Problem with my new computer

[b0b]

I had a problem with my new computer that I couldn't solve, so I emailed a techie friend. He was stumped too, and sent this reply.

At a recent computer expo(COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,"If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating:

If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following characteristics:

For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash, twice a day.
Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy
a new car.Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You
would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows,
shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could
continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine.
The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be
replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation"
warning light. The airbag system would ask, “Are you sure?” before deploying.
Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door
handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how
to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in
the same manner as the old car.

You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
When all else fails, you could call "customer service" in some foreign country
and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!

[Richard Sinkler]

Love it.

[Jack Stoner]

Obviously written by someone that doesn't like Microsoft.
And, written a long time ago, not something recent.

[K Maul]

Shouldn’t this be in the HUMOR section?

[Jim Fogle]

Shouldn’t this be in the HUMOR section?

Oh Kevin! 🙄 Shame for even bringing up the humor section. 🤐

Unfortunately, one overly enthusiastic former member crashed the forums' Good Humor truck. While it's gone to the junk yard, like any good idea, it's not forgotten.

[K Maul]

Oh Kevin! 🙄 Shame...

My comment should be filed in the “wisea**” section, I know - but I couldn’t resist a golden opportunity!

[b0b]

Ok, here's the "on topic" problem:

I often use the right mouse button to bring up a "context menu" of things to do with the current selection. Most of us do that, right? It's a very normal thing on Windows and Mac. It's been there since the 90s.

I have an old iPod Touch (2nd generation) that doesn't have much memory, but it works. I use it for playlists of my practice tracks, and load it from iTunes on my iMac at home. I've been doing this for years.

I recently upgraded the iMac MacOS Catalina and discovered that iTunes is now just called "Music", but it still works. A few things are different but I can handle that. I made myself a new practice playlist and plugged in the iPod to load it. That's when I noticed - the right mouse button isn't working!

I check my mouse settings. Nothing looks wrong there - no mention of the right mouse button. So I reboot (when in doubt...). Still broken. Then I right click on the desktop screen, and a context menu appears. The mouse isn't the problem - it's only in the new "Music" program. Did they leave out the context menus? What the F? Why didn't I notice this before?

On a hunch, I unplug the iPod. Reboot. Start "Music". The mouse button works. Plug in the iPod. It breaks. Apple's own old hardware actually breaks their brand new program! As a programmer, I couldn't do that if I tried.

So now, let's forget about the humor for while and have some righteous indignation. This just ain't right.

[Scott Duckworth]

Exactly why I run LINUX!

[Greg Forsyth]

Here's an acronym for a major problem in both the use of a computer or car for that matter:

PICNIC

Any ideas of what that stands for?

[Greg Forsyth]

Each of the six letters stand for the first letter of a word, and the six words describe what it about.

[b0b]

Not in this case, I can assure you. Apple screwed up.

[Greg Forsyth]

Georg got it!

It wasn't about your situation b0b, just something I remembered our IT guy would tell me when I would create chaos while sitting in front of a computer.

[Wiz Feinberg]

As intriguing as this message is, it is actually not a true statement by either Bill Gates or GM, or Ford. This was written as humor in 1999, during the Windows 98 era. The original version of this hoax used GM, not Ford as the respondent.

This is a joke that has been passed around through email for years. [8] It is not real and it is not recent. AlistairMcMillan 13:26, Jun 1, 2005 (UTC)

Snopes published an expose on this and listed it under humor. It began with but three lines in 1997 and the joke evolved from there.

[Donny Hinson]

I was told 35 years ago to always avoid Apple/Mac because of all their proprietary crap. (And I did.)

[Jim Fogle]

bOb,

Surely you reported the issue to Apple so the bug can be corrected in an update, right?

Then the only thing Apple corporate will have to do is to get the "Music" development team and the "Mac OS" development team together to iron out which team tackles the issue. Then there will need to be a second meeting when the first team decides the issue is in the second team's area of expertise. Then there will be a third meeting to set up a joint task force to work on the issue together. By then no one remembers the original issue.

[Edward Dixon]

Ok, here's the "on topic" problem:

I often use the right mouse button to bring up a "context menu" of things to do with the current selection. Most of us do that, right? It's a very normal thing on Windows and Mac. It's been there since the 90s.

I have an old iPod Touch (2nd generation) that doesn't have much memory, but it works. I use it for playlists of my practice tracks, and load it from iTunes on my iMac at home. I've been doing this for years.

I recently upgraded the iMac MacOS Catalina and discovered that iTunes is now just called "Music", but it still works. A few things are different but I can handle that. I made myself a new practice playlist and plugged in the iPod to load it. That's when I noticed - the right mouse button isn't working!

I check my mouse settings. Nothing looks wrong there - no mention of the right mouse button. So I reboot (when in doubt...). Still broken. Then I right click on the desktop screen, and a context menu appears. The mouse isn't the problem - it's only in the new "Music" program. Did they leave out the context menus? What the F? Why didn't I notice this before?

On a hunch, I unplug the iPod. Reboot. Start "Music". The mouse button works. Plug in the iPod. It breaks. Apple's own old hardware actually breaks their brand new program! As a programmer, I couldn't do that if I tried.

So now, let's forget about the humor for while and have some righteous indignation. This just ain't right.

Sometimes things are incomplete with new software roll outs. It may be the context menus have been replaced with some other function that nobody can find or that the programmers have released a product that is not ready for prime time. They may fix it in an software update.

I'm afraid to update the OS on my MacBook because of this, it's the one laptop I use for all my music device editors and if it ain't broke I see no need to "fix" it.