Apple’s timing is off

(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)

Apple Logo featureIt’s always heartening to hear that the big guns have misfired.

Apple has had another whoopsie with its sexy wee iPhones, with daylight savings time in the United States causing the latest hiccup.

Instead of the one-hour ”spring forward” that should have happened, the phones did the old one-hour ”fall back” that should happen at the end of daylight savings.

New Year was also a tough time for iPhone owners, with a glitch preventing iPhone clock alarms from sounding on New Year’s Day and they also had a hard time adjusting to the end of daylight savings time back in November.

According to the experts, the simple solution is to shut down and restart the phone or switch the phone to ”airplane mode” and then back.

I don’t know about you, but if I’d invested a good chunk of my hard-earned cash on a nice, shiny iPhone I’d be unimpressed at having to fiddle with the settings to get it to work properly.

I’m hoping there aren’t any reports of iPad 2 glitches because when I finally get around to adopting one of these lovely little creatures I want it to be as perfect as possible.

I was holding out for the iPad 2 in hopes of getting a USB port but the Apples gurus went with cameras instead. I’d rather have the USB port but don’t really want to wait another year or two for the next model.

I’m always fascinated by new techy developments but also peeved by just how much they cost. However, I discovered a nifty wee lo-tech solution to a disturbing problem the other day that lightened by wallet by a mere $2.

Seymour the Wonder Cat likes the taste of toothpaste. I discovered this when I found him sitting on the vanity in our bathroom one day, licking my toothbrush. That Esk St store that used to be a $2 Shop sells toothbrush covers, four in a pack for $2. These little plastic wonders fit over the head of your toothbrush, thereby protecting it from floating germies and marauding cats.

The ill-fated television appearance of a certain self-proclaimed weather/earthquake expert seems to have boosted his profile hugely  a quick glance at the Trade Me message board shows that just about every second thread is about earthquakes and most of those have mention of his predictions.

The tragedy taking place in Japan has stirred things up even more and, sadly, the message board currently seems to be full of predictions of doom from all quarters, with TV psychics being held up as experts.

I’m as open-minded as the next person but, if I’m not mistaken, all those psychics trundled out for that murder-solving programme on the telly never actually solved a single murder, did they?

Then there are the links to conspiracy websites posted by the tinfoil-hat wearing brigade and the latest is a map that supposedly shows the projected path of fallout over the next 10 days will include the United States. However, a simple Google search shows is nothing more than a hoax and, again, it’s from one of those awful ”aliens among us/the CIA killed Lennon/they didn’t walk on the moon” websites.

Think before you link.

Leave a Reply