http://tidbits.com/ A pair of technical problems — Pages 4.3 changing its graphics handling in EPUB and BBEdit 10.5 introducing a bug into its Search and Replace Automator action — cause Adam Engst to reflect on how the companies in question view their users. en-us Copyright 2013 TidBITS Publishing Inc. Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) http://tidbits.com/images/tb_logo_152x55.png http://tidbits.com/ 55 152 TidBITS badge http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17502 Sat, 02 Feb 2013 10:37:47 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17502 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17501 Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:51:52 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17501 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17484 Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:54:35 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17484 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17481 Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:38:37 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17481 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17480 Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:07:22 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17480 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17478 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:50:02 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17478 The creators evidently never had to use a spreadsheet or at least understand basic needs of the user spreadsheet. It is unusable for complicated spreadsheets. One wrong click or entry and the entire spreadsheet is rendered useless.

And don't get me going on the decision to drop Rosetta from OS 10.7 and later. Backwords compatibility seems to be a thing of the past. Wonder what the outcry would be if Microsoft decided to drop Microsoft Office and prevent it from running on any new OS. That's what Apple did to Appleworks.
Don't tell me to get over it and move on. I've been moving on too long for dumb reasons.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17477 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:52:11 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17477 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17472 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:06:34 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17472
Let's hope that Apple notices this article and other comments at some of the bigger Apple-related websites, as well as direct feedback from customers.

Someone at Apple has got to realize that "pro" users are important, and not just in terms of direct sales.

If the "iOSification" of OS X continues (with no provisions to "turn on" more advanced features, if they're even available), it's likely that a significant number of higher-end math/science/graphics/media/3D/etc. software, much of which has either returned or just been ported to OS X for the first, may vanish on OS X. Some of those "cornerstone" apps would likely cause a wave of defection from OS X.

I have never really had to use any other OS, besides a bit of UNIX, in over 30 years... I would lament day I had to move away to another OS... and still using OS X 10.6.8, though perhaps not much longer except under emulation...]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17471 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:41:49 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17471
I don't really expect Apple to change anything based on this article, but I do think it's important to point this stuff out in public to make sure the truth is available.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17465 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:53:46 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17465 Why not begin to consider a move to another, more robust application, such as Nisus Writer Pro? NWP has a built-in macro language, which could prove useful to you.
If you're going to roll your own CMS, why not implement a more robust authoring environment?

MS-Word may even be a better choice than Pages. Conversion to the epub format seems like the least important part of the workflow, and one that could be well-served by any number of more robust commercial or free tools.

Please don't mistake my comments for anything resembling criticism of your issues with Apple. I've experienced similar, or even more frustrating, issues with Apple for many years.

Please let us know if you ever hear from Apple.

P.S. Apple could drop epub support at any time ("too pro")...]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17470 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:45:35 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17470 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17468 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:43:27 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17468 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17463 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:06:29 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17463 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17461 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:00:43 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17461 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17460 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:55:25 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17460 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17459 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:09:38 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17459
I've said it before here, and I'll say it again: If the 1984 Mac ad were made today, the face in the big screen would (should) be Jobs.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17458 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:42:54 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17458 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17454 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:49:28 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17454
My impression is that Apple is now focused on people who are 'content consumers' and is disregarding us 'content creators'.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17453 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:32:56 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17453
Seriously, I am convinced that much of Apple, sitting in their palace in Cupertino with their state of the art tools and super-high speed network, has no clue how people use their products in the real world.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17450 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:28:59 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17450 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17449 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:10:58 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17449 Oh, and respond to my freaking bug reports!

An industry veteran and former consultant to Apple I know, who shall remain nameless, but may be the only person on earth to have Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Rob Glaser all come to his wedding, told me a few years ago "I fully expect Apple to screw up eventually."]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17447 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:48:43 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17447 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17446 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:48:05 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17446 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17445 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:45:31 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17445 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17443 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:32:34 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17443 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17439 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:27:02 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17439 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17432 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 07:02:04 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17432 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17429 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:40:58 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17429
In the other case, I got an e-mail saying my questions had been changed. Thinking someone had broken Into my account, I logged in but again could not access the security section.

In both cases, I had to call Apple support to get my account reset.

This is just not giving any respect to customers. Any sort of warning is better than none. And having to call support to get your account back. It beggars belief. Just imagine 200 million people having to call support, and in Australia they only work business hours.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17431 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:07:24 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17431 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13519?rss#comments_17430 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:53:17 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13519#comments_17430