Lockhart at Liberty

The Great Chase Rip-off

2010-05-03T14:21:00.001-04:00

Here's something that will drive you crazy, another one of life's little indignities.

You may not be aware that there is a regulation by the Federal Reserve that you can only make 6 transfers between your savings and checking account within a statement period. Transfers made at the ATM are exempt. It's referred to as Regulation D. You can read more about it here.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, must feel that after the banking crisis, there is some perverse need to get even more money from his customers in the form of hidden bank fees. Chase, with no announcement to its customers, decided to limit the number of transfers allowed under Reg D to 4 per statement cycle and to include ATM transfers as part of that number.

Think about this carefully. You are being charged a fee for transferring your own money between your own accounts. It is bad enough to have the Federal Reserve's misguided Regulation D which limits transfers to 6 per month, but totally ridiculous that Chase limits it to only four, and then eliminates the ATM exemption.

I ended up at Chase after Washington Mutual was absorbed by them. I am not going to accept this type of limitation by Chase so that they can simply charge me another fee. I called the bank today and was able to get it reversed for this statement cycle, but I'll be damned if I intend to stay a Chase customer and help feed their coffers with fees that are designed to annoy and harass their customers.

I realize it will make no difference to their bottom line, but I'm going to shop around for a bank that at least follows Reg D and doesn't try and use it as an excuse to charge a trivial fee just to annoy its customers and pocket a few extra dollars. I'll repost my findings about which banks are adhering to Reg D and which have decided on their own fee schedule.

The Great Pickle Experiment!

2009-10-17T14:55:00.001-04:00

Those of you who know that I moved to Florida from New York City also know that one of the things I miss down here is food. As an example, I can't seem to find a good, sour garlic pickle. Criminal! Worse, Ba Tampte and Schoors have stopped making them, or at least they're not stocked in Publix. What the... Surely I can't be the only one who loves these sour, garlicky treats with a sandwich, or as a snack.

Dire situations call for drastic measures! I have done extensive research and found a sour garlic pickle recipe. I made my first batch today, but won't have the results for about a week. I will report back on my success, or lack thereof, and be happy to share this recipe once I'm sure it's a success.

Stand by pickle lovers!! More to come!

Comcast delivers

2009-10-17T14:39:00.001-04:00

I've been holding off on writing this post because I thought my good experience with Comcast customer support might just be a one-time event. It turns out, it isn't. These guys are damn good at it.

It starts with answering the phone. Such a simple thing, folks, but these people actually answer the phone promptly.

Once they do, they solve the problem. From placing an order to replacing my cable box with a PC card (I own a Tivo HD), or installing a cable modem, they've been helpful every time.

A few months ago I sent an e-mail inquiring when more HD channels would be available. I got a personal phone call from HQ to discuss what they're doing and when to expect more HD programming.

Last night I was unable to get a few of my premium channels, I called, they reset the cable connection remotely and everything was fixed! Time spent: under 3 minutes.

I know I'm quick to rag on someone when they do badly, but I want to make sure that I acknowledge best-in-class service. I don't know what it's like elsewhere in the country, but in South Florida, Comcast customer service is the clear winner over DirecTV.

Garmin is a real disappointment

2009-07-20T14:56:00.001-04:00

Last week my Garmin 765T GPS went dead because of a firmware update that I installed from Garmin. Their instructions were to send it in, at their expense, and the unit would (presumably) be repaired.

So don't you think if the reason an expensive piece of electronics turned into a doorstop was because the software you issued was faulty that you'd bend over backwards to get the unit replaced? Don't you think this would be true, especially if you represented yourself as the premier maker of GPS units for automotive, aviation and marine use?

You'd be disappointed. In my opinion, these units that became dysfunctional should have been hot-swapped. Garmin should have sent out a new unit and I would have returned the old one. This is what Apple did when they found out the 3G power adapter was faulty. This is what HP did when my Photosmart went bad. In fact, this is what any manufacturer would do who had half a concern for their customers.

What's happened is that they issued free ground shipping to, first, return the unit to Garmin, then wait to find out when they intend to ship the replacement. (For the record, I'm still waiting. No communication yet although UPS confirmed the delivery of the returned unit last week.)

I use my GPS in business as I travel the country. It's not a convenience to me, it's a necessity. That's why I bought a high-end device like the 765T. You'd think that a customer like that would receive at least a modicum of communication from Garmin, but apparently this would cost too much or is simply too much trouble.

It is Garmin's failure of their Q&A process that caused the problem in the first place. Unfortunately, it's now become my headache because of their decision not to hot swap these units.

So now I wait. And wait. Clearly they are swamped with the return of hundreds, maybe thousands, of units and have decided not to hire any additional help on to handle the load. I suspect that's because they simply don't want to spend the money on something that was percipitated by their carelessness in not having the appropriate Q&A for checking software. Then again, I'm just a customer, who spent hundreds of dollars on this unit. Who the heck am I to complain!!

My advice? Think twice before buying a Garmin GPS. One month ago I would have recommended them on the basis of having owned three of Garmin's GPS'. Today I'd tell you that I never had to use their tech support before, and I realize now that profit at Garmin far outweighs the customer, even in a situation where Garmin is the perpetrator of the problem.

Caveat emptor.

My vote for product of the year!

2009-04-20T16:32:00.001-04:00

I know it's only mid april, but I am awed by a product that I stumbled across yesterday at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's a portable back scratcher!

Folks, if you've ever needed to scratch your back and used a tree, wall, or any of a million other bizarre surfaces, then you'll know that a back scratcher is a one-of-a-kind appliance.

Until recently, conventional back scratchers had two drawbacks. First, they were usually only available in the China Town. Don't ask me why that's true, since I have a very itchy back and can guarantee you that I don't have a drop of Oriental blood in me. Second, they are always about 18" long, made from plastic or wood, and therefore don't exhibit a great deal of portability. In other words, the damn thing is never there when you need it.

This puppy collapses like a portable antenna with a claw on the end. It even has a pocket clip!! It's also just sharp enough to give your back that satisfying scratch without drawing blood. It fits comfortably in a purse, backpack or briefcase and is always ready when the itch strikes you.

