feedback posts

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac, Apple, iPhone

Community goes extremely overboard on iPhone Extreme

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 2nd, 2007

Tom from iPhonebuglist.com was poking around in Apple's online feedback form, and as you can see above, he found something interesting hidden in the HTML code. There was a product tag on the form not for the iPhone, but for the "iPhone Extreme." The page has since been fixed, and there's no trace of it ever appearing.

We completely agree with Apple Insider on this one: it's a stretch to say this is anything more than a coder mixup. Still, there it is, right there (in a Windows window! Tom, how dare you!). Could it be a "sport" version of the iPhone? Or a home device designed to serve as a standalone, Mac-less dock for your iPhone on your Airport Extreme network?

Probably neither. I'm pretty sure a comment over at 9-to-5 Mac has it right (although the site themselves went way overboard, calling a February release on what is really an imaginary product): whoever coded the page just used the Airport Extreme template, and did a mass cut-and-paste with "iPhone" and "Airport." Amazing that the Mac community can get so worked up over what almost surely is simply a coder's mistake.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Tags: code, extreme, feedback, hint, iphone, iphone-extreme, mac-community, mistake, product

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Apple, iPhone

Share your iPhone stories with Apple

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 5th, 2007

Attention enthusiastic iPhone owners - Apple would like to hear just what it is you like so much about your new gadget. At a new page under apple.com/iphone, Apple has presented a form with which you can share your iPhone stories. Has the iPhone changed the way you work? Perhaps you warmed grandma's heart with your finger-flickin' photo albums? Or maybe your two-and-a-half year-old figured out how to use your iPhone? Whatever the tale, Apple would like to hear it, probably so they can scatter some quotes from real world folks like you around the iPhone product pages.

Personally, I had to thank Apple for finally putting the real internet in my pocket, as no other device - not even a BlackBerry or IE on Windows Mobile - has been able to handle the home-grown content management system we use for Weblogs, Inc. blogs. The iPhone can, which means I'm able to perform some of my administrative duties at Download Squad anytime, anywhere I need, and that's enough of a life-changing story for me.

[via iPhone Alley]

Tags: Apple, feedback, iPhone, share, stories

Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Blogs

Firefox Mac team looking for feedback

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Apr 24th, 2007

For anyone who has ever wished that Firefox did this or that on Mac OS X - get ready to voice your requests and complaints. Jeff Smykil at Ars Technica is reporting that Colin Barrett of the Firefox team has left the door wide open for Mac users to submit requests for the browser, including a short list of things they already know are at the top of many users' lists (some of which are already planned). For example: Native Form Widgets (i.e. - web form buttons that look and feel more like Mac OS X a lá Safari / Camino / OmniWeb) are on the drawing board for Firefox 3, and a Unified toolbar is apparently "not completely hopeless." Performance is of course on the list (is it ever not?), but a big one that this blogger feels is fundamental to any Mac OS X app that deals with passwords also made the list: Keychain integration (Colin - does that count for my request submission?). We of course have 1Passwd, a password and identity manager that (among other things) integrates Firefox with the Mac OS X Keychain, but 1Passwd's $30 price tag understandably sets it outside of most user's budgets (though until Firefox builds this feature in, I definitely recommend 1Passwd as a happy customer).

But don't stop there - Colin and the Firefox team want to hear your thoughts on these features, as well as all the others missing from the browser that you simply can't live without. In fact, they want all the email they can get their hands on, so head on over to Colin's blog to get the email address with which you can help make Firefox a better browser for the Mac.

Tags: 1passwd, colin barrett, ColinBarrett, feedback, firefox, keychain, mac, requests

Filed under: Odds and ends, Podcasts

Requesting Feedback on the TUAW podcast

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Nov 1st, 2006

Unfortunately, we won't be having a podcast this week on account of some medical troubles of yours truly. In light of this void, however, we figured it would be perfect time to solicit some feedback on how we're doing so far. Do you want to hear more witty banter from the TUAW bloggers? More screencasts? Too long or short? Would you like more tips and tricks or commentary on current Apple events? We know sound quality is an issue, and we're working on it (I just picked up a Blue Snowball for you guys, and I'm trying to learn everything I can about how best to leverage it). If you need a review, check out our most recent podcasts: #11, #12 (a Quicksilver screencast) and #13, or simply subscribe to our iTS podcast feed or straight-up podcast RSS feed to get caught up.

So let's hear it: what would you like out of the TUAW podcast? Obviously, we'd like you to keep your requests realistic and constructive (i.e. - we're working on a Steve Jobs interview, but don't hold your breath), but we'll do our best to take your feedback to heart and make the TUAW podcast one of the best darn Apple-centric podcasts you can lay your ears on.

Tags: feedback, podcast, podcasts, screencast, screencasts, tuaw

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Internet Tools

Viral .Mac feedback - copy and paste this, let's make Apple listen

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 10th, 2006

We've all seen the complaints about .Mac from every corner of the internets. Our own Dave Caolo posted a fantastic editorial covering .Mac's slow death, but he isn't the only one tossing a vote into the hat. One only needs to browse the digg archives to find plenty of posts from dissatisfied mom and pop bloggers, but even bigger names in the Mac community like Steven Frank of Panic (Transmit, CandyBar) have voiced their .Mac gripes, with plenty of others developing their own .Mac alternatives.

