Broken Tiger

Unless you've been living under a rock, or don't care to peek out from behind the screen of your Windows PC, Macintosh OS X 10.4, codenamed Tiger was released today. I admit to being excited about it. It has been the media darling for the past few days leading up today. I waited for the 6 o'clock hour, the designated launch time, to strike and ultimately pass. I was still caught up with work. As soon as I could, I rushed out of work. After some prioritizing, I decided I needed a haircut first. Tiger had to wait.

Up to see Luigi at Astor Place.

Afterwards, I strolled down Broadway to Houston, made a right over to Greene. From the corner, I could see a mass of people standing on the other corner at Prince Street. It was a mob in front of and inside Apple SoHo. I was in no mood to wait as I doublebacked to the Broadway/Lafayette train station and took an F train up to Tekserve.

It was a mob scene there too, but much more celebratory with beer and a swing band playing. Infinitely cooler. Walking up to the counter was a breeze and I had my Tiger Family pack, in less than 15 minutes. Sweet.

But hold on.

Perhaps I should have gotten a clue, when the disk diagnostic gave me a second alert that there was a read problem with the disk as I was installing Tiger on my G5. Being rather cavalier and maverick about it, much to my chagrin, I punched the "Ignore and Continue" button. Don't punch the "Ignore and Continue" button. The last declaration from the installer was "Install failed, Try again." Not good.

The G5 functions, but its system is hobbled. Safari can't connect securely and the computer is running slowly, crippled and incomplete. This is what I get for being "bleeding edge." Neal will laugh at me, console me and laugh at me some more.

I'm fit to be tied. Tekserve's party closed at 10. I'm tempted to run to Apple, opened tonight till 12. Would they assist me even though I bought it from another establishment? I can't say, but I'm loathe to try. Can't reach anyone there by phone, a message reports, "The store is closed." I'd be REALLY angry if I jumped in AutoLove, drove into the city only to be refused.

Tomorrow, there is no opportunity to exchange for a new disk, soonest is Sunday.

So, now I have no choice but to wait.

Sigh.