Hastings101
Apr 6, 02:24 PM
Imagine Joe, who is strongly considering buying a Mac for the first time. He goes to the popular Mac sites to get excited about the purchase by being involved in the community. What does Joe find when he visits MacRumors? Big capital letters on the side bar, "SWITCHERS ONLY," discussing all possible reasons that switching could lead to, albeit minor, bad experiences. Joe wants to be informed. Joe reads the three pages of differences that other people found annoying.
These posts are from people that are similar to himself, he identifies with them. One minor annoyance that he reads about won't shift his attitude away from buying a Mac, nor will that one poster look like a troll. If he reads many slightly negative messages all at once, they will change Joe's attitude toward "switching." If Joe is tentative and apprehensive enough to read all these posts, then it is a good chance he isn't yet committed to buying a Mac. This is exactly the kind of attitude that is most influenced by these types of messages.
After reading the thread, Joe is left with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt) about buying a Mac. His attitude has changed and in a couple of days he won't remember why it changed–just a vague, uneasy feeling of uncertainty.
Being informed is good. Free speech is good. Persuasion is a tool that is used for good and evil. Don't help evil screw Joe.
Well Joe is a moron if he lets four or five people on a forum change his opinion by much. He should know that no one should ever take anything written on a forum very seriously.
These posts are from people that are similar to himself, he identifies with them. One minor annoyance that he reads about won't shift his attitude away from buying a Mac, nor will that one poster look like a troll. If he reads many slightly negative messages all at once, they will change Joe's attitude toward "switching." If Joe is tentative and apprehensive enough to read all these posts, then it is a good chance he isn't yet committed to buying a Mac. This is exactly the kind of attitude that is most influenced by these types of messages.
After reading the thread, Joe is left with Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt) about buying a Mac. His attitude has changed and in a couple of days he won't remember why it changed–just a vague, uneasy feeling of uncertainty.
Being informed is good. Free speech is good. Persuasion is a tool that is used for good and evil. Don't help evil screw Joe.
Well Joe is a moron if he lets four or five people on a forum change his opinion by much. He should know that no one should ever take anything written on a forum very seriously.
QCassidy352
Mar 18, 11:49 AM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)
I should add that I don't agree with those calling unofficial tethering "stealing." it's not taking anything from AT&T and it's not illegal in the sense of breaking a criminal law (and AT&T isn't saying otherwise). It's a violation of your contract, and AT&T is therefore justified in taking action. I agree that charging more for tethering on a limited data plan doesn't make much sense, but contracts don't have to make perfect sense.
Personally, I don't use unauthorized tethering because I believe in honoring my contracts. But it's not "stealing."
I should add that I don't agree with those calling unofficial tethering "stealing." it's not taking anything from AT&T and it's not illegal in the sense of breaking a criminal law (and AT&T isn't saying otherwise). It's a violation of your contract, and AT&T is therefore justified in taking action. I agree that charging more for tethering on a limited data plan doesn't make much sense, but contracts don't have to make perfect sense.
Personally, I don't use unauthorized tethering because I believe in honoring my contracts. But it's not "stealing."
munkery
May 2, 05:07 PM
on the desktop/laptop side which browsers will use webkit2?
Chrome and Safari?
in which case its virtually pojntless (for the community) as the 2 biggest browsers won't have it...or will they have something similar??
Chrome already uses a Sandbox similar to Webkit2 but it is built on top of webkit rather than implemented within webkit. Supposedly, Webkit2's split in the process will be better placed than that of Chrome.
Safari will use Webkit2 as it is based off of Webkit. Safari based on Webkit2 will be released soon, with the release of OS X Lion.
Chrome and Safari?
in which case its virtually pojntless (for the community) as the 2 biggest browsers won't have it...or will they have something similar??
Chrome already uses a Sandbox similar to Webkit2 but it is built on top of webkit rather than implemented within webkit. Supposedly, Webkit2's split in the process will be better placed than that of Chrome.
Safari will use Webkit2 as it is based off of Webkit. Safari based on Webkit2 will be released soon, with the release of OS X Lion.
Xtremehkr
Mar 18, 09:35 PM
iTMS exists to sell iPods yes. But, if iTMS does not do something to protect the profits of those who allow iTMS to sell their songs then they will stop supplying iTMS with songs to sell.
