Mitza_003 – Zulu Play https://zuluplay.com Tech, gaming and lifestyle Sun, 02 Oct 2022 14:31:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://i0.wp.com/zuluplay.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cropped-Untitled3.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Mitza_003 – Zulu Play https://zuluplay.com 32 32 134638386 Permanent fix for AMD GPU PA-300 error https://zuluplay.com/2022/10/02/permanent-fix-for-amd-gpu-pa-300-error/ https://zuluplay.com/2022/10/02/permanent-fix-for-amd-gpu-pa-300-error/#respond Sun, 02 Oct 2022 14:08:47 +0000 https://zuluplay.com/?p=2012

Recently AMD graphic cards have been facing an issue where the driver just magically stops working.

The error message: “The version of AMD Radeon Software you have launched is not compatible with your currently installed graphics driver.”

I finally found out the best way to permanently fix this issue. The official one on the AMD page (found here) works for a while and then the error comes back. Sometimes Windows Updates overwrites newer device drivers and causes these kind of problems. You should follow the steps in the link above from the AMD website and afterwards follow the steps below.

How-to fix the problem:

  1. Open “Device manager”
  2. Find “Display adapters”
  3. Right click on your AMD GPU, press “Update driver”
  4. Press “Browse my computer for drivers”
  5. Select “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”
  6. Select the newer driver and click “Next”

You’ll have to wait until the driver is installed. Normally after a restart everything should work just fine. I did reinstall the whole AMD Adrenaline suite just to be sure, for future automatic updates. That’s it!

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2022/10/02/permanent-fix-for-amd-gpu-pa-300-error/feed/ 0 2012
FREE antivirus to protect your computer and work during the pandemic https://zuluplay.com/2020/04/10/free-antivirus-to-protect-your-computer-and-work-during-the-pandemic/ https://zuluplay.com/2020/04/10/free-antivirus-to-protect-your-computer-and-work-during-the-pandemic/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:14:03 +0000 https://zuluplay.com/?p=481

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, a pandemic kicked in yo. That means many have gone into isolation or quarantine, if that’s the case. Governments worldwide have implemented strict movement restrictions and that mostly means you have to stay at home, mostly.

Many businesses continue their work with employees doing their job from the comfort and security of their homes. All in all that means a large amount of users have started working from home, from their personal computers which we all know might not be as secure as a corporate owned and maintained computer. Viruses and coronavirus-related scams have blown out of proportion in the last few months, one or two wrong clicks might lead to unexpected loss of data.

I’m coming to your aid with this article, especially those of you who aren’t that tech savvy. I’ve put together a list of security solutions you can install right now and use for free so you can keep working safely.

Below you’ll find a list of Windows-only security solutions.

ESET Internet Security (3 months): https://bit.ly/3a1PxvY

K7 Total Security (until covid-19 over): https://bit.ly/2XqT5FA

Bullguard Internet Security (3 months): https://bit.ly/2VfRy2s

Don’t worry Mac users, I’ve got you covered as well. Have a gander at the links below, these suites are actually multiplatform, so you can also protect your mobile devices as well.

Webroot Endpoint Protection (2 months): https://bit.ly/2yQdZ6J

Avira Prime (3 months):  https://bit.ly/2XkUUno

Norton Family Premier (6 months): https://nr.tn/39YNfhl

Trend Micro Maximum Security (6 months): https://bit.ly/2x9qVnR

Bitdefender Total Security (3 months): https://bit.ly/3c6UxRl

If I find more security software available for free I will update the list as necessary. I’d also like to thank all the companies above for their support. A big shout out to K7 that offers their software for as long as this pandemic lasts and also to Bitdefender for offering free security solutions to all the institutions implicated in fighting the pandemic.

Until next time, stay home and stay safe!

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2020/04/10/free-antivirus-to-protect-your-computer-and-work-during-the-pandemic/feed/ 0 481
The playable prototype of StarCraft: Ghost is in the wild https://zuluplay.com/2020/02/18/the-playable-prototype-of-starcraft-ghost-is-in-the-wild/ https://zuluplay.com/2020/02/18/the-playable-prototype-of-starcraft-ghost-is-in-the-wild/#respond Tue, 18 Feb 2020 15:39:38 +0000 https://zuluplay.com/?p=452

Ooowee, what a time to be alive. Remember back in the day when Blizzard was working on some secret stealth shooter within the Starcraft universe? Yeah it was called Starcraft: Ghost and you played the role of Nova and a whole story that took place after the events of Brood War. But enough of that, if you’re here that means you already know what this is all about, if not, just check out this wiki page. The game was scrapped around 2005 and apart from some screens and videos from E3 there was nothing left in the wild about the game.

