Tag Archive for 'apple'

It has the three gees. And the wifis.

Published on July 7, 2010 in Rants. 11 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Ok, I have two rants that I need to accomplish. I think I’ll save the second for another post, but this one revolves primarily around fanaticism in the form of (and I hate subscribing to the use of this word, but it fits the bill) fanboyism.

But first, a more pleasant preface. I got my iPhone 4, and I’m pretty happy with it.

I placed my order for an iPhone 4 as soon as I could. On June 15th, the preordering system opened on both Apple’s and AT&T’s websites at 4AM EST (yes, I was still up but for unrelated reasons). Before retiring for the evening, I decided to check out Apple’s page, and lo and behold the system was up. Figuring I’d have an edge at ordering before everyone else, I began the process.

The way Apple’s website appeared to work from my perspective is that, in order to verify the proper price for the iPhone 4, Apple’s servers had to dial out to AT&T and verify that you were indeed up for a contract renewal, and thus the subsidized $199/$299 prices. If you weren’t eligible, the prices skyrocketed to $599/$699 because you would then be purchasing the iPhone 4 outside of contract, and thus no subsidization. Well, to verify your account, obviously Apple needed some information of your account – namely the phone number, billing zip code, and the last four of your social security.

Oh crap. I’m on a family plan – that’s MOM’S social. I don’t know that! And it’s 4AM. Crap.

Well, I tried mine. No luck. While trying, though, Apple’s website crashed hard. Turns out I wasn’t the only preorderer at the hour, and under the strain of dialing out, Apple took a large impact. After some struggling, I decided to test my luck with AT&T’s website. I got right in.

Turns out we have a Premier account with AT&T, and that was working just fine. I placed my preorder, got a confirmation email, and I was on my merry way.

I should have left it at that, but I like to stress, obviously. And reading on MacRumors forums about all the other people having problems, I began to stress more and more that my order wouldn’t work out. Tracking numbers this, backordering that… Long story short, I lucked out. My iPhone 4 shipped on the 23rd, and arrived almost exactly right on time on the 24th, just as expected. And it’s gorgeous, let me tell you.

Now into the crux of this post – as I introduced earlier: fanboyism.

I hate having to defend myself and my purchase decision. I simply don’t see the big deal here – why the hell are others so concerned about what I do with my money? Particularly with electronics, like my iPhone 4 purchase. I don’t see the same thing with other items – nobody gets ridiculed or accused for buying clothes or a car or other brand names in the same way that those who buy electronics of a particular brand do.

This post doesn’t exist to defend my iPhone 4 purchase, yet it inevitably will turn into that. If I don’t preempt it, at least somewhat, there lies no doubt within my mind that someone will attempt to use that against me and state that I made a blind fanboy purchase without thinking about it. That’s what gets me. What kind of person do you think I am – an idiot? That I purchase something willy-nilly because it has a shiny Apple logo on it? Before I even have a chance to enjoy my new toy, I have to defend it because some zealot has an unexplained grudge against a company, and somehow by extension me – suddenly I’m a spokesperson and a PR rep because I bought a goddamn phone. That’s sound logic right there.

So here: Why I bought an iPhone 4. A: I like it. I owned an iPhone 3G, and I became accustomed to the UI and frankly, I enjoyed the interface and it was a pleasure to use, as opposed to a hinderance like my old Motorola and LG. B: I already invested in apps from the App Store, so giving those up for another smartphone seems irresponsible and foolhardy. C: Pickings are slim for another quality phone on AT&T, and for the time being I am stuck on AT&T, whether I like it or not. Mom’s family plan, Mom’s decision. D: Purchasing an iPhone 4 allows me to grandfather down my 3G to my fianceé, who has been using a broken phone for a long while now. Given all these, the jump from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4 makes perfect sense. The extra benefits from improved hardware certainly sweeten the deal.

