I’m beginning to hate computers. I have been trying to deal with Apple security this morning, trying to log in to the system on my home Mac mini. The problem is two-fold: one is that I have to log into my Apple account; two is that I don’t own any of my computers. Somehow, they are all registered to my wife.I had to register with Apple all over again, which took an absurd amount of verification and re-verification and filling out forms. Finally got that straightened around, set up my new official account, tried to login, only for it to tell me that I needed Mary’s password now.
I took one stab at it and quit. The other delightful thing about Apple is that you get three tries, and then you are locked out of even attempting to log in for a week.
I have spent the last hour screaming profanities at the ceiling.
Check out this article. You might not have to wait a week, tho that probably depends on your macOS version.
Too much security and too little explanation of the security. It should be that they have a simple easily findable procedure for situations like yours. [And phone answering robots should begin with how long the wait is to talk with a human, offer you an opportunity for a callback, and only then try asking you questions to ‘help you’ – and when the human comes on the line they should have the answers you gave to those questions so that they don’t freaking need to ask them again.]
My wife just suffered through a similar torture with her Mac laptop. I am fortunate the OS I use does not require authorization by Corporate or giving up my genetic code. I realize of course that some people have no choice depending on their needs.
When I started with that computer stuff I really wanted an Apple. They were just so sleek and shiny – and probably what Atari tried to copy with my ST.
By the time I had enough funds to buy one I had discovered Linux and enjoyed the idea of being in control of my own computer. At times that has gone horrible wrong, but at least it was usually my own fault.
Linux all the way.
Your computers are yours, not the manufacturers.
Dibwys @ #2 — For every person saying “too much security” there’s someone saying “not enough security.” That probably depends on how recently you got hacked. As for the documentation, there’s tons of it. No one reads it. Admittedly it’s difficult to document…I tried back in the day…and it’s not scintillating reading.
I have a school issue I Pad and I have a private one. They have exactly one thing going for them: they’re small and lightweight.
They come with next to no internal storage (every 200 bucks no name Android phone easily has multiple times the storage) so you have to buy an expensive version as well as cloud space and they’re also not user friendly. Seriously, simply saving a file often requires 5 different steps. I don’t know where the hype is coming from
It’s probably no consolation, but Microsoft is the same way. The newer versions of Office are incompatible with older versions, and you can’t run the older versions with the (fucking) preinstalled newer version of Office.
PZ, face reality: in today’s world, you don’t own anything, you are a renter at the mercy of the billionaires who don’t care if you live or die. Apple products are too expensive toys for the elites. Just like all the other huge crapitallist corporations that own this society, they make up the rules, you are a pawn in their rigged chess game.
We love penguins and puppies. Open source and linux have given us hope. I know you have experienced a little of that.
I don’t benefit in any way from making this statement. The new 13in. apple laptop is CRAP. It is $600 and the specs are not nearly as good as the refurb’d dells parts people sell for less than $400.
i first started using computers seriously with 286 and 386 processors running DOS, and then Windows 3.0. Got used to the look and feel of the Windows operating system. I cant use IOS for shit. everything is in a non-intuitive place. drives me nuts. i use android for my phone for same reason.
Apple has been declining for a long time, and now they are really nose-diving in quality. (They’re pulling a Boeing, no pun intended.)
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the best OS Apple’s ever put out was 10.6, back before 2010. It’s been getting worse and worse since then. The nonsensical changes, the ripping away control of your own computer to themselves controlling it, the lockdown of your computer, the ever-increasing number of bugs and security flaws in their OS’s which they never bother to supply patches for. Taking over owning your computer: it isn’t yours, it’s theirs.
Louis Rossman runs a shop that specializes in repairing Macs, and he’s doing well enough that he can afford office space in Manhatten. He might perhaps be the best expert in the world on Apple hardware. On his YouTube channel, he advises peple strongly not to get a Mac, that their hardware is too low-quality, what with their locking it down and soldering things to the motherboard, etc. And, that’s his livelihood, repairing Macs! He’s telling people not to get them.
I’m a long-time Mac consumer user (not a dev or pro or gamer), I have never so much as learned how to turn on any other kind of computer. I’m certainly more of an expert in how to operate their software than anyone who works for Apple.
And I’d say that too: don’t get a modern Mac, their software (OS’s) are too low-quality. The number of flaws, mistakes, security loopholes that patches are never issued for, ownership of your computer and how you must work with it, the un-blockable spyware that’s installed on all OS’s now, that sends a record to Apple on every app you open, and that Apple can use to even prevent you from opening any app they want. I intend, when my current OS or hardware finally goes down, to move to Linux. I will never buy another Apple product.
So, I’m not really the world’s expert on consumer use of Apple OS’s, but out of what experience I do have, I say, don’t buy Macs.
I’e used Jump Desktop, have for years. Used a lot in my industry (film/video post production) because of its extremely short latency. Works cross platform, and from phones and tablets. An account is very cheap and permits almost unlimited devices. You and share screens in either direction or control either way. Super easy to setup. The other end doesn’t need an account. You can make a connection permanent or temporary, so the other party is secure. I use it for doing tech support for friends (a lot). Usually I have a permanent connection where I can log in as long as the machine is on and connected to the internet.
Yes, it gets around firewalls. Lemme know if you have questions.
Super inexpensive.
The big selling point of the Mac ecosystem is supposed to be that it “just works”… But the problem with stuff that “just works” is that you’re shit out of luck when it “just doesn’t“.
I’ve always been a Windows guy, but Win11 has finally pushed me to make the jump to Linux. (For personal use, anyway – professionally, there is no escape for me.)
I refuse to deal with Apple stuff.
Once you start, you’ll be Assimilated By The Borg:
Apple computers, Apple phones, Apple other crap.
Not that Micro$hit is that much better. Nuke ’em from orbit.