apple: January 2008 Archives
Several months ago someone we know gave us a $25 iTunes gift card. While there were tons of songs we wanted to buy, we kept putting it off for one reason or another until tonight. After we put Brynn to bed, we made our way down to my cluttered office to enjoy a little music and download a few songs. Little did we know what we were in for.
If you want the short version of the story, it's this: I should have made the two-mile jog naked in the snow to Wal-Mart and bought the discs in person. The experience was that bad.
After entering the numbers from our gift card, Heidi went to the iTunes store and found a Colbie Caillat album she wanted. Easy enough, right? So she clicked on the Purchase Album button. I could almost smell the gin and pot on Steve Jobs' breath when a warning window popped up informing us that our version of iTunes wasn't current enough to download this particular album. Allrighty, then.
So we clicked on the upgrade button and waited. And waited. Then we got to wait a little. After what seemed like eons, the download finally started. Then we got to wait again for the 50MB+ file that would allow us to get our album.
Wait just a fucking minute! Did he just say FIFTY PLUS MEG? For a software upgrade? What the hell is in there? The album isn't even that big! Well ok, I guess if I have to. I mean it was a gift, so it's not like I'm paying for this experience. And so we waited again.
We downloaded and ran the installation file, which was no small investment of our time, and it failed. Did I mention it crashed the computer? Yeah well, it did. So I rebooted, started the download again and the installation took on the second try. Somewhere in this process, iTunes managed to ask me for my password at least four times.
But we were in. We were good. It was time to get the music. Heidi clicked the download button again, only to be taken to a terms and conditions page full of baffling legalese that I'm sure no one ever reads. So we clicked I Agree, and nothing happened, so we had to start the download again.
Finally, an hour later, our first download started. Way to go Mr. Jobs. That's a great system for collecting money you've got there. I'm not sure a KMart in Afghanistan could have manufactured a lousier customer experience. I'd probably bitch about it more, but I'm too busy burning all these songs to CD so that I can convert them to a usable format for my MP3 players.
If you want the short version of the story, it's this: I should have made the two-mile jog naked in the snow to Wal-Mart and bought the discs in person. The experience was that bad.
After entering the numbers from our gift card, Heidi went to the iTunes store and found a Colbie Caillat album she wanted. Easy enough, right? So she clicked on the Purchase Album button. I could almost smell the gin and pot on Steve Jobs' breath when a warning window popped up informing us that our version of iTunes wasn't current enough to download this particular album. Allrighty, then.
So we clicked on the upgrade button and waited. And waited. Then we got to wait a little. After what seemed like eons, the download finally started. Then we got to wait again for the 50MB+ file that would allow us to get our album.
Wait just a fucking minute! Did he just say FIFTY PLUS MEG? For a software upgrade? What the hell is in there? The album isn't even that big! Well ok, I guess if I have to. I mean it was a gift, so it's not like I'm paying for this experience. And so we waited again.
We downloaded and ran the installation file, which was no small investment of our time, and it failed. Did I mention it crashed the computer? Yeah well, it did. So I rebooted, started the download again and the installation took on the second try. Somewhere in this process, iTunes managed to ask me for my password at least four times.
But we were in. We were good. It was time to get the music. Heidi clicked the download button again, only to be taken to a terms and conditions page full of baffling legalese that I'm sure no one ever reads. So we clicked I Agree, and nothing happened, so we had to start the download again.
Finally, an hour later, our first download started. Way to go Mr. Jobs. That's a great system for collecting money you've got there. I'm not sure a KMart in Afghanistan could have manufactured a lousier customer experience. I'd probably bitch about it more, but I'm too busy burning all these songs to CD so that I can convert them to a usable format for my MP3 players.
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