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Need to network?
Then network with us--Accent on Computers. 203-625-7575.
April 18, 2008
Uninvited Company
Dear Larry,
I like to pride myself in being very careful about what programs I download and
install on my computer as it’s really important to me to keep it running in top
form. All of a sudden, I noticed a new icon appear on my desktop called Safari.
Does this mean anything to you?
P. L.
Dear P. L.,
Sadly, it does. But don’t fret. It won’t harm your computer and can easily be
removed if you wish (via Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features in Control
Panel). What’s bothersome to me and should be to you is how it got there in the
first place. The software was installed in a very underhanded way and frankly
was done so by a company who should know better. If this is any indication of
what lies ahead for the software industry, then woe is us!
I’ve written before about the complications involved in producing good quality,
bug-free software. Unfortunately, computers and the software that makes them
work are getting more and more sophisticated by the day. It’s becoming harder
and harder for teams of human programmers to produce a clean running piece of
software, and repairing, patching, and correcting bugs in software that’s
already been released has been an ongoing problem.
Fortunately, the Internet has significantly mitigated this problem by allowing
programmers to build into their software the ability to download and install the
patches on their own—along with improvements and enhancements that may contain
additional bugs in need of a fix! There’s no question that this process of
automatic software updates has resulted in more secure and smoother running
software.
A good example of this is Apple’s well known music program, iTunes. All species
of iPods as well as the more recently released iPhone have been extremely
successful ventures for Apple. Their iTunes software is the backbone of all this
hardware, and Apple’s ongoing support and commitment to the quality of iTunes
via automatic updates has been relatively unblemished…until now.
Recently, Apple did something that many of us in the industry find rather
despicable. In an attempt to boost their presence in the Windows Internet
browser market (now dominated by Internet Explorer and Firefox), Apple has
started piggybacking its iTunes updates with a new installation of their
Internet browser, Safari. Unless you’re careful, this can happen in a rather
surreptitious manner. It’s one thing for Apple to try and market their Safari
software during an iTunes update, but it’s something else indeed when Apple
installs the software on your computer unless you’re careful to opt out of the
installation. (To make matters worse, Apple doesn’t even explain very well what
Safari is, so the average user may be tricked into thinking it’s a required
component of iTunes.)
Apple has seen fit to corrupt the software update process and now uses it as a
vehicle to force feed their user base with software they may not need nor want
on their computers. It will be a sad state of affairs if this technique for
pushing software on an unsuspecting public becomes commonplace. Shame on you,
Apple!
This is Larry Schneider, logging off.
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