Posts by Simon Grigg
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Hard News: Auckland City Nights, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
Which would be a pretty acceptable solution *if people could find it*. Dairies just aren't the sort of thing that end up on maps.
I just entered 'convenience store' in my phone and google pointed me to a bunch of local 7-elevens (and one Star Mart - they're not as common but they exist). I'd imagine it would do similar things in Auckland?
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
I haven't seen the same arrangement elsewhere.
They do offer refurbished models throughout S.E. Asia with warranty - or at least they did when I saw the advertising a year or so ago. I guess that still exists. JB Hifi in Queen Street was selling old model MBP 17"s at prices below $3k in July, although I have no idea how many - it may have just been the one or two on display.
I have to say, the best after sales support I've ever had from a computer manufacturer has been from HP. They've replaced out of warranty motherboards at no cost and corrected a fuzzy screen, once again at no cost. Result: happy daughter. Machines are rubbish, but the service was fantastic.
Apple, OTOH, have been obstructive and refused to honour a factory recall of a known fault without my paying, until went up the chain by asking repeatedly to speak to the next person up - I ended up with VP of Customer Relations in Singapore, who asked how far up I intended to go with this? 'Steve' I replied, and they then fixed the fault gratis. I was asked not to tell anyone. Ha.
There was a huge thread on the refusal to honour the recall on the Apple forums, much of it subsequently being deleted - as seems to be case when any threads there get too critical of the mothership. Obstruction in this case seemed to be corporate policy and a guy at Apple here quietly said that the problem was far bigger than they had at first assumed - this was the reaction.
So, love the product. Not quite so sure about some of the corporate philosophies.
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Gareth Ward,
The fact that they can now get great industrial design delivered rapidly to your hands in unthinkable volume at a close-to-competitive price is behind that.
They'd be more competitive if it wasn't for some questionable pricing:
Macbook Pro 17" ( = ex-VAT price in NZ $)
Hong Kong: HK$ 19,288 = NZ2944.00
Singapore: S$ 3,398.00 = NZ$3175.00
Thailand: ฿ 81,900.00 = NZ$3045
Australia: AU2899.00 = NZ$3316
NZ: NZ$ 4,199.00 = NZ$3651I know from experience that the SG and HK prices are very negotiable in store too. I suspect the Thai one is as well given that some malls have 4 or 5 Mac dealers.
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Rich Lock,
Off at a tangent: since we're not feeling the iTunes love, which legal download sites are worth the effort?
I was a fan of eMusic until they arbitrarily disconnected me a couple of years back. Perhaps an Indonesian IP at the time didn't help.
Beatport, Boomkat and Juno are fine for electronic music but their interfaces leave something be desired.
I really liked Amazon until they, too, decided that non-US addresses (that Beverley Hills 90210 address had a short life) were verboten.
Bandcamp works for me, as does Amplifier for NZ tuneage. As often as not, though, I'll buy off an artist's own site if possible, or the label's.
They get the full wack and I'm sure they appreciate the extra few cents.
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Russell Brown,
but the idea that that Apple succeeds because it puts form before function simply isn’t true.
Word. I resisted the move to Mac for years - just because I was being a curmudgeon - but when I finally made the jump, it was the function that made it worthwhile. I'm no fanboi - I prefer Android to iOS and hate iTunes - but, simply put, Apple's computing devices make getting it done so much more intuitive, reliable, stable and easier.
I'll never go back to a Win PC. E̶v̶e̶r̶.
ETA: Ever is a big word
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Russell Brown,
Now, smartphones are basically variations on the iPhone.
HTC had the finger touch screen Gene and Touch both out before the iPhone. In this part of the world at least they were the groover's choice and pretty much everywhere before the iPhone arrived. They caused quite a fuss.
From memory the interface we now see on android smartphones hasn't changed that much since those early HTCs.
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Rich Lock,
It was 2003, I think?
Yep - you're right. I've about an hour of video footage of the gig somewhere, filmed from the stage. Must find.
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Russell Brown,
The Turnaround late at The Cloud on Sept 16 will be the closest thing to a Norman Jay “Good Times” joint you’re likely to see all year.
Norman told me a couple of months ago that the two very best gigs he's ever played outside the carnival are both in NZ: The Box in 1994 and Concert in The Park - Auckland Domain, Bob Marley's Birthday/Waitangi Day circa 2002.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I did not know that. Any of it.
Very moving few minutes on Lew from NZ on Screen.
He was a quite a guy.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Russell Brown,
AKL got described once as 'Sydney for beginners'. I forget who said it.
Having lived in both, I would imagine it was said by someone who had lived in neither.
Good point. It's actually a shame someone didn't seek an expression from gay Auckland.
Lest we forget. At the same time he was involved with senior rugby admin in Auckland, he was a co-owner of one of the city's best clubs, an illicit gay one.