Wealth Bondage would rather his blog not survive him. 
As a Mac user, I wish Microsoft would run an Apple-like ad about the process by which Mac users get service for broken hardware. It would be really hard for Apple to respond, because their system for dealing with broken hardware is itself horribly broken. They need serious incentives to fix this.
Sue Polinsky: Why do you care about RSS?
Yikes, I’m missing the Newspaper 2.0 meetup in Santa Barbara today. You’re probably missing it too. 😦
Once again, thanks to Continental Airlines for the free wifi access outside their President’s Club lounge at Gate B11 at Sea-Tac.
I usually don’t write about dreams on this blog, but last night I had a weird one that sorta seems on-topic. I was reading an article about the most popular new digital cameras and was tripping out over one called The Megnut, designed by Meg Hourihan, Blogger founder, food blogger, presumably a mega-millionaire after Google bought them out. I was thinking how strange life was, how I knew so many of the people responsible for the popular memes of the day, and how it was expanding beyond the worlds of blogging, podcasting, etc. Well, I guess it was just a little too strange to be real. 🙂
Scripting News Annex 
Posted by anthropocentric on February 10, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I’m 45 mins from Santa Barbara. How come I didn’t know about this? Who promoted this thing? Boo!
Posted by samuel DeVore on February 10, 2007 at 3:43 pm
You know Dave, I have never had anything but good service from Apple and AppleCare. I have had two issues with two different laptops from them in the few years and this last one was serviced faster then I could believe.
If not for the issue about resolving the issue of owership given how it was purchased the repair process from initial call to getting it back was less then a week.
Sam D
Posted by kosso on February 10, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Dave,
So, on which blog DO you write up your dreams, eh? 😉
Posted by kosso on February 10, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I had recent problems with a MacBook Pro. (and possibly another) Logic board failure on a brand new MBP. The support was a PITA but then I got them to realise my situation. I was able to take it into the AppleStore in the CambridgeSide Galleria, where I bought it – over a month later – and they exchanged it there and then in the store, as I had registered a problem within 14 days (while in the UK recently after getting it).
I’ve had dead a dead MacMini, dead keyboards, mice etc all from Apple brand new out of the box.
Though their products do indeed look sexy, and satisfy certain gadgetory requirement I have ; ) they don’t always work. But at least (in my exp.) they have been quick to fix the problem with a replacement.
I could have gone the ‘take it into a service centre’ route and been without a machine totally for potentially weeks.
If it was a PC (ok, so not a laptop) I could fix it myself – with cheaper parts too, if I had to.
My opinion of Apple is changing slightly (+ve) recently having nearly finished iWoz, Steve Wozniak’s autobiography – it’s so easy to forget those foundations and that Apple wasn’t ‘all about Steve’ it it is now. It was about true innovation and being first with ideas – though I have no idea what the support was like back then for the AppleII 😉 I didnt see one for years
Posted by Tom Morris on February 10, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Regarding Apple’s repairs, preach it brother. I’ve just got my Mac back from the London AppleStore. They’ve now stopped picking up repairs from your house – meaning I have to do a 100 mile round trip on public transport to the shop to drop my machine off.
Also, they didn’t have status reports available for my repair on the website which meant I had to call them to check every day or so – and spend about fifteen minutes listening to the contents of their CD collection just to find out what’s going on with my Mac.
It took them over a week to have a part delivered. And I’m now having another problem with my Mac, for which I may have to go through the same agonizing lobotomy of a repair procedure over.
The kicker? This was a *non-warranty* repair. My insurance company is picking up the tab, but they’ve just made over £800 (around $1600 US) on it.
I love the Macintosh platform, but the most potent reason to switch to Linux is Apple themselves. They get half the product right (iTunes handles podcasts perfectly) and fuck the other half up (iPods covered in scratches and with batteries dying after a few short months). Please. I want OS X. I want Jonathan Ive’s design. I just don’t want all the bullshit that accompanies it all.
But – here’s the tragic bit – however much Apple sucks, it’s nothing compared to the alternative.
Posted by PXLated on February 10, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Never have had a problem with Apple and service nor most my friends/family. Ben totally pleased everytime I’ve needed something.
Posted by kosso on February 10, 2007 at 6:48 pm
So Tom, you now run Linux on your MBP? ‘Which’ Linux?
Posted by Tom Morris on February 11, 2007 at 3:03 am
I don’t run Linux on my MacBook Pro, I run OS X. The main reason I’m on the Mac platform is the OPML Editor and the BSD underpinnings. By ‘switch to Linux’, I mean the next time I change my laptop. I run Ubuntu and Windows dual-boot on my desktop PC.
Posted by dayoldpie on February 11, 2007 at 7:07 am
Wow, Tom, Apple used to come to your house? I’ve never heard of that here in the States.
I’ve never had a reason to use Apple’s repair service. But, I have waited around at a Genius Bar for other reasons. Waited a very long time, while every employee behind the bar seemed to be deep into an hours’ long discussion with a customer. Conclusion: The Genus Bar needs a supervisor to manage traffic. Apple, Inc. has a big responsibility for their stores, but so does local store management.
Here’s a suggestion for Apple: Offer replacement hardware for rent, cheap, like a $1 per day, while a customer’s toy is in for service. (Transfer data as a freebie.) Promise a “fixed by” date. Don’t charge any rent if you don’t make that date.
Posted by Tom Morris on February 11, 2007 at 9:32 am
Yeah, they used to send a cardboard box. You’d then pack your computer in to the box, call UPS and send it back. Ideally, as a *customer*, you should have a choice on how the repair happens. For a laptop, I don’t mind taking it in by train to the city. For a desktop machine, that’d suck. There’s no easy way to drive in to the city (I don’t drive, and it’s way too long to take a cab).
If Apple wanted to improve customer service, they’d set up a blog, ask their customers what sucks about the Apple customer experience and have someone high up respond in a human voice on the blog. Apple are too arrogant for that.
Posted by Adam on February 11, 2007 at 4:13 pm
You know, I’ve had nothing but good service from Apple – of course I bought AppleCare for the products I received service for. It could be the the non-Applecare experience is worse – I dunno.
I’ve returned two iPods through the mail and received replacements in a reasonable amount of time. I also dropped my MBP off at a nearby Apple store and had it repaired (broken fan) in less than 24 hours. According to phone support, I could have also sent it through the mail.
So I hear about all of these horror stories, but have yet to have any problems myself. I am also a frequent user of Dell support (for servers not home) and have had many positive experiences.
So, I dunno. I’m not doubting that bad support happens – but I really wonder if it is the exception or the rule.