10.4.9 - Power PC support: disillusioned Mac owner

Question

I was hoping that 10.4.9 would at last Mac support for the Sony GPS-CS1. This device has been out for 6 months now and 'just works' on Windows and Linux. It appears it 10.4.9 may fix the problem on Intel machines, but not on PPC ones.
I did raise a bug some time ago but of course have had no reply.
I also tried to post a question here before 10.4.9 was released, trying to bring this to developers' attention to get someone to look at the problem while the update was in development, but of course my question was removed, as it was about unreleased software.
I wasn't asking anyone for details of secret Leopard features - I was asking if someone might pay attention to the Mac's unique lack of support for this device.
I also wasn't asking just for myself, but on behalf of a small community of GPS-CS1 owners - see http://www.macgpscs1.com
What chance I wonder is there that I'll ever see the GPS-CS1 work on a Power PC Mac? Especially given that this is probably the last release before Leopard. I'm not even going to ask if it'll work with Leopard, or this post will be removed.
It's a small thing - one minority device. But it says a great deal about Apple support. For the first time since buying a Mac, I think I might have made a mistake.
iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

Answer 1

If I were you, I would join the Apple Developer
Connection. There is a free membership that doesn't
give you a whole lot of benefits, but you can submit
true Apple bugs directly to Apple Developers:
http://developer.apple.com/membership/
Hi Doug, already done that.
We (me and my blog visitors) spent a lot of time trying to establish where the fault might be first, but once I discovered that the device mounts on Ubuntu running on my Mac (the same Mac that doesn't work running Mac OS) then I submitted a bug on Bug Reporter on 22nd December. Full system profile and lots of USB Probe output and logs attached.
Bug number 4898558
But apart from an automated acknowledgment, I've had no contact from Apple and the bug status has never been updated.
On 29th December I sent an update, as we discovered that the GPS-CS1 now worked with a Core 2 Duo Macbook. We found that it had newer versions of IOUSBFamily and IOUSBMassStorageClass (a fairly good indication of where the problem might be). Again though, I've had no response other than an automatic acknowledgment.
For the first time since buying a Mac, I think I
might have made a mistake.
If you knew that the device was only supported in
Windows and Linux, it's not clear to me why you got a
Mac in the first place...
-Doug
I bought a Mac long before buying a GPS-CS1. Although Sony didn't supply any Mac software with it I took a chance on it working with the Mac anyway (the interface to the computer is just a Sony Memory Stick with a USB connection) - and in any case I always have access to a Windows PC at work.
It isn't a huge problem for me - it's just that the impossibility of getting this working without Apple's help, and the impossibility of getting any help from Apple, are indicative of a larger concern.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)