It seems somebody posted videos on Youtube with a fully working prototype of the game. Yes, the user posted a video from a modded xbox, to be precise, but the game files actually leaked online. At the moment of writing this article i’m browsing through the games files and from what i can see, there are two playable levels. Unless you have an xbox devkit or a modded console, you can’t really do much as the few emulator available don’t even work. For the moment , that is. This is hot news right now so just wait until the community gets the prototype working.

Imma post the magnet link found on reddit for those eager to test it out. Get it while it’s hot, this is a piece of gaming history!

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:5f2f3dc490de096ea46c6d49bfcab0cec45a931f

NOTE: This article will continuously be updated as more information surfaces.

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2020/02/18/the-playable-prototype-of-starcraft-ghost-is-in-the-wild/feed/ 0 452
GTA: San Andreas is now FREE https://zuluplay.com/2019/09/18/gta-san-andreas-is-now-free/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/09/18/gta-san-andreas-is-now-free/#respond Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:54:43 +0000 https://zuluplay.com/?p=416

Well look at that. Rockstar Games is giving San Andreas for free, for everybody that starts using their new desktop app called Rockstar Games Launcher. What is it? It’s kinda’ like the former Social Club app from back in the day of Max Payne 3 and GTA 4. The most important feature is the store part as you can actually purchase most of their know titles from inside the app. Nothing more, nothing less, Rockstars version of Epic Store or Battle.Net.

I’m guessing this has become a trend, each major studio makes their own client with a shop. Not great, not terrible, i’m just here for the free game. You can also use the launcher to scan your computer for other Rockstar titles that you have installed and add them forever in your library. Kind of neat that i won’t have to always depend on Steam or physical media to reinstall. If i install selected titles they will appear in my library but if i uninstall them, they’re gone. Hope in the future they will permanently stay there. They also talk about cloud saves, which is awesome. I still have all of my saves on Dropbox, just saying. I wouldn’t expect a whole lot from the Launcher app, at least not in the short run. It’s just another place for all your already purchased Rockstar titles. I’d like to believe we’d get newer titles and content much cheaper that on any other distribution platform. Well, what are you doing?

Download now and get a bonus FREE copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on PC for a limited time.

“All you had to do is press the damn Download button, CJ” – Big Smoke

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/09/18/gta-san-andreas-is-now-free/feed/ 0 416
I survived without a smartphone https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/31/i-survived-without-a-smartphone/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/31/i-survived-without-a-smartphone/#respond Sat, 31 Aug 2019 17:59:35 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=402  

Just think about it for a second or two. Could you go about your daily life without a smartphone by your side? Can you just give it and all your apps a time off? Not surprisingly at all, you can.

So hear me out. Almost two months ago my phone got really acquainted with the wall. Of course it got smashed, not into pieces but really damaged. I threw that fucker like I was playing baseball. At that point I had no working phone and for a few days I actually felt quite good not having to go online or answer some dumb call. This didn’t last long as I live in another city really needed to be contacted by family and friends, I couldn’t go full commando off the grid, hermit style.

I got my hands on a so called dumb phone, just a cheap dual-sim Nokia phone. It’s java based, doesn’t run your usual social media apps, which is really good. The only “app” that the phone has and is quite useful is the Microsoft weather app. Nothing more, nothing less, just your basic call and text phone.

I eventually came to the conclusion that I really didn’t need more and that was enough for me. Yeah, I gave up on social media and all the bull crap that comes with them. I stopped wasting time on things online that really didn’t matter to me, and that I went with the herd culture. I rediscovered reading and I also have more time to game on my pc, because gamers gotta game.

When I had a smartphone by my side I would always click on this and that, view that Youtube video and so forth. Yes, like any other human I was wasting hours and hours on crap. But don’t get me wrong, there are downsides to not having access to smart apps.

For example navigation, I had to keep my eyes always on signs so that I wouldn’t miss a turn or an exit and I also have a map in my car. Remember those? Ordering a taxi is more difficult and Uber or Bolt are not even an option. The same goes to ordering food, but that’s not that bad as I started cooking again and no to brag about it, but I do make delicious meals. Should start posting food pics on Instagram. Wait, NO! I do miss the option of playing online music while driving. If I really want to take photos I’d take my Sony Alpha a6000 and take some cool and professional snaps.

