How very interesting that über-celeb (and possibly former über-celeb) Oprah Winfrey has now tried to walk back a very publically-made accusation of being treated with racial bias in an expensive Swiss handbag shop in Zurich with one of those lame apologies which aren’t really apologies, more of that sniveling, ‘I’m sorry that you were offended,’ statements which are framed so as to throw blame on the offended party merely for being offended. At least, she has skipped over the second part of the pro-forma excuse and non-apology, which is usually some variant of, ‘gosh, don’t you have a sense of humor?’ Both statements of which, I am obliged to confirm, do not remove the sting that a party thus abused takes away from the experience. Or even that that such an apology has been honestly and fully rendered to the aggrieved party.
Customer Service
iTunes, Threat or Menace?
iTunes was always crap. I run the Windows version. It has inconsistent menus, disappearing menus, a different user interface on each page, a sync button here, an important checkbox there — overall an outstanding example of poor UI design.
My iTunes got corrupted and for years the text labels on most of the buttons and menu items were invisible. Some kind of font issue, I guess. I tried uninstalling, reinstalling, fiddling with Windows fonts, nothing helped. Fortunately, I remembered where the sync button was. That was all I needed, most of the time.
Then the computer that I had iTunes installed on conked out. I fixed the computer and installed a new hard drive and reinstalled Win 7 and iTunes. Works great but now it turns out that syncing doesn’t really mean syncing. I’m not sure what it means. All I know is that after I do it the file libraries on my iPod and iTunes don’t match. You can get them to match but only at the cost of deleting all of the files on your device. You cannot download files from your device to iTunes and add them to any new files you’ve acquired. It’s obvious why this is the case: Apple wants to keep people from busting the DRM on purchased files by downloading them to unauthorized computers. But Apple’s system makes life difficult for anyone who has a significant file library and replaces or upgrades his computer. There are workarounds but they are mostly a PITA for the user, and particularly for the non-tech-savvy user who replaces his hard drive or computer. This is a case where the customer doesn’t come first (though, to be fair, Apple is far from the only company that does things in this way).
Borderline Radio
(An archive post from … umm, a bit ago. I am putting together an eBook of my own posts about the military, and thought that the Boyz and fans might find this reminiscence of interest.)
Our local public radio station (which full disclosure impels me to mention that I was employed by their 24-hour classical sister station on a part-time basis until about May, 2008 although now I am so pissed at their general drift that I coldheartedly refuse to support them in their current pledge drive) aired a special some time ago ago about “border radio”— that is, a collection of radio outlets located just over the Mexican border which during the 1950ies and 1960ies— joyfully free of FCC restrictions on power restrictions, or indeed any other kind of restriction— blasted the very latest rock, and the most daring DJ commentary, on stations so high-powered they could be heard all the way into the deep mid-West and probably on peoples’ fillings as well.
Monday Morning
-Internet service not working.
-Call Comcast toll-free number to find out if there’s systemic problem. Press 2 for high-speed Internet. Ignore recorded sales pitch for pay-per-view boxing match. No mention of systemic problems. Ignore recorded suggestion to press 1 to send refresh signal to modem (tried a few days ago, ineffective). Press another button to speak to a human.
-Complain about no signal.
-Comcast rep “checks your modem” and says it’s fine (subtext: you idiot).
-Optional: Point out to Comcast rep that there are many Comcast outages, outages always Comcast’s fault, everyone knows Comcast has lousy service, tired of being lied to by Comcast, etc.
-Optional: Comcast rep’s vaguely insulting non-apology apology — “I’m sorry you feel that way, sir” etc. (subtext: Comcast’s lousy service isn’t rep’s fault, you idiot).
-Check computer. Modem works, probably because something is misconfigured in Comcast network and Comcast rep’s action refreshed dropped connection.
-Repeat every few days until Comcast fixes problem.
A Bleg on Behalf of my Dog
Connor, the middle-aged Malti-poo is at the veterinarians office today, to sort out why he has been throwing up for the last day and a half, has no appetite and is terribly lethargic. The bill for his treatment will be an unexpected expense for me … so anyone going to my book blog and purchasing copies of To Truckee’s Trail, Daughter of Texas, Deep in the Heart, or the Adelsverein Trilogy in the separate volumes will help me to square matters with the vet, and put Connor back where he belongs, sleeping peacefully under my desk.