http://www.macs-first.com en-us N/A mh@elfenwald.org Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:20:29 CST 20 http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/13/iPhone-Batteries-now-iPod-Classic-audio-quality-when-does-QA-get-it.html
But anyone who has been in business (and those who still are even more...) knows that this is a major challenge as well:

Supply lines and production facilities have to keep up. People have to keep up. And somehow you have to keep up the quality.
The more you do, and the more you do of each, the more difficult it gets.

Keeping up the quality is crucial in the fast-developing mobile phone and telecommunications market. Competition in the mobile phone business gets more intense as two of the top mobile phone companies o2 and Apple continue to rise above competition by coming up sleek, trendy, and state-of-the art phones. O2 has a slight advantage to close competitor Apple because of its superb Bluetooth, EDGE, and Wi-Fi connectivity features.

If you are a high-profile company like Apple, it is absolutely crucial. You got a name. Failure is not an option. So you will have to re-invest the lion share of your growth back into QM/QA.

If you do not, or don't do it in time, the result is - well, what we see now happening at Apple.

iPhone Touch display crappy? iPhone Classic: poor audio quality reported by many users. iPhone: well, no need to talk about that...  the list gets longer with every day Apple grows and keeps spreading out to more and more product lines...

Do something about it. Invest. Get people into your deserted QA department.

And don't even think of getting into the mobile carrier business - obviously you can't handle your current portfolio. Get your QA straight before moving on.

Or you will be back in the 80s/90s faster than you like.

I mean: hey, I am selling your frigging Macs together with frigging expensive consulting. I like to give free iPods to my customers as a surprise bonus. And I don't want them to come back later like "hey, matey, about that crappy iPod you gave me... sounds like my old 15$ player from Walmart..."...

This is not the market of Apple.


]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/13/iPhone-Batteries-now-iPod-Classic-audio-quality-when-does-QA-get-it.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/12/iPhone-Beta-Testers-Why-unhappy.html
To be honest, I have a big fat mean smile on my face.

Started yesterday evening (my time), when El Jobso was getting closer to the great joke about this "hot" whatshername singer and in a sidenote revealed a 200$ price drop on the 8GB iPhone.

I was waiting for the outcry, the protestors, the REVOLUTION in the Apple universe. You have not disappointed me.

When Apple cancels a symbol, like the Apple on the Apple key, most of you "have no strong feelings about this", like Walt Moron Mossberg.

But when it comes to 200 bucks of their precious MONEY they happily gave away just days ago, folks go nuts.

What's the deal? You wanted to be cool, you wanted to be hip, you wanted to be the first. And you were. Some even more funny people applauded and envied you. You had your show.
Now its over.

I always felt that this hyped-up over-featured phone was some polished brick I would not touch before the second or third generation. And I thought it was WAY overprized.

Sometimes I hate to be right. Sometimes not.
This time I just have to smile.

Calm down. Think again.

You had your six weeks of feeling proud and edgy.
This phone was WORTH it's outrageous price to you, otherwise you would not have bought it, right?
Is it worth less to you now?

Take responsibility for your feelings, your actions, your vanity and your greed.

If you love your Precious, it does not matter if other value it less.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/12/iPhone-Beta-Testers-Why-unhappy.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/11/Ringtones.html Tweety, millions of kids ripped off with abo "services" selling them month after month the crap they need to waste their time and hurt our ears,  - and now Apple.

E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y who has iTunes and an iPhone (well, that limits the figures a bit, which is great) can now make their own ringtones.

From almost any fucking piece of noise, errr,  "music" they like.
Without any brains, because the integrated ringtone-maker of the new iTunes is made for - well - "ringtone-makers".
And then they can sync it right on their phone.  And into our ears.

Great job, Apple.

Now - is this new wave of noise pollution at least for free?
Of course not.
You have to own the song. First.

"OK - but when I have bought the song, I can put a snippet of it on my phone for free, eh? I mean, I already own the right to listen to it as often as I wish, on up to five computers, right?"

No, freetards. WE own YOU. Not you the music. If you want a snippet of the song you already paid for as a ringtone, pay again, looser.

99 Cents. For each. AFTER you payed for the song.

Its a joke. There are lots of ringtone makers out there converting your MP3 or whatever into ringtone format, sent it to your whatever-phone via MMS or sync it - and voila - got a new ringtone. Free.

Not for Apple users, who already spit out a few hundred bucks for this polished brick called "iPhone" and payed for their DRM-infested iTune-songs.

Hey, and you know what the worst thing about this is?
When Steve sells you this crap, you can't avoid to smile.
And for a second you feel its great.

The reality distortion field at its best.

UN-be-lievable.

