I complained earlier about the horrible customer support from PalmOne. Well, I finally received a reminder e-mail 2 weeks after I submitted my repair request. It complained that I hadn't yet sent in my Treo, but didn't mention having any previous problems with their e-mail servers sending initial shipping instructions. Anyway, I sent in my Treo via next-day FedEx air. They promise a 5-7 day turn-around on repairs, so I log-on to their website to check status on the 7th day. Estimated completion date: 12-July-2005. You've got to be kidding me — another 2 weeks! $190 and they don't send me mailing instructions and then they don't deliver on their promised repair time. And I'm without a phone the entire time. This is completely unacceptable.

I guess things have changed since my last post. Michelin has admitted that they made a mistake in designing their tires and has offered refunds to race fans. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I'll have no problem buying Michelin tires again and I'll definitely be at the USGP next year. Too bad this wasn't the response initially, but Michelin definitely cleaned this up in the best possible manner.

I finally have something to talk about that is automotive-related. It started out as the best F1 USGP weekend I'd had. I've attended all of the previous races but this was the first year I took advantages of the activities surrounding the race. The police-escorted drive sponsored by Porsche Club of America through downtown was blissful. The drive to the track was effortless. The concourse parking on the unused back straightway of the track was not only convenient but also a display of some of the best road-going sports cars ever produced. The walk to our seats though the winding golf course was pleasant. Then the race started.

I'm very disgusted with Michelin. They brought a knife to a gunfight in that they did not adequately test their tires and that they did not have alternative designs available at the track. Then they acted like ungrateful, selfish children when they weren't allowed to break the rules and get their way.

From an engineering perspective, this article states that Michelin didn't even know what the problem was or how to fix their tires. So what made them so sure that placing obstacles in the turns would prevent the problem? And what made them think that drivers racing on a reconfigured track for the first time during the race was a good idea? New tires with stiffer sidewalls were available Sunday morning but apparently Michelin didn't want to take a penalty for changing tires. The request to change tires without a penalty was declined, so all of the cars were pulled from the track.

I think backing-out for safety concerns is the right thing to do but the method in doing so was unforgivable. There should have been an announcement before the race, not the massive and blindsiding protest seconds before the race began. If they had stiffer sidewall tires available, they should have taken the penalty and the race should have gone on. According to this article, Charlie Whiting says: "Your teams have a choice of running more slowly in Turn 12/13, running a tyre not used in qualifying (which would attract a penalty) or repeatedly changing a tyre (subject to valid safety reasons)." They should have tried these options and put on the best show they could. Even worse, Michelin racing director Frederic Henry-Biabaud stated in this news story that 'Michelin was not to blame'. I disagree. Do proper testing and preparation long before the race or take the penalty and change tires just before the race. And lastly, take blame when all 14 cars with your tires don't race.

I really hope this does not kill the United States Grand Prix. It was almost the most enjoyable race weekend I've ever had, and I've been to all of the races in Indianapolis. Indy Motor Speedway will probably take most of the financial hit and they should not. The only way I can really influence anything is with my purchases. I definitely will buy tickets for the nest F1 race at Indy. I definitely will not purchase Michelin tires for any of my automobiles. I'd purchased Michelin exclusively in past. I don't enjoyed being toyed with by a bunch of crybabies who didn't prepare for the race and didn't get the rules bent in their favor and I will not financially support them in the future.

A new album and re-found energy. Dave Matthews Band seems refreshed.

As always, Grey Street was fantastic. Smooth Rider was a bit boring. You Might Die Trying is an awesome live song that sounds similar to live version some under-appreciated songs from the Everyday album. Louisiana Bayou sounds like one of the few songs from the new album that has long-term live show/fan appreciation potential; Robert Randolph owned this song. All Along the Watchtower as the finale - classic Dave Matthews Band closer.

Setlist:

Dave Matthews Band
June 13, 2005
Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
American Baby G1
The Stone G1
Best of What's Around G1
Granny G1
Rhyme and Reason G1
Grey Street G1
Smooth Rider G1
You Might Die Trying G1
Ants Marching G1
Out of My Hands G1
Dancing Nancies …> G1
Warehouse G1
Dreamgirl G1
Hunger for the Great Light G1
Louisiana Bayou G1 G2
Encore:
Old Dirt Hill G1
Jam …> ^ G1 G2
All Along The Watchtower G1 G2
Guests:
G1 Butch Taylor
G2 Robert Randolph
Notes:
^ this jam features some improv lyrics from Dave.

The repair of the cracked screen on my Treo 650 is not going well. I paid PalmOne $190 to send in my phone and have it repaired. I was supposed to receive and e-mail from them with shipping instructions, but it never came (and no, it was not a problem with the spam blocking software on my mail server — I checked). I check the status of the repair and it says "e-mail sent". There is no way to have it re-sent, there is no contact information, e-mail address, phone number, or anything. So I've basically paid $190 for a repair order number with no way to actually get the repair.

I tried to get an Advance Exchange, where I'm sent a Treo 650 and then I return my old one (for an extra cost). There is a prominent page on the PalmOne site devoted to this service. However, the page doesn't give any instructions for actually ordering the service, it was not given as an option when I purchased my repair, and I was given no indication that I'm ineligible.

At this point, I'm very upset with Palm, enough to never purchase a product from them again. There is no excuse for customer support that is this pathetic, especially when I'm paying $190 for it.

As I mentioned previously in my blog, I purchased two network home music players: a Roku SoundBridge M2000 and a Sonos Digital Music System Bundle. I used both for a couple of weeks with the objective being a winner-take-all comparison where one is kept and the other is returned. I've completed my evaluation and posted complete and detailed results on a separate page. A brief summary of the detailed results is posted below:

Setup: Sonos wins by a moderate margin; neither was excessively difficult but the Sonos was less confusing.

Music Format Support: Roku wins by a small margin because of WMA DRM support.

Search: Roku wins by a large margin. The Roku is that it gives detailed song information before you actually play it. With the touchpad / scroll wheel on the Sonos, I thought I was going to burn my thumbprint off before I reached Z.

Easy-of-Use: The Sonos wins by a moderate margin. The Sonos offers a near-perfect wireless remote.

Internet Radio: Tie.

Multi-room support: Sonos wins by a large margin. Walking from one area of the house to another while hearing/controlling the music/volume was even cooler that I thought it would be. The Sonos has a great WiFi remote that allows control of any and/or all rooms from anywhere in the house.

Cost: The Roku wins by a small margin. Roku offerers multiple models at lower price points. The advantage is slight because of the better hardware integration and larger feature set of the Sonos.

Improvements: Sonos really needs to improve their search feature and possibly add DRM support. Roku is lacking in the area of multi-room support, needs to consider offering their own desktop software instead of relying on third parties, and needs to consider a anywhere-in-the-house WiFi graphical remote. Both companies need to add support for ReplayGain volume compensation, to correct songs that are too loud or too quite.

Verdict: The Sonos stays and the Roku is being returned. DRM and multiple-server support didn't turn out to be that big of an advantage for the Roku; multi-room listening and the WiFi graphical remote turned out to be a big advantage for the Sonos. Even though the score (by category) was 3 to 3, multi-room music is much nicer than I initially expected, making the Sonos the clear winner.

Here is the full and detailed review.