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Mac vs PC – Part 6 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

Part 6 of this series continues the amazing Apple repair saga. If you missed part 5 you might want to go back by clicking here and read that so you know what this part is all about

When I got to the Genius Bar, I explained the problems the computer was having. I added one issue that I’ve not talked about before. When the screen brightness buttons did work, if I brightened it up all the way, it would go completely black and I’d have to restart using the power button.

I was seriously impressed with Apple’s method of diagnosis. The customer actually gets to sit there and talk to the tech while they work on diagnosing the problem. It was also impressive to see how deep and technical this diagnosis got in just a few minutes. In very short order, he had gotten into the computer’s log entries and found a pattern of USB faults each time I had needed to forcefully restart the computer. From this he concluded that the keyboard and the trackpad, which are attached to the USB hub, both needed to be replaced. These are all built into the top case so that part was ordered and I left my computer there to have the parts installed when they arrived. I might mention that I was fortunate to have the computer actually malfunction for the technician right off. He would have found the log entries anyway, but it was nice to have him see the problem immediately.

So in under 15 minutes, he had discovered the problem and I was on my way. If this wasn’t impressive to you, what I’m going to tell you next most certainly will be.

A few days later I called to check on the repair. I was informed that they had decided, after getting into the computer, to replace the motherboard too. Apple calls this a logic board. This all happened over the New Years’ Holiday and so the part did not get ordered until January 3rd which was the day I was talking to them.

Instead of talking to a clerk or a receptionist, I actually got to talk with the person doing the repair. I was informed that they had found some other hardware problems (loose cables that should never be loose) which is why they decided to replace the logic board.

Since I wanted to make sure this repair fixed the problem, I suggested that since ram can sometimes be a cause of intermittent problems, maybe they should just replace that too. To my amazement, they instantly agreed and added new ram to the repair list too.

Let me digress a moment in saying that when I purchased this computer, I mulled over the decision of whether or not to upgrade the ram to 8GB’s from 4GB’s. So I asked if it would be possible to just replace it with 8GB’s and charge me for the difference. They apologized and said they had no way of doing that. I was about to leave it at this point when I happened to make a comment, which you can see from all this writing, I’m fond of doing.

I happened to mention how much I absolutely loved this computer and was really missing it while it was in the shop. I had grown accustomed to using it for all my web blogs and maintenance and I was having to go back to my unpleasant Windows computers to perform this task while my Mac was out of commission. If you recall from a previous post, I said I now always try to make up for my years of bashing Apple and honestly express how I feel about their products. This was the main reason for the comment. It was heartfelt and true. I just wanted to say how enjoyable it was and that I really did miss it.

It must have sounded very heartfelt because suddenly the tech was not getting off the phone. He thought for a second and said, “I tell you what: considering how long you’ve been waiting for this, how would you feel about just getting a new computer?” After I picked myself up off the floor I said, “sure, when could I pick it up?” It was about 3pm when this conversation took place and the store closed at 8pm. They said I should be able to pick it up that day if they had time to transfer all my stuff over to the new computer.

This was not the end of this amazing story though. Before I got off the phone, the tech asked me if I’d mind a faster processor. Apparently they didn’t have a 2.66GHz in stock in my computer’s configuration so he offered me a 2.8GHz upgrade free of charge. Also, since my charger was not in brand new condition, he let me keep that too. And finally, as if all this was not enough, he said he would be able to upgrade the ram to 8GB’s if I wanted to do that. I declined this offer after hearing how much it would cost but thanked him for his very kind offer. This incidentally, will be the inspiration for another blog post about how you can save a great deal of money upgrading your own ram on you Mac. More about that later…

So basically all I had to give back, besides the computer they already had, was my empty box. They gave me a brand new computer with new software, new charger, and new box. They also transferred all my information so when I opened my computer it was EXACTLY like the old one was. Oh, and I forgot to mention one other thing. They restarted my warranty on the day of the replacement. They also did have the computer ready that night and I happily drove the 50 miles (we live way out!) to go and pick it up.