There was a way to get around this before, but it was only used by a minority of people and considered an acceptable loss I guess.
What you have here is someone who is internationally advertising a way to beat copyright protections through iTMS, which hurts Apple as it may affect suppliers of music to iTMS.
There were ways to beat iTMS before and the best way was to avoid it altogether and use a P2P software.
This to me is different however. It is a direct attack on Apple aimed at disuading music labels from providing iTMS with songs to download.
In this instance I stand with Apple, as the MP3 market heats up, one of the determining factors in who people choose to buy their music from is going to be exclusive content. Labels are not going to release material to distributors who cannot assure that their material won't be easily pirated.
*If they fix this hole and leave everything else in place there really is no problem*
The songs iTMS sells are not their own! iTMS is a middleman that is not guaranteed access to the product that it resells. An essential part of selling iPods is being able to offer current music to play on them. iTMS needs to protect its ability to resell the music needed to use on iPods.
There was a way to get around this before, but it was only used by a minority of people and considered an acceptable loss I guess.
What you have here is someone who is internationally advertising a way to beat copyright protections through iTMS, which hurts Apple as it may affect suppliers of music to iTMS.
There were ways to beat iTMS before and the best way was to avoid it altogether and use a P2P software.
This to me is different however. It is a direct attack on Apple aimed at disuading music labels from providing iTMS with songs to download.
In this instance I stand with Apple, as the MP3 market heats up, one of the determining factors in who people choose to buy their music from is going to be exclusive content. Labels are not going to release material to distributors who cannot assure that their material won't be easily pirated.
*If they fix this hole and leave everything else in place there really is no problem*
The songs iTMS sells are not their own! iTMS is a middleman that is not guaranteed access to the product that it resells. An essential part of selling iPods is being able to offer current music to play on them. iTMS needs to protect its ability to resell the music needed to use on iPods.
myamid
Sep 12, 06:30 PM
I may be wrong but it has "composite out" not "component"
No really, it has composite, S-Video & Component out... I swear :)
No really, it has composite, S-Video & Component out... I swear :)
IntelliUser
Apr 15, 10:23 AM
Whats the line in the sand? Are Gay men, simply men who find other men attractive? Do they share partial brain chemistry similar to a woman? Are some Gay Men "women trapped in men's bodies"? None of the above? We havent walked in their shoes...so defining what IS and ISNT a disease is pretty ignorant. glad we're all talking about these issues though...stay well friend and keep posting! :)
As long as they have a penis, gay men are men. Just like this (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/06/article-0-027FFAE600000578-658_468x657.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052934/Cat-Man--human-tiger-enjoys-climbing-trees-eats-raw-meat-day.html&usg=__Ab-ZG2dpwk5CloR7Ey8dB0Cy2K4=&h=657&w=468&sz=114&hl=en&start=0&sig2=zhq5-T3iRhJWvKy7Hwtz-A&zoom=1&tbnid=17KAnJDFBLLCWM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=118&ei=VWKoTYalI9Gq8APuw_3LCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcat%2Bman%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D999%26bih%3D1033%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=131&vpy=102&dur=3662&hovh=266&hovw=189&tx=85&ty=130&oei=VWKoTYalI9Gq8APuw_3LCg&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) guy is a man, no matter how hard he tries not to be. Thinking otherwise is a sign of delusion, of a mental problem. And psychiatrists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder) agree with that.
As long as they have a penis, gay men are men. Just like this (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/06/article-0-027FFAE600000578-658_468x657.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052934/Cat-Man--human-tiger-enjoys-climbing-trees-eats-raw-meat-day.html&usg=__Ab-ZG2dpwk5CloR7Ey8dB0Cy2K4=&h=657&w=468&sz=114&hl=en&start=0&sig2=zhq5-T3iRhJWvKy7Hwtz-A&zoom=1&tbnid=17KAnJDFBLLCWM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=118&ei=VWKoTYalI9Gq8APuw_3LCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcat%2Bman%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D999%26bih%3D1033%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=131&vpy=102&dur=3662&hovh=266&hovw=189&tx=85&ty=130&oei=VWKoTYalI9Gq8APuw_3LCg&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) guy is a man, no matter how hard he tries not to be. Thinking otherwise is a sign of delusion, of a mental problem. And psychiatrists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity_disorder) agree with that.
roocka
Apr 9, 10:05 PM
1. Define a proper game. I think there are a lot of proper games on iOS. But I think I get your point. Do you mean hardcore? Halo, elder scrolls, call of duty etc.
