Apple, Quicken, Etc.: Why’d You Change That?

Yesterday I sat down to record my Monday blog.  I had decided to do a video one, since I hadn’t done that in awhile, and it seems a more personal approach, so that folks who do read my blog regularly, can see me, assess my feelings, etc. Years ago an Apple tech in Portland had taught me how to create a video, edit it, save it, post it, etc.  When I got home, I typed out his instructions so I wouldn’t forget a step, and have been following those pages ever since.  So. Yesterday I set up my little folding table and lights, practiced talking (which I always do), sat down with my directions and began, or so I thought.  Only nothing looked right.  I kept fooling around with what was on the screen, but the computer kept telling me I didn’t have a camera.  Sigh.  I called Apple tech support. The first tech was short with me (very unusual), so I hung up quickly, waited a few minutes, drank some water to calm myself since I was becoming more and more agitated as this saga played out, and called again.  I was routed to ‘Steven’, an expert in imovie within Apple tech support.  Yes, he informed me, Apple had altered imovie to ‘make it better’, which made me groan.  Over an hour later, he could not get my version of imovie (the old version) to recognize my camera.  I finally gave up, and suggested, “Maybe you can take me through the steps I’ll have to take with the new version so I can continue to make  short videos for my reading audience.”  “If you’re willing, I am,” he readily agreed.  He took me through some steps to reinstall the new version of imovie, since we had deleted all versions to see if we could upload the old version and get it to work, and assured me he’d call me back when he finished his lunch and imovie had downloaded.  Miracle of miracles, he was as good as his word. He took me through the new steps, using screen share so that he could direct me with his cursor, and I wrote down each step, much as I had in the Apple store originally.  We agreed that the editing process would work the same way, although putting in the Title and changing fonts, etc. did not. “We’re working on that,” he explained; ‘Just keep checking.”   After we figured out how to do what I needed, we chatted for a few more minutes, and then hung up.  I didn’t think to ask him why they posted this version if they knew it still had kinks.  I don’t have the heart this morning to try it out, but I will when I create my next blog in two weeks.  Telling myself it may take longer than it usually does because there are bound to be snafu’s, I also remind myself I can call Apple tech support again, and get help from someone else.  I’m sure Steven took good notes. A friend laughed in agreement this morning at my Nia class.  Apparently Quicken forces you to ‘upgrade’ every two years, and decided to render the old versions inoperable last year.  She now has to pay for the privilege of having to learn a new system every other year.  At least Apple didn’t charge me!  Nevertheless,  writing this blog still feels infuriating.