Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Apple! WHAT THE ....... ?


Well, finally got around to playing with the new and supposedly highly improved Mavericks, and I must say........ I am far from impressed!

It seems like Apple is ruled by a Microsoft reject these days. The features I used most, are no longer there, and IF they are there, they're no longer functional..... Case in Point: 
Dashboard: It used to be this nice see thru overlay of widgets, like currency converter, calculator, sticky notes, weather, college football scores and what have you.  The fact that it was see thru, made it functional. You could look at a list of figures that were on the desktop, and position the calculater in a way that you could see them, and add them up, or whatever you needed to do to them.
Sticky notes: You could easily copy what you needed on a sticky note, and deal with it at a later point. This was especially handy with research, because it worked just like a notepad.... a quick jotdown so you can use the information later.
Currency converter: Same thing, you're looking at different things on one page, and you can quickly and easily see if you're paying more or less than you thought. (This is especially handy for us, since we're trying to juggle expenses between currencies in which we get paid and currency we spend in))

The improved version, has a solid background, so you keep flipping between screens... At that point, you might as well keep a notepad handy. And I have one laying next to the keyboard as we speak!

The big surprise was that they completely took out the functionality OF THEIR OWN MOUSE AND KEYBOARD!!! The function keys no longer work! The sound up and down keys do all kinds of things, except what you'd expect, and the eject button...... has issues.  Awesome move there. 
The other thing that doesn't work anymore is the swipe function on the magic mouse. You used to be able to go thru finder windows, or any stacked part of programs (Safari, PDF's etc) and by swiping left or right on the mouse, you would move back and forth between folders/pages...... no longer, except within safari (sofar). So, in my humble and teed off opinion....... They went Microsoft! Put something new out there every couple of months, functional or not and please, never-mind the bugs, you'll get used to them......   However, the thing that they are very proud of improving, is synching between devices.... Whoopee! 
I agree, that  may seem very important, but what if you can't do what you need to on your primary device? At least you won't be able to do it on multiple levels? Interesting business plan.

I LOVE technology, I really do. I'm in awe of what is out there, and can't wait to see what's yet to come! But those personal computers..... It seems to me they're trying too hard to get something new out there even if it IS at the cost of the user.  I may sound old and grouchy, but can we have 2 versions of things? The crazy stuff for somebody who likes it, and the simpler things for others. Just give us options? 
I know that choices need room in an OS, but just an "either - or" option would be nice. I miss my function keys, I miss the swipe function (Swapping between several external drives in search of that one piece of information takes A LOT time if you have to use the back button!), and I miss that I can't do our books without having to find a calculator, and now have to print out the columns so I can tally them. There's probably features I haven't found, and will love, in time, but for now............. I'm not happy.

I am working at the computer a lot (a bout 90% of my play time is here, in one program or another), but I don't necessarily need to be in constant contact with the world, while freaking out when the internet quits, because I won't even be able to read a book!? Technology is awesome, but there is a limit. If technology does all the thinking, except for knowing which button to push to get a certain result.... were will we end up?  I catch myself when we don't have internet connection that I get fidgety, because there's something I want to look up, but can't. Or when we're in a strange city and we're trying to figure out if there's anything to do besides having a cup of coffee.... Or knowing Johnny-GPS is sending us the wrong way, but not having information that can save us a 3 hour detour because of it..... I get that. But being on a family outing and having everybody check mail every 5 minutes, and completely tuning out a conversation because they receive a text.... not for me, thanks! :-)

Well, that's it for me for today. I'm going to the store and figure dinner, maybe talk to the neighbor lady, definitely hug our fuzzy roommate, and after that....... who knows? I may pick up a book and read a while! LOL.

Don't forget to hug a loved one?

Hugs,
Pauli

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