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Apple - Think Twice

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Re: Apple - Think Twice

#211

Post by mullingitover »

If my history with Apple support is any guide, good luck. My first Macbook Pro:

- Laptop starts dying hard with >20% battery remaining 16 weeks or so after purchase

- Get a replacement battery free due to recall - Replacement battery has same problem, turns out the replacement batteries have also been recalled! Lucky me.

- Get a third replacement battery

- Third replacement battery has the exact same problem. Contact Apple for warranty replacement.

- Apple's classy solution: tough shit. All the replacement batteries only have a 90-day warranty. This of course is a replacement for a battery which has a problem where failure occurs around 120 days.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#212

Post by freehunter »

clarky07 wrote: post #198
tatsuke95 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typical exchange: Person A: Apple is amazing. Antenna-gate was mass media nonsense. Person B: I, personally, had major problems with the antenna. Person C: Why don't you just get rid of your phone then? No one told you to buy one. Or, I can demand the quality and service I expect from a premium product. What's wrong with that?

If this makes you think it's not a premium product, or the best out there, go get a different product. What's so wrong with that? I want a pony, but dammit Apple doesn't offer ponies. Saying "I WANT A PONY FROM APPLE NOW" isn't going to make it so. Quit bitching and take your business elsewhere. If you happen to think the iPhone is still the best even with this problem, then get a case or hold the phone differently.

I agree with Politician A on every point except one. So since we have that one disagreement, I'm going to vote for politician B instead, with whom I disagree on every issue but this one.

One issue doesn't mean you have to hate the phone as a whole, or stop using it. The more acceptable response is to ask that the issue be fixed. Just because an iPhone has signal issues that are inconvenient doesn't mean it's not the phone that this person likes better than the others.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#213

Post by w1ntermute »

stephencanon wrote: post #207
w1ntermute wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TrackPoint versus (Apple) trackpad is, fairly obviously, a matter of taste I don't see how it is. It's a simple matter of efficiency. When using a trackpad, you have to move your hand off of the keyboard and down several inches. When using the TrackPoint, you do not - the TrackPoint is accessible with your index finger from the keyboard's home row. All 3 mouse buttons are accessible with your thumbs while your fing…

> When using a trackpad, you have to move your hand off of the keyboard and down several inches. ~2 is not "several" in modern english usage. More to the point: personally, I use my thumb on the trackpad, so by your standards of evidence the track point is less efficient than the trackpad; my fingers never leave their home row positions, whereas yours do to use the track point. In reality, yes, it's personal preferen…

> ~2 is not "several" in modern english usage.

It looks like at least 3 to 4 inches to me from the home row to the middle of the trackpad on the 13" MacBook Air: http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/macb...

On my X1 Carbon[0] it's 4" from the home row to the middle of the trackpad. Subtracting 0.5" for the separate mouse buttons, that would be 3.5" to the middle of the trackpad.

> personally, I use my thumb on the trackpad

Can you "two-finger scroll" with your thumb on the trackpad? And from what another post said, you have to rotate your wrist to do this anyway.

> so by your standards of evidence the track point is less efficient than the trackpad; my fingers never leave their home row positions, whereas yours do to use the track point.

What are you talking about? My fingers never leave the home row to use the TrackPoint. You do realize that the TrackPoint is located between the "G", "H", and "B" keys, right?

0: http://asset3.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/08/07/ThinkP...

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#214

Post by Tipzntrix »

astrodust wrote: post #123
Breakthrough wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The new Dell Ubuntu laptop is the only thing I can think of as a reasonable alternative to what Apple's doing." Maybe you should get your head out of the gutter and realize a laptop isn't deemed "good" because it's an alternative to "what Apple's doing". Edit : And to whoever downvoted this, thank you for proving my point.

Until there are other vendors on the same page as Apple, there's no way to put it otherwise. If you want to buy power tools, a watch, a car, you have many choices of first-rate products. When it comes to computers it's such a broken marketplace. It'd be a world where there's BMW and a whole bunch of Hyundai-type companies. I have my head in the gutter because I have standards? Expectations? That appearances do matter…

For laptops, there's Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Sony, and more...a lot of them don't cost as much as Apple, but their benchmarks match up at a cheaper cost.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#215

Post by intellegacy »

stcredzero wrote: post #192
intellegacy wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's nonsensical. Apple is marketing these staff as "geniuses". They're supposed to operate on a higher standard than the stereotypical brain-dead tech support; thus we should hold them to that standard. If Apple's standards are as low as those of other companies then they really don't deserve to earn the price premium they charge.