So it is what it is. I don’t really miss my Xiaomi that much, I can manage without it. When I had it I always had the tendency to keep on using it just because, without any reason in particular. I do waste time like any other person, but I limit my online interactions because I have a desktop pc and it’s kinda’ hard to drag it to bed to watch fail videos on Youtube before I fall asleep.

I did order parts to repair the phone, but it’s going to take a long time until they arrive from China. So basically I’ll be a hermit of sorts. Even if the parts arrive and I won’t be able to fix the phone it really won’t matter to me that much. I became free the minute I smashed it. I regret nothing. I did order an LG G6 a few weeks ago, but I returned it, I didn’t even open the box. I’m quite happy now, as I have enough time to do things I never had time for. Work, play, write and eat good.

So the question is this. Can you put away the smartphone for a while? Let’s assume you don’t have a job the requires you to check your email on the go. Can you leave all the social media non-sense? Can your precious online presence take step back?

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/31/i-survived-without-a-smartphone/feed/ 0 402
Ion Fury is fun and refreshing https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/16/ion-fury-is-fun-and-refreshing/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/16/ion-fury-is-fun-and-refreshing/#respond Fri, 16 Aug 2019 17:17:11 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=389

In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the past week, Ion Fury just launched worldwide. And it is totally awesome. Yeah that game made by 3D Realms, the guys that brought us Duke Nukem. They also got sued by Iron Maiden, the rock band, while the game was still in development, but i’ll talk about that a bit later.

So what is it? A game that follows the path of any first person shooter, but there’s a twist. The game is inspired by Duke Nukem and by that i mean a huge arsenal of weapons that help you turn the huge amount of monsters into pieces of goo. The premise is simple, you play as a female cop in a dystopian-ish city full of enemies that try to stop you from your duties. Think of a neo noir city just like in Blade Runner. Your name is Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, but you kinda’ act like the female version of Duke, to put it into simple words.

Expect high paced action and a lot of blood while you’re satisfyingly destroy your foes. Expect humans, robots and all the cliche enemies you’d see in a Robocop movie. The game is totally different on each difficulty setting you choose. You gonna’ need to be good at math and do some calculations before barging in a wide open room full of ammo. Huge waves of enemies will make you hit that reload button quite often, so think about what your next move should be.

Puzzles, there’s a bunch of them and this is find particularly tedious and you need to backtrack a lot in this game. Go to that part of the map, click on some button that activates a gear on the other side which in turn opens some goddamn door on a totally different part of the map. This is annoying if you wanna progress fast and mostly to go kill monsters, no questions asked. You could keep on exploring as each stage has a huge amount of secrets, triggered mostly in a 90s style, which means you have to look very carefully. You’d say a secret couldn’t be there….aaaand that’s exactly where it is. The quirkiness of the 90s, gotta love it.

You’ll be fighting on the street, underground labs, city blocks, sewers and of course a level takes place entirely on a train that is moving because fuck you, this game brings back the 90s. Any respectable game from that era had a train level, a moving train or something on tracks. Each stage is quite easy to progress through, even if it seems you’re stuck, just take a short breath, make sure there are no enemies in the near vicinity and just open your eyes and look around. Just by their color and texture, the assets in the world actually show you which door can be opened or which piece of wall will probably be destroyed via some small trigger.

Weapons selection is not bad, but i would have added more, at least a flamethrower, imho. You’ll get your usual armor and health packets, but you can also eat food and drink beverages scattered all over the map for some boosts. Ahh, yes, ye ol’ faithful vending machine and pizza slices randomly scattered in odd places. Guess those devs really loved pizza. The fun part is that Shelly talks, she mostly gives out lines from movies or other games, such as “Praise the Sun” or “Clean up on aisle Your Ass” and many more. She talks about penises at some point. I won’t spoil the fun, play the game and you’ll laugh as events trigger her responses. The music is out of this world, just perfect for each section. As of graphics, i don’t really have much to add, pixels everywhere at a huge resolution and big ass frame rate.

Now about the Iron Maiden lawsuit. When the game was in development and there was a preview release of the game, which i have also played, the game was called Ion Maiden. Huh? See the catch? The rock band sued the developers for a huge amount of money, a lot of zeros, my friend. They finally settled in court, but i still stink Ion Maiden could have made a better name that Ion Fury. Fucking singers, think they own all the fucking names, well screw you too, assholes. Might sound like your band name, but ain’t the same thing. Cunts!