2. What do you mean make a legitimate threat? I would bet money there are more iDevices in peoples homes and hands than Nintendo or Sony devices (of similar purposes) I watched a friends kid for a week in January while she was on a business trip. The kid loved his DS to death. For Christmas he got an iPad. He didn't even know where his DS was anymore, it was old news. Plus when apple has enough money to buy either company out, I think that makes them a legitimate threat.
Lets be honest, APPLE will never buy Nintendo or Sony. Apple will make them inferior and insignificant. Apple will not create the same games but rather will change gaming. Apple will probably make gaming more interactive and more inclusive.
I would say the odds are greater that Sony will buy Nintendo in a desperation move to remain relevant or Sony will get bought out by Microsoft after Apple starts creating televisions. Mark my words, Apple will never buy a bloated and inferior company. To truly believe that makes you a moron.
2. What do you mean make a legitimate threat? I would bet money there are more iDevices in peoples homes and hands than Nintendo or Sony devices (of similar purposes) I watched a friends kid for a week in January while she was on a business trip. The kid loved his DS to death. For Christmas he got an iPad. He didn't even know where his DS was anymore, it was old news. Plus when apple has enough money to buy either company out, I think that makes them a legitimate threat.
Lets be honest, APPLE will never buy Nintendo or Sony. Apple will make them inferior and insignificant. Apple will not create the same games but rather will change gaming. Apple will probably make gaming more interactive and more inclusive.
I would say the odds are greater that Sony will buy Nintendo in a desperation move to remain relevant or Sony will get bought out by Microsoft after Apple starts creating televisions. Mark my words, Apple will never buy a bloated and inferior company. To truly believe that makes you a moron.
slinger1968
Oct 26, 09:39 PM
I wonder how many current Mac Pro owners will just buy the new chips off pricewatch.com and pop them in.I've seen this comment on numerous posts and it sounds like people haven't read Anand's review.
It's not very easy to get to the CPUs, nothing like a simple swap.
I've built loads of PCs in the last 12+ years and even I would be a little reluctant to rip apart a $2500 to $3000 Mac Pro like anand did to swap out the chips.
It's an easy swap for Apple in the manufacturing process, but not for the consumer.
Read the report. Apple doesn't want people to be able to upgrade their CPUs
It's not very easy to get to the CPUs, nothing like a simple swap.
I've built loads of PCs in the last 12+ years and even I would be a little reluctant to rip apart a $2500 to $3000 Mac Pro like anand did to swap out the chips.
It's an easy swap for Apple in the manufacturing process, but not for the consumer.
Read the report. Apple doesn't want people to be able to upgrade their CPUs
r.j.s
May 2, 11:39 AM
It pops up when I open Steam. "Steam would now like to auto-update itself, enter your password". Same for all my "auto-updating" apps that are installed system wide.
This conditions the user as much.
Fair enough. IMO, users understand that they are updating an app at that time, but I can see your point.
Though looking for information on this MacDefender, I'm genuinely curious how the installer "pop-ups". I haven't found anything interesting. Since Archive utility doesn't honor absolute paths in a Zip, how does the little bugger get launched ?
Maybe the use of a different archive utility, e.g. The Unarchiver, is to blame for this?
This conditions the user as much.
Fair enough. IMO, users understand that they are updating an app at that time, but I can see your point.
Though looking for information on this MacDefender, I'm genuinely curious how the installer "pop-ups". I haven't found anything interesting. Since Archive utility doesn't honor absolute paths in a Zip, how does the little bugger get launched ?
Maybe the use of a different archive utility, e.g. The Unarchiver, is to blame for this?
Apple 26.2
Apr 15, 04:09 PM
Whatever differences exist, you'll get used to them.
UnixMac
Oct 7, 07:54 PM
Hi AtomBoy......great english for being from Japan, or are you an ex-pat?
Anyway, I agree, the OS X part of a Mac is worth being a little behind on Mhz/DDR/etc...but I still want Apple to be "on par" atleast with Wintel, since I am spending close to double for their machines as if I had bought an unglybox.
Anyway, I agree, the OS X part of a Mac is worth being a little behind on Mhz/DDR/etc...but I still want Apple to be "on par" atleast with Wintel, since I am spending close to double for their machines as if I had bought an unglybox.
