Submit Response is a weblog by Jack Mottram, a Moan. Whinge.
At the earliest possible opportunity, I placed a pre-order for Mac OS 10.3, otherwise known Panther. Knowing that I would be out of the country on October the 24th, the day of release, I expected to return to a shiny box of exciting new software. I even made a full back-up the day before I set off, so I could get going on a clean installation within minutes of arriving home.
Stop sniggering at the back
When I got back, there was an email from Apple informing me that my box shipped on the 23rd of October, and a quick visit to their order tracking website confirmed that the goods had left the warehouse in Ireland on that date. A week passed, or two, and I was beginning to fret, but assumed the brief spate of wildcat postal strikes were to blame, and with news of one or two problems with the initial release I was beginning to think the delay might have been a lucky break.. A friendly enquiry to Apple was promptly replied to with a show of concern and a solemn promise that, since my order was delayed by more than ten days, a courier would be despatched immediately with a replacement copy.
‘Excellent,’ I thought, ‘Good old Apple might have made a mistake, but they’re sorting it out. I like Apple.’ Or words to that effect.
Another week or so passed, and on the 17th of November I received an email informing me that the courier was on his way.
Huzzah!
This morning, a nice lady from Anderson College of Medicine called my land line. She had two packages that were delivered to her in error, bound for me. ‘They’re from Apple,’ she said, ‘Something called OS 10.3, it says.’ The nice lady, I should point out, doesn’t have a name remotely resembling mine, her postcode is completely different, and, needless to say, so is her address.
So how on God’s green earth did Apple, manage to deliver my goods to her, twice over, by post and by courier? I have no idea, and nor do I intend to find out. Because I now have two copies of Panther. Anyone want one?
I’ll say a big fat yes to that.
Posted by Leon at 6pm on 20.11.03
me me me me me!
Posted by Donna at 9pm on 20.11.03
No.
Posted by Donny at 10am on 21.11.03
Are you sure Don? It comes in a really pretty black box.
Also love the way that ‘No’ includes an implicit rant about tawdry graphical user interfaces and stupid fashion monkeys lapping up over-priced hardware, etc. etc.
Or am I being defensive there?!
Posted by Jack Mottram at 3pm on 21.11.03
Hope you haven’t got a Firewire drive Jack.
I love the differences:
http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/003/panther/macosx-10.3-4.html#tab-views
Your keeping some arsehole GUI designer in work.
It really makes me laugh a lot.
PC’s work. Believe me.
Posted by Donny at 5pm on 21.11.03
A decade of PC Windows hell ends in acquisition of iMacG4 + Panther…and…and…it’s not very good, is it?
Posted by arnold at 7pm on 21.11.03
it’s not very good, is it?
are you mad?
jack,when you get it installed, if you get your broadband working, can you tell me how you managed it? it has been driving me mad (and running up a huge phonebill) for over three weeks now!
Posted by stirmonster at 12pm on 23.11.03
I only connect to the interweb on this computer via Airport or Bluetooth ‘n’ phone (eugh, can I sound like more of a wank?!) so I won’t be entering that circle of modem hell…
You have one or two spare Airporty Macs lying around, surely ;) - just keep one running a pre-Panther version of OS X connected to the internet, then click Start in System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet (or somewhere like that)
Even then, I needed to install the drivers at http://www.btopenworld.com/drivers (version 2.012 instead of the 2.01 that Alcatel have for download), trash the status monitoring app and associated stuff you get with the modem and select ‘Alcatel Modem’ in the modem settings, not ‘Null Modem [some number or other]’ like it tells you to in the docs… oh, and you need to use an app/script/whatever to maintain some level of internet activity otherwise the modem hangs up.
Moral of the story: USB is not an appropriate way to connect a modem to a computer. (I think - perhaps Donny could explain why!)
Also, to the Mac haterz: I know PCs work - it’s a matter of personal preference!
Posted by Jack Mottram at 3pm on 23.11.03
my brain just fell out my ear
i am going to put my fluffy slippers on and have a cup of tea
Posted by Donna at 9pm on 24.11.03
believe me, i have tried every possible methos to get my broadband working and zilch is happening. i only have the one mac so i am stuck with it and my airport is of ye olde non extreme slow connection type.
Posted by stirmonster at 12am on 25.11.03
Simple Solution:
Put all Apple branded software and hardware (which you have paid a fortune for) in a box and hide it away from sight. Go to an Internet cafe (PC based, of course) or use a PC at work and go to http://www.dell.co.uk, fork out £800 and write off the whole Mac thing as a bad experience.
Moral:
This happens everyday. It’s normal. Don’t feel embarrassed. You are not alone.
Posted by Donny at 10am on 25.11.03
Hee. Like I say, Don, it’s down to personal preference, and I just don’t mind paying a fortune for all that soft- and hardware… and if I did switch to PC, you’d have to put up with me phoning you up on a half-hourly basis for tech support, since I don’t know anyone else who uses one!
Stir - Leon just installed Panther, and managed to get his Alcatel modem working after ‘a hairy half an hour’ - hopefully he’ll show up here and explain how. Although I bet he hasn’t had to unplug it yet - take it it’s the kernel panic horrors that stop you using it? And what happened to yr collection of pristine/broken TiBooks?
Posted by Jack Mottram at 11am on 25.11.03
Aye, got it working in the end, though I had to track down the CD that I was sent by BT, and reinstall all the drivers etc. Stir, you’re welcome to borrow the CD if you want, though I don’t know if it’ll work with your modem, given that it’s a bit older than mine… yet to encounter the dreaded kernel panic scenario, though I’m sure it’s gonna happen someday.
Posted by Leon at 2pm on 25.11.03
leon - please do tell!!!! you must have access to a driver that neither alcatel nor bt are making available! i NEED you to email me it.
jack - titanium powerbook 1 now belongs to generalape, titanium powerbook 2 is literally held together by gaffa tape and the screen has gone while titanium powerbook 3 is alive and well and on my lap.
Posted by stirmonster at 2pm on 25.11.03
I might see if I can get mine to work this evening - might as well in case the old laptop has a spasm sometime. Will let you know how I fare/curse you for making my computer explode…
A quick look in the usual places turns up one person who found success using the 2.012 drivers, which makes me slightly hopeful.
Posted by Jack Mottram at 5pm on 25.11.03
Stir - er, it just worked fine straight off using the BT drivers.
Well, as fine as it gets with that modem - I still can’t restart with it plugged in without causing a kernel panic afterwards, and it drops the connection if I leave it idling away.
There must be some difference between iBooks and PowerBooks, or one of the apps you use is doing bad things maybe?
Posted by Jack Mottram at 6pm on 28.11.03
Ooh, odd. Whenever I do a restart, I need to have mine plugged in for it to actually work, otherwise it refuses to acknowledge the modem’s existence. And it never drops the connection. (I just got in from work, and despite it being connected for 11 hours without doing anything, it was still fine…)
Posted by Leon McDermott at 8pm on 28.11.03