[Superchicken]

OK, I'm a really geeky guy. Least I like to think of myself that way. I have a PowerBook and iMac, I do a lot of graphics work, I've done some very simple audio, I did video work in high school, I've done web design. I have a digital camera that I do lots with, and a Wacom tablet. I have my iPod and all my stuff arranged in iTunes. I've done a lot of web design and... anyway I'm not your typical idiot who bought a computer and can't figure out what the cup holder that pops out is for...
Well I just borrowed a camcorder from someone at church to work on the church's VBS promo video. It's a Panasonic Palm Cam, and trying to get this bloody thing to work with either FCE HD or iMovie 3 (I own 4 but my CD and DVD have both gone missing or were busted because I didn't store em in the right places). has been a huge hassel. Originally FCE wasn't working with it so I switched to iMovie for my first capture, then iMovie wouldn't work so I tried FCE again and it worked. Every time I hit play in iMovie it would say the camera was playing show one frame then go back to blue and say camera connected. Once I got it working with FCE (no clue what changed this time it just worked.) I got my footage so I saw like OK I'll learn how to use FCE now (Learned video editing on premier in high school it's been a few years). And I go to charge the camcorder, and I can't find out where the heck to plug this thing in!
I'd asked Owl Boy for some help over iChat and he googled for a page, and found one that said it was "On the right side by the battery." Turns out, the thing is INSIDE of where the battery goes! There's no bloody way to plug it in and have the battery in! Apparently they think you should charge it on the charger all the time.

This has me very frustrated and... blah... even Windows doesn't manage to frustrate me this much... the only other thing that has a screen and buttons that I think ever gives me this much trouble is Cell Phones, I swear those things seem to be designed by people who WANT to frustrate you... oh look everyone puts their address books in different spots, oh you need to press like fifty freaking buttons before you can even dial, and oh you accidentally ended up in some racing game!? Every time someone gives me their cell phone I hope I don't have to navigate out of something.

So... for me it's Cell phones and apparently now Camcorders (specifically this one!). What other digital devices make you go prematurely grey?

[dracoleb]

I know what you mean about that camcorder, I have the same kind of thing. The S-video out is behind the battery too, so if you want to play it on the TV with S-video it must be plugged in. Also the firewire port on the camera seems to have died, can't see to get it too hook up to any of my computers anymore. All in all, something I would never recommend to anyone

[alligator]

Cheap digital cameras. You know the ones, they advertise them as pocket digital cameras with something like 100 x 200 pixels resolution. That's about enough to pick out a blob in a picture and say "That's my uncle Bob."

[Superchicken]

I've never played with cheap digital cameras. I bought my fujifilm a while ago and it's served me very well... though I honestly do wish Apple would venture into that field, they could partner with Cannon or heck even Kodak. I'm sure anyone would love to partner with em and make a ton of money. They could even put it out under the iPod branding.

[MindFad]

The Internet hates us all.

[RGB]

Fax machines. We just don't get along. Sparks often fly.

[Cubeoid]

The Spike Lee film "She Hate Me" did some freaky stuff up in my DVD box. Seen?

[Superchicken]

Originally Posted by RGB

Fax machines. We just don't get along. Sparks often fly.

I swear the whole concept of the fax has always never made sense to me... e-mail is sooo much better...

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Superchicken

I swear the whole concept of the fax has always never made sense to me... e-mail is sooo much better...

There are some documents that are just too long to scan and email, and in those cases a fax machine can be quite handy.

[storer]

Cell phones, webcams, faxes and camcorders have all been biatches for me in the past.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Superchicken

I swear the whole concept of the fax has always never made sense to me... e-mail is sooo much better...

Fax was introduced to the general population in the 1960's. The Internet was still ARPANET then, and only connected a handful of labs and schools. Further, fax has the pastiche of being an image of a real document, so many businesses will accept a fax of a signed document in place of the signed document itself. There is NOTHING in the digital realm that has that much acceptance. No, not PDF either, since you can get free tools that let you tinker with PDFs to the extent that only digitally signed PDFs are really secure enough for the same use. And since you'd have to scan the original document to run it through Acrobat, why not just fax it instead.

I agree, though, that an Internet-based system for moving faxes around would be far preferable to using the telephone system to do it. There's still the security issue, though.

I've found that iMovie hates us. Not the camera or the Mac you're using, but iMovie itself. It is as unintuitive as any Apple product can be.

[discotronic]

Copy machines hate me. Any brand and size.

[Superchicken]

Hmm in the future I'll have to make sure iMovie supports whatever cameras I buy...

[Mac Write]

I just stopped paying for my wired line I stopped using 14 months ago (and my DSL sniff sniff). So much for a fax machine now.

[Superchicken]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I just stopped paying for my wired line I stopped using 14 months ago (and my DSL sniff sniff). So much for a fax machine now.

You doing cable? Or what?

[brapper]

Today my airport express hated me, but we've since made up.

[brapper]

nm dp.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

So much for a fax machine now.

