Skip to main content

We Blindly Tick 'Accept' - But At What Cost?

Every time I plug it in, my iJobs insists I upgrade its operating system. It requires about 1GB of download to install. After weeks of nagging pop-ups I finally decided to let it run - despite the fact my iJobs has been performing 'normally' up to this point. How easily we forget the countless times in the past when we've 'upgraded' only to discover that we've unleashed system clash hell on our increasingly confused hardware, only to bitterly regret the decision, again and again. But we always hope that this upgrade will solve all our problems - like my iJobs not picking up a mobile or wifi signal perhaps - and delight us with something new and amazing. Make it a better telephone would be top of my wishlist Mr JobsV2.0 if you're reading this.

So I finally give in and click 'OK'. I need to leave it running overnight since our internet bandwidth into the house only permits the occasional lonely passing byte to squeeze down the phone line every now and again. So imagine my unbridled joy to be greeted by my iJobs saying 'upgrade complete'. I was on version 5. I'm now basking in the glories of 6.0. Not everything went well, however. Inevitably it was all too much for my BillSoft PC. It's constant fight with iJobs crashed the new and even less friendly version of iTunes I had previously 'upgraded' (whose 'new' Store, by the way, is still the most chaotic online searching experience you could possibly invent - read this).

So what's new about V6.0 and the 1GB of data I patiently waited for? Nothing. Absolutely nothing I can see except for two things. A useless app has appeared which will apparently contain American Airlines boarding passes (+ Delta or Lufthansa - all other airlines already have their own apps), or discount vouchers - which I always forget and therefore never bother with (will they ever persuade me to shop somewhere I hadn't already decided to use?).

So what else does V6.0 contain that iJobs so desperately wanted me to tick the 'I accept' box? Nothing, it would seem other than offering me the option of reading hundreds of pages of minute text written by legions of lawyers who are paid obscene amounts to make the agreement not only as impenetrable as possible, but also as much in iJobs flavour as it can possibly be without actually promising them my soul.... although I must admit I didn't read every word (has anyone? Ever?), so maybe that was also included.


Footnote. Having written the above, iJobs have issued version 6.1 after only a few days of waiting for that 1 GB of 6.0 to download. A couple of days later (after my iphone refused to update the iOS to 6.1 anyway for a reason related to "software on my phone that needs to be transferred to itunes first"... How you twats? If itunes doesn't do it automatically, there's no way to force it to happen!), I get a text from Vodafone warning me NOT to upgrade!! Now I know you'll be amazed that Vodafone managed to actually arrange for a signal to deliver a text to my phone, so perhaps it's not a surprise that it arrived several days after it should have. The text stated that iOS 6.1 fucks with iPhone 4S 3G phone signals. Clearly this is of no interest to me since my iPhone can't get one at the best of times, but it sort of proves my point that upgrading software is almost always a very bad idea.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking an interest.

Popular posts from this blog

To kill or not to kill.

Had an interesting discussion with a Muslim friend today about the ethics of killing. Could it ever be morally justifiable? Abrahamic scriptures, especially the old testament, are awash with murders and killings, some sanctioned by the prophets and assorted mouthpieces for god. Some killing is even mandatory. For example all Jews are instructed in the old Testament to kill everyone belonging to the 7 Canaanite tribes for example - Deut 20:17 , or to slaughter Amaleks, especially their children - Deut 25:19 . So accepting for a moment that these draconian instructions were written in times when tribal leaders had fewer options available to them with respect to managing miscreants and maintaining some sort of law and order, I suspect that most people today would agree that killing people is a bad thing and should not be condoned except under extraordinary circumstances. My friend and I then proceeded to try to list those circumstances. We started with self-defence or perhaps protecti...
1 comment
Read more

Phillips screws - yes I'm angry about them too

Don't get me wrong. They're a brilliant invention to assist automation and prevent screwdrivers from slipping off screw heads - damaging furniture, paintwork and fingers in the process. Interestingly they weren't invented by Mr Phillips at all, but by a John P Thompson who sold Mr P the idea after failing to commercialise it. Mr P, on the otherhand, quickly succeeded where Mr T had failed. Incredible isn't it. You don't just need a good idea, you need a great salesman and, more importantly, perfect timing to make a success out of something new. Actually, it would seem, he did two clever things (apart from buying the rights). He gave the invention to GM to trial. No-brainer #1. After it was adopted by the great GM, instead of trying to become their sole supplier of Phillips screws, he sold licenses to every other screw manufacturer in the world. A little of a lot is worth a great deal more than a lot of a little + vulnerability (watch out Apple!). My gromble is abo...
7 comments
Read more

Review of the world's first AI product launched in 1988 - Tome Searcher

I am tired of reading and hearing statements by press and politicians alike that companies like OpenAI (the creators of ChatGPT) started the AI revolution. Just today, with the announcement of the Stargate data centre project, the BBC's Verify (?!) website stated "OpenAI kicked off the AI race in 2022". I'm not claiming that a little company in London called Tome Associates Ltd, of which I was a founding director, started AI in the 1980s. There were already plenty of people exploring it around the world at the time. Indeed a project called Logic Theorist, developed in 1955 by Newell and Simon at the Rand Corporation in California, is probably the world's first AI application. But to the best of my knowledge, Tome Associates were the first company in the world to launch a commercial product based on AI... which subsequently met a resounding blank look from everyone we showed it to. People were fascinated, but confused about what to do with it (don't forget Tim ...
Post a Comment
Read more