No, don’t even think about coop, if you want that go play some other “new” fps games. I like my game play just how i like my women, single. I do think a multiplayer could be nice, but i think the devs will sit on their laurels and won’t do shit. I’ll leave that part to the modding community.

Overall it’s a fun game, it may be new but it’s built on the nostalgia of the 90s. Any true gamer should spend some time on this one, who knows when we’ll get a similar game in the future. It’s not pretentious, it is what it is. I missed the fast paced, gun-blazzin’ atmosphere that first person shooters from back in the day always managed to pull off. Go get yourself a copy and ride along down memory lane. Cheers!

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/08/16/ion-fury-is-fun-and-refreshing/feed/ 0 389
Aliens: Colonial Marines. Is it still bad after all these years? https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/28/aliens-colonial-marines-is-it-still-bad-after-all-these-years/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/28/aliens-colonial-marines-is-it-still-bad-after-all-these-years/#respond Sun, 28 Jul 2019 16:39:50 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=375 The simple answer is YES. Now bear with me, this is going to be one of those long articles. So I took some time off this weekend from my usual online work to catch up on my gaming and so i figured out that i never really finished Colonial Marines, heck i didn’t even try to, back in the day. If y’all remember, the game was bad and not like a day one release bad, it was quite horrible in regards to the AI within the game. In case you’ve been living under a rock, i’ll explain, it’s a bout the fact that the enemies were plain stupid and even on hard mode you could easily finish the game in a mere few hours. Multiplayer was something nobody really cared for, they, just like me, actually came in for the single player and coop mode for the campaign.

To be totally honest, i really was hyped about the game because i’m a big Alien fan, there, i said it. Imagine my disappointment. Prometheus came out in theaters, things were going crazy in the Alien universe. Thing is, i just finished the game, on medium settings, the story was sort of ok….-ish. I also used some graphical enhancements and also the critical fix for the dumb programming of the enemy AI. Yeah, somebody back at Gearbox HQ fucked up one letter to be precise and everything went to shit. “Theater”, remember that word? This is one of those examples where modders should get some love, so all the thanks get out to James Dickinson aka TemplarGFX that found the issue and gave the world a fix. Yeah, the problem could have been fixed, but keep in mind that game dev corporations are just here to take your money, if they see a backlash upon release the mostly move on to the next project.

Fanboy rant:

They kind of mixed up some things from the spinoff series AvP and i can’t have that as die hard fan, like who the fuck is Michael Weyland? Remember when Peter actually created Weyland Industries? Then he dies and Yutani steps in and thus the first Alien takes place? Don’t even get me started on Bishop. Who? The guy from Alien or AvP? Make up your goddamn minds you assholes. They also re-introduced Hicks, like what the hell, he died in the movie. What did he do, find a body, suit it up in military gear with his dog-tags and put him in the hypersleep chamber? Remember when Ripley, Newt and Hicks get on the ship and each has their sleep chamber? Some wild facehugger appears, the navi fails and the ship crash lands on Fury 161. You’re telling me he randomly found a lookalike? Way to go, you just fucked up the timeline, writing director my ass. Hicks was great in Aliens but once dead should have stayed dead.

I sometimes have the impression that people that crate a movie and/or a game prequel and/or sequel didn’t even watch the originals their work is fucking based on. I mean, like, how can you release a game with a story that is not based on the original timeline. What a way to milk a franchise. Thank God Ridley Scott is back in the news with his latest alien movie comebacks. Everybody thinks they’re some cool director and shit, and think they have good ideas and have the fucking nerve to fuck up a timeline that spans numerous movies books and games. Because you’re full of shit.

Now back to what i was saying before i started ranting. Don’t mess with the lore, the Alien series is a good as it is, don’t fuck it up because you’re not smart enough to create something new while following the source material. As a whole, the game is your typical fps, not terrible. I could call it a waste of time, but the game didn’t even last that long, from start to finish. I played with all the DLCs, imagine how short of a campaign it would have been without them. Gearbox fucked up, Sega is out jerking of in some dark corner and 20th Century Fox is just a bunch of corporate assholes that don’t give a fuck. So thanks a lot, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

I would recommend this game, but i simply can. Even if the AI was working from the beginning it wouldn’t have any difference. It tried and failed miserably. I guess i can scratch another game off the bucket list. In any case, i’ll leave the fix below if you really want to give this game a go.