DUSTmurph
Oct 7, 05:04 PM
The cell phone market is so sporadic its hard to predict numbers for 1 year in the future, let alone 2 years.
Denarius
Mar 15, 10:55 AM
That's a failure of the German politicians to make a case for nuclear power there (although I imagine that Germany has good potential for hydropower and other renewables).
I think that the opposite could be said for the UK. Over the last few years opinion has turned more pro nuclear. In contrast to Merkel, Cameron turned the Japanese situation into a positive - saying that the UK could 'learn lessons' and make nuclear even safer.
There's too much hysteria over this. This plant has been hit by a force 9 earthquake and a tsunami and yet although some radiation has been released this is by no means anything like as serious as Chernobyl.
In a world where the security risks and economics of oil and natural gas are on their way to being untenable and the renewable energy options cannot realistically meet the world's ever growing energy demands, the benefits of nuclear fission far outweigh the risks, particularly when you consider that the public and worker fatalities relating to fission reactors are dwarfed in comparison to those from energy generation from fossil fuels, petrochemicals and natural gas.
I think that the opposite could be said for the UK. Over the last few years opinion has turned more pro nuclear. In contrast to Merkel, Cameron turned the Japanese situation into a positive - saying that the UK could 'learn lessons' and make nuclear even safer.
There's too much hysteria over this. This plant has been hit by a force 9 earthquake and a tsunami and yet although some radiation has been released this is by no means anything like as serious as Chernobyl.
In a world where the security risks and economics of oil and natural gas are on their way to being untenable and the renewable energy options cannot realistically meet the world's ever growing energy demands, the benefits of nuclear fission far outweigh the risks, particularly when you consider that the public and worker fatalities relating to fission reactors are dwarfed in comparison to those from energy generation from fossil fuels, petrochemicals and natural gas.
Rend It
Aug 29, 02:14 PM
But diesel has significantly more particulate matter in it - bad for respiratory health - particularly in cities.
That's what particulate filters are for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_Particulate_Filter
Low-sulfur diesel fuel standards are being phased in now, to make the US diesel more like that available elsewhere, like Europe, where diesels are much more common. At this point in time, diesel represents the most feasible option in terms of improving our individual utilization of fossil fuels in cars. A Jetta TDI is easily capable of 40+ mpg. Ideally, it would be a hybrid with diesel. Eventually, with the same hardware, we can move to biodiesel, and further reduce our oil dependencies.
That's what particulate filters are for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_Particulate_Filter
Low-sulfur diesel fuel standards are being phased in now, to make the US diesel more like that available elsewhere, like Europe, where diesels are much more common. At this point in time, diesel represents the most feasible option in terms of improving our individual utilization of fossil fuels in cars. A Jetta TDI is easily capable of 40+ mpg. Ideally, it would be a hybrid with diesel. Eventually, with the same hardware, we can move to biodiesel, and further reduce our oil dependencies.
Rt&Dzine
Apr 27, 09:52 AM
Exactly what I was going to say.
<high five>
That particular assumption is one of my pet peeves. :D
(The assumption that God is the Christian version.)
<high five>
That particular assumption is one of my pet peeves. :D
(The assumption that God is the Christian version.)
Sm0kejaguar
Oct 26, 10:56 AM
After much debate and anguish i finally decided to order my Mac Pro yesterday... figures this would come up now.... /sigh. I am assuming they will only add a higher end config, but honestley... do any of us know?
longstech
Nov 12, 02:09 PM
Now I drop calls and cannot connect to incoming calls about 60% of the time on my iphone 4...
And when I call my wife on her 3GS its like 90% of the time failing first try.
I live 50 yards from a brand new tower. Seems when I go to other parts of Henderson/Vegas it is not as bad...
And when I call my wife on her 3GS its like 90% of the time failing first try.
I live 50 yards from a brand new tower. Seems when I go to other parts of Henderson/Vegas it is not as bad...
firestarter
Mar 14, 06:21 PM
What coal-fired power station had the capability of endangering so many people?
Depends whether you believe in global warming. Should we be looking to expand our nuclear power capability, or revert to burning hydrocarbons?
James Lovelock described nuclear as 'the only green choice'.
Depends whether you believe in global warming. Should we be looking to expand our nuclear power capability, or revert to burning hydrocarbons?
