@Sid Plait 1: I agree with most of what you have said above. Including this:
"the thread is now 35+ pages, and many people just won't read it from the beginning like I did several weeks ago."
^^ That is precisely why it is a problem when someone new shows up, does not even skim the thread, and then proceeds to post information that is inaccurate and/or misleading which is then likely to be the only thing read by others who then also show up and don't read the thread.
People have become far too sensitive and weak in these days of "microaggression" or whatever the people label anything but pure sanitized newspeak. This is the result of adults who grew up in the everyone-gets-a-trophy-whether-you-win-or-not modern age of child rearing.
Providing a correction to something that someone else has posted which is totally inaccurate does not make one a "dick." When one shows up to participate in a discussion that has been going on for over 3 months, has no idea what is being talked about, proceeds to proclaim that THEY have identified the magic-bullet solution that they believe everyone else has somehow missed in hours of working on this, and others then point out that in fact no that isn't a magic solution....that does not make those people "dicks."
It is HARMFUL when people post misinformation in a support thread that others look at for solutions. Not helpful. That's why, when this happens, it is important for people to respond and provide accurate information. Doing that is not "being snarky" or "being a dick."
As for being mad at Apple....at this point it's certainly understandable. I disagree that they get an automatic "pass" because they are just so busy these days. This has been confirmed as bug in iOS since early November. It is an utter failure of corporate management that 2.5 months later, this information apparently still has not been communicated down to their tech support staff. The same staff who are wasting hours of people's valuable time attempting to "troubleshoot" and issue which does not have a solution that tech support is capable of resolving. I assume Apple has E-mail right? Why not just send an E-mail to all of their tech support staff and give them a brief 2 sentence description of this and that they are working on a solution? So that people don't waste hours of their time trying to "troubleshoot it?"
Everyone would benefit by having a little thicker skin and not getting their precious feelings hurt so easily these days. Our goal here is to keep pressure on Apple to get this major issue resolved....not to make everyone feel great about themselves for posting even if what they have posted is inaccurate and misleading.
In real life everyone does not get a trophy for "effort" they get rewarded for results.