by Steve Tanham
I had such a peaceful blog planned… Creative and poetic, taking a whimsical look at a key modern event.
But… instead, I’m typing this on my much-loved Apple iPad, with a sour taste in my mouth.
Better start at the beginning.
I was queuing for a take-away in Costa Coffee, Morecambe, on a particularly nasty day three weeks ago. The rain and wind were battering the windows, and Joanne, my sister-in-law, was having to stand outside in the gale because only one person per group was allowed to queue inside the coffee-house. Bernie was walking Tess, our collie, and she was joining us, in the park area across the road, to have our coffee – the only kind of social event we can do, now.
Joanne is not good in high winds and I had to keep looking back to check she was okay… Not a good way to concentrate.
Wallet in one hand, I was using the other to check in with the Covid QR code. That’s when I dropped the phone, and watched in slow-motion as it spun down to land, screen-first, on a metal bar fronting the base of the counter. My much-loved iPhone 11 is the device on which I have taken most of the blog photos for the past two years.
The screen had fractured into dozen of cracks… it was still usable but a mess. At least I had it insured. With a bit of cash up-front, I could replace it with the latest model… the one with the bigger lenses and dramatically increased processing power. Mmmm.
One of my sons, Daniel, had been seen at our most recent get-together jubilantly flashing his brand-new iPhone 12 Pro – supposedly the best ‘phone camera’ on the market. Now, I had the chance to get the same device. If you’ve followed this blog, or are a friend on Facebook, you will know how passionate I am about photography through the seasons.
The new model duly arrived. Unwrapped, it looked stunning in its cool gun-metal case. I couldn’t wait to set it up. The older iPhone 11 had, in its time, taken less than an hour to configure itself by automatically copying everything on the previous phone and re-verifying my security via its sophisticated algorithms.
I pressed ‘Go’, on the new one… and made a pot of tea, expecting it to be practically finished when I got back.
Three days later, I’m still waiting. Apparently, Apple know they have a set of problems with this release. The hardware is great. The core operating system comes up straight away…
But most of us have a vast array of ‘Apps’ that do specific and important things for us, including advanced processing of our photos. These are currently sitting, ‘greyed out’ on my new phone, unable or unwilling to jump into life on the replacement. I’m no beginner, and have followed exactly what I did with the last device. But every time I chase the next logical path to a fix, it turns out not to be.
I’ve been a vocal fan of Apple for decades and am an enthusiastic advocate of its stance on protecting our individual security. When my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I unhesitatingly asked for an Apple Watch.
That’s it, above. Dead as a dodo, presumably in limbo between two generations of its host phone. Sadly, the price of reliance on a single technology.
As you can tell, I’m struggling with all of this. Bernie has just opened a bottle of wine and we stared, through tired eyes, at the reset button that would eliminate two days of partial work and take us back to the beginning of the whole upgrade via a recovery from the last iCloud backup. Someone on one of the internet support groups said this may be the only way out.
We press it… turning away while it starts at the beginning, again. All this might be my fault. The wrong decision, something odd installed on my phone – like a virus checker. The thing is, though, Apple have always protected me from that. They’ve always been there, one step ahead of what I might do in error, next.
So far, the reset from iCloud appears to be working… But it’s going to take a while to take this sour taste from my normally sweet mouth.
©️Stephen Tanham
Sun in Gemini 
Oh dear… hope it sorts itself out…
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Thank you, Sue. Will let you know! x
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Must b awfully frustrating… x
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I’m trapped between two worlds. The old phone now doesn’t have the SIM card, so I can’t get calls. The new one appears to still have some of the problems with the Apps – as of this morning. One of the key apps keeps logging me out, all by itself. It’s a nightmare! x
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Hope you can get it resolved soon! x
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16:00. I think I might have got to the bottom of the main problem… x
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Hope so… x
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21:18. Looking good. Think we’re out of the woods… x
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Cool 🙂 x
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All part of the love/hate relationship with technology, and I sometimes wish we didn’t have to rely on it so much…
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I agree. Jaye. So frustrating when you hit a big obstacle like this – and Apple have always been so good at keeping me safe!
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But not necessarily sane, Steve?
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So good, Jaye 😎
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You have my commiserations, Steve! I ‘push’ when a sign say ‘pull,’ so you’ll appreciate why I still have a land-line telephone and my eldest son helps with any technology needed…I am in awe of all you ‘clever-clogs!’ The present situation must be very frustrating for you. Cheers!.
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Thank you, Joy! I comfort myself with the aphorism: ‘this too will pass’…
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It’s at such times we realise how much our lives have changed, and technology has become a stepping stone to where we are. Hopefully the glitch will come good, is soon forgotten, and you’ll be the proud owner of an iPhone 12. I too find a glass of wine helps enormously at such times. Fingers crossed for you.
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Perfect, Michael. It was the wine wot fixed it! Now we’ll on the way to recovery. Major villain Norton VPN, but Apple could have flagged that…
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I’ve been the recipient of a litany of iDisappointments from my brother by email this past year. He used to be a fan, as well. I’m wondering if something fundamental has changed in Apple’s leadership or practices.
I’ve seen a slow but increasing migration over to the Samsung phones among my family, friends and acquaintances, and I must say my husband and I have been very pleased with ours. Easier on all levels, and there are plenty of privacy enhancing options included and readily found and chosen.
Also, my brother is upset how with Apple he is asked questions regarding giving up some privacy over and over, and with Samsung those options are once and done. I gave him my old Samsung phone, and he was surprised at the pleasant comparison. I think he’s sold on the change going forward.
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It’s a shame. The phone is fine, now, but it was not a pleasant few days. I agree, Apple charge a premium and should get it right. I’ll stick with them for now but this has not been great. Thanks fo the info. 😎
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Just thought you’d like to know you’re not the only one, and it does seem something big has changed. 🙂
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That’s lovely. Thank you, Sheri. I use an Apple Watch, too, so my life is very Apple focussed. But it was certainly upsetting. Comments like your help a lot x😀
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