Version: 2008

Comments on: .Mac users mock Apple slogan during outage

Downtime on Apple Computer's .Mac service has some clients taking aim at the company's "It just works" campaign.

Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 2 pages (106 Comments)
No problems here.
by Macsaresafer July 31, 2006 11:43 AM PDT
I haven't noticed any problems with my account. I had trouble
accessing it this weekend when my cable modem started acting up,
but dot Mac does require a good internet connection! ;)
Reply to this comment
hrm... I didn't have an issue
by mpitogo July 31, 2006 11:52 AM PDT
Could be BK Broiler is fictional. I use .mac regularly and didn't have
trouble accessing my account.
Reply to this comment
umm...
by Rolndubbs July 31, 2006 12:46 PM PDT
<<We are aware of the outage and are looking into it," an Apple representative said. >>

Don't think its just that guy. That being said, I doubt if it is nearly as widespread as we cnet would have us believe, but it probably is a serious issue for some.
It just works!!
by FutureGuy July 31, 2006 11:52 AM PDT
well occasionally lol
Reply to this comment
It does work and for a long time too.
by mpitogo July 31, 2006 12:05 PM PDT
I've been running Mac's for quite sometime '85. My Mac at work
has had 1 single install of Mac OS X installed since 10.0.
Through the years I've upgraded from a G4 DP 500, to G4 1.2 to
a new G5 DP 2.0. At the same time, I've also been upgrading the
OS from 10.0 ->10.1 -> 10.2 ->10.3 -> 10.4 without ever
doing a fresh install of the OS and all of my Apps. With Windows
it starts out fine the slowly goes down hill from there. I got so
fed up with Windows, I recently installed Fedora Core 5, VMware
Workstation and Windows XP. Now I do regular clones and
snapshots, just incase windows breaks and moving from my
current machine an HP nc6000 to a future machine should be as
easy as copying over my vmdk's. Mac OS X and Linux just
works! Windows mostly works.

Have you ever met a Windows user that hasn't rebuilt their
machine at least once? If they haven't is it as fast and as snappy
as when they first purchased it?
View all 2 replies
Why complain?
by Ron Stark July 31, 2006 12:20 PM PDT
I guess the complainers have nothing better to do. Why complain?
Apple folks know the stakes and they'll do their best to get the
outtage fixed. Just like the telephone company and the power
company and the cable company, and, and, and. Go do something
productive. By the time you think of it again it will be all better. No
more boo-boos.
Reply to this comment
Nice to see the hype broken...
by umbrae July 31, 2006 12:22 PM PDT
You might not call the "Mac" a "PC", but in the end they are both computers with very little seperating them.
Reply to this comment
Re: Hype broken
by newillmeister July 31, 2006 12:45 PM PDT
The best part is, this isn't a Mac vs. PC thing. It's an internet service outage, pure and simple. This has nothing to do with what brand of computer you have sitting in front of you...
View reply
Actually...
by umbrae July 31, 2006 12:29 PM PDT
I have not "had" to rebuild a Windows install since XP came out. The main problem is what software is installed. Since PC manufactures install a bunch of crap on boxes these day, these tend to cause the most problem. Install XP off a MS disk with a fresh install, and try not to install those $1 software disks and target, and it runs pretty good.

Now-a-days Windows runs just as good as Linux from an install perspective. Now crashes and reboots are another story, but that is more a software thing than an OS thing. I could write software to crash a Mac and Linux box too. :)

I would love to switch to Linux if my software compatibility met that OS. I just don't like to pay for OS's, or have them tied to my hardware.
Reply to this comment
So Windows is bullet proof as long as you don't
by Macsaresafer July 31, 2006 1:29 PM PDT
install any software on it! <sarcasm>I'll rush out and buy a PC right
away.</sarcasm> What happened to the vaunted software
advantage Windows is supposed to have?
View all 2 replies
Windows is good as long as you don't...
by mpitogo July 31, 2006 7:04 PM PDT
put it on the network and install software?!?

