Apple frustrations

I am not an Apple fan-boy but I do have an iPod Touch 3G which changed my life. I've nearly stopped using my laptop because the Touch does most of what I want to do in a portable mode of operation. It is definitely a love-hate relationship though. But I need to rewind time a little to fully explain my frustrations with Apple.

Over 10 years ago I had (still have an use) a Sony NX70 then later NX80 PDA. It has a screen larger than the iPod Touch, WiFi, lots of useful apps, could play and record video, take photos, had email, voice recorder, a remote on the earphone cord to play/pause, go to previous or next track and control the volume, there was an infrared transceiver which allowed me to control TVs, DVD players and such, the infrared could even transfer apps between two PDAs. It has two card slots for Memory Sticks and CF cards, it has a physical as well as virtual keyboard, supported a keyboard docking station and/or my folding infrared keyboard, and the battery life was at least 4 hours for video and up to 20 hours for audio. By the way the battery is user replaceable which is why I still can use the PDA today. The software apps I have allowed me to view and edit MS Word files, Excel files, and Power Point files. I even use it as my EKG machine for my heart condition. On it I keep a bible, it is still my alarm clock, has world clocks for several time zones, the usual calculator, todo list, phone and address book, memo pad, and it can play flash videos. In short it is capable of much more than the current 3G version of the iPod Touch - and it is almost 10 years old. So when Apple touts their great new inventions today we who owned Palm based much older units chuckle a bit.

The NX80 is quite a bit larger and not really a pocket unit though. It is 3x the thickness of the Touch, weighs perhaps 3 or 4 times and doesn't have all the apps of the Touch. But today, April 8, 2010, Apple is as I write this describing OS4 for the iPhone. It really looks like Apple thinks they invented multitasking. They are describing it like it is something new for the world when it is 30 years old and well understood by most of the world.

Apple continues to leave important things out of their hardware and software, then takes credit for them when they finally put it in. Its a waiting game to see which version of their hardware I will purchase, knowing there will always be things missing that I'd really like to have. The Touch is great but I really wish it had a few things.

1) An external Bluetooth keyboard. Apparently they are announcing that today - 10 years later than my personal experience and finally on the iPhone and Touch. Its about time. I actually used my infrared keyboard on the PDA while on airplanes to create 50 pages of a book I'm writing.

2) Some buttons please. When listening to music I have to push the single button at the bottom of the Touch, slide the on screen lock, then I finally have access to screen virtual buttons to advance songs or pause the music. In the 3G they finally put volume buttons on the side - give me a break.

3) A microphone. Something else my 10 year old NX80 has. You can purchase external microphones and the earphones shipped with the unit has a microphone but this is such a simple thing to include - the iPhone already has one! It's stuipd when you think of it because there are built in apps that only work with a microphone.

4) User customization. Please let me do things my way not only the Apple way. On the Sony PDA I could decide what action I could do when I slid my finger up the screen. In my case I assigned that feature to the brightness. On the Touch I have to leave an application to go to the control settings, change the brightness, then re-open the app I was using. Some of this is lack of multitasking (being announced today finally) and some could be enhanced by some user customization. Funny how on the PDA the Date and Time were so accessible. On the Touch I get the time in the top bar but there seems to be no way to add the date there. I have to find the calendar app (which I don't use) to see today's date on the icon. Sure would like to add that to the title bar.

I'd really like to have a mode to eliminate the on screen lock. I'd like to select a mode which would blank the screen to save battery power, then would wake up the screen when I touch it so I could play/pause, go to the next song or podcast, etc. I understand that might easily cause the unit to wake up for example if it is in my pocket. But I'd know that and only use this mode when I wanted to such as in the car when playing music from the Touch through my car radio.

I could go on. Apple's strange iTunes application still is awkward to me after years of use. Instead of being direct, where I simply drag what I want onto my Touch, I have to go through this strange user interface.

5) I have a 32GB Touch with lots of available space but Apple doesn't let me create folders and store files there. What a waste. Instead I also carry a USB stick in my pocket. I could eliminate another item in my pocket if Apple simply let me have access to the memory in my Touch. Someday they'll introduce this as a new wonderful feature and the world will get all excited about it.

6) A camera. I don't use the camera on my phone because it is too low quality and moving the photos from the camera (Razr) to the computer is a pain. The Touch would be great if it had a 3MP camera, video would be nice too.

It is things like these that keep me from even trying an Apple computer. I hear many wonderful things about them but it is that Apple arrogance that keeps me away. I really use a lot of user customization to make things my way on my PCs. Not being able to do that if I had a Mac would drive me crazy. If Apple got it right it would be fine but there are so many ways Apple doesn't get it right for me.

The thing I appreciate most about Apple is it is an American company exporting products to the rest of the world. I'm happy to have the competition for Microsoft.