While blogging about these topics can be a good thing, I had the idea this weekend that maybe we can do something a little more in the form of mass feedback and a petition. Our fearless leader Scott noted that online petitions don't often seem to have much impact, but I've always been a fan of at least trying to stand up and be heard.

With that said, TUAW would like to introduce what we call a piece of 'viral feedback' for .Mac. The idea here is that you can copy and paste the statement below (after the jump) into the .Mac feedback form. Feel free to edit and tweak it to your desires. Credit TUAW or not. Whatever you do, just be sure to click send and tell a friend. Also, don't forget to play fair - don't click send 300 times, and keep the criticism clean.

Online viral feedback petitions may not get very far, but darnit - it's fun to try. Click on to get your copy of the petition and submit it to .Mac.

Continue reading “Viral .Mac feedback - copy and paste this, let's make Apple listen”

Tags: .mac, dotmac, features, feedback, petition

Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, Surveys and Polls

Sunday survey results: FM Transmitters - yea...not really

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 9th, 2006

This past Sunday I ran a survey to see what y'all thought of iPod FM transmitters - the good, the bad and the ugly. I figured that since I weeded through all the comments, I should let you guys know whether you gave this particular category of iPod accessories a thumbs up or down.

The greater majority of you really weren't that fond of FM transmitters, the two largest reasons being signal unreliability and overall audio quality. Many of the FM transmitter haters recommended going with solutions like cassette adapters, FM modulators or a full-on dedicated stereo with iPod-friendly inputs.

Among the still-healthy pro-FM transmitter crowd however, there were three clear favorites: Kensington, Griffin and Monster. This was really helpful in narrowing down my options, and I think I'm going to do some more digging on those and what all this FM stuff is about before dropping another ~ $70-80 or more on something like this.

Ultimately, since my wife always beats me to the Matrix anyway (and she already made me sleep on the couch for dropping $80 on an iPod accessory), I opted to go with a $15 cassette adapter for now (on a side note: it's hilarious what accessory makers can get away with by slapping iPod branding on cassette tape adapters these days). I know, I know: a cheap and simple solution for all the awesome feedback you readers offered, but until AOL (remember: they bought Weblogs, Inc. last year. You're reading an AOL blog! Mwahaha!) sends the 6-figure job offer my way, I'll have to wait on the pimped out touch-screen iPod + Car Borg™ adapter (heck AOL, I'll even take a 5-figure job!). When I do get around to finding that perfect iPod/Borg/accessory thingy, trust me: you'll be the first to know. Resistance, after all, is futile.

Tags: comment, comments, feedback, fm, ipod, poll, results, survey, transmitter

Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools

iSale 3.1 adds eBay interactivity, prepares for upcoming site changes

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on May 18th, 2006

iSale, the application our own Scott McNulty dubbed 'the Delicious Library for eBay auctions', has been bumped to version 3.1 with some very useful site interactivity and significant changes under the hood. iSale 3.1 can now relist unsold auctions and allow you to watch how many people have looked at and are watching your auction - right from within iSale. An improved widget can also display the watch count, hit count, highest bid and feedback from the highest bidder. Last in this new version is a localized and active links preview for English, German and French languages. Under the hood, iSale has been tuned for an upcoming change to eBay's communication standards which goes live on July 1st.

For a refresher, here's a list of the other features iSale already offers: beautiful auction templates, a 'funky pinboard' with photos of auction items, one-click locating of buyers with Google Maps, 'Smart Date' simplified auction scheduling, description importing from Amazon and eBay, Address Book/Mail integration, .Mac syncing, iCal scheduling and much more.

iSale 3.1 is a Universal Binary, offers a three-auction demo and sells for $39.95 USD. Upgrades from iSale 2.x are $14.90 USD.

Tags: auction, auctions, ebay, feedback, google, hit, iphoto, iSale, isight, list, maps, motors, post, relist, store, watch

Filed under: Software, Tips and tricks

Help the revolution: submit feedback

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Apr 4th, 2006

This is more of a public service announcement and reminder than anything, inspired by TUAW reader Jer's comment on my .Mac syncing UI silliness post. Jer asked whether we were submitting feedback to Apple concerning gripes like the one I blogged, and the answer is 'most definitely yes.' This brief dialog inspired me to take the opportunity to urge all Mac users everywhere to do the same.

If you have a complaint, a feature request, or maybe you just found a bug in Mac OS X, or another piece of Apple's software, apple.com/feedback is a great place to go and tell them about it. Most of Apple's apps are categorized there, and it's a simple process for submitting your comment. While I don't believe it's in their policy to reply to anything submitted there, you can rest assured that it's one of the best places Apple uses to collect the information they use to keep tabs on how we like their software, especially when it comes to creating all those official bug reports you'll find sprinkled throughout their support and knowledgebase articles (besides, who wants to take bets that their engineers have TUAW in their newsreader?).

So remember boys and girls, when it comes to feature requests, UI gripes and bug squashing: ask not what Apple can do for you... but submit some feedback so the world's best operating system can get even better.

Tags: Apple, bug, bugs, complaints, consumer, customer, feature requests, FeatureRequests, feedback, gripes, Mac, OS X, OsX, products, reporting, software, squashing, UI

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