Tag Archives: Apple

A Tech-Nerd Nightmare 

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I’m writing this post on my iPhone 6. I bought the 6 unlocked from Apple around a year ago because I had just received a large tax refund from Revenue Canada and I was sick of being locked into one carrier and being told when I would be ‘eligible for an upgrade’ to a new device. 

Since the iPhone 6S was released, I’ve been contemplating privately selling this phone and upgrading to an unlocked version of the new model. I figure that it’s probably the best way to get maximum value I can for this device.

This morning, I was using these thoughts as inspiration for the tech horror-show nightmare I woke from. I had either sold this device or traded it in favor of acquiring some kind of new unnamed Apple device (which was about the size a larger paperback novel) and the ‘new’ Apple Hat. 

Yes, you read that right. The Apple Hat. 

 
The imaginary ‘Apple Hat’ was a brilliantly bright white hat that somehow wirelessly connected to the archaic, paperback-sized device to function. It looked very much like a stitched baseball cap but with the same brilliantly bright white ear flaps hanging down like a trapper hat. Think of a hip version of the Hoth Rebel Trooper thermal cap from The Empire Strikes Back. Yeah. That is the Apple Hat.

Needless to say, I woke from this nightmare so quickly that my brain couldn’t conjure up some kind of techy functionality for this wearable. I got out of bed so that I wouldn’t fall asleep again and return to the dream.  

My Apple Maps Experience

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Everyone has been complaining about Apple Maps. The iOS 6 replacement for Google Maps is largely seen as a huge blunder made by Apple. The reasons are many and valid. Bus routes have disappeared as well as walking directions. The accuracy of the maps as well as the level of detail of the Apple Maps vs Google Maps isn’t even in the same echelon. Apple tries to keep a lot of the same functionality but with the amount of time and money that Google has invested in their Maps experience, Apple’s departing from this standard was destined from the beginning to be sub-standard.

With that being said, I gave Apple Maps a trial run yesterday.

I used the app to get from the office to the football field where the Duke of Ginger was to be playing football later in the day. The trips was mapped nicely with a voice giving me directions that were accurate. With exception of the very end of the trip where the final destination was not exactly where the app said it was (luckily, I already knew where I was going) the experience was good.

However, the drive home was a different story. Again, I already knew where I was going, but I gave it a try to see how it would perform. While directing me through a sketchy part of town can’t be blamed on the app, the final destination was way off. Check out these two screenshots from my iPhone:

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If you look at the address in the search field and what is on the map, they are not even close. However, this was a problem I experienced with Google Maps as well and this seems, to me, to be related to the convention of the address. The use of hyphens in the address seems to confuse both Google Maps and Apple Maps alike. Once I removed the hyphen in the address, the proper location showed up:

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Okay, so it’s not perfect on the exact location of the destination. However, for the record, the pin location of the arena is correct. It’s the location of George S. Hughes/Southside Arena on the map that is wrong. Tell me how that one works.

I’m going to keep using Apple Maps. It’s not like I am in New York or need it so desperately. This town is small and, for the most part, I know enough for it to tell me where I need to go.

My biggest beef: it doesn’t show the New JeffLand Empire. At all.

Bastards.

Jumped The Gun

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iOS4 Screenshot

iOS4... Looking good!

Ok, maybe I was a little hasty with the whole “making-someone-pay” thing with regards to the Apple iPhone iOS4 update yesterday.  As it appears, patience really is a virtue… albeit one that isn’t very typical of benevolent dictators like myself.

The update was released around 11:00 am MDT so I updated my iPhone once I got home from toiling in the mines of industry.  And no one had to die in the process, so all is well.  So far.

Anyway, I got the update installed with no serious problems and have since spent some time putting all of the settings together and then I realized part way through today that this new iOS is absolutely sucking the life out of my battery!  After fully charging the battery, I walked around the office for about 15-20 minutes I returned to my desk and saw that I’d used 6%!!

Basically, with the multi-tasking… this new operating system is taxing the hardware that comes with my 3GS.  So that gives me a perfect excuse to get the iPhone 4 when it comes available.  And I’m giving that a Hells Yeah.