I LOVE THIS THING!!

My congratulations go out to Smart Inventions, who markets this device. You have my uncontested vote for Product of the Year, 2009 from a grateful, itchy-backed devotee of back scratchers.

BTW, I notice on the packaging, it's made in China. Hmmmmm.

Correction to my blog on the Kindle

2009-03-07T11:11:00.001-05:00

My thanks to Bob Edelman who corrected me on the synchronization issue. It can be turned off, albeit from the Amazon website, and not on the device.

Thanks, Bob!

Great News About the Amazon Kindle

2009-03-04T12:25:00.001-05:00

Today, a story in the NY Times revealed that Amazon has just released a new app called the Kindle for iPhone. Folks, I love this app! I can now read the books of my choice on my iPhone purchased from the huge inventory of ebooks at Amazon. Sweet!

There are two limitations. First, it is only good for books, not periodicals. Some of you may know that the Kindle allows you to subscribe to a newspaper or magazine and have it delivered automatically to your Kindle. I don't care about magazines or newspapers on the Kindle iPhone app or on the Kindle itself. I'm only interested in books, so that's not a limitation for me.

Second is that you have to make your book purchases on-line at the Amazon website. The iPhone app won't allow you to download them on the fly as the Kindle does. While this is slightly inconvenient, it is definitely not a showstopper.

This is a great way to read on my iPhone, whose form factor I like better than the Kindle. With the iPhone I can catch a few pages whenever I'm waiting in a checkout line, on the subway or bus, or just have a few minutes to spare while having lunch. Since the Kindle isn't easy to have in your pocket, I far prefer the iPhone.

There are several other readers on the iPhone, including the much-loved Classics and Stanza, as well as the newly released ShortCovers. None, however, have the depth of content that the Kindle for iPhone app does, including best sellers and classics.

There is also a feature of this new app called WhisperSync that synchronizes the Kindle to the iPhone, and visa versa. So, if you've started a book on the Kindle, then start to read it on your iPhone, they will both be bookmarked in the same spot. Very cool!

Which leads me to the one suggestion I have for the iPhone app. I'd like the option of turning WhisperSync off on the iPhone. I own both a Kindle and an iPhone. My wife uses the Kindle while I use the iPhone. If we're both reading the same book, but we're at different places, WhisperSync can inadvertently make her lose her place since it will try and bookmark my position to hers, and visa versa. As a workaround, I've made sure that she keeps wireless turned off on the Kindle so it can't connect with the Kindle store, but I'd still like the option of turning it off.

Maybe in the future Amazon will figure out how to sell content via the App Store as well. For now, however, I am a VERY happy camper.

What Was I Thinking!!!

2009-02-22T19:09:00.001-05:00

I've owned a Soundbridge M500 for the last few years and used it to stream content from my computer to my stereo. Think Rhapsody, iTunes, etc. Well, the other day it died and went to Soundbridge heaven, which led me to research what would be the best replacement. I finally decided to take the plunge and order a Squeezebox Classic. Those of you who know me know that I don't take these steps lightly! Well folks, it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. What was I thinking in not getting this device before!?

If you're looking to stream music to your sound system from a subscription service or from your computer (iTunes), the Squeezebox Classic is awesome. The first advantage is that it is totally controlled from a variety of sources. You can use the remote that comes with the Classic, you can use your computer or you can use your iPhone. The Classic doesn't use Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) to stream Rhapsody, it is a receiver itself and has wireless built in. Once it is set up, it logs into Rhapsody itself. You can control what it streams to your sound system from any of the devices I mentioned above. The second major advantage is that the free software supplied by Logitech, who now owns Squeezebox, allows you to do whatever you need from a web browser on your computer, and it is works like a champ.

Rather than my going on and on about this device, I would urge you to go to the Squeezebox site to read what this thing can do. The only choice you have is whether to buy the Classic or the Duet. Every day I own it I am blown away by what it can do. I am absolutely going to get another one so I can control music separately in another room.

So for the third time, what was I thinking by not doing this before!!

A follow-up to SkyGolf

2009-02-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine asked what the outcome was of the SkyGolf story I posted on February 9th. They finally answered the phone after being on hold for an hour and they were able to resolve my problem. The agent was extremely contrite and apologized profusely for my inconvenience He said that because of the launch of their redesigned website—which they had thought would be a relatively inconsequential upgrade—they got bombarded with calls.

I submitted the URL to the original blog via their website and I was subsequently contacted by the Manager of Support via email. He also explained the situation and avowed that this definitely wasn't the norm for their company. He offered me an accessory for my SkyCaddie as an apology. I turned it down, but thought it was a nice gesture.

As for moving forward, my advice is that if you're buying an expensive piece of technology like a SkyCaddie, call their support number before you make the purchase and see how long it takes them to answer the phone. Ditto for email if that's your preferred method of communication. It is definitely part of my pre-sales routine. For top-notch technical support, check out Canon and Panasonic. They both set the bar for customer-facing help desks.

For what it's worth, I like the Sky Caddie and think it does what it's supposed to. (Now if only my game was improved!) I just live in hope that I don't have to call anyone back!

SkyGolf-another terrible customer service experience

2009-02-09T19:38:00.001-05:00

Here's another vendor who is proving that a customer comes dead last in their list of priorities. Here's my experience in trying to get help with one of their products.

I recently decided to invest in a Skycaddie SG5, a top of the line GPS for golf. I've had a problem with the unit since I purchased it, and today finally decided that there must be a problem with the unit and not the user. As I write this, I've tried to get through to the tech support number 3 times today.

The first time the recording informed me that the queue was so full that they wouldn't even put me in the wait queue and promptly hung up. Hung UP! On a customer! Bet you don't do that in your business!

The second time, I was on hold for 30 minutes, listening to a recording telling me that they'd just launched a new web site and that call volume was higher than normal. They thanked me for my "... commitment and loyalty to SkyGolf." Are they kidding?? After this experience!

