Wednesday
Dec232009
My Festivus Grievances: 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 04:20PM
Last year I made a list of all of the technologies that worked my nerves for Festivus. Well ladies and gentlemen, Festivus is among us once again and I am just cranky enough to take another crack at a 2009 list. So sit back and don your Oscar the Grouch demeanor because I'm about to complain. I am in just such a mood since an old lady snapped "Move it!" in Fairway Market today because I took too long to find the saffron. Holiday shopping makes me hostile. Bah humbug. Happy Festivus.
Natali's Tech Letdowns for 2009
Natali's Tech Letdowns for 2009
- MobileMe. The service is mostly fine except for the fact that it doesn't sync shared calendars from iCal. So if I want to sync my Google Calendar to my iPhone, I am SOL. Yes I know there are other solutions to work around that so please don't email me about them. I shouldn't have to find a workaround. I pay $100 per year for MobileMe. I want fully-functional synced calendars on my iPhone gosh darnit!
- Google Wave. Seriously, WTF? I can't figure out the purpose of this program other than for people to bug me in a new way. Pass.
- Mobile chargers. The European Union now has a law that mandates standard mobile chargers. Why can't we have that? I'm sick to death of carrying different chargers. We have czars that are in charge of our electronic lives now. Can't one of them fix this?
- AT&T Wireless. Their crappy coverage is the bane of my existence. It makes me want to shout profanities into the universe for minutes on end. It makes me behave unladylike. I #$%&ing hate you, AT&T!
- Earbuds. Why can't they be retractable and indestructible. Is that too much to ask for?
- iTunes. Actually, I don't have a problem with it as much as my mother does and I cannot offer her advice or support from across the country over the phone. When I get a call from her asking about iTunes, I blame the dropped connection on AT&T.
- Windows Mobile. I want to like these devices, I really do. But why does it take me 53 clicks/pushes/steps to accomplish what the iPhone can do in one swipe? Way more complicated than is has to be.
- Facebook. Over it. Sick of it. Can't add any new friends anyway so I'm on information overload. Need to take a break from caring. Facebook and I may get back together in the new year.
- The Barnes and Noble Nook. What a letdown. Such great promise, such bad execution.
- Apple rumors. This is the thing that I hate the most about my job: pretending that I care about Apple speculation and having to postulate an opinion. "What do I think about a tablet? Oh I think...(insert BS here)." I hate that. I have better things to do with my mental CPU.
That's all I've got now that I've sufficiently worked myself up into a frenzy. Tomorrow, I'll throw off the grumps and get back to the holiday spirit but this has been a fun and much-needed vacation from that. Air your grievances in the comments if you have them!
Reader Comments (56)
I feel your pain!
1. Apple App Store approval process. Oh suuuuuure they are still looking at Google Voice....how many months later and
nothing/nada/zip?
2. AT&T wireless and those clueless folks running it. Seriously just gives me more reasons to jailbreak my iPhone, and
pay the "early term fee" if/when the iPhone is on another carrier.
3. Adobe's purchase of Omniture: They lied to us and said it would work out great, but most of us got screwed and then "downsized". Death to Adobe!
Pretty much agree with everything on there, except I just didn't think the Nook would be good to begin with. You really, really need to start some sort of podcast/vlog where you rant like this every few weeks, it's awesome (I hope you don't mind me saying that I love the BOL episodes where you're grumpy the best!).
The whole AT&T wireless hate just baffles me. I've used it in Dallas, Washington DC, Nashville and Charlotte among other places and it's been fine; 3 or more bars nearly everywhere and no problems with data or voice dropping. I guess I just got one of the good iPhones?
Love it Natali. At&t sucks. I got it because I hated Sprints network. I got Google Wave but it's not what I wanted.
What you have done with your rant today is International Standard. Brava!
For the sake of global colloquialisms:
In England, you have "Thrown the toys out of your pram", You have the hump".
In Australia, "You're throwing a mental." CRIKEY!
Many other available. Those I the ones I know best.
Best wishes,
Marcus
Any post that combines the purchasing of saffron with the implied dropping of the f-bomb is hilarious in my book. In all seriousness though, tech support for parents should be a reoccurring line item all by itself.
Natali, such language! But i don't blame you.
OMG. My favorite is the Apple Rumors. I totally feel the same way!
Oh, Facebook. Double-plus on that ungood. Social networks are supposed to allow its users to communicate more effectively with each other, yet Facebook hasn't been so useful on that front. Some wall posts don't show in the livefeeds, while some posts in the feed don't show on their respective walls. Confusing! Moreover, I have a thread in my inbox that's been temporarily unavailable for the past month. I'd be better off corresponding via the seemingly archaic IM, or email, or phonecall....
Good points, so how did Sony manage to do the same thing as itunes? On my PS3 I can download movies for later viewing.
