ɔimoɈɒ

In our modern society we have several ‘rites of passage’ which define the transition from child to adult: the age of consent, the age when you don’t need to rely on older siblings to get you beer.

As I’m currently suffering from a nasty bout of tonsillitis I’m experiencing the full force of another rite of passage – the one where the womenfolk in your life stop being sympathetic to your illness and instead tell you to stop being a martyr.

I’m really sick. I really am. Whereas normally I’d be up and about, doing stuff, ready to run out the door to do stuff or fetch things, I find that at the moment I have only the energy to sit still. And my fever means my bedclothes are soaked with sweat. I’ve vomited once so far and god knows I loathe being sick. I can’t swallow without immense pain and talking is painful too. My glands at my neck are swollen and I’ve not eaten in 2 days. When I do finally manage to nod off at night, I’m woken up because my swollen tonsils cut off my air supply. The only things to pass my lips for the last two days are paracetamol, ibuprofen, honey and hot lemon. My voice is now a whisper and I have aches in my muscles and joints as well as hot flushes and shivers. I’m sick. It’s the truth.

This is what my throat looks like:
Credit: Tonsillitis Article on Wikipedia

Now, other people may have had the same or similar infection but it’s never going to affect two people identically. Some people recover quickly, some take longer. And if you’re stressed or run-down then you’re going to be sick for longer. Just because someone else wasn’t bedridden with the damn thing it doesn’t mean I’m malingering here.

I’m tired of the “man flu” comments and the “martyr” digs. I’m fucking sick here. If you know me at all you’d know I’d never choose this. I’d never go without food for two days. I love my food!

Yes, I am having a moan. But I’m very very uncomfortable.

This comment hacks me off

Robert, did you all of a sudden forget that this the same Apple that was intentionally bricking users’ phones?

The same one that pulled an about face when they staggeringly dropped the iPhone price and said ‘too bad’ until users called them on it.

Apple is not intentionally bricking iPhones. When you run an unsupported hack without a full set of documentation and an update breaks it, it’s tough shit. It’s not malice unless you count Apple not bothering to test each and every hack which would, of course, be unreasonable. When you hack the firmware and operating system software then you have to expect some sort of effect. Remember that the point updates in the iPhone OS will replace the OS as expected. The only supported apps on iPhone at the moment are the ones it ships with. You can be sure when Apple releases their SDK that they’ll show us the mechanism for keeping third party apps on the iPhone. Maybe then we can stop the whining?

Likewise, putting in place a refund for early adopters is not something that is done on a Thursday night between the soaps. I don’t think Apple does anything as a reaction. Every thing is planned. Sure, they may plan some things and then later decide whether to action it.

Robert Scoble writes about bloggers turning on Apple:

But then they brought out OSX, which was based on Unix. Overnight it seemed like my friends who were Linux geeks switched over to OSX.

Now those geeks have to wait in line at Apple stores just to get machines fixed. My son today went to a Genius bar and had to wait until 8 p.m. to get help. That didn’t used to be the case.

The question is therefore why take it to an Apple Store? What about the dozens of Apple Authorised Service Providers out there, hard working independents who are being largely ignored by you and Patrick because you’d rather wait in line into the dark hours. Is is the cachet of the store itself?

[Disclaimer: I own an Apple Authorised Service Provider. And no, we don’t have any Apple Stores in the region, though one is coming.]

But I am wishing happiness on my friends. Some of you have been there for me, some supported me during my darkest times (like when I thought my kids were going to Oz with their mum) and some were just constant reminders that I may be a terrible communicator but they were still interested in hearing my thoughts.

The rest of you can go to pot. Merry Christmas!