James Lovelock described nuclear as 'the only green choice'.
rtdunham
Sep 20, 12:34 PM
Maybe in the future, Apple teams up with Marantz...and other AV surround reciever manufacturers to build ITV inside their receivers? (like some of them already have ipod dock connectors)...The ITV is built inside the AV receiver. And you can use the remote from your receiver the control the new front row.
Nice idea. and car makers could have the iTV built in, so kids or passengers in the back seat could stream video to the car's built-in video system (the link could just as easily be wired, but none of today's iPod-ready cars provide for this video-to-dvd player useability, do they?
Nice idea. and car makers could have the iTV built in, so kids or passengers in the back seat could stream video to the car's built-in video system (the link could just as easily be wired, but none of today's iPod-ready cars provide for this video-to-dvd player useability, do they?
dudemac
Mar 19, 07:48 AM
So getting to my point, it would seem like this guy is spending a lot of energy trying to piss off media corporations. The only conclusion I can see is that he wants the attention. Flirting with lawsuits sounds as crazy as publishing trade secrets on your website. :D There's also this pro-Real Networks thing I think I am getting from his site, but that's for another thread...
Actually from what I know about the DCESS thing is that he is just a linux geek who wants to use mainstream products on his linux box. It has nothing to do with attention or media companies.
Actually from what I know about the DCESS thing is that he is just a linux geek who wants to use mainstream products on his linux box. It has nothing to do with attention or media companies.
ZilogZ80
Apr 6, 04:02 AM
Most of these "problems" are down to people not knowing how to operate their Macs. I would recommend to any new switcher (& a lot of the people who have posted in this thread!) get a good book ("The Missing Manual" is great) which explains everything you need to know.
Dbrown
May 2, 10:30 PM
I am myself using a Mac in a business school seamlessly among my PC-using peers. There is nothing that they can do that I cannot - and many things I can do that they would have a difficult time doing in Windows.In fact, my colleagues have been so impressed that one has already made the switch recently, and another is preparing to switch as well. Those days of "needing to run Windows" for work are behind us.
You mean running stuff like iphoto?
PC versions of cross platform apps are typically faster, have more features than their mac counterparts. That's if there even is a version for mac. Its viable to not own a PC anymore because macs use PC hardware now and can run windows. PC users have no use for osx at all but many mac users still need to have windows
You mean running stuff like iphoto?
PC versions of cross platform apps are typically faster, have more features than their mac counterparts. That's if there even is a version for mac. Its viable to not own a PC anymore because macs use PC hardware now and can run windows. PC users have no use for osx at all but many mac users still need to have windows
kingtj
Aug 28, 10:46 AM
I *almost* feel guilty bashing AT&T at times, because 2 of my good friends have worked for them for years. But the company ALWAYS manages to infuriate me enough that I can't help myself. One of the two of them USED to try to defend AT&T when I started in on it, but even he has given up now - because the situations I keep describing to him are ones he simply can't make excuses for.
Here in St. Louis, MO - we don't have the notorious dropped call problems of parts of downtown Chicago or New York City, but it's still pretty bad! I had the original iPhone and then the 3G, and I could expect it to lose about every other call I made or answered. I can't say the iPhone's design didn't contribute to it, but all I know is, my friends on AT&T's network using other phones like the Motorola Razr told me they experienced pretty much the same thing.
We were using AT&T for cellphones, T1 data and voice circuits and regular land-lines where I work, plus advertising in the AT&T Yellow Pages, and NONE of it has been a good experience!
My "dedicated key corporate account representative" is notorious for never answering her office phone and not returning phone calls. SOMETIMES she'll email you a reply to a question or request after a few days, and other times? She might just forward it to someone else in her dept. who may or may not follow up. About the only time she made an appearance and acted like she cared was when AT&T gave her a "mission", such as getting her corporate customers to answer and send back some survey they were putting together. It was like pulling teeth to even get the company to call back to remind us when contracts were up for renewal!
Every year, we seem to have a new Yellow Pages sales rep. because whoever was assigned to us before has moved on to a new job.... It gets really old re-explaining everything about the business every year.
