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From: Wes Groleau on 3 Apr 2010 21:05
On 04-03-2010 19:58, Lewis wrote:
> But weren't you bragging about how clever you were in ignoring its
> instructions to self-calibrate it?

I don't remember the word clever anywhere.
Nor do I feel that describing my experiments constitutes bragging.
Your definition may differ.

--
Wes Groleau

Mexico Under Siege
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/russell?itemid=1534
From: Wes Groleau on 3 Apr 2010 21:14
On 04-03-2010 19:46, JF Mezei wrote:
> By definition, a compass is magnetic. It has to be to point to the

Only if a gyrocompass is not a compass. I guess people define words
differently. To me, a "magnetic compass" is a magnetized needle
that turns to point to the magnetic pole (if no ferrous material
is close to it. A magnetometer also depends on the earth's magnetic
field, but not in the same way.

>> as it may, the reason it is unreliable is not important. What matters
>> (though it doesn't matter much) is that it IS unreliable.
>
> As are all compasses in urban areas. To judge the Apple compass'
> reliability, you would need to have a real compass nextr to it and
> compare results.

Not so. When it points due south sometimes, southwest other times,
and northwest most of the time, when not in the presence of a magnetic
field strong enough to alter the deflection in a nearby CRT TV, or
when outdoors ten meters from anything man-made, I can judge it is
unreliable.

--
Wes Groleau

"Thinking I'm dumb gives people something to
feel smug about. Why should I disillusion them?"
-- Charles Wallace
(in _A_Wrinkle_In_Time_)
From: Tim Adams on 3 Apr 2010 22:16
In article <hp8p5i$ge4$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote:

> On 04-03-2010 19:46, JF Mezei wrote:
> > By definition, a compass is magnetic. It has to be to point to the
>
> Only if a gyrocompass is not a compass. I guess people define words
> differently. To me, a "magnetic compass" is a magnetized needle
> that turns to point to the magnetic pole (if no ferrous material
> is close to it. A magnetometer also depends on the earth's magnetic
> field, but not in the same way.
>
> >> as it may, the reason it is unreliable is not important. What matters
> >> (though it doesn't matter much) is that it IS unreliable.
> >
> > As are all compasses in urban areas. To judge the Apple compass'
> > reliability, you would need to have a real compass nextr to it and
> > compare results.
>
> Not so. When it points due south sometimes, southwest other times,
> and northwest most of the time, when not in the presence of a magnetic
> field strong enough to alter the deflection in a nearby CRT TV, or
> when outdoors ten meters from anything man-made, I can judge it is
> unreliable.

I will assume that you have restored your iPhone to see if that changes
anything. Is there an Apple store nearby where you could show it to them and
perhaps get it replaced? It shouldn't be 'working' like you say it is.

--
regarding Snit "You are not flamed because you speak the truth,
you are flamed because you are a hideous troll and keep disrupting
the newsgroup." Andrew J. Brehm
From: Wes Groleau on 3 Apr 2010 23:14
On 04-03-2010 22:16, Tim Adams wrote:
>> Not so. When it points due south sometimes, southwest other times,
>> and northwest most of the time, when not in the presence of a magnetic
>> field strong enough to alter the deflection in a nearby CRT TV, or
>> when outdoors ten meters from anything man-made, I can judge it is
>> unreliable.
>
> I will assume that you have restored your iPhone to see if that changes
> anything. Is there an Apple store nearby where you could show it to them and
> perhaps get it replaced? It shouldn't be 'working' like you say it is.

Bought it two days ago. Nearest Apple store is 200 KM.
Though there's an "authorized repair" place here.

There is no sign of any other malfunction.
One person responded to one of my posts who apparently
has seen similar behavior. Reports on the web that we're
not the only ones.

I think I will call Apple to see what they say.
But for me, it's more of a curiosity than a problem.
I don't need a compass.

--
Wes Groleau

Daily Hoax: http://www.snopes2.com/cgi-bin/random/random.asp
From: ZnU on 4 Apr 2010 04:23
In article <hp8d7u$9dj$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote:

> On 04-03-2010 16:54, ZnU wrote:
> > Wes Groleau<Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> wrote:
> >
> >> On 04-02-2010 23:47, Ian Gregory wrote:
> >>> There is a knowledgebase article about this:
> >>> http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2767
> >>
> >> "Some areas have more magnetic interference than others. For example,
> >> your car's dashboard may have a high level of magnetic interference"
> >>
> >> There were some other reviews complaining that it doesn't work in a
> >> car, but (1) mine is unreliable with no magnets or magnetic material
> >> near it;
> >
> > That you happen to know of, knowing nothing about the local geology and
> > probably not that much about what's in the walls.
>
> Having been present a good portion of the time the house was being
> built, I am aware that the only magnetic materials in the walls are
> nails and screws. Of course, electric wiring could conceivably also
> affect it. But it is unreliable ten feet from any wall, unreliable
> in my car, unreliable in the street twenty feet from anything metal,
> etc. Apple advertised a compass, not a "compass that might work if
> you aren't anywhere that most people go."

The Earth's magnetic field is a couple of hundred times weaker than a
refrigerator magnet. It doesn't take a lot to interfere with compass
readings.

Historically compass deviation was a problem even on mostly wooden ships
that made no use of electricity and were sailing on open ocean. This is
one major reason compasses on those old ships were fixed in a specific
position on the deck -- this made the deviation consistent and therefore
correctable.

The modern world uses vast quantities of ferromagnetic materials
(supposedly there's as much metal in a single WWII-era battleship as in
the entire Roman Empire), and electromagnetic fields are everywhere.
Magnetic compasses just don't work that well in such environments.

Anyone who follows Apple news is used to the whole notion that as soon
as Apple does something, people start inventing new standards, that no
other vendor has ever met, that they can criticize Apple for not
meeting. But doing this with a technology as old as the compass seems a
little over the top.

> >> (2) I have been in two Doge vans and one Cadillac that had
> >> consistently accurate compasses in spite of the vehicle's
> >> composition.
> >
> > Which, being built into those vehicles, are presumably designed to avoid
> > that interference.
> >
> > Do you really expect people to buy the notion that Apple is lying about
> > the compass being magnetic, and you've managed to demonstrate this with
> > some totally uncontrolled experiments? For what reason would Apple be
> > doing this?
>
> Did Apple actually say the compass is magnetic? I've read that it
> uses a magnetometer, which is not quite the same thing.

A magenometer is a device for measuring magnetic fields.

[snip]

--
"The game of professional investment is intolerably boring and over-exacting to
anyone who is entirely exempt from the gambling instinct; whilst he who has it
must pay to this propensity the appropriate toll." -- John Maynard Keynes
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