Multi-tasking in particular is a feature that adds a great deal of extra functionality to the phone.  The key-note was fantastic, and 45 minutes in, we were left chuffed to bits that we’d bought the right phone, and that it would remain the greatest phone in the world thanks to great updates like this.  Oh how wrong we were…

At around the 50 minute mark, good old Steve-o announced that the updates would only be compatible with the iPhone 3GS and later.

I have (and this has been verified by a third party), the most immaculate iPhone 3G anyone has ever seen.  It is 1 year old, and half way through a 2 year contract, this being the cheapest way to get one at the time.  Now it’s being made effectively obsolete.  No more updates will be available for it, and pretty soon, apps will start being available for iPhone OS4 only.  However, reports soon started circling of Jailbreak users successfully using OS4 on a 3G.

This isn’t the first time Apple has done this to me, in fact it isn’t the first time in the last month!

Last month, after reading on the Apple site that bootcamp 3.1 was to support 64bit Windows 7, I immediately purchased it.  It installed perfectly, but upon trying to install bootcamp from the Snow Leopard DVD, I was told that 64bit Windows wasn’t supported on this iMac.  Outraged, I searched the net and found a very easy work-around which bypasses the check and installed the bootcamp 64bit software without a hitch.  Then updated it perfectly fine from Apple software update.

Earlier on in my mac life, I wrote about Time Machine backup not allowing you to use any old network drive, but instead requiring Apple’s own network drive.  Again, a simple hack, and there’s no reason you can’t aside from Apple saying you can’t!

So, how am I supposed to react to these acts of bullying from Apple? ” Oh, ok Steve, of course I’ll go out and spend hundreds of pounds on your latest product”.  No, I’m sorry, I won’t.  In fact, I will never buy another Apple product again.

Say what you like about Bill Gates and Microsoft, but Apple are scamming even their own faithful customers.  Is it any wonder they are a minority?

Sony, in an update released today, have disabled this feature labelling it as a security threat.

Now I’ve never used this feature, and I’m sure Sony has its reasons, but in searching for information on the subject, came across the Playstation blog.  On here are lots of views, generally bad, but some were basically labelling all Linux users as hackers.  Now I appreciate that some people that use Linux are potentially programmers, dabblers, or general Microsoft-haters, but that’s like Jeremy Clarkson saying that all lorry drivers murder prostitutes.

To run a successful e-commerce website, you need a good domain name, a well built site, an easy to use payment system, and an efficient pick and pack system.  Having finished 2 websites 2 weeks ago we were ready for launch.  Cue website 1.  Time to change the dns settings.  What do you mean you don’t have control of the domain name? Who does? What do you mean you haven’t had control of it for the last 2 years…

Website 1 is beginning to look like a lost cause, cue website 2.  XML files submitted to fulfillment company.  Wait a week.  What do you mean you still haven’t tested them?  We want to launch tomorrow!  Ok, we’ll launch next week then.  Monday comes.  We’ll test them today, promise.  What do you mean the technical team have all left for the day, who’s testing my files?  We’ll do it tomorrow.  Yeah, sorry, there’s something wrong and we don’t know how to fix it.  It’ll be fixed tomorrow.

Right, well we’re launching anyway.  Payment system set to live account.  Live account doesn’t work.  Phone them.  Sorry, it’ll be fixed tomorrow.  Tomorrow comes, yes, it’s fixed, test again, no it isn’t.  Phonecall number 2, fix it, yes we will, tomorrow.  This pattern continues for 4 days.

Back to website number 1, domain name is looking promising, A record has changed, website still not there.  ARGH, I gave them the wrong IP.  Grovelling email, please change it again.  Finally fixed. Test newly live site, SSL doesn’t work…

Website number 2, yes, we’ve located the problems with your files.  Sorry, our instructions are erroneous.  New files, tested.  Yes, they look fine, let’s launch on Monday!

Yesterday, he came in and told me that it had indeed died.  In actual fact, it died in exactly the same way as my one did.  The wireless adapter suddenly disappeared and the laptop doesn’t seem to acknowledge that it even exists.  I gave him the link for the free repair that HP performed for me.  Still waiting to see if the laptop is in fact one of the models listed on the HP site, but I’d place a fair amount of money on it.

