MacBug
Well, I discovered a genuine bug in Mac OS X. And I had my first experience with Apple Technical Support.
Before I get to the tech support experience, let me say that Apple’s online support options suck. They suck—in the immortal words of Dick Cheney—big time.
This is part-and-parcel with my only major complaint about Apple and the Mac OS in general: they’re aimed at stupid people. Yes, you read that right… stupid people. The Macintosh is the greatest computer in the world, as long as two things are true: 1) you don’t want to figure out how it really works, and 2) nothing breaks.
I’ve had nearly two decades of experience with Macintoshes, some of it quite extensive. And throughout that time, the Mac has been horrible if you wanted to fix something that’s broken. It’s like the Apple engineers are four-year-olds with their fingers in their ears: if they don’t hear that it’s broken, they won’t have to tell you how to fix it. Feh!
Today’s problem was something like that. I went through a fairly odd series of events, and a minor system component lost its marbles (the Character Palette, for you Mac folks). Yes, it lost its marbles. A restart didn’t fix things, nor did a few other creative tricks (like using the Activity Monitor, the OS X equivalent of the Task Manager in Windows).
After perusing the less-than-useless online support database, I simply called Apple. After all, I have 90 days of free support, so why not use it? My other option was the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store, and I wasn’t in the mood for a trip to the mall.
So I called Apple’s toll-free number. I was on hold for the requisite 15 minutes, but that isn’t very bad in the scheme of things. When I did speak to a person, Ryan, I explained the problem. We tried a few things and eventually found a fix. At that point, Ryan had figured out that I wasn’t the Stupid Person ™ variety of Mac user, and we tried to replicate the problem so he could submit a bug report to the developers.
After a couple of false starts, I recreated the problem. We fixed it again and I broke it, just to make sure I had the right sequence of events. After a final fix, I told Ryan thanks and he promised to send a bug report.
So, in my small way, I just helped Apple. I’m glad to have my Character Palette back, but it still highlights my one major gripe about Apple and their mindset. Granted, 99.9% of the time, the Mac just works. But that 0.1% of the time when it doesn’t, the average user will never be able to fix it themselves, because Apple doesn’t admit that a problem can occur.
At least with Windows, I can go to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and have a pretty good chance of fixing the problem on my own. The Mac fanboy in me wants to argue that it’s because Windows has so many problems that Microsoft would implode if it didn’t have a good Knowledge Base for user repairs, but that’s not quite true.
Any system as complex as a computer operating system will have problems. And even as stable as OS X is (and it really is stable folks), it still has problems. It’d be nice if Apple gave me the tools to diagnose and fix the problem on my own, without an expensive call to tech support.
But at least tech support could fix the problem, if only by nuking my System Preferences. I don’t appear to have lost much, although my wireless networking settings are kaput. They’re easy enough to fix, although I’m sure I’ll find a few other things that I need to re-enter. I guess that’s a small price to pay for restoring my Character Palette (which is kinda important, in its own small way).
On a separate note, I’ve been writing a lot lately. Good news. You’ll see something soon, but it’s a surprise.
Let the speculation begin. 
- Nick
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12 Responses to “MacBug”
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I’m speculating quietly to myself…
But, Happy Birthday Summercamp!
(doesn’t seem like four years)
Congrats!
Co2
“Any system as complex as a computer operating system will have problems.”
Heh. Actually, there do exist systems that are more complex that computer operating systems and have fewer failure rates than 0.1%. The difference, however, is money. I can guarantee a lower failure rate for your OS *if* you let me have $50M or so to play with, and the pronoun “you” is singular rather than plural. It’s hard to design something idiot-proof unless one restricts the group of idiots using it (which is not to imply you’re an idiot, but you get the point).
There’s sort of a Zeno’s Paradox of removing flaws from software (or anything else, really). Inevitably, you fix the easy problems first. Then you attack the somewhat more difficult ones, then the moderately tricky ones….
The end result for any reasonably complicated system is that the fewer flaws it has, the more intractable the remaining ones are likely to be. Eventually, you have something that almost NEVER fails - but when it does, it’s totally impossible to fix
I love surprises. Bring it on!
And I agree that it sure doesn’t seem like four years. What a ride…
Every program has a defect.
Every program can be made shorter by one byte.
=> Every program can be reduced to one byte, which will have a defect
Microsoft products don’t have bugs, only hidden features. Instead of using OSX, you should use windows. It’s an OS AND a free training course in software development.
Next time try the Apple discussion boards. They have the same type of knowledgeable Mac users that have probably been there and done that. I know that when I’ve had problems on my Mac the help menus etc. haven’t been that helpful, but the support forums have answered all but one problem in the 6 years I’ve had my Macs.
I do support for both Windows and Mac, and (in general) Windows users know a lot more about their machines. Mac users don’t generally have to, true, but it works against them when things go wrong. A lot of fundamental OSX problems are fixable in “single-user” or text mode…but the Mac users practically cross themselves and back away when you get into it. They are kept barefoot and pregnant by Apple.
The most useful tool I’ve discovered for keeping your Mac healthy is Applejack.
http://applejack.sourceforge.net/
Install it and just type “applejack” at the prompt. It runs through disk repair, permissions repair, cleans up the cache, validates prefences and removes the swap file.
Did he actually just suggest using Windows over OSX on an Apple? Why would you do something that stupid? Being a person who uses and repairs both Windows and Mac, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that there are 99% less problems on the Mac. Yes, you might be slightly more limited with what you can “play” with, but that’s less that you can break. I have been using my new Macbook for 3 months now and I have yet to have it crash, get a virus or die on me…lets see Windows do the same thing out of the box
You show me a OS that I can run on my server, on my desktop, on my laptop, on my phone/pda, supports games, supports every business application, and I can program on without a 8 year degree, and that my users don’t have to call me to set up a printer, and my 5 year old can understand how to use it, and my father can install it….. then, and only then, will you convince me to switch from windows. It may be crap, but it’s my crap, and it’s familiar crap, and it works (when it works) w/ everything. I/ve tried linux, I tried macs (admittedly that was years ago) I’ve tried netware ( for a file server) and truly, windows is the bang for the buck.
I love the perennial Mac and Windows debate. I confess that I am a Windows fan, simply because it will run on most computers, is cheap, and is acceptably reliable. For what it’s worth I have a Laptop with Windows on it that has been running for six months without a single failure, and I tend to push it a bit. It has the Windows Media Center version of XP Professional on it.
For Nick, take your time with your writing. I do some, myself, and if I get into a hurry, I don’t do as good a job as when I take my time. Having read a fair amount of your work, you have both a good support team and excellent writing skills. Don’t let the overly anxious folks who love your work get to you. Be honest to your craft.