I’ve raved here before about how I think the Iphone is the Best. Thing. Ever. Recent events have made me reconsider this line of thinking, but, I imagine this time next week, surrounded in the glow of new technology, I’ll have a better view on what has been ugly tech times.
Last week, Apple released an upgrade to the Iphone operating system, going from 3.0 to 3.1. Because that’s the kind of guy I am, I dutifully downloaded the upgrade and was geeked to check out the new features. Turns out one of the new features was an unpleasant surprise; with the new software, I could no longer communicate with work. No emails, no contacts, no calendar. Nothing. Not good.
I could spend a lot of paragraphs here explaining why this happened (and I’m an expert on why it’s happened now), but, let’s just go with short bullets points
- The problem is that, supposedly, all this time, my Iphone has been trading encrypted data with the work servers. Apparently, that’s not true, Apple has had the old phones ‘faking’ the encryption.
- This upgrade fixed that, but, in the process, ended the faking, and old Iphones can’t communicate with encrypted servers
- Apple’s solution is for companies to turn off the encryption…..which is a pretty funny thing to suggest to a company’s IT department
I have a 3G, the newest phone (which I’ve been coveting) is a 3GS and it’s cooler than cool AND takes video! Drool drool but it would cost me $400-$500 to upgrade and I’ve been drooling from a distance, patiently waiting for cheaper upgrade prices.
But now I’m stuck. No email. Not good. Try to solve the problem the following ways.
- See if work is aware of the issue AND willing to change the settings. They are and they aren’t. No big surprise here
- Downgrade to OS 3.0…..not possible, and I tried several times and just made my Iphone life worse as I deleted all my backups in doing so.
- Call AT&T and look for relief on upgrade prices; I figure the rep had a good laugh with his coworkers after my call “Hey Charlie, get this, that guy wanted to upgrade early!”
- And finally, just a shot in the dark, call Apple tech support.
And, shockingly, even though it took time (spend about 90 minutes on the phone) it worked. They agreed; you can’t go back to 3.0. They suggested having the work IT department change the setting; they agreed that the suggestion was crazy. They agreed my dilemna is their fault(!).
So, they are treating my Iphone as a warranty claim, and, for the sum of $100, are going to ship me a 32Gig 3GS (my 3G is 16G).
So, I’m happy to soon be united with my drool drool drool want for several months, and, I’m extremely pleased that Apple Tech support rolled over and gave me what I wanted (I hoped they might do this, but, I hope to win the lotto someday too…that’s how realistic I thought my chances were). But the experience has left me jaded on software upgrades, and still, right now, my iphone has more in common with an Ipod than what it needs to be in common with, my old blackberry.
That 3GS can’t get here fast enough!