A fax machine is build into OS X if you need one. Works a treat. My old iBook is set up as a music server/internet radio station/home server/fax machine. You can even get faxes automatically printed to the printer of your choice. Or forwarded to the email address of your choice for that matter.

[Sage]

I'm retarded when using Windows. But who isn't? (Semi-kidding.)

Right now my iMac seems to hate me, because it refuses to acknowledge the existence of CD-RWs.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Superchicken

I honestly do wish Apple would venture into that field, they could partner with Cannon or heck even Kodak.

Apple's been there, done that.

They were the first to ever market a consumer digital camera; it was called the QuickTake, and it was over ten years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_QuickTake

Partnered with Kodak and Fuji, as you wish.

[Zimphire]

We used to have a QuickTake at the newspaper I worked for.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Fax was introduced to the general population in the 1960's. The Internet was still ARPANET then, and only connected a handful of labs and schools. Further, fax has the pastiche of being an image of a real document, so many businesses will accept a fax of a signed document in place of the signed document itself. There is NOTHING in the digital realm that has that much acceptance. No, not PDF either, since you can get free tools that let you tinker with PDFs to the extent that only digitally signed PDFs are really secure enough for the same use. And since you'd have to scan the original document to run it through Acrobat, why not just fax it instead.

I agree, though, that an Internet-based system for moving faxes around would be far preferable to using the telephone system to do it. There's still the security issue, though.

I've found that iMovie hates us. Not the camera or the Mac you're using, but iMovie itself. It is as unintuitive as any Apple product can be.

Aside from wishing I could do 'destrucitve' editing now and again, I find iMovie quite easy to use and has been flawless with my Canon miniDV cam.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Sage

I'm retarded when using Windows. But who isn't? (Semi-kidding.)

Right now my iMac seems to hate me, because it refuses to acknowledge the existence of CD-RWs.

Are you talking about your iMac no longer seeing CD-RWs that it saw before, or not seeing blanks? I don't think OS X "gets" CD-RWs at all... You can burn them like CD-Rs, but not use them like floppies, the way you can on a Windows or Linux machine. This issue has stumped the heck out of me.

(And it's the Windows OS that's retarded, not most users. Ok, not several users. I've used Windows since version 1.0, and there are still things that I just don't get.)

[Jim Paradise]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

We used to have a QuickTake at the newspaper I worked for.

It was the first digital camera I ever used way back in a graphics class in high school.

[Zimphire]

I remember scanning in cans of soup for ads in the newspaper.

[el chupacabra]

well I just went camping and took pictures of an elk attacking me. Come to find out I didn't push the button down enough for some of them. There is a "half way point" so you push the button down half way to final focus...doesn't actually take the picture. I know this is common feature of cameras to have multiple functions (and the function is different depending on model which is even more stupid) depending on how hard you push the button but its always stupid to me. Imagine if to focus your gun scope it was dependent on how hard you pushed the trigger.


I also hate PC laptops where the usb ports are too close together to fit more than one device at the same time.

[Mac Write]

How can I use the built in fax machine without a phone line to hook it up to????....exactly I can't hence why I can never get a fax machine PERIOD unless I want to pay $30/month fee to use it (my cellphone has a fax machine though, but need a place to send the fax to for printing (aka a fax machine).

[mitchell_pgh]

cheap anythings hate me. cheap cameras, phones, TVs, computers.

And anything with the name DELL on the front.

[boston_errol]

I can't do typewriters, but yet then again they are hardly considered digital anymore.

[Cubeoid]

smith corona babeeey!

[euphras]

I hate my alarm clock when it rings in the morning...

[Link]

Cordless phones. While cellphones are regarded as poorly designed, I think cordless phones take the cake for this one -- they're huge, ugly, heavy, and weigh a ton usually, which puzzles me because compared to a cellphone they get SHITTY battery life.

The menu system on most is crappy, the screens suck, the caller ID isn't right sometimes, and many have "rubber buttons" that the printing on the keys gets worn out really easy, plus some have outrageous antennas. I mean seriously, a startac is engineering from the distant future compared to most of the crap on the market.

I agree about cellphones, but our motorola clamshells are great for that, 'cept that the new ones now have a 3rd button on the side that makes it where you can end up changing your phone's volume while in your pocket o_O -- the SINGLE WORST cellphone UI I've used was on a samsung..

I really hate answering machines too.. viva la voicemail, network things tend to suck too.

What else.. let's see.. I'm sure I'll think of something later

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

How can I use the built in fax machine without a phone line to hook it up to????....exactly I can't

If you really need fax capabilities you can always get an online service. No phone line required.

[Cipher13]

Printers. By God, I will destroy them all.

[TailsToo]

My PC knows that I like my Powerbook much more than it, so it always misbehaves. I'm thinking of getting rid of it and getting some leftover G5 that you can find at a good price.

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by Link

Cordless phones. While cellphones are regarded as poorly designed, I think cordless phones take the cake for this one -- they're huge, ugly, heavy, and weigh a ton usually, which puzzles me because compared to a cellphone they get SHITTY battery life.