On the iPhone accounts, AT&T can't even seem to figure out what some of their pricing plans are for!? One of our iPhones was being billed about $10 a month more than the others because they configured it on a "corporate" plan they claimed was necessary for using it with our Exchange server. (Funny, but Exchange email worked just fine without this "extra" on the other phones!) When I questioned them, they couldn't pin down a reason for the "up charge". I finally determined it was simply an extra fee AT&T likes to try to talk businesses into paying, yet it serves no real purpose. It's probably just based on some theory that iPhone users connected to corporate Exchange servers will use more data than other people, so they'd like to get more money out of them. I finally got someone to remove the charge and the phone still works exactly like it did before!
I have consistently had problems with dropped calls ever since I switched from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3GS, they replaced my phone twice because of it. It would work for a while, but then drop calls, or get 10 call failures before actually placing a call, just to be dropped minutes later...
Yesterday I finally upgraded to 4.0.2 and it is even worse! Not only do I barely get any signal in my house, even when it shows I have a signal it still doesn't work. The problem seems to be when it goes into sleep mode it disconnects, because when I unlock it, a swarm of text messages and voice mails from missed calls I never received pour in...
I finally called up AT&T to see if there was anything they could do (maybe give me one of the femtocells to keep my 5 iPhone family plan happy (bill is almost $300 a month)... I was greeted by an unfriendly and unhelpful customer service agent. She pretty much told me there was nothing she could do (and when I asked about the femtocell she had no idea what it was, didn't even offer for me to buy it), and then she said its just the network, it happens to her all the time, I am probably in an area with poor coverage.
I told her to look it up on the AT&T coverage map it shows "best coverage" all around my house and where I live, pretty much most of Long Island. To which she said "coverage is not at all guaranteed", I flipped a bird and said "what the fu*k does that even mean, so I can get an at&t phone and pay for the service and you can't even guarantee I get service in any location around the world, even if you advertise it" to which she responded "yup". And I said, that's just ridiculous, I might as well switch to a carrier such as sprint or verizion (my parents have one of each) and they get service in our household. And then she said "Go ahead and switch". I don't remember exactly what I said after that, but she followed with other dumb remarks, such as, it could just be what your house is made of, or do you live underground? I'm sure I live in a cave lady... But I really can't bash all the Customer service agents at AT&T, some are great and very helpful.
Never the less, I was very pissed and disappointed with how AT&T is handling itself. Never have I had such poor customer service. When I had nextel and complained about their crappy service, they were very apologetic and offered me free stuff, and even if I never mentioned dropping them, but even hinted at the possibility, they would offer me upgrades and the works just to keep me... AT&T is just hit or miss, when the network works, its great and super fast, but if your in a high traffic or any other area, its the pits... Which is why I think people on the forums have such a hard time understanding these complaints. I bet the reason for the big change in satisfaction surveys has to do with geographic location. When I was in any other state but NY the service worked when it said I had service, but even then I could have full service, travel 10ft and get No service to show up on the iPhone, very spotty at best.
I am definitely going to switch my entire family plan over to verizion when our contracts are up in a year, I really hope they get the iPhone, if not, droid here I come! But to the rest of the community, has this ever happened to anyone else but me? Should I call back AT&T, at this point I would be willing to buy the femtocell, my phone doesn't work in passive mode, only gets service when I am on it and unlocked.
EDIT:
I actually looked up the femtocell, which is now called microcell to make sure I wasn't going crazy and to see if it is available in my area (which it is), and I saw a video that I just find hilarious! If you go to the following link and click on "increased signal strength" in the interactive video that loads on AT&T website for the microcell, it starts to play a video that actually shows how crappy their service is, with the guy having to hang out of the window to make a call... WTF? AT&T should fire whoever makes their commercials...
Check it out: http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/
Here in St. Louis, MO - we don't have the notorious dropped call problems of parts of downtown Chicago or New York City, but it's still pretty bad! I had the original iPhone and then the 3G, and I could expect it to lose about every other call I made or answered. I can't say the iPhone's design didn't contribute to it, but all I know is, my friends on AT&T's network using other phones like the Motorola Razr told me they experienced pretty much the same thing.
We were using AT&T for cellphones, T1 data and voice circuits and regular land-lines where I work, plus advertising in the AT&T Yellow Pages, and NONE of it has been a good experience!
