[Macworld]

Post your comments for Updating a stubborn iPod touch to iOS 5 here

[ericole]

What about an AppleTV that won't update?

[ToddJolley]

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

[billw3]

 ToddJolley, on 01 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

This is like getting a flat tire, calling AAA, and being annoyed at whomever responds to change the tire because they didn't also scour the roads in the area for anything and everything else that could cause a tire to become punctured again. The solution given addresses the reader's issue, but of course, there is no guarantee that nothing else quirky will ever happen again down the road, nor is there an expectation that something quirky will actually happen again as this could very well be a one-time occurrence.

[Chris Breen]

 ToddJolley, on 01 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

Unwarranted general gripe noted.

This, in fact, provides two real solutions.

The first is: Perhaps you don't have a 3G iPod touch after all. Many people don't understand that when Apple released the 3G iPod touch, they also continued to sell the 2G (the 8GB model). Checking the model number certainly won't allow you to install iOS 5 on a device that isn't supported, but at least it tells you why it won't install.

Secondly, unless there's a hardware issue (which, of course, we have no way of knowing), there's a darn good chance that you are solving the problem in that you're getting a clean version of the OS.

[ConnorMeeblings]

My iPod Touch 4G has been glitchy since. It isn't as fast as it used to be, and a lot of my songs just won't play. They'll work in iTunes but my iPod just skips 'em. My iPad 2 works with a couple of the glitchy songs, but still most don't work. They are legit too I used a CD or AmazonMP3 to get them. Weird.

[ToddJolley]

 billw3, on 01 November 2011 - 10:32 AM, said:

 ToddJolley, on 01 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

This is like getting a flat tire, calling AAA, and being annoyed at whomever responds to change the tire because they didn't also scour the roads in the area for anything and everything else that could cause a tire to become punctured again. The solution given addresses the reader's issue, but of course, there is no guarantee that nothing else quirky will ever happen again down the road, nor is there an expectation that something quirky will actually happen again as this could very well be a one-time occurrence.

Ah..the stupid car analogies that have nothing to do with IT. Gotcha. Working as an IT consultant, I see this "fix the symptom, not the cause" crap every day. It makes everyone look "busy" and "working on problems". It also burns out your staff, does not solve anything, and leaves no time to do real work. It also makes your staff look incompetent as they repeatedly 'fix' the same issues over and over but can't make the issues stop. Spend the extra time, find the root cause of the issue and correct that. Once that is done, you won't have to deal with any of the symptoms again.

Walked into a client where they were rebooting about 1/3 of their servers every day. They had beautifully documented all the issues with the severs in a binder containing over 500 pages. In their mind the 'problem' was fixed, so they merrily went on their way spending their day rebooting servers and going home at 5pm on the dot. They didn't fix any of the 500 pages of problems because they 'didn't have the time'. Amazingly, after spending many long weeks and many long hours and fixing all the root issues, they went from 'working our asses of rebooting servers all day' and having an average uptime on a server of not more than 3 days, to having a system uptime passing 99.99%. The staff was then able to actually do all the projects that were on hold and move the organization forward.

Sadly, they couldn't grasp the reason why this occurred even when it was explained to them and they saw the results that came from spending the time and effort to find and fix root causes.

The iPod update issue could have easily been a disk or files permission issue on the Machine that could have been properly diagnosed and resolved in 10 minutes. Instead, the problem still exists and is probably impacting applications, file saves, etc. It may not manifest itself for weeks or months. When it does, instead of being something as simple as a stubborn iPod update, he may find one morning that all his photos are gone or corrupted, or everything in iTunes is trashed, or those very important documents are not readable, and there are no backups (or they are corrupt as well). I hope not, but it could very well be the case.

[Chris Breen]

 ToddJolley, on 02 November 2011 - 06:16 AM, said:

The iPod update issue could have easily been a disk or files permission issue on the Machine that could have been properly diagnosed and resolved in 10 minutes. Instead, the problem still exists and is probably impacting applications, file saves, etc. It may not manifest itself for weeks or months. When it does, instead of being something as simple as a stubborn iPod update, he may find one morning that all his photos are gone or corrupted, or everything in iTunes is trashed, or those very important documents are not readable, and there are no backups (or they are corrupt as well). I hope not, but it could very well be the case.

How on earth can you possibly surmise that any of this is the case? Chicken Little scare mongering.

[boecherer]

 ToddJolley, on 02 November 2011 - 06:16 AM, said:

 billw3, on 01 November 2011 - 10:32 AM, said:

 ToddJolley, on 01 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

This is like getting a flat tire, calling AAA, and being annoyed at whomever responds to change the tire because they didn't also scour the roads in the area for anything and everything else that could cause a tire to become punctured again. The solution given addresses the reader's issue, but of course, there is no guarantee that nothing else quirky will ever happen again down the road, nor is there an expectation that something quirky will actually happen again as this could very well be a one-time occurrence.

Ah..the stupid car analogies that have nothing to do with IT...

Wow!

[bradpaulp]

 ToddJolley, on 01 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

That just solved the symptom, not the problem that is causing the initial message. There could be deeper underlying issues that could cause serious issues down the road.

Why is it so typical in the tech world for people to push quick fixes that don't address the issues that are causing the problems?

Is it really a "problem" to just provide this individual fix for the iPod touch and not investigate the root?
I see your point, and it is valid, however note this point : Doctors "fix" people's symptoms all the time, instead of looking into the root problem. They tell you to cut down on cholesterol to prevent heart attacks, yet they don't understand at all what actually causes heart disease in the first place.

Take antibiotics for a common cold, but who has come close to understanding why there are thousands of strands of this "common" cold.
The point of this off-topic but true comment, is that there are bigger issues in this world facing us than an faulty update that's easily solved by a manual restore and bigger than fighting the world's servers that goes down.

...Relax man.

This post has been edited by bradpaulp: 07 November 2011 - 04:22 AM

[tebishop]

 ericole, on 01 November 2011 - 09:58 AM, said:

What about an AppleTV that won't update?

I have two second generation Apple TVs. One updated fine, the second hung up. I called Apple and they said to disconnect the ATV completely and connect to your computer running iTunes via a micro USB cable. The Apple TV will appear as a device in the sidebar. When you click on it you will be given the option of restoring the ATV. Click that and the most recent version of the ATV software will be downloaded and installed. It worked! Note that you will have to reenter all your settings as this returns your ATV to factory settings.

[Beth112]

Thank you for the answer to this. I got the exact same message when trying to update my 3rd gen iPod Touch. My daughter's 4th gen Touch updated just fine, so I decided that maybe the 3rd gen really wasn't supposed to be included in the update. I'll give this a try.

[pguria]

Sorta related...after the iOS5 update, how come every time I open iTunes on the Mac I get the ULA and have to click "Agree" before I can access iTunes?

[DBSteve]

Todd...Todd...Todd...

You are the Sad Sack on this one. You are talking about MacWorld here, not Apple. It isn't MacWorld's job to debug operating systems or other software. They, rightly so, investigate problems, let people know about them, and provide fixes when they can. It also calls to Apple's attention that the problem exists if they don't already know. Save your techie showing off for those who care. Your points are valid, but you are talking to the wrong audience.