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romad Author

Level 3

888 points

Suggestions for Updates to Apple Communities.

This will be a work-in-progress that I'll update as needed.

1. Bring back the "previous" & "next" navigation buttons at the top and bottom of the THREADS.

2. Bring back the link to questions we've posted. It could go in the "Your Stuff" drop-down.

3. Bring back the poster's location under their alias. As an International board, it helps to know where the poster is located. An answer that works on a U.S. machine may not work on a German, or even, British machine.

4. Need "Preview" button in post composing window.

Active: iMac (G5, G4), PB G4, iPad, iPhone, iPod, MP2100 Retired: iMac G3, A2c, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Mac OS 10.4.11, Mac OS 9.2.2, iOS 4..1, Newton OS 2.1

Posted on Apr 16, 2011 8:15 PM

156 replies

romad Author

Level 3

888 points

May 18, 2011 7:42 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just BUY Jive Software. Then Apple could rewrite the application so it works properly. Of course it would need a new name so I suggest "AppleTalk"! 😉

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

May 18, 2011 8:43 AM in response to romad

Regardless of who owns Jive, the site has to be available to all of Apple's customers. That includes Windows & iOS users, & who knows who else in the future. My guess is the ASC team is doing what they can to bring features online for all users, with an eye to compatibility with any future developments.

This is the first major makeover of the site in the last six years or so. A lot has changed in those six years, & there is no reason to think things won't keep changing. Believe it or not, Jive is mostly based on open standards that are actively maintained & developed, so it should be able to keep pace pretty well.

May 18, 2011 10:11 AM in response to romad

romad wrote:

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just BUY Jive Software. Then Apple could rewrite the application so it works properly. Of course it would need a new name so I suggest "AppleTalk"!

Oh, puh-leez! There is enough confusion about iBook/iBooks!

romad Author

Level 3

888 points

May 18, 2011 12:44 PM in response to R C-R

R C-R wrote:

Regardless of who owns Jive, the site has to be available to all of Apple's customers. That includes Windows & iOS users, & who knows who else in the future. My guess is the ASC team is doing what they can to bring features online for all users, with an eye to compatibility with any future developments.

Ah, nowhere in my post did I say anything about it not being available to all of Apple's customers. By owning the software OUTRIGHT Apple would then be able to make it more usable for EVERYONE, not just ASC, but the other non-Apple users of the current Jive. BTW, I have never seen any other forum on the Internet use Jive; I've only seen phpBB run sites.

romad Author

Level 3

888 points

May 18, 2011 12:58 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

Ronda Wilson wrote:

romad wrote:

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just BUY Jive Software. Then Apple could rewrite the application so it works properly. Of course it would need a new name so I suggest "AppleTalk"!

Oh, puh-leez! There is enough confusion about iBook/iBooks!

How can you confuse a piece of ancient defunct Mac hardware with a current iOS application?

Now if the hardware was still being shipped, then I could understand it. It would be like when they renamed ClarisWorks 4 as "AppleWorks 4" when the original AppleWorks for the Apple II line was also at "AppleWorks 4". Two totally different and incompatible pieces of software each running on different and incompatible OS (ProDOS & Mac OS). At least AppleTalk has been dead for a decade.

However, if you would please re-read my post and compare it to what you quoted, you'll see that you have ignored a most important part of the post.

May 18, 2011 3:41 PM in response to romad

romad wrote:

Ronda Wilson wrote:

romad wrote:

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just BUY Jive Software. Then Apple could rewrite the application so it works properly. Of course it would need a new name so I suggest "AppleTalk"!

Oh, puh-leez! There is enough confusion about iBook/iBooks!

How can you confuse a piece of ancient defunct Mac hardware with a current iOS application?

I often wonder the same thing, but I work most often in the iBook Discussions, helping people keep that "ancient defunct Mac hardware" running, and I have to ask the Hosts to move a lot of posts regarding iBooks from those discussions to the iBooks Discussions.

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

May 18, 2011 4:34 PM in response to romad

romad wrote:

By owning the software OUTRIGHT Apple would then be able to make it more usable for EVERYONE, not just ASC, but the other non-Apple users of the current Jive.

Regardless of who owned it, it would still have to use standardized OS independent technologies like Javascript, support browsers not made by Apple or based on its rendering engine, support diverse screen sizes & device types, & so on.

IOW, the constraints that make it what it is now would not go away even if Apple bought the company, assuming it is for sale & the deal would be acceptable to Apple & its stockholders.

romad Author

Level 3

888 points

May 19, 2011 7:16 AM in response to R C-R

So, if I understand you correctly, the bugginess and non-user friendliness is mainly due to the requirement to use Javascript. That makes sense as there isn't a standard trans-OS version of Java. Having to accomodate the different ways each OS (and its differing versions) interpret Java is a big problem.

romad Author

Level 3

888 points

May 19, 2011 7:18 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

Ronda Wilson wrote:

romad wrote:

Ronda Wilson wrote:

romad wrote:

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just BUY Jive Software. Then Apple could rewrite the application so it works properly. Of course it would need a new name so I suggest "AppleTalk"!

Oh, puh-leez! There is enough confusion about iBook/iBooks!

How can you confuse a piece of ancient defunct Mac hardware with a current iOS application?

I often wonder the same thing, but I work most often in the iBook Discussions, helping people keep that "ancient defunct Mac hardware" running, and I have to ask the Hosts to move a lot of posts regarding iBooks from those discussions to the iBooks Discussions.

Ouch! I see where you're coming from then.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

May 19, 2011 7:33 AM in response to romad

I wish Apple would take some change out of their "petty cash" drawer and just give it to ME.

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

May 19, 2011 11:18 AM in response to romad

romad wrote:

Having to accomodate the different ways each OS (and its differing versions) interpret Java is a big problem.

It is worse than that. Each browser might have its own Javascript (different from Java) interpreter, so even using the same OS, there may be quirks that show up in one browser but not another.

rccharles

Level 6

12,957 points

May 19, 2011 12:06 PM in response to romad

romad wrote:

So, if I understand you correctly, the bugginess and non-user friendliness is mainly due to the requirement to use Javascript. That makes sense as there isn't a standard trans-OS version of Java. Having to accommodate the different ways each OS (and its differing versions) interpret Java is a big problem.

I would not draw that conclusion. As a counterpoint, people seemed to accept the prior forum. Could always re-implement what worked from the past. JavaScript doesn't force you to implement bugs!

It seems to me poor design & implementation & lack of testing. Writing in Javascript with multiple browsers isn't easy, but such is life. There is a tendency to do big bang kind of things when an incremental approach avoids these raging transitions.

Robert

May 19, 2011 12:48 PM in response to rccharles

I have no way of knowing, of course, but I surmise that Jive was ceasing support for the old software version. It may have been do or die.

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

May 19, 2011 5:01 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

We do know that discussions.apple.com first switched to Jive about six years ago. I can't find any dates to tell me what version was released when, but this page shows three currently supported versions. The documentation for each of them has a 'quick start' section for users & even the oldest version has the same general format & features as the current ASC.

Plus, some lightweight browsing through the documentation suggests that each newer version has been changed & tweaked to be able to handle progressively larger data & user bases more efficiently (like without crashing constantly!) & that some parts of the implementation have to be reworked on upgrades to take advantage of that.

May 19, 2011 5:15 PM in response to R C-R

The earliest one's (3.0.20) Readme says it was released on 9/24/10.

Apple switched over to its first iteration of Jive in November of 2005. (I have the thread containing my initial post under that system bookmarked. It was on November 15, 2005.)

Suggestions for Updates to Apple Communities.