Honestly, in all the years I’ve been working with computers (since the first version of DOS) I have never, ever seen service like this. Even when repairs are performed, or a new product is issued (very rare), I have never seen a warranty restarted. I ended up with nearly an 18 month warranty and a new battery to boot! I guess the other part I’ve never seen before is such a willingness and desire to make the customer happy. Several times during my conversation with the tech, he told me how glad it made them to be able to make a customer happy like they had done for me.

Later when I was talking to my business contact at the store, he was delighted to hear that they had completely replaced the computer. He also mentioned how happy it made them to be able to do that sort of thing. Is it any wonder Mac users are so loyal? We’ve barely talked about how great the product itself is and already Apple has won this customer over for life.

Lastly, I told all the employees that were involved that I intended to write about this whole episode on my blog. I wanted as many people as possible to know about this amazing adventure. They then asked me to send them a link to it once I had it written. Again, I have never had any employees be that interested in what I had to say about them. So here is the fulfillment of that promise. As soon as I’m done here I’m going to send them the link.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. I certainly enjoy telling it. If you did enjoy it, please click the “like” button and leave a comment. Also, join me on my Facebook page here or click on the like box in the upper left.

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Mac vs PC – Part 5 of 6 – Why Mac Crushes the Competition

To read Part 4 of this series, click here

Part 5 of this series documents just the beginning of an almost unbelievable instance of Apple’s unique and amazing customer service.

First let me tell you the product we were dealing with. It was a MacBook Pro 15″ with a 500GB hard drive, 4GB’s ram, dual core Core i7 2.66GHz processor, high definition anti glare screen, and dual video cards. If you’re drooling right about now and thinking this is a sweet ride, you’re absolutely right! It’s an amazing machine that does not disappoint.

When I bought this computer I was very impressed with the build quality and what a pleasure it was to use. However, I did encounter a couple of negatives. The first was a glitch with the screen brightness keys. These keys worked only about half the time with no logical reason for not working the other half of the time. There was no particular program or condition that could reliably cause the keys to malfunction.

I use the computer a considerable amount of time in low light situations and so this feature is important to me. The other problem was that it occasionally froze up and had to be restarted with the power button. In spite of these things it was still a pleasure to use and, if not for a very fortunate turn of events, I may never have done anything about it.

At this point you may be asking, “why on earth would you not go have that checked out?” The answer to that question is simple. In the Windows world I was used to, these kinds of things are totally normal. If you brought your computer in for service with these problems, they would probably tell you it was a setting, a software conflict, or something else minor. Generally this would not be considered a hardware malfunction. So I just figured some day I would stumble across the reason for it. Either that or I would go into mega-research mode and figure it out once and for all. Fortunately, neither one of these things had to happen.

What eventually happened is I bought an iPad and needed some minor help with it. While I was talking to the gentlemen in the business department (the one mentioned in previous posts) I happened to mention these problems with the computer. He encouraged me to bring it in and have the folks at the Genius Bar take a look at it. I had talked to this guy before about this problem but had not taken him up on the offer. I figured the computer would probably not demonstrate the problem while I was there and I’d just waste my time. Kind of like when you take your car to the repair shop and whatever is wrong does not show itself and you spend a fortune having them chase down the problem.

This time I decided to take him up on the offer. Thus began the most amazing customer service adventure I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The explanation of the actual adventure however, is a pretty long story in itself. So in the interest of not making this post too lengthy, I will save the rest for the last post in this series.

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To read part 6 of this series, click here

Mac vs PC – Part 4 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

To read Part 3 or this series, click here

Part 4 of this takes this often-made comparison to a new and unique level. It was at this point in my search – trying to understand why people make the switch to Mac and why they were so passionate about it – that I realized the difficulty in finding the kind of information that I was looking for. Admittedly, this is a pretty big topic and there are lots of reasons people switch.

There are the obvious reasons like being less susceptible to viruses. They have lots of useful software right out of the box. And they don’t having all the garbage (bloat) software that can actually cost you money to get rid of. But there is one major reason that, while seeming pretty obvious to me, is rarely talked about in reviews. Probably because it’s more difficult to quantify and compare. Let me explain.

