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Apple's "Time Machine" takes users in wrong direction
Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 12:22.
Apple's "Time Machine," a way-cool device designed to be a simple backup device for your gleaming new Apple computer, is appropriately named in my experience.
That's because installing one reminded me of hours (if not days) wasted installing my first floppy disk drive to a Commodore 64. Sure, it was supposed to work. Sure, everyone SAID it would work. But why didn't it work? (And why were we all changing to floppy disk when cassette tape storage was so darned reliable?)
But I digress. The Time Machine, which comes in 1TB and 500 GB flavors, is typical Apple Way Cool. It has a built-in wireless Air Port that theoretically can extend an existing wireless network (it didn't play nicely with a Netgear router on the network I was using) or create another wireless network altogether.
You are supposed to be able to plug it in, run a configuration utility and then your Apple is miraculously backed up each day without your intervention. If you need a file that you accidentally deleted, head to the Time Machine and get it back. Need to restore your entire computer after a hard disk crash? Put in the new hard disk and run your Time Machine to put your machine back where it was.
It's all very nice if you can get the Time Machine to work in the first place. (This is the point in the column, if not before, where the Apple faithful call up the e-mail pitchforks and simply point out is all user error and Apple hardware or software can never, ever be at fault.) However, a glance at the Time Machine forum at Apple.com points out I am not alone in my frustration. (My favorite post is one from a gentleman who suggests he is going to buy a handgun for the only purpose of putting his Time Machine out of its misery.) I know only disgruntled people post in forums but there are more than 5,500 separate topics and 30,000 posts here which seems like quite a lot for a new, niche product.
A recurring theme seems to be the error that the "backup volume (or drive) cannot be mounted" which seems be "solved" by firmware downgrades, renaming the Time Machine to the default and not changing it (my solution, thank you), erasing the Time Capsule completely and starting over, and lastly, Holy water and a priest.
A number of the "solutions" offered are also way above the heads of the typical consumer, who correctly expect pricey Apple hardware and software to just "work," which has been the trend of late. Consider the Ipod, which just happens to "work" when you turn it on. Or the rather glorious 24-inch Imac, which could be the single coolest PC I have laid my hands on (since my Zeos 486, but that was another time, another place.)
Anyway, if a Time Capsule is in your future buy AppleCare (the extended warranty) and brace yourself for a little battle to get it running right. Your OOBE (out of the box experience) may be perfect and you may wonder what the fuss is about. But if not, you may need a little nerd time on the Apple forum.
(James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm and a tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim(at)cyberdads.com)
Time Machine
You seem to have confused Time Machine and Time Capsule.
Time Capsule Versus Time Machine
Third party hardware is never as compatible with Apple's as Apple's is. This is where the world of PC has all its major problems. Too many third party solutions that aren't consistent or reliable on any system. I Windows could control the type of hardware that it ran on, it might be stable too...
The fact of the matter is that the biggest strength and weakness of a Mac is that it is a controlled system. From iPhones to iMacs the control and manage every piece along the way, in cases like this though, when you have thousands of different routers and millions of users, Apple can't keep up with company's that sell inferior products and expect them to work. Many complain about the cost of a Mac, or there solutions, but that is the cost of stability.
If your looking for a good solution though I recommend a direct connection to a hard drive use just plan Time Machine. Mac gets format the drive the way it wants, and we have no issues.
Or take the hand gun and shoot yourself after a week of Vista (with no back up as cool as TimeMachine)
It's a Time Capsule, not
It's a Time Capsule, not Time Machine.
And there hasn't been an Apple computer since 1993. They're called Macs.
Little bit of research always help.
Re: Third party hard equipment
If one wants to blame the third party routers, then one assumes all Apple Airports work seamlessly with it. As for hard drives, the argument that it can't be Apple's fault, regardless of whether or not that's naïve (I love Apple and will be using Macs et al forever, but I am on my third iPhone due to software problems), but Apple should be recommending specific brands and models that Time Machine works best with.
This review is more flawed than the Time CAPSULE.
Your summary of the device should be about two parts.
1-The software, Time Machine, which is built into your Macintosh, free and excellent. Personally, I consider Time Machine a best of breed application.
2- The Time Capsule, a hardware device for use WITH Time Machine. The Time Capsule is a flawed merger of two devices.
But the device is flawed not for the reasons you state, but because it is the wrong tool for the job, and not a good execution of it's strengths.
Time Capsule consists of two parts.
1- Network Hard drive for use with Time Machine
2 - Wireless Router/Access Point/WiFI Extender/WIFI Bridge.
It is a full fledged Airport Extreme, which is one of the best devices on the market. The Extreme is better than many devices twice its price. The problem is that the Extreme is about 1/2 the cost of the Time Capsule. If you want a good wifi router the Extreme is all you need.
The TC is also a network hard drive. The problem with this is that it is entirely too slow as a backup device because it is wireless. It you are using it via a network wire, this problem is not an issue, but then we are at the problem of price. An external harddrive will do the same thing for, again, 1/2 the price or less. If you need a backup hard drive, buy a cheaper faster external.
Hmmm... there is a theme here. The individual components of the Time Capsule each do as good or better a job when separated. Additionally, the components are slightly cheaper when separated.
One final flaw I have not yet covered, is the wireless speed of the Time Capsule. When used as a WiFi network, the speed of the wireless network as a whole seem to affected by the backup device. This was the final nail in the coffin of this generation of the Time Capsule for me. I quit recommending it for my clients after discovering this issue. This might be fixed by a future firmware update, but as it stands, I cannot recommend this device. My reasons are different than the authors, but the similar conclusion.
The flaws with the author, well...
For all of the mis-named equipment (in the title no less), I am surprised by the author's title "owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm". He complained that the Time Machine "did not play nice" with his network, that would be user error. Joining an network is one of the things the "Time CAPSULE" does extremely well. It is also extremely simple. My mother got hers to work, BEFORE I showed up to help. It can join any wifi network, or use WDS to sync with an Apple network. It is true, the WDS mode will only work with an Apple network, but getting a TC to join a non-Apple network is as simple as getting your laptop to join, because it is doing the exact same thing! I have read the same forums, and set many of these up for my clients. It is not the rocket science he makes it out to be.
The final conclusion, an Apple Time Capsule, is not the best back up solution. The Software is the best available, but the hardware is better served with a standard external hard drive.
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