The third time I've been on hold for 45 minutes and am writing this as I listen to this unbelievably annoying recording repeat every 30 seconds. Has it not occurred to this vendor that if you've just launched a new web site, and that your abandon rate and average time to answer are through the roof that you need more agents!

This is another example of a company deciding that customer service is just an expense and that the customer will just have to suffer through it. How about management pitching in and answering the phones? How about taking a message and offering to schedule a call-back? Both of those methods would greatly increase customer satisfaction at virtually no cost.

So, the takeaway is that if you're considering purchasing any SkyGolf product, consider a Garmin instead. If you encounter a problem with your SkyCaddie, you'll never be able to get through to them, and you'll be out over $350 for a product you can't even use.

As for me, it's getting late, and I'm afraid they'll close their Help Desk on me after my waiting on the phone for one hour. That would send me over the deep end, so I think I'll just waste some more of my time tomorrow.

The Inauguration

2009-01-20T07:03:00.001-05:00

While yesterday was Martin Luter King Day, I couldn't help but think this morning, on the eve of the inaugural, what a legacy this also is for Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General who started the civil rights movement. It brings extraordinary meaning to his death. Today, I am really awed at being an American, and how this country is a living, breathing organism, that morphs from the racially separated nation where I grew up, to the racially integrated country it is today, where a black man gets elected President. And all in my brief lifetime.

I already know that today will be one of the greatest days I will ever live through, one that I will remember until I die. Historic times, my friends.

New iPhone App for NPR

2008-12-23T13:21:00.001-05:00

One of the things missing for the iPhone is the ability to access NPR in order to listen to All Things Considered, Fresh Air, etc. AOL Radio is a great tool for broadcast radio, but it doesn't include any NPR stations. Public Radio Tuner, a new iPhone app, is a step in the right direction to fill that need. While it focuses a bit too much on classical music streaming, and not enough on news and commentary, it is definitely a giant step in the right direction. Unfortunately, many regions of the country are poorly represented. As an example, this app is still missing WXEL and/or WLRN from south Florida, which is where I live.

Personally, I think the folks who run NPR are missing an obvious bet in not enthusiastically and aggressively pursuing the iPhone as a distribution mechanism. I'd pay a modest subscription rate to hear either of the south Florida stations streamed to my iPhone. Another alternative is to stream it for free, with a :30 fund raising plea every time you start it up, which would be removed once you agreed to subscribe or became a member.

As to additional features, this app could really benefit from a location finder (the nearest NPR station would be helpful for those of us who travel) as well as a favorites list in order to return to a preferred list of stations.

For now, a valiant effort for version 1, and certainly the best out there. Let's hope that NPR wises up to the potential that iPhone distribution holds, and that the developer keeps plugging away at this much-needed app. As for me, I'm not going to renew my public radio membership until the two south Florida stations wise up. How else can I get their attention other than to speak with my checkbook?

BTW, Public Radio Tuner is a free app, so it's worth a try to see what you think!

Let the Big Three fend for themselves

2008-11-22T09:42:00.001-05:00

I've watched my 401K evaporate over the last couple of months, and the problems of the economy will irrevocably change the remaining years of my life. Nonetheless, I am convinced that we need to let the unsavory part of capitalism play out, just as we do during the boom times, and not bail out GM, Ford or Chrysler. It's part of the price we pay for embracing our economic philosophy. In the long run, we'll be better without the Big Three if they can't be competitive in a world marketplace, even if the short term pain is great. Remember Pan Am and Eastern Airlines? They were the giants of their industry as well, but the airline industry became stronger and more competitive without them.

It is the excesses and poor management decisions that have been made for the last two decades that have led the Big Three to this precipice. Simply giving them money will elongate the pain, not solve the problem, and it won't suddenly instill a vision of how to restructure their companies to be profitable.

While the issue of flying to a Congressional hearing in a private jet to claim you're broke is largely symbolic, it shows poor judgment at the very least, and at worst demonstrates that GM, Ford and Chrysler honestly don't get the message that they're out of step with the times and the current global economy, and in particular, their competition. No doubt the type of changes that would have to be put in place for them to be competitive in the global automotive market are draconian, and would clearly have a dire financial effect on their current employees and pensioners, and hence the economy as well. So would going out of business, which is what they're threatening will happen. The Big Three need to take these very painful steps to once again become competitive. Let them show their sincerity and intent by biting the bullet and restructuring their companies regardless of the horrible pain it would inflict. Then, and only then, should Congress even consider any financial assistance.

Symantec Anti Virus versus Intego Virus Barrier

2008-11-19T07:44:00.001-05:00

I use my Mac in a corporate environment and so don't have a choice of whether or not to run an AV client. With thousands of computers on our network, the security folks don't want to take even the slightest risk, and I don't blame them.

Symantec Anti-Virus (SAV) Corporate edition is our standard, and I dutifully ran it on my MacBook for the last two years. I came to hate the way it would trigger AutoProtect and start consuming CPU resources for apparently no reason. That in turn would heat up the CPU and start the fan going, which on the last generation MacBook sounded like a jet plane APU. This was especially true when I did a SuperDuper backup. I'd come back to the computer and the fan would be going at full speed until I either disconnected the backup drive or shut off AutoProtect.

I just upgraded to the new 15" MacBook Pro and decided it was time to try another AV client. After doing my research, I decided to switch to Intego. The difference is night and day.

This is a totally non-obtrusive product that just lives in the background. In my research, I read comments that state that there's really nothing to find on a Mac and that the Mac doesn't suffer from viruses or trojans like Windows. That may in fact be true. If, however, you're required to run an AV client, or you just plain don't want to take chances, my initial reaction to VirusBarrier X5 is that it's a better designed product. What I'd really like to see is an empirical study as to which product identified viruses most effectively. What I read in most reviews of SAV and VirusBarrier was simply anecdotal evidence that they found viruses. If I'm going to run an AV client on a Mac, at the very least, I want to know which one is really the most effective at identifying and wiping out the few viruses that may exist on a Mac.

The Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse

2008-11-13T15:17:00.001-05:00

I've owned two of these mice for over a year now. I keep one at home and the other at my office, and I really like them. They're the right heft and feel for a mouse, and the best implementation of Bluetooth I've seen for an input device. They look pretty jazzy too! I found them to be a great accessory for my old black MacBook and now my new late 2008 15" MacBook Pro.