Step 1: Go to “My Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config”

Step 2: Open up “PecanEngine.ini”

Step 3: Search for “ClassRemapping=PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachXenoToTether -> PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachPawnToTeather”

Step 4: Remove the “a” from the word “Teather

Step 5: Save file and load up the game!

Anyways, to be completely honest, i did enjoy the Xenos, seeing the jockey and the alien eggs spread across the Derelict. Also the music, those recognizable tunes. That being said, it could’ve but it didn’t. Check back soon, i’ll be dropping a review on Alien:Isolation. Now that’s a game worth mentioning. Watch out for facehuggers, ’till next time.

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/28/aliens-colonial-marines-is-it-still-bad-after-all-these-years/feed/ 0 375
Download Mac OSX “High Sierra” for VirtualBox https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/20/download-mac-osx-high-sierra-for-virtualbox/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/20/download-mac-osx-high-sierra-for-virtualbox/#comments Sat, 20 Jul 2019 19:01:58 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=365

Let’s be honest, not everybody can afford an Apple computer, be it a laptop or a desktop, but there are many that would like a taste of the “Apple”. The other alternative is running a virtual machine but the process of creating one for yourself is quite tedious. You could get yourself a legit installation disc for Mac OS and waste a lot of time creating a virtual image when you could just download one right now. Yes, that’s right, i took the liberty of creating an archive containing a pre-installation image of Mac OS X “High Sierra” with all the necessary documentation that you need to have your virtual machine up and running in no time.

Please check the necessary requirements regarding disk space and other hardware setting for your VM, such as video memory, cores and also the ram you are willing to spare. This operating system image is for learning and personal use only, and i’m guessing you can abide by these rules. 🙂

This virtual image was created for VirtualBox, but you can also adapt it for VMWare.

Download links and the password for the archive are below. Please consider sharing the article and seed the file for other to benefit from it. Sharing is caring! Cheers!

Download: P2P | Google Drive (coming soon)

Password: PASTEBIN

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/07/20/download-mac-osx-high-sierra-for-virtualbox/feed/ 7 365
YouTube copyright claims and other bullshit… [part one] https://zuluplay.com/2019/04/02/youtube-copyright-claims-and-other-bullshit-part-one/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/04/02/youtube-copyright-claims-and-other-bullshit-part-one/#respond Tue, 02 Apr 2019 16:52:57 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=334

Yeah, if you’ve ever posted something on youtube or you’re a gamer or all thing in between you might be familiar with the term “copyright claim”. Let me explain briefly what really grinds my gears.

You post something, usually original recorded content such family, nature videos, your cat doing some’ stupid shit, you’d might record your own gameplay video, so people could see your choices and movements and the list goes beyond.

Youtube has an algorithm that detects if there is copyrighted music somewhere in the background of your video. And from there all the shit starts pouring in. Remember that dancing baby with music in the background? Yeah what a scandal…

We don’t care about your song 

I spoke a while ago with somebody that made a copyright claim on my video gameplay. Yeah indeed there was music in the background, but while the copyright dispute was in progress they explained to me what had really happened. I played a game, music in the background, they owned it. Short and simple, erase the song via youtube editor and everything will be fine. They actually told me that they could prohibit user from uploading even video content regarding gameplay, but they said that this would be at their marketing disatvantage.

That gaming studio chose to keep it simple and just flag videos containing music content that they themselves licensed from other companies. I get that, simple and sweet.

But, then comes another issue. I got flagged a few time for a gameplay video that had the slightest music in the background or just a few seconds. Imagine that, hours long gameplay video just to get flagged and not even given the possibility to erase or mute those few seconds. I had a huge number of views, as it was actually a live stream. People came , stayed till the end for my performance, not for those 15-20 seconds of almost inaudible music during the intro. That being said, YOU shoul stop using your corporate power of copyrighting towards youtubers. As I said, call it free promotion. Trust me, if a youtube gamer posts a video containing parts of a song that’s just free advertising. Nobody gives a shit about your song and record label. You ain’t shit, I’ll tell you that! I’d understand using a whole song on purpose, yeah copyright that video.

We need moooar tools

Youtube, for gods sake, we need more uploader tools. Such as a possibility to fight back false copyright claims. Any copyright claim should have a reason, a real one, not just ”copyrighted for content”. Bitch what? What content? What? I could easily make a fake company/studio and start making money by copyrighting other people content. What the fuck is this?

