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iCan't Connect (8/20/98)
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Reports of problems with the new iMacs have been surprisingly scarce, and it seems like Apple did a great job of releasing a solid and reliable product. However, we've been having one little problem with ours, and while at first we thought it was perhaps only happening to us, an Inter@ctive Week Online article implies otherwise. It appears that iMacs have trouble making and keeping dialup connections with internet service providers other than EarthLink, which is the iMac's default provider.
The symptoms as reported by Katie, AtAT's resident fact checker and Goddess of Minutiae, are that she often must try four or five times to connect to MacConnect, because the Remote Access control panel typically gets as far as "Starting Network Protocols" and then just sits there forever, eventually requiring her to click "Cancel" and try again. And when she is able to connect, it's not uncommon for the connection to be dropped after only a few minutes of use. This behavior is consistent across several MacConnect dialin numbers. So in a way, we're relieved to read that we're not the only poor shmoes with this problem-- in fact, MacConnect is listed specifically as one ISP who has gotten numerous calls from iMac owners about connection difficulties (though the problem is by no means limited to MacConnect).
Whoops! An Internet Macintosh that doesn't like to be connected to the Internet! But at least now that we know we're not the only ones who are thusly afflicted, we can rest assured that Apple's working on the problem, and will supply a new modem initialization script (or whatever might ease connection issues) shortly. Also, if EarthLink subscribers are in fact immune to this situation, as the article implies, at least the new users who bought an iMac to get on the 'net and signed up via Apple's Internet Setup Assistant are doing just fine-- it's just we existing non-EarthLink-using net-surfers who are feeling the pinch. Still, the irony is not lost on us.
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SceneLink (955)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 8/20/98 episode: August 20, 1998: A California retail chain reveals that the iMac is selling relatively well among first-time computer buyers and even Wintel users. Meanwhile, the iMac appears to have a little glitch with connecting to non-EarthLink Internet service providers, and Microsoft wins yet another appeal in the increasingly stale saga known as "Redmond Justice..."
Other scenes from that episode: 954: Demographically Speaking (8/20/98) Still more news comes trickling in about the iMac's introduction last weekend. ComputerWare, the ten-store retail chain in California that seems to wind up getting quoted in just about every news story about the iMac's big launch, apparently issued a press release revealing some preliminary data about just who was buying up all those iMacs... 956: Predictable Drama (8/20/98) Oh look, Microsoft's won another appeal in its battle against the Department of Justice. This time, an appellate court overturned Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's ruling that the DoJ's pretrial deposition of Bill Gates should be open to the public...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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