I have two things I'd caution potential buyers about that you might not know. The first is that the scroll ball eventually picks up dust and oil from your fingers and will stop working. Since this mouse can't be disassembled, the only way to fix this is with a lint free cloth and a bit of alcohol. The ball needs to be aggressively rubbed in all directions to get it and the underlying contacts clean. On one mouse this worked, but on the other it still has something that is keeping it from being optimal in the down direction. It works, kind of, but clearly not as well as when I bought it.

Second, if you're older and/or arthritic, the side keys, which by default are programmed to use Expose, are a bit stiff and require some force. If you have weakness using your thumb and third finger, you'll have difficulty using this feature.

One last hint. If you do as I did and buy two of these mice for two different locations, you can pair both of them with your Mac. Only the last one used, however, will automatically mate at logon. If you need to change from one mouse to the other because you're changed location, simply left-click the mouse at the logon screen, wait one second, and the mouse will be auto-paired with the computer. I can't tell you how long that took me to figure out, and no one in the Apple discussions group could answer the question!

The New 15" MacBook Pro rocks!

2008-10-26T16:43:00.001-04:00

I've only had it since Friday, but my first impression of the brand new 15" MacBook Pro is all positive! This is a laptop that finally has the right horsepower combined with the right graphics cards. I can now run lots of applications simultaneously, including a virtual machine, and not have the fan kick on. That noise made my old MacBook sound like an auxiliary power unit on an airplane. The same good news is also true for watching Flash files: the computer handles them beautifully without any strain on the graphics card and no fan noise. I installed Vista Ultimate in Boot Camp to see how it would run, and it is blazingly fast. In short, performance is as good as I've ever seen on a MacBook, approaching the iMac. Lastly, the LED display is beautiful and the construction, fit and finish set a new standard for excellence.

More to come after I've had a chance to play with it for a couple weeks, but my initial opinion? This was one upgrade that was worth it!

The iPhone 2.1 update

2008-09-15T17:24:00.001-04:00

I've had the weekend to live with the 2.1 update, and offer the following comments.

1. Searching for Contacts is improved, but if you have a lot of entries--I have about 3,000--there is still a great deal of latency in either searching for a contact or addressing an email. Ironically, Google app is far faster in finding someone than searching Contacts. Go figure!

2. Battery life is somewhat improved, but not by a lot. If you're a heavy phone and email user, and you're stuck using 3G, count on the fact that you're going to run out of power in a short period of time. One trick is to shut 3G off if you're just making phone calls. Assuming you are just waiting for mail to arrive, shut off wireless and 3G and live with Edge. Your battery life will be greatly improved. Then, when you're finished, turn only one or the other back on, depending on your location and access to wireless.

3. I realize that the iPhone is a new paradigm in computing, but there are still some important, essential features missing.

Copy and paste: essential
Voice dialing: essential
Autotext: essential

4. Someone has to come up with a way to synchronize the notes created on the iPhone with the notes in either Entourage or Mail. I've used a Blackberry for years, and love that the notes I've created in Outlook sync perfectly. What's the point of having this capability on the iPhone if you can't have them on your computer and handheld.

5. AT&T continues to be the biggest problem with the iPhone. I still have to carry a Verizon phone because I can't afford to be out of touch. Time and again I'll find a location where AT&T shows no bars, and Verizon has a strong connection. I rarely see the opposite. (More bars in more places. More bullshit.)

My comments are based on extensive use in S. Florida, and NYC and Westchester County. I travel extensively, however, and find my statement above to be true regardless of where I am.

We're movin' in the right direction...I just wish the train were moving faster!

Beware of giving your credit card to DirecTV

2008-08-05T14:53:00.001-04:00

Make absolutely sure you do not have a credit card on file for DirecTV. If you do, you are putting yourself in real jeopardy. You'll stand the chance of being auto-billed for charges that you don't agree with, and reversing them is time consuming and contentious. Read on.

After having DirecTV High Definition service for the last 18 months, our HD reception stopped working. The picture would pixilate, or worse, display a "Searching for satellite, 771" error. At first we thought something was blocking the dish reception, or that we had moisture on the LMB, none of which proved to be true. I called DirecTV Customer Service and they dispatched a technician.

After the tech analyzed the problem, he claimed that it was our DirecTV DVR that was the problem, and swapped it out for a new one. One week later the problem was back. The technician returned to our house and claimed that the problem was actually with our Samsung DLP TV, not the DVR, and that it was putting out an "...unacceptable amount of voltage" and destroying the functionality of the recorder. He refused to replace the DVR again, and referred me to his supervisor. His supervisor repeated the same story and said he would not keep replacing the DVR until we had the TV fixed.

I didn't buy his story, but decided to at least call Samsung and check it out. "Poppycock", they said. If the output connections were carrying excess voltage, the TV simply wouldn't work. Based on their explanation and DirecTV's refusal to fix the problem, I reluctantly decided to cancel DirecTV. After all, they were unable to deliver the service we paid for, even though it had been working just fine for 18 months.

Here comes the shocker.

They agreed to cancel the service, but claimed we owed them an early termination fee of $460 due to the fact that they had just given us a new DVR 1 week ago. I should note here that we paid monthly maintenance on all this equipment so I assumed that it was covered. It turns out it is covered, hence no charge for a new DVR. Nonetheless, without being forewarned, accepting a new DVR obligated me to a new 2 year agreement.

Of course, I'm disputing the charge with DirecTV and American Express. I just want to make sure that everyone understands how deceptive DirecTV can be. Had I been told that I was obligated to 2 more years, I never would have accepted the new equipment.

Caveat emptor!

What's Up With Technical Support and E-Mail?