I’m gonna end this post right here, stay tuned for part two of me ranting on of how youtubes policies  sucks and how some people think they can make a quick buck.

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/04/02/youtube-copyright-claims-and-other-bullshit-part-one/feed/ 0 334
I’m sorry Apple, I don’t love you anymore [part two] https://zuluplay.com/2019/03/09/im-sorry-apple-i-dont-love-you-anymore-part-two/ https://zuluplay.com/2019/03/09/im-sorry-apple-i-dont-love-you-anymore-part-two/#respond Sat, 09 Mar 2019 18:24:46 +0000 http://zuluplay.com/?p=282

Yeah, I still haven’t changed my mind, if you were wondering. I’m going to jump from one thing to another and talk about them as they pop in my mind, no particular order whatsoever.

The cult of Apple…1/2

“Yes, yes, my precious…” – That’s how Apple fanatics sound like and yes they are real. I’m from Romania, Europe in case you’re dumb, somewhere in the East if you’re a real idiot. I would see on youtube people standing outside for hours and even days in front of an Apple shop just to be the “first” of their group to get their hands on a new product, it didn’t matter if it was cold outside or a tornado was about to hit. The people needed that iPhone like they needed food. Well, I guess that’s how dumb people in civilized countries act. I remember people, friends of mine and friends of friends that actually went bat shit crazy when a new iPhone launch was just around the corner.

It was one summer, I remember going out for a run and later at night met with some friends and went of for a drink. Friends of friends came and went but I saw something that made me angry at that time. A few days earlier one of “those” friends asked me for some money, I didn’t judge, he had money problem and I understood so I gladly lent him a hand. Yeah turns out that fucking prick who was so poor and usually couldn’t afford a beer now had the new iPhone. Of course I was mad, told him a few things and they weren’t nice, trust me. Don’t think I was judging, I couldn’t afford a phone like that, I was more mad at the fad, the faux facade that he was putting on. It’s like you don’t have enough money to flush the toilet and you’re getting one of the most expensive phones on the market. Oh, the hypocrisy. Hope that new phone helps you pay the rent. LMAO 🙂

The phone wars. Remember when Apple fans always used to brag out loud with their new gadgets, “my new iPhone is better…because”. Just like in those “I’m a mac and I’m a pc” commercials, only this was in real life. Each time we gathered for a party and such, somebody had to mention their phone, be it an Android or an iPhone. Man, those arguments went all night. And one thing lead to another…and you can imagine so many not so funny situations. Damn phones!

[…continues along the article]

The “meh” factor…

Macs baby, Macs! No not really, they were very niche in Europe. Since when? Since always! Europe was ruled by IBM compatible clones ever since the dawn of computers. Hell, even Romania had their own line of computers. Look it up, learn some history boi!! Yeah, there were Macs in western countries, but even there they were niche, mostly used in educational programs and designer and/or art businesses. Productivity was the main factor and so was cost, that’s why PCs became the leading choice. Customization was a huge factor, something that Macs always lacked or had but only to a certain degree. Yeah, even today, people don’t care how stuff looks as longs as it works.

The “wow” factor…

Yeah, nobody can deny that Macs always looked cool, at least starting with the mid 90s, before that they looked horrible. The 2000s brought a new aesthetic to Macs, almost see-through cases, colors. Just wow. They were beautiful, just like the colorful iMac G3, and let’s not forget the laptops. Candy everywhere! I was fascinated, I really was! Then they moved to pipes, to the color white, then to silver, black. Beautiful simplicity! Some do really care about how their stuff looks and feels while they are working.

Music on the go…

Ohh, the iPod, everybody loved it, including me. My favourite was the Mini, because, well, it was small, hence the name. This gadget revolutionized the music industry as we know it and that’s a fact. I came from a time when having a CD Sony Walkman was cool, yo! It was small, but a lot of music was in there, somewhere and all in the pocket of your jeans. Ohh, and colors, colors again, yes a bunch to choose from. Personalization at it’s finest. Good job Apple, you killed the iPod, congrats. You’re now offering that ugly big screen iPod Touch. If I wanted something huge in my pocket or in my hand while I was running or doing any other sport I’d just take my goddamn phone with me. Thanks for killing the mini!