I’m going to use an analogy here that some might not agree with and might even find offensive. I got in a bit of trouble when I first shared this analogy with some friends. One in particular, who is a very linear and logical thinker, had a pretty difficult time separating any morals of this explanation from the actual point. So as I share, please realize that no moral implications are intended.

The analogy I use is that of modern day church. There is a tendency these days to make churches very plain and utilitarian. The epitome of this is the cinder-block church with a metal roof, a plain gymnasium type sanctuary, and chilly folding metal chairs. This gets the job done, but it is not a place you come to because you want to.

The building does not draw you in. You come because you need to. The building is something you endure in order to achieve a higher purpose. The chilly folding metal chairs and the poor acoustics are examples of things that actually detract from the purpose and tend to draw focus to themselves.

The other extreme in churches is the beautiful cathedrals of old (and some new ones too). These buildings are gorgeous and beckon us to enter. Once inside, we don’t want to leave. Even people that know nothing about God, and want to know nothing, still love being inside a building like this. For those who do go for worship, the building actually encourages the higher purpose instead of detracting from it.

In the end, the building melds with the purpose and the two become difficult to separate. One could also say that the building gives it’s glory to serving the higher purpose and stays out of the way so one can concentrate completely on the higher purpose.

In this analogy, generally the PC’s of the world are like the modern day, plain churches. They serve a purpose, and we use them to get a job done, but they don’t make us long for the experience. In fact, much of the time, we dislike the PC experience intensely. If we could do it some other way, we definitely would.

I have had so many PCs, especially laptops, that have been absolutely miserable to use. As a writer, they sometimes made it nearly impossible to get into the writing mood because of all the stuff (like chilly or broken metal chairs) that you had to put up with. I will get into more of the details on this later. For now, let’s just absorb the analogy.

On the other hand, Apple products are more like the cathedral. They are extremely well designed with the user and the purpose in mind. Their designs are sleek and beautiful (some would even say sexy) and you almost can’t resist picking them up and playing with them. When you begin to use an Apple product, rather than being frustrated and having to overlook the problems to get the job done, you don’t want to put it down.

It beckons you to enter further and further and to stay longer and longer. Just like the cathedral, the purpose and the device tend to meld into one. You suddenly notice that while the device is gorgeous, it also stays out of the way so you can completely concentrate on the purpose. I almost can’t wait to tell you about the difference between the Sony Vaio and this MacBook Pro that I’m writing on now. But that will have to wait for a future post. For now let’s just say that I’ve never had a computer that made it so easy to get into the writing mood and stay there.

I believe this is one reason the Apple store is so popular. It’s easy to spend hours there just playing with all the stuff on display. The products are so fun to use that you find yourself making up reasons to buy them. The iPad is a perfect example of this. It is so cool that it makes you want one just for the fun of it. Of course, once you get one and find out all the things it can do, you wonder how you ever survived without it.

Remind me sometime to tell you about my iPad purchasing experience. For now though, I better let you go and we’ll continue this story tomorrow.

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Mac vs PC – Part 3 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

To read part 2 of this series, click here

Let me tell you about my first couple of visits to the Apple Store while deciding to get my Mac. I still can’t quite put my finger on what it was about the ambiance of that place. I know ambiance might sound like a strange word to use to describe a computer store but it actually fits. Let me explain.

Most computer stores are filled with sales people that seem to know very little about about their product. They also seem to be more interested in the sale than in the customer. Neither of these were the case at the Apple Store. I know they really are concerned about sales, but they don’t act like it. Both times I visited prior to my purchase, I received absolutely delightful service from a young man in the business services area. He was not pushy or forceful but carefully listened to all my needs and concerns for probably 90 minutes.

This was impressive considering how many people were in the store. It was packed! It reminded me of a bunch of college students trying to see how many people they could stuff in a phone booth. Normally when you get that many people stuffed in one place it’s not very pleasant. This was different though. Everybody, including the employees, looked happy and actually seemed to enjoy being there. I think part of this comes from representing such a fun and functional product.

