The famed usability of Apple products has yet to impress me, but perhaps I’m too critical of a system that does, despite it’s frustrating flaws, seem to rescue itself from debilitating errors quite well.
Not having turned on my iPod Touch in a week or so, I attempted to power it on. No luck, the battery’s dead. I charge it, only to see that the date upon restart has reset to December 31, 1969. No problem, I think to myself. I’ll just leave it and go update my apps on the app store. I have 12 updates, but because the date is wildly incorrect, the Touch can’t create a secure connection to the app store. It tells me this with 12 separate notices that say the same thing, all of which require my “OK,” and only after which can I dig through the settings menu and change the date.
Now back to the app store, where I’m prompted for my iTunes password for apps that I’ve already purchased. Why this password policy exists for app updates remains a complete and total mystery. (Not to mention presenting a security risk in itself because it drives users to pick easy-to-enter iTunes passwords.) Now the apps begin to update, but at a painfully slow pace across my wide open cable internet connection. An hour later, I have three updates complete, and the rest with no indication of forward progress.
I reset the Touch. Wonderful…the apps have begun to update at an expected pace, but alas, all of the ones awaiting an update have pushed themselves forward from their usual pages on the Touch to the first available positions on each app page. Time for more reorganization…
As I mentioned above, I do consider it a positive that app update errors don’t lead to a piece of software (or even a device) that’s permanently frozen without a factory reset. But in a number of ways, this morning’s experience does very little to confirm Apple’s vaunted user experience.
