iBook displays: Apple’s other dirty little secret
Posted on November 30, 2003
Filed Under Macintosh | 1 Comment
No, this is not about the iPod’s battery life.
It seems that if you have a white iBook, it’s not a matter of if you’ll lose the display. It’s just a matter of when.
Previously, I had a 500 Mhz 12″ iBook. I stupidly didn’t get AppleCare on it and the backlight went out after 18 months. Rather than spend $400+ on repair, I purchased a G3/800 12″ iBook, this time with AppleCare. This evening, I opened the iBook and the display was dead. I restarted, and the gray Apple came up. Before it even had time to switch to the blue startup screen, the display filled with horizontal lines, flickered a few times and went black. That was it. No matter what I do, I can’t get the display to come up again. I hear a good startup chime, I can hear the drive working as it boots but the screen is dark. Eric also had a 500 Mhz iBook with a bad display.
Tomorrow I have an 8 am meeting after I drop off the girls, and then it looks like I’m taking a drive to White Plains to put the computer in for repair. Thanks goodness for AppleCare as it’s about 12 months and 2 weeks old.
The Apple Discussion forums show that this is a very common issue. Luckily I don’t have any important files on the iBook and while inconvenient, I can live without it for a few days. I find it amazing that Apple hasn’t acknowledged this problem yet. 98% of the posts in the forum are for this very issue, it’s been going on for years, and there’s not a single technote about it. Personally, I know I’ll never purchase another iBook and I won’t recommend one to anyone else until I’m convinced Apple has dealt with this issue.
She can be a sweetheart when she wants to be
Posted on November 28, 2003
Filed Under Kids | Comments Off
Yesterday, we spent Turkey day with my Mom. It was a quiet, low-key day. My aunt & uncle were there too (they’re temporarily living with Mom). We had an early feast and got home by 6 pm. While I was there, I upgraded Mom’s computer to Panther, and converted her from Palm Desktop to iCal/iSync. Mom has a 15″ G4/700 iMac. There was a noticeable speed increase under Panther and Mom noticed a lot of bugs were fixed in Mail (messages that wouldn’t forward before, unexplained crashes and inconsistencies)
This morning during breakfast, out of nowhere Emily informed me “I’m thankful for my grandma. I’m thankful she gave me a kitten coloring book (yesterday). I’m thankful for all she does for me and I love when she kisses me and I love her with all my heart.” I knew hearing that would make Mom’s day so I called her at work and had Emily repeat it, which she did (remember, she’s only 5).
Apple shopping event on Friday
Posted on November 26, 2003
Filed Under Macintosh | Comments Off
Sorry, Apple. It’s going to take a lot more than dog-tags, magnetic poetry, wrapping paper or whatever little freebie you’re handing out to get me in a Mall on Friday.
Thanksgiving Balloon Parade
Posted on November 25, 2003
Filed Under Misc. | 1 Comment
Guess what? I’m not talking about Macy’s. It just so happens that Stamford, Connecticut hosts the largest Thanksgiving balloon parade in the country with 22 balloons, and it gets the second largest attendance next to Macy’s. At least according to a few websites. Letterman announcer Alan Kalter served as the MC (he’s a member at my synagogue and a very nice guy…we even ran into him at Costco once). This year’s parade was last Sunday, and I finally got around to downloading the images from my camera.
In previous years, Eric “worked” the parade as a balloon handler for UBS. This year, because he was out of town during the training he couldn’t participate so he got to enjoy the parade from the sidelines with the girls and me.
Our local newspaper estimates that over 400,000 people attended this year’s parade, due to the absolutely beautiful weather.
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Awwwww…how nice of him
Posted on November 25, 2003
Filed Under Macintosh | 1 Comment
Eric is home sick today. He’s got a bit of a cold (and two days before Thanksgiving, he can get away with it). I’m listening to iTunes through my G5’s internal speaker. I can’t stand to use headphones when I’m working, for some reason. Makes it harder to concentrate than when the sound is not directly on my ears. “Quite tinny” he says. So he’s using his $20 .Mac renewal coupon on JBL external speakers for me. Isn’t that sweet? I used my $20 coupon towards an iSight for his sister, so I guess it all comes around. 