2008-02-21T17:57:00.001-05:00

I'm really baffled that vendors of all sorts accept e-mail support requests but take days to return and answer them. Not only is e-mail a great way to communicate when you don't have time to hang on the phone, it's a truly great way for a vendor to save money. The person responding just needs a computer, access to the company's knowledgebase and a data connection to the Internet. No office space, no free coffee, and home workers cost less than on-premise workers. Distance workers are willing to accept less money than their commuting cousins because they have the privilege and convenience of working from home. In fact, the savings can be even greater since they don't need to be in the same state as their employer so they can hire people at the lowest possible wage differential. It costs less to hire someone in Boise than in New York, but they're just as trainable and just as smart.

So how come e-mail technical support is so poor? Why is it that at worst it takes an hour to get a technical support rep on the phone and it takes days to get one to return an e-mail? These are people who've asked us to purchase their product, and when we try and contact them in a manner they should be excited about, they ignore us. What am I missing?

The problem gets even worse with shareware or freeware. In this case the phrase caveat emptor comes to mind. If a developer gives out their e-mail address for technical support questions that aren't answered by FAQs or other documentation, why don't they answer e-mail support questions from your users? Really, what gives?

I sell on Ebay, and when I get an e-mail with a question about an item, I answer it immediately. Not only am I motivated to make the sale and get their money, but I want to demonstrate that I'm acting responsibly and professionally and that if they buy from me they can have a certain level of trust that the item is what I say it is. When software companies and shareware developers don't answer e-mail, it just indicates a level of disdain or unprofessionalism. Either way, I scratch them off of my vendor list for any future purchases.

If you've had the same experience with vendors, maybe you need to do the same.

Mac Office 2008 a major disappointment

2008-02-03T18:05:00.001-05:00

I am just appalled that after 4 years, Mac Office 2008 is the best that the dedicated Mac business unit at Microsoft could offer. Other than the fact that it now runs native to an Intel Mac, the lack of improvement is stultifying! Entourage is the biggest disappointment. Here are some examples.

The following is a little thing, but indicative of the carelessness that went into the interface for the program. Why would you offer a toolbar icon for Mark Read and not offer an icon for Mark Unread. In Outlook 2007 Mark Unread is such a used feature that it is now hard-coded on the message ribbon!

Why is the Remove button still dimmed even though the command to Remove All Attachments exists under the Message menu.

There is still no support for archiving using PST files.

Still no Notes compatibility with Exchange.

There is still no Insert Item choice as there is in Outlook. Each item attachment has to be done in a separate e-mail.

Many alert sounds don't work in Leopard. The newsgroups are awash with complaints about this. How could that problem have gotten through beta?

How about the sync problem with Blackberrys? E-mail deleted from Entourage will not delete from a Blackberry device as it does from Outlook. To add insult to injury, Pocket Mac will no longer sync with Entourage, and this is apparently by design! Does MS expect everyone to migrate to Windows Mobile?

Another surprise is LDAP. Outlook tunnels LDAP over port 80. That means if you try and address an e-mail to someone not in your Contacts list, Outlook will still be able to resolve it with the GAL, even if you’re connected to Exchange over the Internet. This same functionality was missing from Entourage 2004 and is still missing from 2008.

As detailed by David Pogue in his review of Office 2008, macros no longer work. It is now necessary to use Applescript to accomplish whatever shortcuts you created with macros in 2004.

Entourage still doesn’t support forwarding for complex HTML. If I have an e-mail that contains a lot of formatted HTML, it will be reduced to nothing but links and text when I try and forward it. This is particularly surprising considering that Outlook has no problem doing this, and has had the capability for the last few releases.

Lastly, I'm experiencing sudden shutdowns of Entourage. (We're sorry, but Entourage...) In other words, PC behavior on a Mac! Considering that it is now running native to the Mac OS and not in emulation, Entourage should be more stable than the previous version, not less.

I haven't had as much time to review Word, Excel and Powerpoint, but if they're anything like Entourage, they're going to be major disappointments. For now, if e-mail functionality is important in your computer usage, you'll still need to use Parallels or Fusion to run Outlook. The new version of Entourage is barely more functional than Entourage 2004.

What a shame.

Another Reason to Use a Mac

2007-12-29T08:34:00.001-05:00

I think that part of being a satisfied owner of a car is how well you're treated by the dealer. If the car is terrific but the service is awful, the ownership experience will be awful as well.

Based on a recent service incident with my laptop, Apple proved why they are number one as my choice of computer vendor.

I own a few Macs, including a black MacBook. I've had it about 18 months and live on the thing. I travel extensively with it and use it daily for business. Unfortunately, from a hardware standpoint, it hasn't been the most reliable machine I've ever owned. It needed a new motherboard within the first year, a new Bluetooth antenna, and a battery replacement. The other day, it started to freeze up on me and its behavior became erratic, forcing constant reboots.

Luckily, I have Apple Care on this machine, and took it to the Apple Store in Boca Raton. The store was mobbed with post-Christmas shoppers, but they took me at the Genius bar as a standby customer and I was waited on promptly. Rob Allan, who was my Genius, diagnosed it as needing yet another new motherboard and an Airport card. When I received it back several days later, I was told that it also looked like my hard drive was going bad because the machine wouldn't boot from the internal hard drive after they had installed the new motherboard and Airport card.

I was really skeptical about the hard drive as I'd just upgraded it to a new Hitachi 200 gb 7200 rpm drive just a couple months before, and it was operating perfectly and not suspected as part of my problem when the machine was first diagnosed. When I got the machine home, I booted it from an external drive which contained a backup and noticed two things. First, the computer was showing that no Airport card was installed at all, and the internal hard drive wasn't even showing up as an installed piece of hardware. Even a bad hard drive should show up under System Profiler, and the Airport card was supposed to have been replaced.

So, back to the Apple Store, which was still mobbed with customers. I quickly found my Genius, who immediately dropped what he was doing, took my computer into the back, and ten minutes later told me that rather than trying to keep repairing my MacBook, Apple was going to give me a new one.

Here's the important part. The MacBook they replaced it with was the current shipping model, new (not refurbished), and with the same amount of RAM I had in my old MacBook, even though the original MacBook had third party memory from CDW—where the computer was purchased—and not Apple OEM RAM. After a short time to complete the paperwork, I had my new computer and old hard drive. I went home, installed the drive that they told me might be bad, and voila, the drive was just fine and all of my data was alive and well.

