08 October 2006

fun with technology

i have an announcement:

my new ipod works now.

this has been quite the ordeal. josh brought me an ipod nano when he came to visit last week. his cell phone is an mp3 player, so he wasn't using it anymore. i was thrilled with this addition to the pile'o'technology currently inhabiting my house/classroom. unfortunately this thrill was shortlived due to the fact that the ipod quickly joined the pilo'o'technology-that-never-works-right-the- first-time-and-requires-much-assistance-from-cousins-sister's-
boyfriends-and-friendly-tech-support-people to work correctly. oh, you know, my computer, the internet, my camera, lcd projector, cable modem, etc, etc, etc. (i can, however, figure out the overhead projector on my own.) the ipod wouldn't turn on and would only give me the apple help website. which is a lovely website, i will credit them for that. but it didn't answer my question. and there is no tech support number. none. if you buy an ipod, you get one call to ask them a question. and that must be used within the first 90 days of purchase. otherwise, if you can't figure out the problem using the website, you have two options: 1) mail it to them, or 2) visit the apple store. if you happen to be one of the priviledged few who lives near an apple store, lucky you. if, like most of the country, you do not, you must mail it. if it is after the warranty is out, you pay for a new ipod. if it is before the warranty is out, they will fix it. however...if they deem the problem not important enough to have you mail it to them, they will fix it and charge you $100 for wasting their time.

do we see where the problem lies here?

what do you do if you have an insignificant question that the website doesn't answer? it would take thirty seconds if you could call someone about it. or, like me, you have the problem of both an insignificant question and a website that won't work correctly on your computer. it was quite annoying.

through a combination of the boys in fourth period and my sister's boyfriend (whenever you have a technology problem, ask a teenager - they will know the answer. and probably laugh at you for being such an old nincompoop that you can't figure it out yourself.), i learned that my ipod needed to be reloaded, which was essentially wiping the hard drive. "self", i though, "you can do this."

or not.

wouldn't work on my computer. gave me error messages. turns out that i don't have a high speed USB port on my computer (big surprise), and it didn't have the power to reload the thing. took the ipod to school. loaded the software there. spent an hour and a half learning that there was a glitch in the ipod website and due to the firewall, i couldn't make the changes to internet explorer to fix the problem. much annoyance. much swearing, snarling, frustrated sighs, wailing, and gnashing of teeth ensued over the course of several days. software was loaded, deleted, and reloaded. new versions were downloaded. various ports, cables, and internet jacks were tested. nothing. nada. growl.

so, finally, i gave up and went to my aunt's house. it was my last resort before just waiting till i went to d.c. and could visit the apple store. fortunately for my sanity, i was safely able to reload the damn thing and it works now. hallelujah. i'm still not sure if the whole thing was worth it. so, in conclusion, for all those considering buying an mp3 player:

don't get an ipod unless it's free.*





*(i realize that 99.99% of the world is uninterested in my technology issues. i don't really care. this has consumed my life for a good week.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

maybe the lesson should be 'don't get an ipod unless your computer meets the requirements for it'

:-p

(i use my ipod a ridiculous amount at law school. I'd estimate 4-6 hours per day, normally. Often much more)

Anonymous said...

my ipod broke.

apple sucks.