order they are received
I’m stuck in an AppleCare phone support queue. (The power adapter for my iBook is running very hot.) The automated system told me the wait would be twelve minutes or less. The wait doesn’t bother me as much as the hold music. Perhaps Apple thinks Dave Matthews and Counting Crows is inoffensive as possible, but, personal tastes aside, it just sounds like high-pitched muck on a crackly cell-phone. I understand why they need music on the line - it lets the customer know the line is still live. What I don’t understand, however, is why they need to play really bad music. Moreover, these artists don’t really seem to tie in with Apple’s public image as a hip, arty company. I wonder if they could just use a series of inoffensive electronic pulses to remind customers they’re still connected without offending their sensibilities. Or if they didn’t want to hire a sound designer, they could use the music of a project like Loscil, which might not even be recognized as music by many listeners.
