apples of gold in settings of silver

1 year on... I am disillusioned with the IT/design giant that is Apple. Supposedly a multinational corporation with a powerful brand name, heavy investment in tech development and design, along with a loyal following, would construct products which, even if they cannot be passed down to my grandchildren, should at least, at least, give me 2 years of pleasurable utility.

 

Which the 2nd generation iPod Mini (Hot Pink) did not. When it came out, it was heralded as a substantial upgrade in terms of firmware and battery life (18 hours compared to 8) from the 1st generation Mini. In fact, road tests by several noted review sites such as CNET and PCMag online rated the battery at 24 hours, exceeding the estimated life quoted by Apple itself.

 

I bought my very own Mini in April 05. To my delight, it provided me with 3 days of continuous listening per charge (roughly 6-7 hours per day) as I studied furiously in preparation for my final examinations as an Honors student. 24 hours per charge indeed.

 

2 months after I bought the Mini, I was puzzled as to why each charge only afforded me 1 and a half days of listening pleasure (4 hours on a plane ride to Beijing, and a few hours spread over 2 nights in the hotel, zero charge for the journey home).

 

6 months after I bought the Mini, I was irritated and angry with how, after 4-5 hours of usage time, the iPod would shut off, claiming an empty battery. After a few attempts to revive it, the unit managed to squeeze out another 1-2 hours of play time.

 

8 months on, I only expected a charge to last me on the bus journey to and from school. If I didn't charge it after that, it might last me half a bus trip the next day.

 

11 months on, I'm sending it in for battery replacement, covered under warranty. Next to me, I listen to a man ranting about how he had to spend hours of his time sending in his faulty iPod for evaluation and repair. 9 months after receiving a replacement unit, it too gives up the ghost and the service personnel has the interesting suggestion, "The hard disk is damaged, probably not worth repairing. We can't replace your unit because it's no longer covered by warranty. Why don't you get a new iPod?" That certainly sent the customer into a tizzy. My service center officer then mentioned to me under her breath that I might want to consider getting extended warranty, otherwise I'd end up in the same situation as the poor gent to my left. Er, no thanks. I'd rather upgrade - to a more reliable, consistent product without such a volatile half-life in terms of battery and hard disk integrity. Another friend's iPod Photo, less than a year old, has gone kaput. Hangs within 30 minutes.

 

I am not an idealist when it comes to tech, I recognize that IT products we buy, whether mp3 players, digital cameras, color printers or computers, will probably only be used up to 2 years before they become out of date and it's better to buy a new unit. But during those 2 years, couldn't we have some enjoyment out of our product, rather than coaxing or forcing the unit to revive, rather like an ER physician giving a cardiac massage to a carwrecked patient?

Somehow, over the course of a weekend when I was supposed to read 3 chapters from my biological psychology textbook (movement, memory and planning), I somehow managed to watch not one but two movies, one on a borrowed DVD from a friend, Princess Mononoke, and one at the cinemas with Steph and Maryam (too lazy to come up with aliases, and their initials would be too.. disturbing), V for Vendetta.

 

Interestingly, both films centered on the theme of revenge and all the implications and repercussions associated with it. Briefly, Princess Mononoke, far from being a happy adventure of a pretty anime princess in a fantasy land, is a violent, beautiful tale set in a primeval Japan where forests are temples inhabited and cared for by pagan animal gods. Set in the warlord era, humans are pitted against humans, pitted against the trees and animals and spirits of the forest. I won't go too much into plot details, but suffice to say that this 'cartoon', by genius Hayao Miyazaki, is one of the most complicated depictions of hate, revenge and violence that I have ever seen or read, and conversely the most subtle advocate of peace. The film's tragic, noble protagonist, the young Prince Ashitaka goes on a quest to lift a curse he incurred while saving his town from a boar-demon, but in the process discovers that the evil inflicted on him is a result of a result of something else, a choking spiral of wrongs, spite, misdeeds and revenge that can seem to find no resolution. The film works as a strong metaphor for the encroachment, rape and defilement humans have inflicted on earth, but really you can relate to it in many ways. Ambition, power, deception, greed, courage, spite, tragedy, all grand Shakespearan themes, handled ably and never hamhandedly by wood sprites, a good looking anime prince and princess, and talking boars and apes. It is a truly remarkable film in that every one is trying to do the best they can, and you can empathize with so many of the characters, even when their work and actions wreak harm on others. Can balance ever be found on this earth if each individual organism can only ever seek fulfilment and utility for himself? At the climax, the feeling is one of bittersweet peace mingled with uncertainty - a possible third alternative is glimpsed, but it's so difficult.