Inevitably, however, someone will bring up the antennae issue. Hell, the first day I even owned my iPhone 4 people were already making comments and attempting to reproduce it on my iPhone. Sometimes the signal does attenuate. Most times I’ve tried it, the signal doesn’t budge. Personally, it’s a non-issue for me, as I haven’t experienced any ill-effects of it. No proximity sensor errors here. Again, I’m happy with my purchase, so, getting back to my rant about fanboyism: what, praytell, are you trying to accomplish by making me feel anything different? Is this your lot in life, your goal, to make others feel like shit for buying something they were looking forward to owning? Where does that get you? It certainly doesn’t earn you respect – no sane person will turn around and say “well I’ll be damned, you were right, and this was a shitty purchase; looks like I’m listening to everything you have to say from now on”. If you’re lucky, they won’t openly resent you.

So again, I ask, where does it get you, attacking someone for their purchase simply because you don’t like it? Nobody needs or wants your approval, hell, nobody fucking cares. I sure don’t. Nobody likes a fanboy. I researched a phone, I bought it, I’m happy. The sheer fact that you think you need to change that makes me think your unhappy with whatever you own, and you need misery to share in your company. And that is called post purchase rationalization. Before anyone attempts to call that on this post, think about it, because saying I’m trying to rationalize my purchase implies that I’m unhappy with it. Re-read: I’m quite happy. So cut your fucking fanboy act out, and just leave me be.

I guess the point of this post is to vent a bit, because I’m damned tired of having someone spot my iPhone 4 in use and, instead of keeping to themselves like a sane, normal person would, barking out loudly about some kind of Verizon Android device like they’ve found Jesus in it, or it has a USB port specifically for their techno-penis. Save it, I don’t care. All you’re trying to do is hurt others around you, and I couldn’t give two shits.

… Tune in next time for my rant on Atlanta transportation/drivers. In the meantime, let’s see how long it takes for some comments to appear about how much better their abc is than xyz for fanboy bullshit reason #23. If any comments appear at all, that is – who even reads this tired old thing, anyway? :P

Please hold; your call is important to us

Published on June 19, 2010 in Hobbies and Media. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

It’s been a while since I’ve really had a solid chance to update. Quite a lot has happened, too. Where do I begin…

My multicolored bear, Ali.

This is Ali. A few weeks ago, Tricia’s coworker invited us out to join her and her boyfriend on a bit of a double-date night. Her roommate joined in, and the 5 of us ate at Hooters (deep fried pickles FTW) and found ourselves at our original destination for the evening: Dave and Buster’s. I’d never been before, and if you haven’t, imagine a large arcade with an adjoining bar, billiards room, restaurant, the works. We were only there for the arcade, and after paying for a swipe card (the entire establishment works on swipe cards – swipe to play, tickets are stored there, etc), we were off.

Inevitably, I found myself at a claw machine. I figured “what the heck, I’ll try”. I’d never won before, despite having tried my luck many times in the past. I swiped my card, went for a strategic target, and pressed the button. Lo and behold, the claw actually grabbed this bear. I’m STILL surprised. First try at D&B, and I had it. That’s the furthest extent my luck may ever reach regarding those machines, too.

…We have a kitten now! Here’s the story: Tricia, my younger brother, and I all live and share an apartment together. We’ve wanted a pet for a while now, and had pretty much decided upon a cat, probably adopted from a shelter. About four weeks ago, along comes a friend of mine messaging me up online. A friend of a friend of hers works at a veterinary clinic in mid-GA, where they had gotten in a 4-week old black kitten, abandoned by the mother-cat and attacked by a dog. The vet took her in, but absolutely could not keep her, as the vet herself had 2 young children and a host of other territorial pets already. My friend advised us to contact the vet and get more information.

After an exchange of calls and info, we learned this kitten was completely healthy – negative on kitty leukemia and kitty AIDS, no worms or fleas, etc. The vet began her on vaccines and other prevention shots, and was taking care of her. She said, if we wanted, we could have her completely free (medical treatment/papers and all) in two weeks, as she was underweight and still needed eyedrops and anti-bacterials as a result of the dog attack.