Apple has also figured out how to make the sales experience as high-tech and enjoyable as actually using the product. In spite of the store being packed to the limit, there is almost no waiting to get help from a salesperson or to buy something. Each employee is a walking point-of-sale Terminal. Each has an iPod with a special back that contains a card reader and is connected to the store’s computer network. So at time of purchase, your card can be swiped anywhere in the store and the employee simply walks a few feet and gets your receipts. You are also given the choice of having your receipt emailed to you. Even the signature process is done with ones fingernail on the iPod screen.

Add to this the fact that every product that Apple sells is on display. All are in full working order, come in various colors and configurations, and are just waiting for the customer to try out for as long as they like. Compare that to many stores where most of the displays are either broken or non-functioning, “empty” versions of the product that were never intended to work.

This whole experience is already very impressive before the customer even touches a product. And touching and using the product is where all the magic begins….

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Mac vs PC – Part 2 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

To read Part 1 of this series, click here

My entry into the Mac world was a rather unexpected one. As I said in the first post, I was really a Mac hater and needed a very good reason to even consider getting one. The event that changed my mind was a class I took in Seattle at the beginning of 2010. It was T. Harv Eker’s, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind seminar.

As is common in these introductory seminars, he did a lot of plugging for his other seminars. One of these was a course called The Ultimate Internet Boot Camp (UIBC). I knew from the moment I heard about this class that I had to take it and it’s what I’d been waiting for. After a lot of planning, preparation, and pretraining, I took the class in Los Angeles in December 0f 2010. Part of the pretraining included a coaching telephone call that proved to be the pivotal moment in my decision process.

The idea of the coaching call was to answer any questions participants might have and to introduce the methodology of the class. At the time, I was considering replacing my Sony Laptop as it had a lot of problems that made it a real pain to use. I happened to ask this coach for his thoughts on the matter. He said, in no uncertain terms, to get a Mac! This comment was totally unexpected and I asked him to explain why I would possibly need a Mac to take this class. Surely a Windows computer would be adequate…wouldn’t it?

The coach proceeded to go through a long list of why he thought Macs were superior for this kind of task. I was pretty dubious for the entire 90 minutes of this call. Being the skeptical researcher that I am, I wanted all the facts. After getting off the phone, I spent weeks researching the question. I even called him back two more times to discuss my research. At the time, I thought I’d be taking the class in the summer so I didn’t think I had much time to switch platforms and learn the new one before the class started. As it turned out, I rescheduled for December which permitted plenty of time for both.

The result of all this research is that I decided either platform would work fine for the class. I still had my doubts though because this coach seemed so adamant that a Mac would be better. By the third phone call, the coach realized that I was a very savvy Windows user and would do fine with a Windows PC. Interestingly though, he predicted that when all was said and done, I would end up using a Mac. So, he reasoned, I might as well get one now and enjoy the ease, simplicity, and time savings made possible by this platform.

As a side note, I have to say that part of my decision was based on an issue that had nothing to do with any research results. I had invested a lot of time, money (more than a nice Mac would even cost), and planning in this class, and I didn’t want to do anything that would make me get less than the maximum benefit from it. So since the coach was recommending it, and clearly he knew what would be going on in the class, I thought it wise to take his advice. So that was probably the single factor that finally tipped the scales.

As it turned out, when I got to the class, only about 20% of the participants had Macs. As far as I could tell, the success in this class really had nothing to do with which platform was being used. That however, is a story for a future post.

During the months between purchasing the Mac and taking the class, I used it exclusively for everything except my office work. By the time I got to the class I was as comfortable with using it as I had been with using Windows for all the years since Windows had been invented. That’s a telling statement about the Mac because it takes a while to really know your way around Windows. I don’t know how many books I read over the years about using and tweaking it. I was completely shocked at how easy it was to use a Mac right out of the box.

