For example, why is it that whenever I upgrade the operating system, 90 percent of my software no longer works? This happens every time, especially with such favorites as Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Freehand and Adobe Illustrator.

Haven't the folks developing operating systems for these machines ever heard of backward compatibility?

How about hardware compatibility? On TV, they tell me all I have to do is plug in a peripheral and, voila, it is ready to use. Unfortunately, that never happens for me!

Plug-and-play goes on vacation whenever I try to hook up the latest scanner, camera or other toy to my machine. They say they're "designed" to work with Macs on the box, so they should be ready for me to use and abuse as soon as they're connected, right? Wrong!

In one of the commercials, there's a young lady telling me she saved Christmas by hooking up her digital camera to her PowerBook without having to worry about installing Windows drivers. She's right. She shouldn't have to worry about Windows drivers using her Mac -- but what about Mac drivers?

Case in Point

I recently attached a new digital camera to my Mac and waited for the miracle of connectivity to happen, just like it did for that girl on TV. But, unlike her instant success, mine took a bit longer.

I tried everything, from installing the software that came with the camera to uploading new drivers from the Internet. The miracle box still wouldn't recognize the camera. Plug-and-play had gone away, leaving me with a camera full of photos and no place for them to go.

After placing a quick call to tech support, I discovered that the drivers needed by the system to recognize my camera had to be moved; apparently, the Toshiba software had installed them into the wrong folder.

What happened to effortless connectivity and not having to mess around with drivers?

Where’d It Go?

Or consider this scenario: I recently tried hooking up a new USB scanner, not realizing that it would result in a battle of wills, resulting in mine being broken.

As usual, plug-and-play decided to take a siesta, leaving me with another puzzle to solve. After installing Mac drivers, I rebooted the machine, again anticipating the miracle of connectivity that the folks on TV are always talking about.

It didn't happen. No scanner, no miracle, nothing. There I sat, hopes dashed, swearing at two hunks of metal that were determined to make my life miserable.

Several hours and many cups of coffee later, I discovered that my plug-and-play Macintosh couldn't recognize its own USB ports. Apparently, the drivers had become corrupted. How PCish!

I want to be able to be able to save Christmas. I want to just connect a couple of cables and have everything work the first time, every time. I want the Mac those folks on TV are using!