The menu system on most is crappy, the screens suck, the caller ID isn't right sometimes, and many have "rubber buttons" that the printing on the keys gets worn out really easy, plus some have outrageous antennas. I mean seriously, a startac is engineering from the distant future compared to most of the crap on the market.

I agree about cellphones, but our motorola clamshells are great for that, 'cept that the new ones now have a 3rd button on the side that makes it where you can end up changing your phone's volume while in your pocket o_O -- the SINGLE WORST cellphone UI I've used was on a samsung..

I really hate answering machines too.. viva la voicemail, network things tend to suck too.

What else.. let's see.. I'm sure I'll think of something later

Our cordless phone weighs like 65grams, is tiny, looks pretty nice. The menu system is pretty logical and the caller ID is always correct (if that one is incorrect: blame your telco). And the thing easily gets more than a week of battery life. Oh and it has plastic buttons It's a Siemens Gigaset, can't remember the exact type. But yeah I get what you are saying, a lot of old cordless phones are crap. The newer ones really don't have those problems anymore.

I agree with Cipher on the printers. They NEVER work flawlessly.

[The Godfather]

My cheap alarm clock. The Durabrand company (Walmart) has figured a way to multiplex 20 functions in just 6 switches. I just learnt how to set up the alarm, after 3 months of owning it!
My Philips TV. Not even the Symphonic brand (Walmart) had the "great" idea of placing the volume and channel buttons on the top, printed with invisible ink.
My VCR. I lost the remote. I know, my fault.
I think I get along with every other piece of technology in my apartment

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by Cipher13

Printers. By God, I will destroy them all.

Didn't think of that, but i'd have to agree with you there. Printers are the single biggest cause of problems on the network i help maintain. They just seem to be the most poorly-designed devices anywhere near a computer. Luckily my personal printer has been alright, but I don't know anyone who doesn't have some kind of printer horror story.

[Superchicken]

agreed on Printers... they're OK once you get em going but getting em to the point where they work is a bugger... and then fixing them if the heads get dirty or something... I've just stopped using mine that I bought years ago and am gona go buy a new Canon 3 in 1 some day.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by Link

Cordless phones. While cellphones are regarded as poorly designed, I think cordless phones take the cake for this one -- they're huge, ugly, heavy, and weigh a ton usually, which puzzles me because compared to a cellphone they get SHITTY battery life.

The menu system on most is crappy, the screens suck, the caller ID isn't right sometimes, and many have "rubber buttons" that the printing on the keys gets worn out really easy, plus some have outrageous antennas. I mean seriously, a startac is engineering from the distant future compared to most of the crap on the market.

I agree about cellphones, but our motorola clamshells are great for that, 'cept that the new ones now have a 3rd button on the side that makes it where you can end up changing your phone's volume while in your pocket o_O -- the SINGLE WORST cellphone UI I've used was on a samsung..

I really hate answering machines too.. viva la voicemail, network things tend to suck too.

What else.. let's see.. I'm sure I'll think of something later

cordless phones are pretty bad, I agree with you there, but they are a hell of a lot cheaper than cellphones.

Originally Posted by ghporter

Are you talking about your iMac no longer seeing CD-RWs that it saw before, or not seeing blanks? I don't think OS X "gets" CD-RWs at all... You can burn them like CD-Rs, but not use them like floppies, the way you can on a Windows or Linux machine. This issue has stumped the heck out of me.

(And it's the Windows OS that's retarded, not most users. Ok, not several users. I've used Windows since version 1.0, and there are still things that I just don't get.)

osx can do the floppy thing if you make a disc image on the cd, it allows you to access a cd much the same way as a hard drive.

[ajprice]

Inkjet printer paper feed mechanisms, they all seem to want to pull in the whole stack of paper in the tray, so i have to put the paper in a sheet at a time!!! Grrr.

[turtle777]

In Russia, Digital Devices ha..., uhm, wait...

-t

[Sage]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Are you talking about your iMac no longer seeing CD-RWs that it saw before, or not seeing blanks? I don't think OS X "gets" CD-RWs at all... You can burn them like CD-Rs, but not use them like floppies, the way you can on a Windows or Linux machine. This issue has stumped the heck out of me.

Oh, so that's a known issue? Wow, I thought the whole point of CD-RWs was to use them like floppies… Hrm…

And to answer your question, both: It no longer sees CD-RWs it used to see, and it doesn't even see blank CD-RWs anymore (I created a thread about it, but no one responded ).

[Link]

Originally Posted by ajprice

Inkjet printer paper feed mechanisms, they all seem to want to pull in the whole stack of paper in the tray, so i have to put the paper in a sheet at a time!!! Grrr.

Yar! That's how I had my first and last expensive lexmark -- had a Z53 for a few months, one day it decided to eat the ENTIRE paper tray worth of paper.. as a MacNN review once said "it has a violent paper feeder", I couldn't agree more.

Thankfully I had a store warranty on that sucker, swapped it for an HP but wanted a canon (they didn't have any with decent specs at the time), oh well