So, why call it a virus?  It’s blatantly a case of poorly constructed hardware!  Well unfortunately, I bought the 2 machines based on recommendation.  Similarly, my colleague recommended the laptop to all his friends.  So, there we have it, the curse of failing hardware, spread by the good intentions of happy customers early on in life, only to be become a whole web of disappointment, in say, 14 months…

Did you know, the first computer mouse was invented in 1964?  Sure, it wasn’t anything like what we use today, but the basic concept was there.  For some time now, mice have had 1 or 2 buttons.  Later on came the scroll wheel.  Now, with optical technology, wireless, and the addition of a few more buttons, the mouse is a technical marvel compared to the old ball mice of the 90′s.

Where is this going you might ask?

I used a classic mac in secondary school.  One of the all-in-ones with the square mouse with one button.  This worked fine.  Why then, have Apple felt the need to mess with the design of the mouse since then?  The hockey puck, that rotates in your hand, meaning you get tangled up with the cable, and can’t press the button.  Then there was the mouse where the entire shell pressed down.  More recently came the “Mighty mouse”.  Every single one of these had a stupid wheel, which while nice to use, eventually stopped working.  It also had a one piece shell, but had two clickable regions.  I always had trouble with the right mouse button clicking when I didn’t want it to.  Now, the Magic mouse has arrived.  No wheel on this one, but it has multi touch capabilities.  You have to sit through a tutorial on how to use the most basic peripheral that’s been around since the 80′s…

A colleague recently compared me buying a Logitech mouse for my mac to “putting a K&N filter on a Ferrari”.  I replied with, “a Ferrari wouldn’t need a K&N because the standard filter works perfectly well”.  Said colleague has since purchased a Logitech mouse for his MacBook Pro…

Unfortunately Apple seems to have a style over function attitude in this respect.  A mouse has 2 buttons and a scrolly wheel.  Apple, pay Logitech to make you a nice white mouse, your users will thank you for it!

Microsoft are obviously trying to push the fact that they have listened to their painstaked users and are now responding.  Having not seen 7 in the flesh yet, I can’t really comment on it, however I can see a Microsoft ad in a couple of years, once 7 has flopped just like vista:

Windows 7.  It’s not our fault, it was all your idea…

Microsoft, what the hell are you playing at?

This week, I had not one, but two phone calls from customers announcing to me that their site had stopped working.  In both cases, it was the menu at fault.  One site has a fairly hefty javascript based menu, and the other drop-down submenus.  So, off I go, testing the sites in all browsers available to me, FF, IE6, 7, Safari, Mac FF, Mac Safari, and then came IE8.

Now we’re not talking a slight rendering issue here, or an IE-hackable few pixels out of place, IE8 had invented a Javascript error.  Every other browser in the world was fine, but IE8 had a problem with it.  So this is bad enough, but in IE8 there is a button called Compatibility mode.

From the MS site: Internet Explorer 8 is a new release and some websites may not yet be ready for the new browser. Click the Compatibility View toolbar button to display the website as viewed in Internet Explorer 7, which will correct display problems like misaligned text, images, or text boxes.

Sure enough, this actually fixes the problem.  What the hell?  Microsoft have released a browser that in default form, doesn’t work very well, but if you want it  to work properly, you can just click a button.  I’m sat here now fuming about this.  If I put out a website where nothing worked, unless you click a small button first, without any prompting, I’d be fired for shoddy workmanship.  Yet the biggest software house in the world seems to think it’s ok?

Now I need to spend considerable amounts of time fixing websites to work in a minority browser, when this goes against all the normal rules just because of who it is.  Well F*** you Microsoft, I’m never going back to a PC if you keep this attitude up.  Leave your browser to die, and let the experts who work for free sort out the world’s internet browsing.

Click here to read

Currently, the house is rocking to the tune of classics like, “a slowed down version of the intro of Smoke on the Water”, and “the first 5 notes of Enter Sandman”.

Still, when it comes to learning new things, I am a patient person, and if all else fails, at least it looks quite cool.

Still, at least all those people who’ve bought an expensive 4×4 to take the kids to school in could use them to their potential today, oh no, that’s right, they all stayed at home because the schools were closed.