My contract is due for an upgrade this November and i was seriously considering the new iPhone, i know the software is limited compared to Android but i’d like to try an iPhone just once.  Trouble is my existing Samsung Galaxy is already more powerful (and thinner even with a bigger screen) so there would be no point.  It would be like taking a step back.

I might get a new iPod though, my old one is looking a bit manky.

By the way, about the Apple event yesterday. I can’t decide if that new Nano is fecking lovely or fecking ugly! I think it’s a bit of both. But i kinda want an orange one. Tut. I’ll be needing a new music player soon and the only reason i stick with apple is because i love itunes and it’s so easy to organise.

Still researching a new laptop. Alienware M11x is perfect on paper but in reality it’s a bag of shit thanks to Dell and their horrendous quality control (or lack of), build quality issues (hinges breaking and the screen falling off) and having to spend £300 for a extended warranty because it’s pretty much a sure thing your screen is going to keep breaking. (So what happens when your warranty runs out)? No thanks. I’m getting a Sony Vaio. Higher specced, better built and cheaper!

I’m going to add this little bit of info to my blog in case anyone searching for this problem is struggling to find a solution, hopefully Google will find this.

A few months ago, for no apparent reason my iPod touch would no longer be recognised on my computer and windows kept throwing up the messsage ‘apple mobile device has stopped working‘. I had to disable it in services to stop the message but this left me still unable to update my iPod. Then the same thing happened on my partners laptop a couple of months later. We have the exact same laptop, both are Dell.

So i looked what what was common between both laptops in the programs list and we both had ‘Dell Support Center’. I uninstalled that and what do you know, the problem was fixed. I don’t know why there is a conflict between Dell Support Center and iTunes but if you’re having the same problem and you own a dell then get shut of that program.

Or if you have a different make of PC perhaps you have a similar support program? The point is, this is not a vista or itunes problem (as such), there is a program on the pc conflicting. It’s just a case of uninstalling and reinstalling stuff until you find the culprit. I’m sure it’ll be a support program of some kind. Good luck!

For google:
apple mobile device has stopped working Dell Support Center

I thought technology was meant to make life easier for us? Clever computers and devices and so on to make life better? Well i switched my laptop on the other day and for no apparent reason it decided to tell me that the ‘apple mobile device service has stopped working‘. This is a service that runs in the background to check for when you plug in your iPod touch or iPhone. It’s stopped working and now i can no longer synch my iPod with iTunes. Marvellous. I have uninstalled iTunes and everything associated with it, reinstalled it, googled the problem, checked the drivers and nada.

Luckily a few weeks ago i moved my entire iTunes library over to a NAS drive so i could get at it from any pc on the wireless network. So thankfully i can update my iPod on another computer. But i shouldn’t have to. I made no changes to windows and installed no new programs so i have no idea why it suddenly stopped working. I’m going to guess that it’s the usual culprit (Windows!) updating itself as per usual and breaking more than it fixes.

But it has got me thinking. I rely too much on technology. Or rather, over complicated technology. I have this iPod touch and i don’t use any of it’s features, the only thing i do with it is listen to music and it’s fairly well documented that it is not the best music player. With all of the updates iTunes keeps making to its software my library is now looking very strange and disorganised because iTunes decided to created another music folder in my iTunes folder and now i have duplicates, files missing and all sorts.

I don’t need this crap, i just want to listen to my music collection. So my next mp3 player will be a Sony Walkman. In terms of sound quality they are ahead of apple. And that’s the main thing.

Classics – A collection of Literary Masterpieces
Works on iPod Touch and iPhone
£2.99 (i think it’s $2.99 in the US cos it’s cheaper there)

1. Treasure Island
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. A Christmas Carol (illustrated)
4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (illustrated)
5. Gulliver’s Travels
6. The Time Machine
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
8. The Call of The Wild
9. Flatland (illustrated)
10. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
11. Robinson Crusoe
12. The Jungle Book
13. The MEtamorphosis
14. Paradise Lost
15. Hound of The Baskervilles

…and more coming with free updates.