While I'm certainly not enthusiastic about how unreliable my original MacBook was, I'm really impressed with Apple's behavior during this problem, as well as with the professionalism of Rob Allan, the Genius I dealt with. After being given a chance to fix the computer, there wasn't any hesitation about replacing it when the repair was unsuccessful, and the computer I received from Apple was a brand new MacBook that was equal to or better than what I had. I also didn't have to wait for it to be shipped to me. It was replaced on the spot, at the Apple Store, even though my company originally purchased it through CDW. This is a work computer, and it was critical that I get back up and running asap since I was scheduled to start traveling again shortly after the holidays. I really couldn't wait for the computer to be shipped to me.

Of all the Macs, iPods and the iPhone I've owned, this is the only troublesome piece of equipment I've had. To their credit, Apple always promptly repaired it when required, and when it finally became obvious that this computer wasn't going to be easy to fix, they replaced it under the Apple Care agreement, and at their suggestion. Based on this behavior, I can guarantee two things. First, I'll remain a loyal Apple customer. Second, I'd advise everyone to invest in Apple Care for their computer. While it might not make sense for a Nano, it absolutely makes sense for an expensive computer, and from my recent experience, Apple lives up to their end of the bargain.

Thanks, Apple, for living up to your repair/replacement agreement, and thanks Rob for the professionalism and understanding you showed during this transaction. I'm now busily back at work on my MacBook, and you can count on me to be a Mac customer moving forward!

Mac vs. PC--some real life experience

2007-10-29T14:01:00.001-04:00

I own an Intel-based Mac Mini and a BlackBook. I run Boot Camp on the Mini and Parallels and Fusion on the Blackbook.

In short, I don't see how anyone other than a casual user can only live with one OS. The simple truth is there are good and bad things about both systems. As an example, if you work on a corporate network, XP or Vista is a far better network client than OS X. On the other hand, if you're handling media, the Mac excels with iLife. If you're in an Exchange shop, Entourage just doesn't measure up to Outlook as an e-mail client. And so on and so on.

One surprise I've found is that running Windows XP or Vista on a Mac is a far better experience under Boot Camp than it is on a Dell, HP, etc. I'm not an engineer, so I can't give you the reasons for it, but my guess is that the drivers are created by the same people who create them on the Mac side, so they just know how to make them work without a hitch. Combined with good Apple engineering, the Windows experience using Boot Camp on a Mini or an iMac is really something to write home about! Someone asked Walt Mossberg the other day whether they should buy a Mac to run Windows even if they never really intended to run OS X. My answer to that question would be an enthusiastic yes, it is a superior experience. I'm not a gamer, so I can't speak to that specialized segment of Windows users who require special display cards and huge amounts of horsepower, but for just about everyone else, you won't find a better computer. Just add a PC-mapped keyboard and mouse and you're ready to go. There is, of course, the added bonus that if you should ever decide to see what a Mac can offer, you won't need to do anything other than reboot!

As for Fusion and Parallels, I think they are both top-notch products. I have settled on Parallels as my engine for running virtual machines, but either one will give you an outstanding experience. If you're thinking of going this direction to run a Windows machine, make sure you install the maximum amount of RAM (memory) and the largest hard drive you can afford to optimize your experience.

Two notes in closing. There is no need to purchase RAM from Apple who charges an outrageous (an unjustified) premium for memory modules that are generic. Buy your memory for an iMac, MacBook or MacBook Pro from a third party provider like Crucial. You'll save a bundle and memory is easy to install in any of the above machines. (You should avoid doing this with the Mini as it is difficult to service unless you're really experienced with this particular computer. It takes a special knack to remove the case and inside everything is packed very, very close. It's not an easy computer to work on.)

You should also purchase hard drive upgrades from a third party vendor, as once again, Apple charges full list price for all of their drives. These drives are not Apple manufactured products. As an example, my BlackBook had a Toshiba 80 gb drive. I recently upgraded my BlackBook with an Hitachi 200 gb 7200 RPM drive. Using a program like SuperDuper (which is free) to create a clone of the existing drive it was amazingly simple and the new generation of 7200 RPM drives won't drain your battery any more than their slower 5400 RPM cousins. This was an inexpensive upgrade to my BlackBook and has more than doubled my hard drive space, plus made it perceptibly faster. Instructions for this can be found by Googling on "Mac hard drive upgrade" or similar words.

The New iPod Touch

2007-09-06T08:08:00.001-04:00

I think the Touch is a revolutionary device, and I frankly get in line with the those who think the negativity in today's press and blogs is ridiculous and misses the point of this amazing piece of hardware.

This is the first device that has the ability to actually have movies and music streamed to it rather than be required to be tethered to a computer to receive content. Add a fully functional browser and you have an amazing new device whose functionality will set new standards for what can and can't be delivered over the air. How about taking your high school or college class over your iPod via Wi-Fi? On-line education is red hot and this plays right into that delivery mechanism. What about Vonage and Skype video conferencing? Streaming movies on airplanes rather than being forced to watch what the airline has supplied? To build off of the Starbucks idea, how about a store offering to let you shop at a brick and mortar store and then have the item ordered on-line, in your size and/or color, then shipped directly to your home. Ditto for gift buying.

I think the bigger story here is the surprising lack of leadership, engineering and vision from Microsoft and Palm. It was no coincidence to me that Microsoft lowered the price of the Zune by $50 yesterday to get them off the shelves. Who do you think will sell more product this holiday season: Apple or Microsoft? Hmmm, let me get back to you on that!

As for the price cuts on the iPhone, I was a bit shocked to see the iPhone reduced $200 and the 4 gb version discontinued. I know that I didn't buy an iPhone because I'm a current Verizon customer and know how valuable EVDO is for web access. Without it, the browser in the phone is badly crippled when it's away from a Wi-Fi connection. In addition, by the time the monthly fees were factored in, the total cost of the phone exceeded $2,300. That's a hefty price to pay and I decided to wait for gen2 of the iPhone before I reconsider it. Now that the Touch is available, I'm glad I did.