P.S.: the new iPods look interesting, the Touch model, once matured and with more memory, could tempt even me, who has avoided the iPodMania so far... ;-)

P.P.S.: Steve, at least take this blood-money you make from our tortured ears and use it to improve the QM for the Macs and your more serious software. Then I will suffer with a smile, knowing these fools help me to get a better Mac.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/11/Ringtones.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/10/SeeWhatYouHaveDone---da-iPhone-Bomb.html *KABOOOOM* - ooops - "all in your iPhone". Bomb included.

Looks like while AT&T-lawyers where devouring the flesh of the iPhone hackers, Apple folks, instead of working on better graphics cards for the iMac or hand-engraving the missing Apple on the command key of the new keyboards, have silently "upgraded" the hardware to take care of the problem in their own way.

Read the whole story over there.

Or just look at the pic - and be careful when you try to open your iPhone! Some have suggested the use of dry ice, or using liquid nitrogen to cool it down and lower the battery voltage to prevent the fuse from going off...
But then there is still the question: "Red wire? Or Blue wire?"

But of course this is NOT recommended and might void your warranty.

(of course this is a joke. No idea why the phone went boom.
Probably Apple got Sony batteries in there...)

]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/10/SeeWhatYouHaveDone---da-iPhone-Bomb.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/9/Ban-the-Fan-Silent-computing---ignored-by-Apple.html The majority of the more serious home users who like to have music and videos on their computer - have Macs.
Many of us use our Macs to read, write, do things that need inner peace and concentration. And silence.

But do we have silent Macs?
I mean really silent, and really Mac?

No.

Lots of creative and spiritual people have their inner Zen disturbed and raped by the harsh vibes of noisy fans, high-spinning harddrives, and more hissing fans from the graphics cards...

And by the way: this crap makes you sick on the long term. Permanent stress level. No good.

'key, the Mac Mini has no noisy fan. But a very well audible hard drive. And limited ressources. Does not count.

Does high profile computing and silent computing go together? You bet!

I do not talk about monstrous watercoolings with separate towers bigger than the computer itself...
Just intelligent engineering and great design.
Something we would expect to come first from Cupertino.

Look at these silent PeeCees that a small German  company builds:
They are powerful. They are flexible. They even offer high-end SLI graphics. All passively cooled. Strictly no fans. Acoustically insulated hard drives. Not audible. Silent.

And still their midi towers look -  - well, "ok", Apple could do better...

But the folks at Apple don't.

 Even the new iMac, which is not an incredible powerhouse (exsp. not the graphics) - has TWO noisy fans. And no encapsulated hard drive.

So please, Steve - save my peace, my unity and the good vibes flowing from me to the universe and back.

Stop causing me pain in several parts of my body and soul with your noisy machines.

Be good.
Ban the Fan!

During your next keynote, I would love to hear NOTHING.
At least no unwanted noise coming from the new Macs and iMacs.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/9/Ban-the-Fan-Silent-computing---ignored-by-Apple.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/8/The-Killing-of-the-Apple-Key-Update-and-Petition.html
Thousands of good people have commented over at apfeltaste.wordpress.com, the comments and an informal petition have been emailed to Apple US and Apple Germany. No answer so far, as far as I can read it from the "Apfeltaste"-Blog (Apfeltaste = Apple Key in German)

Well, you guessed it.

But hey - if they think this is going away anytime soon: big mistake.

Folks are pretty mad about it, and they are right.

Please take a moment and sign the more formal petition over at

http://www.ipetitions.com/

Thanks!

We have been WAY too silent during many strange changes and decisions in the long history of Apple. WE are the users (still).
And sometimes a little thing like a missing logo on an important key can trigger a revolution...

Apple, you better hear us.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/8/The-Killing-of-the-Apple-Key-Update-and-Petition.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/7/FISA-the-sheep-and-the-wait-for-the-Lion.html ACLU in major newspapers during the last days, is right.
The remainders of democracy in the US and other western countries are "defended" by sheep. And worse.

But with a few alterations it shows the role of our IT leaders as well. ;-)

The role of the black sheep is clear. No need to talk about that.

But what about the folks building the most advanced and most secure operating system in the world (at least they say so...)?

Apple Mail still does not support strong encryption (or any encryption at all) out of the box. You have to install GnuPG or some other solution on your own.

If you want to keep all those sniffing programs and federal trojans from phoning home - you need LittleSnitch. Apple's firewall only cares about incoming traffic, and even that not very much.

Who helps us against the onslaught on our privacy and our remaining civil liberties?

No lions spotted recently at Cupertino.