My apps weren't crapware/adware/spyware. All were corporate apps.
View reply
Why are Mac users so difficult?
by ss_Whiplash July 31, 2006 12:30 PM PDT
I mean, come on. The quote from the guy who is going to switch off the Mac after 20 years because he can't access a website is rediculous. The fact that he can get around via a hosts file "trick" tells me the problem is probably with his ISP, not Apple. I had the same problem accessing Citibank on my Comcast service. Turned out to be a bad DNS entry somwhere along the line.

This is the problem with creating an experience as generally seamless as Apple's... you have to deal with really indignant users when something does go wrong.

I can't wait to hear this guy scream once he switches to Windows!
Reply to this comment
I agree
by grandmasterdibbler July 31, 2006 2:14 PM PDT
Sometimes it's kind of embarassing to admit to having a Mac on
here, some of the crap that some of the fanboyswrite is incredible!
Just learn o enjoy what you have and don't try to shove it down
everyone else's throats! I love my Mac but you won't find one of my
posts claiming total superiority over everything that has ever
existed.
I agree
by grandmasterdibbler July 31, 2006 2:14 PM PDT
Sometimes it's kind of embarassing to admit to having a Mac on
here, some of the crap that some of the fanboys write is incredible!
Just learn o enjoy what you have and don't try to shove it down
everyone else's throats! I love my Mac but you won't find one of my
posts claiming total superiority over everything that has ever
existed.
View reply
I agree
by grandmasterdibbler July 31, 2006 2:14 PM PDT
Sometimes it's kind of embarassing to admit to having a Mac on
here, some of the crap that some of the fanboys write is incredible!
Just learn to enjoy what you have and don't try to shove it down
everyone else's throats! I love my Mac but you won't find one of my
posts claiming total superiority over everything that has ever
existed.
grass is always greener...
by Seaspray0 August 1, 2006 12:02 PM PDT
Observation: Somehow the grass is always greener on the other side of the septic tank... but I have noticed that mac users tend to be much more emotional, especially when it comes to anything that shows macintosh anything but perfect... and that includes criticysm. It seems apple users are good at giving it but not taking it.

Don't feel to bad about the service, things like that happen in the windows world as well. No doubt, apple will have it fixed soon enough.
Shouldn't this blog post be labelled as such?
by M C July 31, 2006 12:43 PM PDT
CNet needs to better differentiate news from commentary.
Reply to this comment
That would require...
by Hep Cat July 31, 2006 1:37 PM PDT
C|Net to actually write a story now and then. The reason you
can't tell the difference between C|Net blog posts and C|Net
stories is because there is no difference, just a starstruck bunch
of bad writers who go to every catered event around the Bay
Area congratulating their hosts on what how great their products
are.

As you can tell, Apple doesn't throw many of these kinds of
parties - and they don't buy many ads on News.com, either -
hence the moutain made out a molehill - I have NO .Mac
problems, and the ones spoken of here appear to have more to
do with certain users' ISP than anything Apple has control over.

Nice reporting once again, C|Net.
Quit using a Mac because of this?
by newillmeister July 31, 2006 12:43 PM PDT
If you're going to quit using a Mac because of an internet outage, then how about buying a typewriter for your next computer? That should suit 'BK Broiler' better, I'd think. How about this... Go get some friends, have a drink, and socialize with people FACE TO FACE. Then, once you've rejoined the human race, you can see if your .Mac account is working again. Fresh air is nice. You should try it sometime.

And for the record, my .Mac account hasn't gone down at all in, oh, maybe two years or so.
Reply to this comment
liar
by zboot July 31, 2006 6:38 PM PDT
obviously it has, or this article wouldn't exist. perhaps you don't use it as much. It is hilarious seeing the ooh it doesn't work, i'm switching to windows responses. Shows there's not that much holding ppl to macs anyway.
View reply
Not much difference?
by MTGrizzly July 31, 2006 12:48 PM PDT
Let's see - I have run a G4/400 Sawtooth since 2001, every day
with OS's from 10.1 to 10.4. Without any OS crashes. When
software crashes - and it does - the OS remains solid as a rock.
That is, essentially, five years of running an OS 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, without a crash, on what is clearly obsolete
hardware.

