPad by essentially putting iPhone original on a Xerox and pressing enlarge a bunch of times. In comparison, iPhone 4’s right angles, round volume buttons and glass back are dopey. (And that’s without bringing up the antenna issues.)
-A5 processor and more RAM. Faster=better. Always.
Faster data connection would be nice but full LTE support seems premature given AT&T roll out practices. (Don’t even mention brand V; its coverage at my house blows.)
So-called features that I could give a fuck about include NFC, improved camera (forget bullshit megapixels that haze-magnet plastic lens keeps photo functions in the toy category compared to my Nikon DSLR) and voice recognition.
There you have it. Will I take the plunge or not? Check back next Wednesday. But you can be sure, I’m not standing in a fucking line.
As mentioned yesterday, my Netflix account bills on the 20th of the month. Meaning tomorrow would mark the first time I’d get hit with the higher price plan. Since the giant price hike was announced, I’ve been going back and forth on whether to downgrade or cancel the service. Last night’s bizarre splitting in two news pushed me towards outright cancellation. I don’t want to keep enabling such a whacked out company.
If not, what the hell are they smoking in Los Gatos?
My Netflix service renews on the 20th. I’ve been vacillating about canceling outright or just downgrading to protest the recent price gouging. Now I’m convinced these morons don’t deserve my money. Cancel it is.
Feel like I’ve seen this episode before. I bought a new Mac last night. The 21.5″ iMac in the slightly more steroided standard configuration. Got it home. Spent a few hours setting it up just so. And realized it’s defective—right out of the box.
Side note: If you trust off-the-top-of-my-head finger counting, this marks the 10th Macintosh I’ve paid for with my own cash. Not to be confused with an equivalent number of Macs provided by various employers and assorted benefactors over the decades. I’ve been pushing that white-outlined, black arrow around since the 128K and System 1. The point of which is to say, I’m far from a newbie.
The issue this time, as illustrated by the photo above, involves the display. Namely wildly uneven color temperature. The top left corner is crisply cool while the opposite bottom right has a dingy warmish yellow cast.
Yeah, I know the bright-eyed young Apple store boys and girls will exchange it, blah, blah, blah. Still I’m cranky about having to box the thing up and drag it back. My track record with Macs of late (meaning since the switch to Intel) has been horrible. Three of the 10 cited above have been Intel Macs. Of those, two manifested serious defectives immediately. That’s a 66 percent failure rate.
Maybe I’m the exception. All that glowing PR can’t be made up, right?
