Technology Blues

Two things have happened in the past couple of weeks that have just ticked me off.

First, Aly put her cell phone number in on some website and they've been charging our cell phone bill. Mike called Sprint and put a stop to that by blocking those sites. Apparently that block also deactivates the short codes (like 40404 instead of a full phone number) that I use for Twitter updates. That's right. I can't tweet from my cell phone anymore. UGH!

Then, Mike went and bought me a new iPod cord so I could sync my Touch with iTunes. The original cord is safely packed away in some box we'll never open again. Once synched, several apps were no longer compatible and were deleted. Apps like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The whole REASON for having an iPod Touch (well, beside that music and video stuff). So I needed to update the operating system. And Apple charges for it. Now, it is only $4.95, so no big deal, but really, isn't it odd that they would charge for a firmware update?! So, I pay the five bucks and upgrade. Now when I plug the iPod into the charger or my boom box, it doesn't work. It won't charge. It won't play through the speakers.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!

Well, it seems that Apple put code in the latest O/S that PREVENTS the iPod Touch (or the iPhone) from working with third party peripherals. Even the ones that have the Apple seal of approval (the box says "made for iPod" ... I think the third party vendor PAYS Apple to have that on the box). So now, unless I buy Apple branded (and more expensive) crap, I have no speakers, no charger, no car charger, no AV cord. I'm ticked. TICKED, I tell you.

My options:
(1) suck it up and buy Apple brand crap. Not gonna happen.
(2) restore to the previous O/S. But I won't have the apps I use all the time. Then I might as well have the regular old iPod to plug into my speakers.
(3) hack the damn thing. There are apps that you can download that allow you to "jailbreak" the iPod. This allows third party peripherals (and apps) to work. Supposedly, if you have a problem, you can just restore back to normal. I'm not sure I've got the guts to do it.

So, I guess option #4 is what I've chosen to do. Whine.