Perfect excuse: Our iPhone alarm failed
We had a fantastic New Year's celebration last night, and it went on well past the witching hour. But we wanted to get up this morning in time to set up our football pool for the day, with the plan to go right back to sleep. And so we set our iPhone alarm for a little after 10.
The darned thing never went off.
Now, whenever this has happened in the past, it was the result of human error. Setting the alarm for p.m. when we meant a.m. (or vice versa) has been our typical downfall. But we had been sure to get that part right this time. So what gives?
After several tests in the early afternoon, we determined that the alarm on the phone simply is not working. And Googling around, we learned that it isn't going to work for at least another day. Apparently there's some sort of glitch in the software on the phone that disables the alarm on January 1 and 2.
There are updates out there that get rid of the problem, but they don't work on the old 3G iPhones, which is what we cheapskates still have at our house. And so the only way for us to correct this particular defect is to buy new phones.
We were planning to do this anyway -- running Google has become an excruciating ordeal on the 3G's for a while now -- but this seals it: 2012 will have to be a year of new phones. We've gotten two and a half years out of the ones we have, and they were the old model when we bought them for a big $100 apiece. But it's still a little disconcerting that the Apple people would allow such a basic flaw to persist. Alarms that don't work are a major liability.
| Posted at 7:40 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
It's not a bug, it's a feature.
Posted by Max | January 1, 2012 7:48 PM
I know that my take on this will not be a popular one in this year when Steve Jobs was canonized, but multiple defective products, and a general "...*uck the customer, we won't fix it, let them buy the next generation if they want something that actually works..." corporate philosophy has been Apple's guiding principle for almost 30 years.
And in one sense, Apple has the sheeple perfectly pegged. Folks keep buying Apple's "...latest and greatest..." despite a piss poor track record re: reliability.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | January 1, 2012 8:09 PM
I'm not sure what product experiences lie behind Nonny Mouse's opinion about Apple, but they must be very different from mine. I have old, pre-Intel Mac mini's, an early Intel Macbook, and numerous iPods of various generations, all working just fine — some of them after going through the washing machine. Apple is not very forthcoming about admitting that there's a problem — until they're ready to fix it. But in my experience they eventually do just that. Recently, they are replacing recalled first or second generation iPod Nano devices with the latest model.
Posted by Allan L. | January 1, 2012 9:20 PM
This particular alarm problem has been around for more than a year. For some of us, they aren't going to fix it. It's clearly planned obsolescence at work.
Posted by Jack Bog | January 1, 2012 9:29 PM
My God you said "Glitch" and later said "Problem." Uttering those words will get you fired in hi-techville in short order.
Its an Issue and that is all.
Posted by Abe | January 1, 2012 9:58 PM
"It's clearly planned obsolescence at work."
Well, as Max already said: "It's not a bug, it's a feature."
Reminds me of the early 80's when I bought a new pair of Nikes, I got over 3 yrs out of those shoes, 3-5 miles/day, 3-5 days a week. The next pair lasted about 2 yrs, and now-a-days I get 6-12 months.
Ya think Apple got to the most valuable corp building Maytag iPhones?
Posted by Harry | January 1, 2012 10:37 PM
I too have the iPhone 3G. I just got my alarm to work. Idk if they fixed it or I did. The trick is to go Settings >> General >> Reset >> Reset Network settings. I did this & tested my alarm 3 times & it works now. No need to update or upgrade. They just trying Get some money out of us iPhone 3G users. I hope it helps.
Posted by Michele | January 1, 2012 10:51 PM
Using a cell phone as an alarm clock is fraught with multiple risks.
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5495576
Posted by Newleaf | January 2, 2012 1:35 AM
Steve Jobs is dead and he's still savoring the "Igotcha's".
Posted by Don | January 2, 2012 6:27 PM
Apple is not very forthcoming about admitting that there's a problem — until they're ready to fix it. But in my experience they eventually do just that.
My first iPod Mini had an annoying "feature" in which you had to format and re-sync the device after so many song plays, because it would think that the songs on the iPod were no longer properly authorized. So when you went to play the song, it would just skip it.
Apple acknowledged the problem, yet never fixed it.
Of course, there's always the Apple III advise: lift the computer up a couple inches and let it fall to the table to reset the chips into their sockets.
Posted by Erik H. | January 2, 2012 7:32 PM
Actually the support from apple of apple phone and OS versions has been amazing compared to their android counterparts.
Here's a graph tracking the supported OS updated on android and apple phones in the last few years:
http://theunderstatement.com/post/11982112928/android-orphans-visualizing-a-sad-history-of-support
Summary:
7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less.
10 of 18 were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.
11 of 18 stopped getting any support updates less than a year after release.
13 of 18 stopped getting any support updates before they even stopped selling the device or very shortly thereafter.
15 of 18 don’t run Gingerbread, which shipped in December 2010.
In a few weeks, when Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, every device on here will be another major version behind.
At least 16 of 18 will almost certainly never get Ice Cream Sandwich.
Posted by dgibbons | January 2, 2012 7:57 PM