There are plenty of examples where people pay a premium at the release date of a product only to find it greatly reduced shortly thereafter. The Pontiac Soltice was selling for $6,000 over sticker when it was first released, now dealers hardly want to stock them since the demand is so low. Welcome to marketing in America!

To the gloom-and-doom folks, get over it. This is a new device for a new age and I've already put my order in for a Touch at the online store!

Give Vista Credit When It's Due

2007-09-04T17:55:00.000-04:00

I decided to test out a Kensington Bluetooth mouse today on a Vista machine that was not equipped with Bluetooth. I took an old CompUSA USB Bluetooth adapter, plugged it into my Vista Business AMD Dell and it was quickly recognized, installed and ready for use in about a minute. The Kensington mouse installed with the adapter as easy as pie.

I remember doing the installation of the same USB adapter on an XP sp2 installation and what a long, hard install it was to get it working. It required a whole CD worth of drivers to get it working correctly, and then the whole thing had to be upgraded since Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) had updated the driver since the manufacture of the USB adapter.

Kudos to everyone at Microsoft for getting this piece right. This installation couldn't have been easier!

The Internet Everywhere is Almost There

2007-09-04T08:19:00.001-04:00

Last night, during a typical Florida summer thunderstorm, I lost Internet access for about 20 minutes. It brought home the fact that a computer user still can't rely on all applications being web-based. It's one reason I use Mars Edit to create entries for this blog since I can compose an entry whether or not the Internet is available.

Tomorrow, Apple is scheduled to make a product announcement that is widely believed to be the introduction of a new generation of iPods that will include wireless access to the Internet: wi-fi. This will take me one step closer to "all Internet all the time", but as long as a bad thunderstorm can takes down my home Internet, or as long as airplanes don't have Internet access, I'm toast if I try and access the web.

Pervasive over-the-air Internet access is still a ways off, although EVDO is a step in the right direction if you live in or travel to the right areas. During the active hurricane season a few years back, and with Wilma two years ago, I actually had Verizon EVDO access to the Internet as long as my laptop's battery held out. Not bad! I currently use a Sprint EVDO USB modem with my MacBook, which doesn't have it built-in, and while I think it is a great service, it has let me down in a few areas where reception was so poor that it just couldn't support a connection.

The lesson is that there are plenty of times that I can't get to the web, so I'm still keeping those apps that I count on local to my computer. My benchmark for knowing that I can live in an on-line world will be when my wi-fi Blackberry, iPhone or iPod can get to the Internet on a plane, in a subway, or just driving in my car.

Moving to a Mac

2007-09-02T13:45:00.001-04:00

Over the last several months, I've migrated most of my day-to-day computer usage to a Mac. I am weary of the maintenance of a PC, and particularly dislike the amount of time it takes to start-up a new Windows session (ugh), or heaven forbid, restart because of an update or software install.

I won't tell you a Mac is perfect. To start with, I miss certain programs like ACDSee, which I now run in Parallels. Entourage is a poor replacement for Outlook, but it is much better behaved. (Maybe Mac Office 2008 will finally be able to read Notes and Tasks from an Exchange server.) As a crossword puzzle fan, I miss the computer version of WordWeb. Another issue with a Mac is that it is not as good a client on a Windows-based network as a PC. I understand that there would be some incompatibilities, but the inability to map a drive to a share within a series of shares (\\servername\users\username where "username" is what you'd like to map) is awkward at best. I'm not fond of the abbreviated keyboard found on the MacBook and the new wireless keyboard for the iMac leave out the secondary delete key, which makes the equivalent of CTL-Delete and CTL-Backspace difficult.

The stability of Tiger, however, outweighs everything. It boots up fast, shuts down fast, closes a hung program on the first request, and is amazingly intuitive. iPhoto is a great way to handle your photos, and iDVD and iMovie are the same in their respective genres. It does away with Windows-based DRM, an awful part of XP and Vista that is easy to corrupt and almost impossible to restore. Above all, it adds a level of beauty to the daily use of my computer that I appreciate. With Parallels or Fusion, I can run those occasional programs that are unique to a PC without having to give up the functionality of my Mac.

Would I recommend it to everyone? Not really. If you like your PC and are comfortable with its foibles, stay with what you have. If you find you want to upgrade to Vista, however, and need to buy a new computer to do it the right way, I'd strongly suggest you spend an afternoon at the Apple store taking a long look at their offerings. You'll probably pay a tad more for it, but believe it or not, XP and Vista run better under Boot Camp than they do on a new Dell or HP! Hard to believe, but true. Walt Mossberg reached the same conclusion in a recent column in All Things Digital.

I, however, opt for simplicity, stability and ease of maintenance. As a simple example of that, with OS X there is only one version of the OS for everyone, no Home Basic, Business, Ultimate, et al.

Lastly, the Mac is just a lot more fun! Great built-in software and an interface that shows real thought and design. It is definitely worth an afternoon's research at the Apple store to see if this solution is right for you!

Vista is unusable

2007-04-25T14:32:00.000-04:00

Lucky me. Because I'm a senior executive in a large technology department, I get to try out new operating systems and software at will. Recently, after trying Vista at several different times during beta, I decided to order a new Dell Optiplex 740 with an AMD 64 dual core and put the release version to the test.

After only two weeks on Vista, I'm here to report that I'm very disappointed and on the verge of being just plain angry.

There is a bug in Vista that renders the OS unusable. This bug affects the basic function of copying or deleting a file, dragging it to the Recycle Bin, or even emptying the Recycle Bin.

Every time I try and do any of the above functions, it triggers a dialog box with the caption "Calculating Time Remaining." That dialog box and progress indicator stay on the screen for up to a minute for a small text file (8 kb) and up to 10 minutes for a large file (20 mb.) Vista is totally hosed during this time, so you are dead in the water. Maybe you don't copy or delete files often, but I do, and I am now completely dysfunctional at my computer since it can't do the same basic functions I used to do in DOS on an 8088-based machine. Incredible!

