methodology and EC standards as products evolve.—Lance Ulanoff
The Trouble with Troubleshooting Lance Ulanoff’s comments in his column “When Your PC Is a Born Loser” (November, page 7) were spot-on. I use both Windows and Apple systems and have found them both to be frustrating in terms of reliability. I think Apple’s “walled garden” allows (or compels) the company to offer vastly superior customer support. The open architecture and broad upgrade path available with Windows systems means it will always be difficult to pinpoint the culprit when there is a defect, especially when you combine hardware and software from different sources. I think every manufacturer, be it of coffee machines, cars, or computers, has a defect rate. Unfortunately, the thinner the profit margins, the poorer the follow-up.—Richard Johnson
Neil Knows Security I have just finished reading some of Neil Rubenking’s reviews of security suites such as Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, McAfee Total Protection 2009, and so on. I want to say that they are some of the best reviews that I have ever read. They are easy to understand and helpful in selecting a security suite. Thanks!—David Newton
a glowing product review only to find the product to be full of warts. This is true even of Michael Muchmore’s review of Apple’s MobileMe (October, page 44). The MobileMe software’s problems have been well covered in many other press outlets, in particular the difference in the experience you have if you are a Windows user (not so good) or a Mac user (much better). I did not see any mention of that difference in Muchmore’s review. Additionally, since you are PC Magazine, I would expect any review to focus more on the experience of non-Mac users. But what really bugs me is that while Muchmore acknowledges that he too had the same problems with MobileMe as have been widely reported, he goes on to say that these are “issues that Apple has acknowledged and reportedly fixed.” “Reportedly fixed?” I thought the job of a journalist was to verify things as opposed to taking the word of a company’s PR department. I understand the need for fairness in the reviews and that you have editorial deadlines and all, but if Apple (or any other company) rolls out a bad product, you should call it like you see it and serve notice to others that they should make sure that they are not shipping alpha versions of their products to paying customers.—Jim Barrett
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Let Other Countries Play, iTunes eBay Going the Wrong Way I read your Front Side news story “Has eBay Outbid Itself?” (October, page 18). I am a small-time eBay user and have generally enjoyed the site since 1998. But with the recent changes eBay management reminds me of an authoritarian government. First it takes away the seller’s right to criticize the buyer. And when I tried to sell a DVD on eBay the other day, the site indicated that I could charge only a set $3 fee for shipping a DVD in the future. This, along with an increase in most every other fee, has me wondering whether eBay is worth the hassle. If it wants to sell products outright, fine; it should set up a separate commerce site. Don’t go messing with the auction format you drew most of your customers in with, eBay, just to slam the door in our faces for our loyalty.—Michael Piotter
Pay Attention to Sascha, PC Mag! I found Sascha Seagan’s October column, “Product Reviews: The Problem” (page 68) to be right on the money. I have read many
I agree with Jamie Lendino’s conclusion, in his First Looks review of iTunes 8 (November, page 34), that the inclusion of the Genius feature warrants the upgrade. So imagine my annoyance when I discover that the use of Genius requires a store account. This may be no problem for users in the U.S. or Europe, but it is impossible to open an iTunes account in most other countries. (A store account requires a credit-card billing address in one of a limited number of countries.) There is no reason to require this, since Genius purportedly uses only songs from your local library. So thumbs down for this “upgrade” until Apple acknowledges its customers in the rest of the world.—Jan Willem Rosenboom (Cambodia) HOW TO CONTACT US We welcome your comments and suggestions. When sending e-mail to Feedback, please state in the subject line of your message which article or column prompted your response. E-mail pcmag@ziffdavis.com. All letters become the property of PC Magazine and are subject to editing. We regret that we cannot answer letters individually.
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