I recently bought a Intel Core Duo iMac and loaded Windows XP.
XP crashed three times in the first hour! and, almost
immediately, was infected with spyware and adware. (I have
never had either on any Mac I have used - the last virus I
encountered using MacOS was in the late 1990's, when I found a
copy of nVir on a piece of shrink wrapped, commercial software)
I have three other Windows machines that run half as often and
crash at least two or three times a week, per machine.

Given Apple's poor history with online services - anyone
remember eWorld? - and the low priority Apple gives these
services, it does not surprise me that .Mac is having problems.
Apple should stick to what they know and do best - OS's and
hardware.

Oh, and they should hurry up and get out a Power Mac with two
Intel Core 2 Duos! I am thirsting for PCI slots and more
computing power than ten space shuttles... LOL
Reply to this comment
as far as the windows OS goes
by techguy83 July 31, 2006 1:15 PM PDT
It makes sense to protect said Windows OS as it is the most widespread OS in the world and as such is the biggest target for spyware and such. It doesn't help that most Windows boxes come preloaded with crapware.

As far as the windows boxes crashing, I guess its a user issue, as I've never had a problem with my XP, but I tried a mac and had nothing but problems with it. :)

Thus, its all from your experience.
Actually, it sounds a little funny!
by Björn Lundahl July 31, 2006 4:01 PM PDT
When you have a PC with Windows you will have to use antivirus software and to activate the inbuilt firewall. I think it is because you are used to not protecting your computer that you have all these crashes. No company in the world would work if they experienced the same things as you do with your PCs. You also need to scan your PC from spyware now and then. If you do these things, I think that you will not have any problems.
Is it really that hard to maintain a computer?
by jojo311 July 31, 2006 5:28 PM PDT
Assuming you are running 2000 or XP.... anyone who is getting at least two or three crashes each week on a Windows computer needs to re-examine what he/she is doing. If you are having that much difficulty, you either have bad hardware, are running processes that are known to riddle your computer with spyware, or, to be quite frank, you just don't know what you are doing.
I love Mac's for their sheer beauty and for making many tasks work flawlessly, but its ridiculous to suggest that they are so much better because Windows is crash happy.
Obviously XP has its flaws when compared to OS X. If your XP box is crashing so often and littered with spyware, though, its more likely something other than XP that is at fault.
View reply
My advice on security for Windows.
by Björn Lundahl August 1, 2006 4:55 AM PDT
To be specific: I use a wireless router (D-Link, DI-524) which has an inbuilt firewall (I have a laptop HPnx7010), then I also use ?XPs own firewall?. If you do not use a router, download ?ZoneAlarm free?, which you can download here at download.com. This is one of the best firewalls you can get. The antivirus software I use is ?Bitdefender 9 Standard?. According to PC WORLD this is the best antivirus software you can get. It also gives you some protection against spyware. I use? Firefox? instead of IE. It is more secure. My anti spyware tools are ?Spyware Doctor? (costs money but belongs to the very best), ?Ad-Aware SE Personal? (free), ?Spybot-Search & Destroy? (free) and ?a-squared? (also free). The first three anti spyware tools are the most important. I think it is enough to scan the PC with these three once a week.
Best regards
Björn Lundahl
Göteborg Sweden
Hey, I forgot one important thing!
by Björn Lundahl August 1, 2006 5:15 AM PDT
You should also set your XPs configurations so it updates automatically. This is very important!
Björn Lundahl
Göteborg Sweden
No Problems Whatsoever
by George1999 July 31, 2006 12:50 PM PDT
I rarely respond to many CNET Alerts, but this story is bogus,
and I want to help set it straight.