With the addition of the Bluetooth keyboard capability I will be MUCH happier with my Touch. The physical keyboard is the main missing thing for me. A full size folding keyboard will be a huge improvement for me.

iPad? I have no intention of buying one. It is a large Touch that won't fit in my pocket. In fact all the news about the iPad has made me seek out and research netbooks. I favor the 12.1" versions that are now coming on the market for their full size keyboards, light weight, and long battery life. I find the idea of holding a 1 1/2 pound iPad with one hand while poking at the screen with the other hand is not a format I'm interested in. The keyboard of a netbook not only gives me a useful typing experience, it also holds the screen! Imagine that! If Apple were to mount that iPad screen on a clamshell keyboard they would have a great product - hey I think we call that a netbook...

The Great Recession

The biggest economic challenge most of us will face in our lifetimes is having sufficient funds in retirement to last the rest of our lives. Many who intended to retire are now forced to continue working as their nest eggs have dwindled to the point where they can not continue on their planned course. Recommendations abound to continue working and not retire early. I retired as the economic downturn was just rearing its ugly head so I've had to face what many suggested people of my age should avoid. This has put me in the position of trying to figure out what went wrong primarily so I can plan for my family's future.

The economic downturn that began in 2007 and will certainly continue through 2010 and beyond brings to the surface a range of economic mistakes developed over decades in the United States. I see a number of individual, government, and business practices that contributed to this situation. In my opinion not one of these can solely be blamed for the downturn but in unison, and in hindsight, the actions of many led to a reset in the American economy, and it won't be over for a very long time.

There may be more than I list here but I think these are largely the cause of the strife we are now facing:

1) Social Security
2) Medicare and Medicaid
2) Unions
3) Lack of delayed gratification
4) Greed
5) Tax and Spend governments


1) Social Security
I am on Social Security (SS). I depend on it. So why do I list it as the first cause of this downturn? The intentions for Social Security were good; the final outcome is not so good. At the time SS was implemented the need was great and the plan was reasonable, with some exceptions. An unintended consequence of SS is it taught the American people not to save for retirement.

Nobody ever told the American people Social Security was their retirement plan. The idea was to keep the poorest from being destitute in their later years. In other words if you didn't, our couldn't, save up enough to retire then the government would help out. Unfortunately a near total lack of effort was put into teaching the people about saving for retirement. Quite the opposite the government in recent decades has been loud and clear that consumer spending drives the economy, so much so that during this downturn the federal government has even supplied cash to the people to spend. The general mentality was spend even if it meant going into debt to do so.

This short term thinking was bolstered by the federal government by neglecting to continuously teach people that their retirement was their responsibility and they should put away some percentage of their paycheck. That knowledge abounds in the financial community, but not in the government. Oh you can find it on government web sites if you seek it out. But you really have to look for it. Normally if I Google something I will find an answer in the first or second Google'd response. Not so when I Google "Federal Government Advice on Personal Spending and Saving." What you will see is lots of sites by private industry.

The end result is many people haven't saved enough for retirement. The other half of this equation is many people have developed an unhealthy spending habit which has contributed to this consumer driven economy. The U.S. savings rate has recently toggled from negative to about 4% which is an improvement. The more people save the more money is made available for development. Investing in the stock market is putting money into the hands of businesses to expand, hire people, and make products to sell overseas. Lack of saving and investing squelches growth.

SS also drains paychecks making it even harder to save. Throughout much of my working life the hit my paycheck took from SS usually exceeded my Federal or State taxes. In other words I was paying more "taxes" to Social Security than I was in what the government calls income tax. This inhibited my ability to save for my future. Don't even think that my SS money was paying for my own SS income in retirement. Not even close. SS is a Ponzi scheme of the worst kind - government forced.

This year Social Security outlay exceeds payroll deductions, and the baby boomers haven't reached full retirement age yet. This thing is rapidly falling apart. Oh everybody loves a handout, but nobody is paying attention when the government is putting money in your front pocket they are taking a larger amount out of your back pocket. Overall Social Security is a very large experiential that has failed.

2) Medicare and Medicaid are such great topics at this time when President Obama recently signed the new sweeping Health Care law. If you examine Medicare and Medicaid you can already see the disaster that is coming. These programs are even worse than Social Security for how much money they are draining from our economy. The government has done nothing to reduce costs. The only approach they have taken is to simply pay less for services. This is slowly killing the medical services community and it will accelerate as the baby boomers (me) reach age 65 and start availing ourselves of these programs. Good luck paying for this all you working age folks. It is already bankrupt and either you are going to be personally taxed into oblivion or I am going to lack the heath care promised to me. All the things I said about Social Security pale in comparison to these programs. Add to this the new health care law and you have a recipe for economic collapse which is sure to come.

Once again everybody likes a hand out, nobody likes to pay the taxes to support the bureaucracy to provide the hand-outs, and nobody can afford these failing programs.