Two weeks later, we drove out there and got ourselves a six-week old, pound-and-a-half black kitten. The vet was even kind enough to give us a bag of Iams for her – a saint, this woman is. For my brother and myself, it’s our first pet that’s not in a glass tank. XD She’s the most adventurous kitten – within 20 minutes of getting her home (from an hour ride on the highway in a box, no less), we had her playing with her toys, and within another 20 minutes we had her purring up a storm (like an old computer doing its damnedest to load a huge Geocities page). She eats and drinks and poops like a machine, and jumps on EVERYTHING. She seems to enjoy sleeping with us in bed, jumping on us at 8AM sharp, running around and attacking everything and anything, using my shoes and messenger bag as scratching posts, and hiding in her cube house.

Anyway, her name is Ella, named after Ella Fitzgerald. Have some pictures and YouTubes. (Click the pictures for bigger versions!)


She did surprisingly well with our move. Oh, yeah, we moved. On June 8th, we moved to another apartment in our complex – an upgrade move, 2 bedrooms to 3 bedrooms, since my brother’s girlfriend will be joining us in August. That day was exhausting; 12 solid hours of moving all my crap into a new place. However, I did get to take a pretty neat shot of the old place before we moved, so I may as well share it here now.

Drag around! It’s nifty, I think. :P Soon I’ll attempt this with the new place, but it’s a weird layout that I don’t think will work too well with this sort of technology.

Other events in my life surround Apple. No surprises there, for anyone that knows me well enough. I applied for a position as a Specialist (floor retail) at the Lenox Mall Apple Store, while simultaneously being referred to the position by a friend working at the Augusta Mall Apple Store. I got a email requesting a phone interview in the following days, and I must have done well enough on the phone interview to warrant an in-person interview at the store itself. At this point, my friends intervened and to make a long story short, I now have 10 less inches of hair, a goatee, and I rather like the new style. Pictures to come, but not yet.

Unfortunately, I was turned down for the position at the Apple Store in Lenox Mall, and I’ll attribute that to having never worked retail before. Alas. I politely responded asking about perhaps a position at the Perimeter Mall Apple Store, so here’s hoping. :)

The other Apple event in my life is my iPhone 4 preorder. I’m fairly excited; it’s been a while since I had a new iPhone, and this one has the works: new design I love, way better screen, the new iOS 4, front facing camera (videochat!), better rear camera with flash and 720P video recording… And I was lucky enough to secure a preorder slot before they were shut down. I’m expecting the phone to arrive via FedEx on the 24th, launch day. Let’s hope everything works out!

My fingers are tired, and so am I. Goodnight, all!

Life is a strange thing

Published on September 9, 2009 in Media and Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

Tricia arrived safe and sound Saturday evening when her flight landed a few minutes earlier than scheduled. I picked her up from the airport as soon as she landed, and we went to Taco Mac for burgers and beers and slept soundly that night.

Giving a slight synopsis here, the weekend was pretty pleasant, what with visiting Augusta for my grandmother’s birthday, but there was a slight hiccup with my car that delayed our return Monday and cost quite a few bills to fix. =/ Such is life.

Last night was pretty… awful. After a relatively okay day, I got home to work on a paper that never seemed to end. Then I got the news that an old friend from TaeKwonDo, Conor Waters, a man who was a mere 7 years older than myself and whom I sparred with consistently back in the day, had… somehow passed away. It struck me pretty solidly – I had only spoken with him last about mid-summer when I ran into him at his job at the PeachMac Store in Augusta, and only Monday afternoon did I run across his business card in my wallet and I said “I should give that guy a call and see if we can play on Xbox Live”. I wish I had called, now. I’ll never get to do that. It’s a sobering, depressing thought. RIP, Conor, you’ll be sorely missed.

It could be that or because I am running off of 4 hours sleep (hardly enough), but I just feel strange and awful. I do not want anything to do with my next classes at all. I want to go home, sleep, play some Animal Crossing, and I don’t want to go to the Phi Kap meeting later tonight. Yuck.

Speaking of Animal Crossing, if anyone appreciates a very dark yet comedic satire based on Animal Crossing, you need to read The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing. This is a dark, chilling tale. I. Love. It.

I don’t have much more to say right now. I feel pretty listless. Perhaps I’ll have more later. I’m looking forward to listening to some Beatles later and following the news of Apple’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” Media Event today. Anyway, toodles.