I have used my .Mac account all weekend without any problem
whatsoever.

I'm in charge of a large family reunion website with 6 different
PC family members who successfully uploaded over 3 GB of pix
and video clips from all over the country without one hiccup
yesterday alone.

I subsequently uploaded and published 4 new completed pages
last night, and have been using my .Mac account all day today.

No problems whatsoever!

Further, there are some 150+ family members who are ALL PC
owners, and many have already reviewed the new pages, again
without ANY problems.

If there is some problem with .Mac, no one has experienced it in
our family!
Reply to this comment
Out for about an hour for me
by rcrusoe July 31, 2006 2:15 PM PDT
I did notice that my calendar and address books had failed during a
scheduled sync one afternoon. (Some changes I had made to iCal
at work hadn't shown up on my home computer)

But a short time later the changes appeared, and I haven't had any
trouble since then.
Wait for it...
by chris_d July 31, 2006 12:56 PM PDT
I'm sure there are going to be trolls in here saying "haha... macs suxorz!!!!1" But saying you're going to switch from Mac to Windows because of this is like saying you're going to dump windows because your hotmail account isn't working.

I don't use .mac, but if I had such problems and it was apple's fault (I'm not sure if it is or not at this point), I would ask for my money back. But switch to windows? Sounds a bit silly to me.
Reply to this comment
I'm Switching to Windows!
by john55440 July 31, 2006 12:57 PM PDT
Well, if I had a Mac, I would switch to Windows. :-)
Reply to this comment
Ya?
by TheShane July 31, 2006 1:01 PM PDT
If I continue to use Windows I am going to switch to Mac, for sanity reasons.
More CNET garbage
by mvora July 31, 2006 1:12 PM PDT
All .Mac users have been having problems for 4 days? Wow,
that's news to me, since I haven't had any problems.

CNET, as usual, completely distorts matters. They write the
article as if all .Mac users are having problems, when really only
a few are. Even the title is bull. One person mocking Apple ads
becomes users in general?

So a few people having problems with .Mac, which might have
nothing to do with .Mac itself and their ISP is to blame, and
CNET deems it a "Top Headline." CNET has really become a joke.
Reply to this comment
What?!?!
by advs89 July 31, 2006 1:22 PM PDT
Then why the heck do you read it?? You're wasting your time flaming a website you don't like, this style is how c|net has always been, and if you don't like it, then don't read it. It's that simple. I for one, read c|net because I want to, and don't hate it. So shut it!
View reply
"Some"
by the stove August 1, 2006 9:10 AM PDT
Not all. "Some". I respect your loyalty to .Mac, but they have
admitted that there is a problem. As one of the people who have
this .Mac problem, I am happy that CNET is making it known. I am,
however, disappointed that fellow Mac users would resort to a "kill
the messenger" attitude.
No Problems for me... LIARS!!!!!!!
by MRMOAV July 31, 2006 1:19 PM PDT
I think there are a bunch of Microsoft TROLLS in here... yes, once in
a while for 5 to 35 it may go down for me... but usually, this is
when I am sleeping... so, I don't give a rats a$$ anyhoo. Now, if I
could only get my WAMU account working again!!!!!!!
Reply to this comment
Re: No Problems for me... LIARS!!!!!!!
by jdrachmat July 31, 2006 7:37 PM PDT
There is no disputing that Microsoft also has its share of troubles, but to ignore one's own deficiencies is the start of one's downfall.

What disturbs me most is reports about very poor customer service from Apple, with flippant, arrogant and couldn't-care-less attitude responses to customers' complaints. However, judging from the fanatical responses made by Apple die-hard fans in this column, one can start to see why and how Apple staffs start to develop their corporate we-are-above-reproach attitude.
Can you say overreact?
by m.meister July 31, 2006 1:55 PM PDT
First, based on what I read -- this sounds like it may well be a
server-side issue. To me the rules for servers are different than
the rules for desktop machines so all this hyper-reacting is silly.

