Apple users: as far removed from Woz as possible

Sam Varghese
Thursday, 13 December 2007 21:30

Opinion and Analysis

Next up was a change in computer name, removing all the caps and spaces and making it just one single word (as suggested by one of the few sensible posts to my first piece). But that did not make an iota of difference.

I have a MacBook (13") in the house running Leopard as well - but it displays none of these problems. The firmware of the Airport card is the same on both MacBooks and the cards themselves are the same model.

I tried zapping the PRAM and also starting up in safe mode and rebooting after that. Once again, no change...

A few posts about the problem had suggested that the DNS servers used may be to blame but that was easily ruled out as in my case I run my own DNS and get my secondary from a colleague - there's no problem with either server.

Some geniuses had suggested that I approach Apple and register for the problem to be diagnosed by an "Apple Genius." Once Australia becomes the 52nd state of the US that would be feasible, but at the moment, it is not within the realms of possibility.

Finally, I took the machine back to the dealer. He replaced it - but not because of the networking problems. He found the click bar behind the touchpad defective. As to the wireless problems, the only thing he tested was whether it would pick up wireless networks close to his dealership. That was really helpful, I must say.

Back home with the second new MacBook Pro in five days, I started from scratch again and attempted all the remedies I had already tried. Last night, I thought I had pinned things down when 45 minutes of surfing with Firefox went wthout a hitch. I installed Firefox after Safari showed all the old symptoms time and again.

But this morning things were back to square one - web pages began refusing to load and timing out even with Firefox.

Now I think I've nailed it by changing the authentication to WPA-PSK - but tomorrow may tell a different story. Some of the reports on the net, that a switch to an Apple Airport Base Station, served as a cure, are disturbing in that they nmay indicate that Apple is trying to force people to buy more of its hardware by using lock-in tactics. I only hope this isn't true.

To all those who replied to my first piece, I have this to say: Steve Wozniak is one of those I respect greatly but I don't think he ever meant to create a community of snobs around the computer he designed. He is one of the better human beings who were part of the technology revolution that has taken place over the last 30 years. The current batch of Apple users - at least most of the sample I have been exposed to - are an embarrassment to a gentleman like him.