My "dedicated key corporate account representative" is notorious for never answering her office phone and not returning phone calls. SOMETIMES she'll email you a reply to a question or request after a few days, and other times? She might just forward it to someone else in her dept. who may or may not follow up. About the only time she made an appearance and acted like she cared was when AT&T gave her a "mission", such as getting her corporate customers to answer and send back some survey they were putting together. It was like pulling teeth to even get the company to call back to remind us when contracts were up for renewal!
Every year, we seem to have a new Yellow Pages sales rep. because whoever was assigned to us before has moved on to a new job.... It gets really old re-explaining everything about the business every year.
On the iPhone accounts, AT&T can't even seem to figure out what some of their pricing plans are for!? One of our iPhones was being billed about $10 a month more than the others because they configured it on a "corporate" plan they claimed was necessary for using it with our Exchange server. (Funny, but Exchange email worked just fine without this "extra" on the other phones!) When I questioned them, they couldn't pin down a reason for the "up charge". I finally determined it was simply an extra fee AT&T likes to try to talk businesses into paying, yet it serves no real purpose. It's probably just based on some theory that iPhone users connected to corporate Exchange servers will use more data than other people, so they'd like to get more money out of them. I finally got someone to remove the charge and the phone still works exactly like it did before!
I have consistently had problems with dropped calls ever since I switched from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3GS, they replaced my phone twice because of it. It would work for a while, but then drop calls, or get 10 call failures before actually placing a call, just to be dropped minutes later...
Yesterday I finally upgraded to 4.0.2 and it is even worse! Not only do I barely get any signal in my house, even when it shows I have a signal it still doesn't work. The problem seems to be when it goes into sleep mode it disconnects, because when I unlock it, a swarm of text messages and voice mails from missed calls I never received pour in...
I finally called up AT&T to see if there was anything they could do (maybe give me one of the femtocells to keep my 5 iPhone family plan happy (bill is almost $300 a month)... I was greeted by an unfriendly and unhelpful customer service agent. She pretty much told me there was nothing she could do (and when I asked about the femtocell she had no idea what it was, didn't even offer for me to buy it), and then she said its just the network, it happens to her all the time, I am probably in an area with poor coverage.
I told her to look it up on the AT&T coverage map it shows "best coverage" all around my house and where I live, pretty much most of Long Island. To which she said "coverage is not at all guaranteed", I flipped a bird and said "what the fu*k does that even mean, so I can get an at&t phone and pay for the service and you can't even guarantee I get service in any location around the world, even if you advertise it" to which she responded "yup". And I said, that's just ridiculous, I might as well switch to a carrier such as sprint or verizion (my parents have one of each) and they get service in our household. And then she said "Go ahead and switch". I don't remember exactly what I said after that, but she followed with other dumb remarks, such as, it could just be what your house is made of, or do you live underground? I'm sure I live in a cave lady... But I really can't bash all the Customer service agents at AT&T, some are great and very helpful.
Never the less, I was very pissed and disappointed with how AT&T is handling itself. Never have I had such poor customer service. When I had nextel and complained about their crappy service, they were very apologetic and offered me free stuff, and even if I never mentioned dropping them, but even hinted at the possibility, they would offer me upgrades and the works just to keep me... AT&T is just hit or miss, when the network works, its great and super fast, but if your in a high traffic or any other area, its the pits... Which is why I think people on the forums have such a hard time understanding these complaints. I bet the reason for the big change in satisfaction surveys has to do with geographic location. When I was in any other state but NY the service worked when it said I had service, but even then I could have full service, travel 10ft and get No service to show up on the iPhone, very spotty at best.
I am definitely going to switch my entire family plan over to verizion when our contracts are up in a year, I really hope they get the iPhone, if not, droid here I come! But to the rest of the community, has this ever happened to anyone else but me? Should I call back AT&T, at this point I would be willing to buy the femtocell, my phone doesn't work in passive mode, only gets service when I am on it and unlocked.
EDIT:
I actually looked up the femtocell, which is now called microcell to make sure I wasn't going crazy and to see if it is available in my area (which it is), and I saw a video that I just find hilarious! If you go to the following link and click on "increased signal strength" in the interactive video that loads on AT&T website for the microcell, it starts to play a video that actually shows how crappy their service is, with the guy having to hang out of the window to make a call... WTF? AT&T should fire whoever makes their commercials...
Check it out: http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/
ugahairydawgs
Mar 18, 08:03 AM
How exactly are they able to tell if someone is tethering or not?