I also assume these folks will disconnect their cable, their
phone, and their power when they run into problems associated
with those services.

That said, Apple needs to stop being so secret about
EVERYTHING. I understand the secrecy of product releases (to a
degree). But if they a providing a service such as .Mac, there
should be a place to obtain server performance/access status
that is easily accessible to their customers.

Once they find and address the problem, they should also
explain what happened and how they are going to insure it
doesn't happen in the future.

Now is not the time to get in the cone of silence.
Reply to this comment
Right on !!
by DevinCurrie August 1, 2006 3:28 PM PDT
Yeah damn well all companies managing their server should be posting their status on their website so to keep their customer informed on what is happening.

I am not seeing enough companies doing this and I hope that the trend will change for the better.
Xp is fine
by pbxtreme87 July 31, 2006 2:16 PM PDT
why mac users seem to slag xp off so much i never know. the reason it gets viruses is nearly all viruses are written for it cuz what is the point of writing for a mac anyway. and the only reason most people get them is cuz they download stupid things anyway. only times i have had to redo my comp is when i fried it from overclocking, i did a registry tweak which didnt go to well, and those crack websites which r loaded with trojans. but all were my fault. nothing because xp is unstable
Reply to this comment
BSOD
by JulesLt July 31, 2006 3:54 PM PDT
1) Windows has more viruses both because it's more popular
and because for historical reasons it is a far more insecure
operating system than ANY Unix based system. Mac OS 9 still
had thousands of viruses, despite a tiny market share.

The thing that Windows and Mac OS 9 have in common is that
they were PERSONAL computer operating systems, that grew
features like networking and admin accounts, etc, while trying
not to break what was already there.

2) Stability. I had a Windows PC that went for 3 years with no
problems - absolutely stable. Soon as I added a couple of
components it crashed. My wife's laptop crashes all the time,
frequently resulting in total corruption of the Windows
installation - problem traced to an issue with network cards.
Point being that XP is far more susceptible to driver problems
than the approach used in OS X AND Vista.

3) I use XP and OS X every day. After a year of using OS X I can
understand why people who use it always slag off XP.
.MAC -> Apple's Weakest Link
by GymW July 31, 2006 2:25 PM PDT
When .MAC works it provides a lot of unique solutions - web
based mail w/o ads forwardable anywhere; a constant email
address independent of your ISP; backup solutions; Home Page;
etc. However all the associated problems with it severly detract
from it and keep making me question if it is worth its yearly fee.

Virus protection , when they had it was buggy to the point of
almost unusable so I have mixed feelings about them taking that
away. Virus Protection was one of their big selling points that
they took away and have never offered anything to replace it.
Why would a .Mac person need virus protection if there are no
serious viruses associated with Mac? So you don't pass a
Windows virus on to your friends when you send them files. Now
with dual boot, it is even a greater issue. Does .Mac offer a
solution as orginally promised? No.

.Mac also promises additional benefits, extras, and undefined
features that never seem to happen or are anemic when they do.
Addotionally may of these so called benefits are really nothing
more that opportunites to spend more money with Apple thinly
discused and enhancements or features. . .MAC now seems to
be charging the same for less features. And then there is the
stability issues that seem to occur at the most inconvient times.

A lot of this would be more tolerated if it wern't for the abysmal
tech support that comes with this product. Phone tech support is
simply not available even under AppleCare. Support is email
only, which is real useful if your .Mac address is not working!
The promise 48hr max responce, not very timely. But your lucky
if you get that as it is as rigorously adhered to as a well known
grocery store slogan of "threes a crowd." If you have shopped
there you know what I mean. If not, you don't want to.

When you are finally annointed with a response it is usually
"boilerplate" that often as not does not address your real issues.

