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stevenhaddon · Mar 18, 2002, 05:06 AM

Let's pretend I haven't been using Macs for ten years. I insert a CD, listen to music or play a game, then press the eject button on the front of my G4 - the intuitive place to press to eject a CD.

Nothing happens.

No dialog box telling me what I did wrong, nothing. The CD just stays in there.

That's not good at all. But I don't hear anyone saying that this is something that has to be fixed.

Steve

Subzero Diesel949 · Mar 18, 2002, 05:22 AM

What if you pressed the eject button while the CD was playing? Or if you were burning something?

That would not be a good thing for the CD to suddenly eject...

sadie · Mar 18, 2002, 06:13 AM

He's not saying it should do a hard eject, but that it should filter through to the software in the same way the Eject button on the keyboard or the toolbar does - so it can display whatever warnings are necessary.

dtriska · Mar 18, 2002, 06:26 AM

Originally posted by stevenhaddon:
Let's pretend I haven't been using Macs for ten years. I insert a CD, listen to music or play a game, then press the eject button on the front of my G4 - the intuitive place to press to eject a CD.

Nothing happens.

No dialog box telling me what I did wrong, nothing. The CD just stays in there.

That's not good at all. But I don't hear anyone saying that this is something that has to be fixed.

Steve

Maybe that's why there is no eject button on newer Macs.

CharlesS · Mar 18, 2002, 06:41 AM

Originally posted by dtriska:


Maybe that's why there is no eject button on newer Macs.

Ah, so that's why they did that.

Sadie's suggestion makes so much more sense, though...

mrtew · Mar 18, 2002, 07:59 AM

I have four eject buttons on my Ti (F12, apple/E, the button-icon on iTunes, and the old trash-drag) and I am constantly amazed at how many I try before one works.

Aussie John · Mar 18, 2002, 04:46 PM

dont forget the eject icon for the tool bar

zigmeister · Mar 18, 2002, 05:23 PM

Originally posted by John Tewksbury:
I have four eject buttons on my Ti (F12, apple/E, the button-icon on iTunes, and the old trash-drag) and I am constantly amazed at how many I try before one works.

Same thing on the Quicksilver, amazing how a cool feature really backfires. It's ridiculous to have to restart a computer sometimes just so it can spit out a CD. Lemme control my stuff!

Andrew 8808 · Mar 18, 2002, 07:11 PM

yeah, this happens to me all the time. I have a Dual 450. It's stupid that I can eject it from the drive itself. The drive itself should override everything...oh well

Liquidity X · Mar 18, 2002, 07:23 PM

I get the same problem, i have to do it manuly eject it by bringing it down to the trash, its justa bug. happenes to me after i watched a DVD and quit DVD player, and hit eject ti would just stay. its just a bug where the OS thinks it is still in use i bet. hope this helps.

mrtew · Mar 18, 2002, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by John Tewksbury:
I have four eject buttons on my Ti (F12, apple/E, the button-icon on iTunes, and the old trash-drag) and I am constantly amazed at how many I try before one works.

Ooops.... I forgot about five of them... I actually have NINE eject buttons!!! (I forgot the toolbar icon, the DVD button, and the menu items in iTunes, DVDplayer and in the finder.) This is getting ridiculous!!! I'd trade all of them in for one that worked every time!

Big Mac · Mar 19, 2002, 02:56 AM

The hardware CD eject button nearly never works on my 8600, so it isn't like this is a new phenomenon. Just drag the CD to the trash.

stevenhaddon · Mar 19, 2002, 04:43 AM

This is a worryingly unintuitive approach to a fundamental function for a computer, don't you think? If the Mac is to sell itself as "easy to use", it doesn't help when someone has to turn to you and say, "How do I get the CD out?" (My girlfriend said this very thing.)

Never mind the user interface on-screen, the physical, exterior user interface also adds to the user experience - and the use of a button, near where you put the CD in, to eject it is deeply ingrained. After 10 years of Mac use and I still reach down there...then realise it won't work.

This really needs to be sorted, in my opinion.

Steve

Apfhex · Mar 19, 2002, 05:04 AM

Indeed! I agree exactly with what sadie said: there should be a physical button that you can press, and acts as a software eject. I've always thought that the software eject on Macs was better than the hardware on PCs (which give you a big blue-screen-of-death type error when you eject a disk while it's in use, and tends to be generally annoying).