You're Not Paranoid...

I did what I always do when iTunes said, "Hey wanna upgrade to iTunes 8?", I refused. I was going to check the web later and tonight I finally go around to it before bed. And hey, what do you know lots of users complaning. I don't have vista so I wouldn't have gotten one of the blue screens of death, but I do have iTunes working pretty much the way I want to so why mess with it?

It probably isn't the most healthy of habits to be constantly suspicious of upgrades... But there certainly seems to be plenty of reason to be suspicious. I remember at least one in the past that caused me no end of troubles around the time of the iPhone release. Particularly frustraiting since I do not have and still do not intend to get an iPhone. So I'll be doing what I usually do. Wait until something breaks to upgrade. If my system isn't broken I'm not going to fix it.

Someday this is likely to bite me in the ass when I refuse an upgrade I actually need. But damn it, I don't need the frustration of being an uncompensated beta tester. Because that's how Apple and most other computer companies treat their public. We're all their beta testers.

Non-Standard Fantasy

A thought occurs to me. I was sitting here thinking about Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. It doesn't have the usual fantasy kingdom, instead it has a fantasy aristocratic republic where they cut off the king's head ages ago and this is generally regarded as a good thing by almost everyone. What are the other fantasies that do things like this? Illusion by Paula Volsky has a mashup of the French and Russian revolutions so the king's head is off by the end of the second act. But I cannot think of any others at the moment.