> That's nonsensical. Wow, I chime in with a on anecdote supporting your position, coupled with a universal truism, and you say I'm promulgating nonsense. Take a chill pill.

It wasn't my intention to come across as an ass, sorry. Your anecdote implies a deeper insight though: if the "genius" is just another standard tech support employee then Apple's use of the moniker is misplaced.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#216

Post by DanBC »

michael_miller wrote: post #73

I can't help but think that the majority of comments here are the loud minority. Apple's products have had faults, I'll be the first to admit. But do we really think that even 5% of Apple's millions of customers are having issues with their purchases? If that were the case, we'd see class action lawsuits against the company, the NYTimes/WSJ covering Apple's shoddy manufacturing processes, and Apple's reputation takin…

There is a lot of troll feeding happening.

It's disappointing that even on HN people can't discuss the merits and otherwise of a range of computers without the thread being derailed by a couple of bickering commenters.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#217

Post by sixothree »

ssmoot wrote: post #81
msy wrote: post #10

Revision A Apple projects have had issues for as long as Apple has been making products. Second gen Macbook Air's had Logic board issues, 2007 era RevA Macbook Pros had video card issues, dodgy graphics cards on the early Mac Pros, the iPhone4 antenna, the list is endless. Often it's taken years for the issues to be resolved and Apple to pay for repairs, if at all. It's simple, if you want the shiniest tech, buy what…

Just pointing out that for anyone I've ever met, the antennagate was just media sites drumming up page-views. I never had an issue, and despite everyone at my office having iPhone4s and 4Ss, the only time any of us were ever able to affect antenna-strength was having a wet hand, and then purposefully applying a lot of pressure to attempt to attenuate the case. It could be the signal-strength display "fix" was hiding…

I never had a problem with the antenna on my iPhone 4... Until I switched to t-mobile. Then it was a noticeable problem. I could force it into 'searching' mode just by holding it wrong.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#218

Post by cloverich »

j-b wrote: post #194
kevinalexbrown wrote: post #150

My perspective here is in no way Apple-specific, but I was reminded of something quite interesting in this story: if you pass a test and you still have problems, it probably means the test isn't good enough. Worse, passing a test doesn't magically change the state of the world and make these problems disappear. Turning to the customer and explaining, "there is no problem because you passed the test" does not alter th…

Don't forget the old adage that reality is 90% perception. If your customers "think" they have a problem, that in itself is an issue that needs to be dealt with. My customers don't care if their system issues are actually a problem in my software or not. "Not a problem" doesn't work if you want to keep paying customers around.

In these types of situations, the cliche "The Customer is always right" is apt.

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#219

Post by kamjam »

mullingitover wrote: post #211

If my history with Apple support is any guide, good luck. My first Macbook Pro: - Laptop starts dying hard with >20% battery remaining 16 weeks or so after purchase - Get a replacement battery free due to recall - Replacement battery has same problem, turns out the replacement batteries have also been recalled! Lucky me. - Get a third replacement battery - Third replacement battery has the exact same problem. Contact…

I like how you start off by saying "My first Macbook Pro", which implies you have purchased more since this initial issue?

Re: Apple - Think Twice

#220

Post by DanBC »

piyush_soni wrote: post #11

They're all about earning money by ANY unethical means possible. We should already boycott it for not only suing big companies for ridiculous patents, but for trying to EXTORT money from small coffee shops and online grocery shops who have nothing to do with electronics business!

That's not restricted to Apple. It's a feature of trademark law; you have to try to protect it, or you risk losing it.

Google used to ask people to not use Google as a verb; Bic pens write letters if bic is used as a generic instead of ballpoint; everyone does it because they have to do it.

Sure, it's annoying that a huge multinational company spends money on lawyers against a teeny tiny company. But it's not Apple, it's the system.

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