So maybe you think I'm the only one having this problem? Try Googleing on "Calculating Time Remaining" and you'll find that this problem is affecting a huge audience, most of who seem to be connected to a network.

Microsoft has acknowledged this problem in a knowledge base article--(http://tinyurl.com/373mv2)--but wants users to contact MS Support to see if they qualify for the hotfix to repair it. That means that not only have I wasted a huge amount of time experiencing the problem, I now have the privilege of awaiting a response from them via e-mail to see if I can even get it. I could call them, but there too I have to wait on the phone and, unbelievably, give them my credit card number before they'll even see if I am eligible to get this patch for free.

Just for perspective, Vista is a brand new operating system that was tested by hundreds of thousands of users for 2 years and I'm supposed to believe that this bug was undocumented and went unnoticed! Simply not possible. The only plausible explanation is that Microsoft decided to release the operating system in spite of the problem, hoping that it wouldn't affect too many people or raise too much noise in the consumer community.

I find it incredible that there is a hotfix for this problem and Microsoft is not making it publicly available. Only after searching, was I able to find a non-Microsoft site that posted it--(http://tinyurl.com/ynjt3y.) Sadly, after installing it, the problem still persists. Microsoft doesn't even seem to be able to actually identify the cause of the problem and resolve it.

So for those brave soles who may trip across my blog, I urge you to think long and hard about upgrading to Vista on that new machine. As for me, I'm going back to running XP under OS X. Maybe Microsoft could take a hint from Apple about operating systems. Apple recently announced that they didn't feel that the next version of OS X--Leopard--was ready for prime time and delayed its release until October. If only Microsoft had the same respect for its user base.

Chatterbug disappoints

2007-03-25T11:55:00.000-04:00

In the never-ending effort to lower my monthly phone cost, about a year ago I switched to a long distance service called Chatterbug. My decision was based on a review that I had read in the New York Times that described the service favorably. In fact, most of the reviews of the product I've seen have described it as "...unique" and "...a great way to save money" on your long distance bill. Chatterbug is a Voice over IP (VoIP) solution that uses your regular phone line and doesn't require the use of Vonage or similar services. One of the big advantages of this is that as long as you have a phone line, you can use the service. Where I live in Florida, even after a hurricane, phone service is likely to still be available, even if cable and electricity are not.

Based on the Times review I ordered the adapter. Several days later the device arrived, I installed it and activated it successfully. I was delighted to find that it worked exactly as advertised. Using the Chatterbug on-line reporting tool I saw that based on my usage, my long distance charges were costing me about 1¢ per minute, or about 60¢ per hour. At $9.95 fixed charge per month, this was absolutely the lowest priced service I had found and the service was excellent.

About 6 weeks ago, Chatterbug advised all of its customers that they were having technical difficulties and supplied an 800 number as an alternative. The user was instructed to call a toll-free number where they'd hear another dial tone. Then you'd be able to enter the number you were trying to dial. This was a bit inconvenient, but the problem got solved in short order and the service returned to normal.

Then, on March 16th, Chatterbug once again advised customers that they were having "technical difficulties" and provided another 800 number to use as described above. After a day or two, that toll-free number was disabled and the Chatterbug service has been unavailable since. A call to Chatterbug tech support simply gives you an announcement that they are having technical difficulties and to keep checking back for a progress report. Note that this blog is being written on March 25th, almost 10 days after the original e-mail notifying users of the problem.

While I don't know what I'm about to say as a fact, it would seem that what has happened is that Chatterbug can't pay their data and phone bills, and they've been disconnected from having access to the infrastructure they need to make their service functional. Whether that is their Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the phone companies, I can't say. However, there isn't much else that could happen technically that couldn't be fixed in this long period of time. This has all the earmarks of a financial problem, not a technical snafu.

So why take the time to write this blog? It's because Chatterbug is still selling the device on their website and accepting orders for service! In fact, if you go to their website, you'd never know that there was a problem at all. That's just devious, and a simple attempt to try and collect money from users to hopefully raise enough capital to pay their bills, or raise the number of subscribers to convince someone to offer financing to get them over their current hurdle. Others should know that they are no longer a viable service, probably not well financed, and based on the content of their website, dishonest to boot in that they are still willing to take your money even if they can't offer the service.

If the primary reason for technology reviewers in national publications is to let people know about interesting new products, then it is the users responsibility to report back on the long term performance of those products and services so that others can benefit from their experience ad, hopefully, the reviewers can follow up with additional feedback to their readers.

In the case of Chatterbug, save your money. It's a good idea that unfortunately appears to have been under financed and badly marketed.

BocaBoy

40 Years With Allstate

2007-03-23T13:52:00.000-04:00

I have been a loyal customer of Allstate's since I lived in New York 40 years ago. It started with a modest boat insurance policy and progressed through auto, home and liability. I've had only small claims on my auto policy over this entire time, and never a claim on my homeowners.

I moved to Boca Raton, Florida 2 1/2 years ago and naturally turned to Allstate for insurance. I was shocked to find out the cost compared to what I had been paying up North, but chose to be loyal to a company I'd done business with for such a long period of time. Imagine my wife's and my surprise when I opened the cancellation letter from them this week to find out we'd been dropped.

I am approached by Geico and others weekly to re-examine my auto insurance. I've never done so since I felt a loyalty to Allstate. Apparently that was a one-way alliance. It is obvious that in canceling my insurance that Allstate looked at the numbers and nothing else. Customer relationships didn't come into it.

You would have thought that if the insurance company and the customer formed a real partnership, long-term customers--especially those with multiple policies--would have been exempted from this cancellation. Alas, this was simply a decision made by an anonymous MBA in the actuarial department with no thought to the people who would be affected. How sad, and what a slap in the face from Allstate.

The "good hands people?" I don't think so. However, you'll excuse me if I don't have time to elaborate right now. I need to call Geico to switch my auto insurance. At least when I apply for it, someone will have to acknowledge my name and that I'm a live, breathing person by writing it down on a form. It may be the last time that will happen with them, but that will be one more time than the actuaries and executives at Allstate who focused solely on the bottom line and ignored all of the people who helped build the Company into the insurance giant it is today.

Sad.