2) Unions
Like Social Security there was once a time when unions were sorely needed in this country. There is a time and a place for unions so the companies don't take advantage of the individual worker. Workers, through unions, can band together and make demands so there is a proper balance between the needs of the company and the needs of the workers. All is well and good at this point. The problem is unions have to justify themselves and they don't know when enough is enough. Unions are widely responsible for increasing wages and benefits beyond reasonable and out of balance. In my opinion unions are single handidly responsible for the demise of the American auto industry.

As wages were pushed up by union demands (oh sure anyone working for the union was happy about that) the industry had to make choices. In a world economy, with foreign companies making competitive products with lower salaries, something had to give as salaries and benefits increased. The only thing that remained a variable was quality. The industry had to cut corners on design, testing, materials, and in some cases features to keep the cars competitive. Quality and price for Toyota and Honda cars simply could not be maintained by the American industry. Unions killed the industry. You can apply the same story across the board for any major industry that has a union today. They simply don't know how to balance their demands against the needs of the industry they serve. Greed has no limits. Over time U.S. manufacturers are priced out of the markets.

It is easy to find overseas companies that could use unions today. Examples abound of companies that exploit their workers. I sincerely hope those people do form unions and strive for a proper balance. I also hope they have the wisdom to put the unions to sleep when they have achieved the balance and not drive their own economies into the ground.

4) Lack of delayed gratification
A 50" flat screen. I'd like to have that to watch football. No problem, "just charge it." Sound familiar. There are a couple of items that are very hard to buy without a loan today. Buying a home is pretty much out of the reach of most of us to pay cash. Beyond that much of what we purchase could be delayed until we have saved enough to buy them cash and save huge amounts in interest. There are exceptions but many don't consider things like buying a used car to get by while they save for the car they want. They just charge it. During times of high inflation this often seems to make sense. The thinking is if I don't buy this $1,000 item now it will be $2,000 by the time I save for it. While that may or may not be true the question remains do you really need this thing in the first place. If it is a truck for your business that is a different story. We are talking about wants vs needs here.

The amazing thing is that single switch of mind from spending to saving is one of the biggest wealth builders that could save the economy, and your personal financial situation. Often what happens when people begin to save for something rather than charge it is they lose that immediate sense of "I have to have this thing," and many times they don't end up buying it. In other words a lot of buying is impulse buying, sometimes as a way to soothe life.

I'm not immune from this problem. I've done my fair share of impulse buying on credit cards. Fortunately I figured out what I was doing wrong many years ago and flipped my spend and save habits.

Consider this. If you purchase a $3,000 flat screen on a credit card with a 12% interest rate and pay it off in 3 years you'll pay a total of $3,587. If you save the same amount of money per month ($99.64) at the end of 3 years even with only a 4% annual interest rate you'll have $3805.54 in your bank account. That means instead of having that flat screen today and paying $587 more than the price tag shows, you'll have gained $805.54 but you won't have the flat screen. Could you live for three more years without that "want?" It might change your financial life. The flat screen is an interesting example because if you've paid any attention at all the prices have been dropping like a rock. So somewhere during that 3 year period you could buy the flat screen, and have cash left over to purchase something else. Along the way you'd have no debt. Should you lose your job you might be very happy you have money instead of a flat screen.

This problem is spread all across America and as said earlier consumer spending drives this economy. It could still drive the economy if only most people would put a delay in their purchase plans and save to buy rather than charging. The American economy would benefit in a number of ways.

5) Greed
No question that greed has become a news item lately. As banks have failed, credit default swaps have become front page news, and wall street bonuses are exposed it is clear that a lot of the money that changes hands in America is not being poured into manufacturing or other beneficial economic uses. Oh eventually those that pull in these huge sums of money will spend it and that will in itself stimulate the economy, but too much of this isn't healthy for the economy. Fortunately this has surfaced and there will be some changes. My only hope is regulation, that seems to be needed at this time, won't go overboard and stifle creativity and productivity.

6) Tax and spend governments.

Take all the comments I listed above under Lack of Delayed Gratification and apply them to the government and you end up right were we are today. There seems to be no sense of putting money away for a rainy day in this country when you examine the books of both the Federal budget nor the local governments.

We little guys have no choice but to work hard for our money so we can pay off those credit cards. The State and Federal governments can overspend with impunity. All they have to do is raise our taxes to pay for their extravagant spending habits.

If I ran my house the way the government runs the country I'd be millions of dollars in debt. The good news is I'd be lacking or nothing. All I'd have to do is go to my neighbors and demand they give me money to pay for all my purchases - or I'd throw them in jail. What a farce.

Talk of a balanced budget scares me. For me to balance my budget means less spending. For the government to balance the budget either means spending less or raising taxes. What do you think they are going to do? The federal and state governments are out of control when it comes to spending. There is no other way to look at it. Its like giving an open ended credit card to a teen-ager. What other outcome would we expect.