We can always find reasons for why we "can't" do things. Apple and Sony have paved the way, and frankly - Netflix is one of the most influential organizations in it's space. This should be a no-brainer. If I can go to any local gas station and buy a DVD that expires seven days after the package is open, and I can do the same via Sony/iTunes downloads - Netflix just needs to catch up.
And to think I posted many moons ago about how you were just going from strength to strength as a tech journalist and then I go and read this. I'll put this down to a festive glitch.
I can see Mr. Kruger enjoying the list as he chugs from his flask....Wave will be good once it integrates with Youtube, Docs and Video, sucks now though you're right...AT&T is miserable but the new Google phone is better so you can switch carriers, but you know that....Gotta put up barriers on FB and good luck getting away from Apple "rumors" aka "we want our stock to jump and have Jim Goldman help that happen"
-Google Wave: Agree entirely. Boring!
-Earbuds: Have become a commodity rather than a luxury purchase. Been through 4 pairs of headphones in a year - cans, small speakers, apple buds and in-ear buds all got destroyed from wear and tear. Probably cost me about $300 US!
-Facebook: I've fallen out of love with it too - it's so full of spam it's ridiculous. The last straw came when I noticed that my sister had posted a message on my wall and I missed it for a week because of all the crud that gets posted. And the layout changes drive me crazy!
-Apple rumours: Glad to hear your opinion, I like Apple stuff but it's the one thing about Buzz Out Loud that bores me to tears is the endless reporting of Apple rumours. I know you gotta do it and people want to hear it, but I don't!
Hope you had a great holiday season and a happy new year to you!
The earbuds gripe is the most interesting to me of the list. If you're thinking it, a lot of other people must also be thinking it; I am certainly thinking it.
My New Year's resolution is to never pay more than $20 for a set of earbuds, since they last no more than 6 months whether I pay $20 or $220.
Now, will earbuds become to Natali what printers are to Molly?
Happy belated Festivus Natali.
1) Batteries/Electric Infrastructure: I read about breakthroughs all the time out of MIT, Lawrence Livermore, etc..., but little has changed after the most recent energy crisis. Where is our government?
2) Home/Kitchen/Surface Tech: I see amazing demos from Microsoft labs about technology integrating into everyday surfaces, but it all seems like vaporware so far.
3) Tech Time to Market: In general, so many concepts are shown, but very little seems to ever materialize in the marketplace.
4) Discs: Why can I digitize my music collection, but not my movie collection? Why are we still using discs at all?
5) Netflix streaming: Why doesn't Netflix have every movie available for streaming yet, in HD too.
6) Repealing/ammending DMCA: When is fair use going to be fixed?
7) Natali Del Conte: I wish we could really hear Natali go to town on issues, like a good Molly rant, or Rafe, or Cooley, or even Tom. Maybe she's just too nice and polite and professional, but it seems like she holds back her personal point of view most of the time on substantive stories and policy discussions and such. When it's "just the facts", it's like we get to smell something good cooking in the kitchen, but the chef doesn't want to bring out the main course for us all to sink our teeth into and enjoy the wonderful dish. On the positive side, of course you're an exceptional journalist with terrific charisma and personality. And like John Travolta says in Pulp Fiction, "personality goes a long way." =)
Anyhow, onto the feats of strength!
Hope you have a really happy New Year, and wish you the very best success in 2010. =^)
Oh, come on... Apple rumours are what give meaning to life... ;)
Facebook: I find it very creepy the way FB goes through your email address book and "suggests" who you should be friends with. It keeps telling me I should befriend my ex-girlfriend and that is not going to happen. It's just none of FB's business and I want this to stop.
So, your list would be more accurately titled your 2009 list of iPhone grievances for Festivus...plus a few non-iPhone items for kicks.
(My sentiments exactly on MobileMe. BusySync is great and all, but why in the hell do I have to pay another $50 to finish Apple's job? And why hasn't Apple just acquired BusySync already?)
This is what I'm talking about: http://grab.by/1Ck4" rel="nofollow">http://grab.by/1Ck4
I'm now sans stereo using my Sennheiser in-ears. Luckily I still have my Sennheiser HD 25 II reference headphones.
Hi, Natali!
Double congratulations on both Loaded's second birthday and you chairing CEA LineShows this year. It's always a pleasure to watch your work and get your thoughts on the tech scene.
You are always welcome to guest on Tomorrow Will Be Televised, and the CEA LineShows role would be a nice inflection point to a show segment in June. Please keep that in mind.
Celebrate your accomplishments this week to the max, and have a wonderful weekend!
All the best,
Simon Applebaum
Producer/Host, Tomorrow Will Be Televised
(Mondays/Fridays at 3 p.m. on BlogTalk Radio)
Dish Network Deals...
J Russ, do something good before showing up to games looking like a chicken that got caught in a blender....
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