Usually you have to email the problem several times and state
your problem in a number of different ways before you might
get a satisfactory answer. ,NAC suuport gives me the impression
that the staff rarely completely reads a message but they on
scan the first line or two and then copy and paste a boilerplate
response.

Often times if they don't have a boilerplate response for a
question they will send you a general boilerplate response of
common troubleshooting techniques in the hope that such
procedures and a little bit of luck will solve the problem. But you
had better not reject such a response or then next one will be
that your question is deemed inappropriate and as such will not
be answered.

Additionally for .MAC there is no escalation path for users. If you
don't like, agree with, or have an issue with an agents response
- forget it. There is no way to escalate the issue - not even in
person at MacWorld SF. Believe me, when I say I have tried and
failed. The staff that supports .MAC is untouchable, unreachable
and unappealable. Their email responses are like messages from
the Pope himself.

For what I pay for .MAC I just expect better. Instead it leaves me
with the sinking feeling that when it comes to .MAC either the
Apple Executive Management Team does not care about
the .Mac service or the customers that use it.
Reply to this comment
cost too much
by rmiecznik July 31, 2006 2:39 PM PDT
I am a loyal fan of Apple, but I do not believe it's worth the noney, it's too expensive. I bought a G5 Power Mac, $2000, I should get a .Mac account for free when I spend that kind of money, atleast for the first year and it should cost no more then $24.95 per year, the current cost is way too much.

I signed up for the 90 day free tiral and I let it expire, I don't see the benefits for the money.
.MAC :- )
by rmiecznik July 31, 2006 2:35 PM PDT
I really like Apple hardware and Mac OS X. But I think the .MAC is not a required thing for a lot of people and it costs too much money per year.

There are free email account that work very well, and rarely go down. I am a person who likes to tweak his work to fit what I need to do, and .Mac is too restrictive to advanced users like me.

Someone who is stupid and don't know anything about how servers works, HTML, a little bit of scripting, to them I am sure it is worth the money, point and lick, I mean click and you're done.

I spend $2000 on a G5 Power Mac, I should get my frist year for free, is what I am thinking, but it isn't anything but that.

This is the only area where Apple is screwing up and getting too greedy, can anyone say, Microsoft.

Other then that I am a loyal fan of Apple, but I guess 100% satisfaction is not realistic to ask these days from no one.
Reply to this comment
Not a waist
by ALPICH July 31, 2006 5:03 PM PDT
Sure you can do many things manually. you could choose to
walk, ride a bike, or catch public transport but instead we like
our own car because it gets us there faster. .mac is a little like
that because it just gets you to the end point. Sure its no F1 car
with every bit of power pushed out of it, its more like a Jaguar
where its about speed and comfort and the whole package. I am
willing to pay a premium for that so long as it suits my needs.
Also you say:
"Someone who is stupid and don't know anything about how
servers works, HTML, a little bit of scripting, to them I am sure it
is worth the money, point and lick, I mean click and you're done"

Some might argue that your sentence structure points to a
person who is a little short on smarts. Not me.

I agree with the statement regarding 1 yr free with every new
Mac. If for no other reason than they would increase their user
base and that would mean better profits from the .Mac services.

Finally what do you mean by:
"but I guess 100% satisfaction is not realistic to ask these days
from no one"

When could we ask for 100% satisfaction. If you are living on the
same planet in the same reality as I am then I think you would
find that everything is stuffed up in some way shape or form and
nothing can provide 100% satisfaction if for no other reason
than the satisfaction only lasts a short period of time. Maybe 1
day, a week, month, year or even a decade. But at some point it
looses its sparkle and we are on the hunt again for something to
fill the void... but as void fillers go I am sure that Apple will
continue to make new and short lived exciting products that I
can replace my tired ones with.
.MAC outage
by peterdom July 31, 2006 3:29 PM PDT
I've had no problems with iDisk or mail
Reply to this comment
Showing 1 of 2 pages (106 Comments)
advertisement

Latest tech news headlines

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

More feeds available in our RSS feed index.

advertisement