The Dreaded Beach Ball

I have a late 2008 MacBook - yes I need to upgrade - but I'm still in school and my MacBook works (mostly) most of the time. Yes more and more I am getting the dreaded 'Spinning Beach Ball of Death.' Its irritating to say the least. I haven't really changed anything on my computer since I bought it. I back up regularly, I clear out my caches, I restart, reboot ... whatever - but alas here it is again. DAMN you BBOD! I've done just about everything I know how to fix it and still nothing.    

          It worries me that these incidence are becoming more frequent now that Steve Jobs is gone. Has the quality gone out the door with the King? I do 'like' Tim Cook - but Steve Jobs he is not. I don't think he is quite the 'perfectionist' that Jobs was. If Steve ever had a SBBOD on his laptop - I bet heads would roll. Yes I know my computer is 5 years old - but who says a computer has to be 'retired' every 2 years and upgraded for the latest and greatest? I'm tired of the 'cycle of computing products' getting narrower and narrower. You buy the latest iphone and 12 months later there is a new better one out. Yes, I know thats the cycle of 'computer life' but can't you purchase a product and have it last at least for a few years before it becomes incredibly slow and painful to use? 

          Are things really getting faster or are we just becoming more impatient? Sometimes it feels like a 'built- in' graduate of electronics that get slower and slower - on purpose so you have to upgrade (eventually). When I first got this laptop - it was a SCREAMER! I loved it. Now it feels like it has the aging, clogged arteries of a septuagenarian. I haven't loaded a bunch of things on it? I don't use the computer any differently than I did 4 years ago when I got it. So what gives?  I'm waiting for a pharmacological ad telling me 'Tell your doctor what your mac needs and order .....'

iPad needs Infrared capacity

My mom bought a Samsung Galaxy (much to my chagrin) but it was cheaper than an Apple product and she wanted a tablet. So I played around with it a bit ... not a fan of Android at all - obviously. But one hardware feature that the Galaxy Tab has that the iPad does not ... IR capability. Now I just happened to 'stumble' upon this feature when I found a 'TV' app on the galaxy tablet and I must say I WAS impressed.

Easy set up - just type in the name of your cable provider and your zip code and then put in your TV model ... voila! One VERY SMART Remote.

Just scroll easily through the channels and see what is playing - RIGHT NOW. All with great images and graphics (a lot more fun that just a boring grid display. You can even tell your DVR to record a show.

Again - what happened to Apple innovation? Why didn't they think of this? Why doesn't the iPad have IR capability? Yeah yeah - I know what your gonna say - its got Apple TV connectivity through your ethernet connection  - BUT and there is a big BUT here ... thats great for controlling Apple TV .. but that doesn't include your Cable TV nor your DVR shows.

Again Apple ... you are getting left behind and in the dust on this one. Catch up!!

Getting Bored with the Grid

Dear Apple,

Love your products - I own an iPhone, MacBook, & AppleTV. Yes I'm a fanatic. I haven't yet bought an iPad cause I'm holding out for V.2 of the mini - with a retina display and a current processor - something that SHOULD have been released the first time - but Apple's standards have slipped IMHO - but I digress.

What I'm writing to you todays is the ubiquitous grid on all iPhones/ipads. BORING, sterile .. monotonous. It Strongly needs an upgrade. I don't know how you are going to dig yourself out of this one. You seemed to have ingrained it forever into the mac product line. I still think there is hope.

Here is a few ideas:

How about a zooming toolbar - like you have for the desktop. Where you can glide over tiny icons that zoom into view?

Maybe a desktop motif with spring loaded piles (also used in the toolbar on desktop?)

Anything other than the boring grid! Its getting old! I'm tired of looking at my 4x5 grid on my phone. And I think the grid on the iPad just looks silly. Not only is it way too spaced out and clunky - but the icons seem small for such a large screen. Why can't it be customizable? decide how many rows? how large of icon?

its been 5 years ... please give us some other option

Apple is going to loose in the desktop market

Why is it that a company that has set computing on its ear, appears to be falling behind in the area that made them famous - the personal computer. I do love the iMac. It is sleek, sexy, simple and elegant ... but one thing it is lacking where other computer makers have innovated - a touchscreen personal computer. How has Apple overlooked this? They created the desire for all things touchscreen. First with the iPhone and now with the iPad. Why not take this technology and apply it to a desktop iMac? Are they afraid of 'loosing' iPad marketshare?

       Apple is quickly missing out on this market segment. Several windows desktops have removed the desktop tower and copied the iMac all in one look ... but with one added benefit - touchscreen. Why hasn't Apple done this? Why didn't they do this FIRST? they were first with the first touchscreen phone? the first touchscreen tablet? why did they drop the ball on a touchscreen iMac?