I still haven’t said that much about the difference between PC and Macs. Again, things don’t always turn out how we expect. So I’ll save for tomorrow most of what I thought I was going to write about today. I do think that all this preamble will help you have a better appreciation for what I’m going to say in in the remaining parts of this series. So stay tuned and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

By the way, just in cased I’ve influenced you to look into T Harv Eker’s Ultimate Internet Boot Camp, I think it’s only right that I give you another bit of advice. Although this was an amazing class, and I’m glad I attended, I believe there are less expensive ways to get the same information. However, if you’re a hands-on learner and don’t like to dig things out for yourself, by all means take his class. You won’t regret it!

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Click here to read part 3 of this series

Mac vs PC – Part 1 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

The Apple, or Mac, vs PC controversy is one that has gone on for a long time. It goes far beyond the technical world into emotion, loyalty, and lots of other subjective areas. I will confess to being a Mac hater for most of my adult life. However, just like I suspect it is with lots of other people, my opinion was not based in a lot of fact. It was based on what I had heard from others and read in various places. Even more to my embarrassment, I formed that opinion while never having used a single piece of Apple hardware and without ever even talking to a single Apple user or employee. What I find extremely interesting about this is that it’s completely opposite of anything else technology related in my life. In everything else, I go completely overboard in the other direction, spending days, weeks, or even months researching the subject until I, and the subject, are completely exhausted!

I’m afraid this attitude has not been without casualties. Not only have I missed out on some pretty cool stuff, I have also influenced my family and friends away from Apple when, at times, that may not have been in their best interest. It has also gained me a reputation of being rather closed minded in certain areas. Fortunately for me, my family, my friends, and you, a recent turn of events has given me a far more accurate view of what Apple is all about.

In the fall of 2010 I purchased a 15″ MacBook Pro, with a 2.66 Ghz Core i7, 4 GB’s of ram, 500 GB’s hard drive, dual video cards, and hi resolution anti-glare screen (non geek-speak = FABULOUS laptop). I now do all my writing, blogging, web design, and most of my web research and general browsing from this laptop. I still maintain, as I have since the first PC’s, an extensive Windows based network with high-end Intel based desktops and laptops. Most of my business stuff will not run on a Mac without using Boot Camp or some sort of Virtual Machine software so I don’t see that I’ll be converting that any time in the near future. I am also not saying anything bad about AMD here. They are a good company and I’ve built quite a few AMD based systems in the past. It’s just that at this point, I prefer the Intel processors for the type of work I do.

Since the purchase of this laptop, I have endeavored to become as much of an expert in all things Mac as I am in the PC world. I have also done my best to repent of my very biased attitude that I had about Mac. To those that have heard me badmouth Apple, I have admitted my error and given a more accurate report. To others, I try to give the most balanced assessment I can without badmouthing anybody. I honestly believe this whole thing has made me a better person and I hope a better adviser to those I serve.

When is stared writing this blog entry, I did not expect to be telling you so much about myself and did expect to get more into the differences between PCs and Macs. However, things do not always go according to plan. I think it’s important to know where I came from in order to better appreciate what I say in the future. The remaining 5 parts of this series will go into much more detail about the differences.

I think you’ll be surprised and hopefully delighted with my take on the subject. Before I purchased my Mac I did my usual exhaustive research to see if it’s what I really should do. It was a difficult choice because, even with the thousands of articles and blogs about this subject, none definitively answered my question of why people switched in a way that was convincing to me. Nobody seemed to capture the true essence of the issue. My writing style is such that when I’m passionate about something, I tend to wax a little poetic and get into the subjective as well as the objective. So I can almost guarantee that you will find a refreshing and unique view of this subject as we continue on.

Please join me tomorrow for part 2 of Mac vs PC. If you enjoyed this article, please comment and tell me what you liked about it. If you prefer, you can head over to my Facebook page by clicking here, and leave a comment there. Also, if you would like a simple, non geek-speak explanation of something technical, let me know and I’ll see about writing a blog post about it.

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Click here to go to Part 2 of this series.