1984 won’t be like 1984…

Well, neither is 2019, it feels like 2014, everything is just a bunch of bullshit, so fuck it. Innovation? I’m gonna talk about that a bit later along the article. Now I’m talking about the ads, the Apple commercials. I don’t remember ever seeing an ad that sucked, they all had that wow factor or had something relatable. I think that’s what got me into Apple products, the ads. Everybody was amazed by the iPod commercials for example, the ones with the black silhouettes dancing on a brightly coloured background while listening to music. Outstanding!

Then there were the iPhone ads, mentioning their use in science and projects for the betterment of mankind, insert Robin Williams, some nature, some African kids and you’ve got yourself an Oscar, for an ad. Yeah they used a large amount of high profile people. To be honest, I’m sold, those ads got me. So you win this round, Apple. Give some beers to your marketing team, they’ve earned them. Make that beer ice cold, baby!

Uhh, let’s not forget the books and the movies. Who doesn’t love a great comeback story, right? You know, Pirates of Silicon Valley, Jobs The Movie. Well these things got to me, they really did, because I was a nerd, mostly. I always saw Apple as one of the greatest tech success stories of all time. Now, not so much.

The hardware…

I’ll skip design on this one. Tell me why is it hard to buy a pc? I’ll tell you why, too many to choose from and not a good one in sight. Garbage, I’ll tell you, and I’m a pc user. Apple made a few products and it was and is always easy to know which type of computer is right for you. Kudos! Macs always had power and I’m not just talking about the architecture, they had more than enough hardware for high load usage such as video, music and so forth. Don’t get me wrong, the Mac Pro packs a huge punch, but I don’t agree with the way that trash can was designed to be upgraded, not at all. Yeah, try upgrading stuff on your own on your Mac laptop, good luck, or on the Mini for that matter. And on the iMac, heck the whole line of computers is a pain in the neck to upgrade components. I don’t need no Mac genius to crawl inside my computer to change my RAM, I’m perfectly capable of doing that on my own. #rant

Design and stuff…

Well iPhones always looked good and some still do, I believe design stopped after 4S, the iPhone 5 was just a 4S that played basketball. Tall, but still the same phone. The others, well, looked nice, but not so durable. Remember #bendgate? It’s happening again with iPods, out of the box and Apple says it’s fine, things like that happen. Wait, what? You stupid motherfucker! Quality control just like a guy with Parkinsons doing eye surgery. Find out more on this here, Rich from ReviewTech made a nice video explaining this issue. Heck I fucked up an iPhone because I forgot it was in my back pocket and I sat down in the car. Bummer!

My cherished iPhone 4S is cool, but I’s covered in glass so I always had to be extra careful with my phone, it was like having an egg in my pocket for crying out loud.

In regards to design, Apple has nothing new to bring to the table, heck they’d might even take things out, just like they did with the audio jack. * Insert Samuel L. Jackson voice: #motherfucker

Well, they could always make the screens bigger and bigger and bigger…there is absolutely nothing I think Apple can do in regards to designing new phones. It’s done, it’s there. Curved screens? Pffff…too niche! How about foldable? You gotta be kidding me!

The cult of Apple…2/2

Nothing brings more sales like some brainwashed fanboys, amirite? Dumb is and dumb do! Keep on buying an ultra expensive phone while you can’t pay rent, just because this offers you some fake sense of higher status. You’re a fucking idiot! I see things from a different perspective, I always try to imagine if a product actually is worth the money I’d be willing to pay for it. Does that cost reflect its actual usage? In most of the cases it doesn’t so that’s why the iPhone is a trap. The iPad used to be cool, but now it bends, or who knows, maybe it’s foldable and that’s actually a feature. Haha, silly me! 🙂

I’m guessing it all boils down to choice and money, mostly money. Nowadays I feel hesitant when I think about Apple products, I didn’t before. Strange, isn’t it? Yeah, gimme back my audio jack and maybe I’ll change my mind, a little bit. We all know that’s not gonna happen, but can’t a man dream?

I hope that with this decrease in sales Apple might take that chip of their shoulder and get their shit together.

To end this article, I’d like to say it comes at the perfect time, right with the #10yearchallenge. In all this time, you’ve read what has happened to Apple from my point of view. In the back of my head a voice keeps whispering “if Steve was still here…”. Not a ray of hope in sight.

 

Goodbye Apple,

Yours truly,

Mike

 

 

]]>
https://zuluplay.com/2019/03/09/im-sorry-apple-i-dont-love-you-anymore-part-two/feed/ 0 282