 

V for Vendetta, what can I say about it? It's a testimony to the strength of the story conceived by Alan Moore that the movie manages to engage, entertain, horrify and inspire, despite so many changes from the graphic novel. A friend commented though that V, the ambiguously noble, erudite and destructive avenger of the movie's title, might not see much visible support in Singapore - hardly anyone would heed his call to stand in front of the Parliament builidng if he announces he wishes to blow it up. Parody and exaggeration might be a literary device in highlighting to the viewers the danger of surrendering liberties and freedom of choice to a government in exchange for security, power,  and protection, but it's precisely the suffocatingly totalitarian, violent and deceptive nature of the party, contrasted with the tactics of V's strategic terrorism, which stoke the people into nonviolent but total revolt. In modern society, power, influence and restrictions come more subtly intertwined with rewards, prosperity and moral superiority. I'll leave you to think about it.

The drought strikes again! Well, I've been tagged with the 7x7 meme, which seems so large, onerous and requiring of self-knowledge that I just haven't got around to it. Let me start with the 7 movies, since that's easy.

 

1. Star Wars Episodes IV-VI

2. LOTR trilogy

3. Happy Together

4. Spirited Away

5. Chungking Express

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas

7. Amadeus

 

Argh, so limiting! Anyway.

 

Seven Things I Say  (That's hard!)

1. Woohoo!

2. Lunch?

3. Arrrrrgh (death rattle)

4. I don't know...

5. Teatime!

6. I'm hungry...

7. Yay!

 

Seven Books I Love (Waaaah, this is hard!! Rated by how many times I've read it...)

1. Macbeth

2. Hamlet

3. Of Mice and Men

4. The Belgariad and the Mallorean by David Eddings

5. Pride & Prejudice by You-Know-Who

6. Original French Fairy Tales, collected by I'm-not-sure-who

7. The Cider House Rules (because it didn't get into my Top7 movie list)

 

Seven Things I Cannot Do

1. Roll my tongue

2. Use the name of the Lord in vain (!)

3. NOT cry at touching scenes in movies (it's embarrassing...)

4. NOT talk during a movie

5. Skip a meal (as you might have gathered)

6. Kill myself

7. Think unemotionally

 

Seven Things to Do Before I Die

1. Scuba dive

2. Grand Tour of Europe

3. Make a positive, unique difference in a few people's lives

4. Learn to clean an apartment-sized space in less than a day

5. Finally have a neat, pretty room, without junk in the corners

6. Own a cat

7. See a polar bear, a dolphin, and a whale in its natural environment (Manitoba, here I come!)

 

Seven Things That Attract Me To... Movies

1. Entertainment value

2. Identifying with emotions

3. Introducing me to situations I might not usually find myself in - what would I do in such a case??

4. The mood it evokes

5. Heroism in LOTR and Star Wars - "All you have to do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to you." The bestestness that a person, Hobbit or elf can aspire to be.

6. Empowerment - "yeah, go Eowyn!"

7. Learning lessons vicariously - would add a caveat that it hasn't really worked. The lessons are identified post-hoc

 

Seven People to Tag

1. sweetpotato

2. anlin

3. celticbiohazard

4. ariel

5. andy

6. nat

7. benedict

 

Whee! I did it!