Or anywhere else among the big players in the industry.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/7/FISA-the-sheep-and-the-wait-for-the-Lion.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/6/New-iMacs---Hardware-for-anorexic-dictators.html

See, I am really no PC guy, in none of the senses. But this slogan ("You can't be too thin. Or too powerful.")  just provokes thoughts about stupid misled little "lean-addicted" (nice euphemism) ho's (that  havn't even any butt left anyone would like to kneel behind), starving, ill-fed folks (still a major chunk of the stupidly ever-growing world popoulation, but most likely no Apple customers) and those creeps in politics and economy who definitely have too much power (and no butt in their suits as well. And you don't want to kneel behind them either. Nor in front of them.)

Click the pic above to see the original. I would have used different photographs, but anyhoo - still funny.

Yep - with ads it is as with other decisions. Use Intel processors - and you get OSx86. Use stupid slogans instead of specs - and get the persiflage you deserve. Drop the Apple key, and you get a revolt.

You always get what you ask for. 

]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/6/New-iMacs---Hardware-for-anorexic-dictators.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/5/What-is-the-best-Mac-today.html PC. With OSx86 on it.

You may not like it, but thats just the truth.

Take the new iMacs.
Heck yeah, they are beautiful. And they are not bad.
BUT.

Even the most expensive one comes with a crappy ATI-chip, that gets it's ass kicked even by the old GeForce 7300GT that was in the old iMacs, when it comes to game play.

Hey, this is a consumer machine, people like me love to play a game here and there, and we would love to do it on our Macs.
But with a ATI HD 2600 “Pro”...???? Jeeze.
Get some decent nVidia card in there. Or one of the better ATIs, if you have contracts to keep. But not that half-assed wannabe crap.

And what about the displays? “...customers told us they LOVE glossy displays...”, at least that was what TheSteve told us in his announcement for the new iMacs. Don't know whom you were talking to, Steve, but it was not me. And not the Mac users whose comments you can read all over the web. If you had asked real customers, they would have told you: they love not glossy displays (well, some do), but to have a choice.

Like to have the choice between a decent but dull get-some-work-done graphics chip and a real graphics card.

Like to have the choice between a cool-looking mirror with some computing capability - and a computer with a silky, readable display one can work with.

Same goes for Power Macs and MacBooks. You will easily find machines out there that

• are more ugly, ok. But there are some handsome ones out there as well.
•  are WAY more powerful and can be configured and upgraded at will
•  are WAY less expensive, while providing the same raw power or more.

Until now, you could still sell this cultish mediocre but well polished hardware - because you exclusively had the best OS of the world running on it.

And that compensated a lot in terms of speed, reliability and productivity.

No doubt.

But these days are gone.

Face it. It was your (questionable) decision to move to Intel chips. You opened the doors. Now you have to face the consequences.

You LOST your niche.

Now you have to compete.

Cut the “i”-crap.

Its nice to have fancy web galleries, stylish phones, and the possibility to buy and listen to all that nonsense that people call music nowadays anytime and anywhere.

But please, do it in your spare time.

And use the working hours to build Macs that can blow a OSx86-powered “HackinTosh” out of the watercooling.
Right now its the other way round.

Quite embarrassing, ain't it?

]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/5/What-is-the-best-Mac-today.html http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/4/Hang039em-HIGH---the-murderers-of-the-Apple-Key.html
Even days after the initial show off of the new iMacs and the new Apple keyboard we preferred to believe someone just fucked up when producing the samples. But NO - this is the reality.
The WIntel-infected camarilla of Cupertino is playing games on their (still loyal) users.

The Apple-logo is gone from the command key. Yes, that button no real Apple fan can resist to pet and fondle here and there is no more there. Of course a command key is still to be found on Apple's keyboard layout.
But no Apple key.

ARE - YOU - NUTS ?????

This is a piece of identity. One of the last we have got, by the way.
Windoze users got a Windoze key. Linux nerds scratch it off and cover the scars with a penguin sticker.

And you take away our Apple?


WTF? Anyhone still home in Cupertino? Or did the product management run off together with QA/QM and left some brainless Microslave/Intel moles behind together with some brilliant but dumb designers?

Or is this another rip-off and in a few weeks there will be a super-duper titan-enhanced replacement key with laser engraved Apple-logo, showing up in the Apple store, for JUST $99.99, limited edition, coming with some gold-plated unique tool to repair our crippled keyboards?

C'mon Steve, Phil, whoever. Just can't stand it.

GET THE APPLE KEY BACK ON OUR KEYBOARDS.

Press [Apple - Z]

NOW.

Strictly NO iMac and keyboard purchases until this has been mended.

Please support this. Write comments. Send in your rants. Send millions of command keys to Cupertino. Give them HEAT. Whatever it takes.

And visit the folks over at apfeltaste.wordpress.com - another bunch of good fellow Macsters VERY much pissed off by this irresponsible betrayal.
]]> no@spam.com (Martin Hoffmann) Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 CDT http://www.macs-first.com/blogs/4/Hang039em-HIGH---the-murderers-of-the-Apple-Key.html