How's This For A Switch: A Blue Screen of Death, Courtesy of Apple

Posted by: Peter Burrows on September 14

Just when I was hoping that iPhone firmware update 2.1 was going to improve the performance of the loaner iPhone I’ve been using from Apple, here comes another headache courtesy of Apple. Since launching iTunes 8.0 a couple of days ago, my Vista PC crashes whenever I synch my iPod. It only takes a few seconds after connecting the device and boom—a full-blown, coronary-inducing Blue Screen of Death.

Fortunately, Vista recovers after I reboot. Unfortunately, the fix Apple suggests on its website to resolve the issue isn’t working for me. I’ve run through the process twice, at the cost of well over an hour of my time, and the iPod still crashes my system. I’m not alone. Check out the final entry in this very long thread on Apple’s support site.

I don’t know what’s going on in Cupertino, but Apple needs to get off this bad streak in a hurry if it wants to maintain that warm-and-fuzzy brand reputation it enjoys. I, like most people, tend to give Apple the benefit of the doubt when the inevitable problem crops up. But this disappointment is starting to feel familiar. Using an iPhone for me has been addictive in many ways, but also maddening; a call with my Dad dropped not once but four times as I drove into the Apple event in San Francisco last week—a route on which I have never noticed major connectivity problems in the past. And tonight, I wanted to go to bed hours ago as I’m suffering from hellish allergies today. Yet here I sit, messing with my PC just so I can get it working like it was a few days ago.

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