Save me, Steve!
This is in response to what happened to me this thread:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...&postid=617816
So you guys know, I had my PowerBook for 2 days, and I woke up the third morning & found it covered in water---apparently one of my suitemates (or maybe one of their friends?) accidentally spilled water on my PowerBook. Whether it was intentional or an accident, Apple is charging me $1023 to get it repaired. Whoever did it remains unknown, and now I'm left having to pay for the expenses myself. I decided to write a letter to Apple regarding the incident, in addition to my Windoze "Switch" story. I don't know what exactly to expect. But all I can say is, "Save me, Steve!"
Here's my letter:
Dear Apple:
My name is ****** ***, and I?m a sophomore undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, the nation?s nerdiest undergraduate school. I had been an adamant Windows user ever since junior-high, and have always recommended to my friends & family that they use Microsoft products. Despite all the stress in dealing with Windows, it just seemed like the right thing to do because everybody else was using it~ Bugs & errors just seemed like they were supposed to be a part of using computers.
My job at CMU as an Assistant Computer Technician should?ve taught me right away that Apple was the way to go. However, my stubbornness in refusing to switch had forced me to learn the hard way. At work, I had computer support lines for Dell, HP, Gateway, and Compaq all on speed-dial because I called them so often. But again, I grew up believing that computers were made to have problems. I figured that it was also a good thing that people used Windows, otherwise I?d be out of a job. But to begin my story, I want to first talk about my experiences with the Apple gateway-drug: iPods.
As soon as iPods became Windows-compatible, I started saving up for an awesome second-generation, touch-wheel 10Gb. They were just simply the hippest electronic devices that anybody could?ve owned, and right before winter-break of my freshman year, I finally got one.
This iPod blasted every high-tech gadget back into the Stone Age; it was simply one of the greatest purchases I?ve ever made. Even today, no matter how much the competitors try to copy Apple?s iPod interface, the Apple file-navigation system is still number one! The only problem, however, was its lame compatibility with Windows through the goofy JukeBox program that was provided. But! Thankfully, iTunes saved the day.
\tThis past year, I could think of none other greater gift for my girlfriend?s birthday than a pink iPod mini. It required a lot of saving up, and again, a lot of monotonous work at my Computing Services job (Can you say... RPC Virus?). Thank God Macs don?t have viruses, or I probably would have quit right then. But anyway, it all paid off in the end as it turned out to be the perfect couple-gift ? an iPod mini for each of us. Since then, there has never a moment when we?re not thinking of each other while listening to our playlists.
\tSo winter break of my sophomore year ends and school is back in session. But I start to notice something. Most of my Design friends & Computer Science friends have something in common?they all use PowerBooks! Very so often would we challenge each other to a dueling argument of Windows vs. Mac, but I never could understand their reasoning of ?Macs just work.? Fortunately, they found other ways to show me the light?I fell in love with Mac?s latest OS: Panther. I was left speechless with how it made optimal use of the graphics cards. What the iPod scroll-wheel did for mp3-players is what Exposé did for OS GUI?s. There was innovation spilling out of the Apple screen, bringing graphics to a whole new dimension that Windows would never reach.
I then did my research and found that there was no Windows laptop on the market that had better hardware than a Apple PowerBook. The Gamer inside of me refused relentlessly, but it was true. I ran across VoodooPC?s line of notebooks, but even when their hardware was matched up against a PowerBook, the Voodoo was $200 more expensive, and the dimension were still bigger?! The PowerBook had a beautiful OS and top-of-the-line hardware to back it up. That was the ticket right there. I was sold.
\tMy brother, Robert Yee, was the first person I called to tell the great news, I had just purchased a new 1.5Ghz Aluminum PowerBook. I had flipped up the RAM to 1Gb, the HD speed to 5400rpm, and the video memory to 128mb. Not only would this be my first very-own Apple computer, it would end up being the biggest purchase I?ve ever made for myself?I was too psyched. I decided to try to familiarize myself with Macs by hitting mac-sites before my PowerBook would soon arrive.
I quickly joined the online Apple community and was welcomed whole-heartedly. Spymac, AppleInsider, macrumors ? forum-posting became an addiction. I soon felt something I knew I could never feel from Microsoft, a feeling of caring & an overall sense of community. People tended to my curiosity & naïveté with kindness and patience, and just I asked myself: ?If 95% of computer-users are Windows-users, why can?t anybody ever just give me a straight answer whenever I have a problem?? It was like whenever I had a question regarding Windows, I?d have to either end up begging, paying, or fighting for an answer! There was just so much Mac-user friendliness along with genuine Mac user-friendliness! It really felt like I was a part of a big family.
\tFinally came the day when my months of hard work would pay off. My PowerBook had arrived?and my boss even let me take the day off to ?explore the new world?. The first thing I noticed was something so subtle. It was something that only a long-term Windows-user could notice, and it was that I didn?t need to think. I just simply didn?t need to think. All this time when I had been using Windows, I?ve always had to keep a set of unwritten rules in the back of my mind so that my computer wouldn?t end up crashing & burning. These rules were discovered simply by having a number of bad experiences with Microsoft programs, like IE or even basic tools like Explorer. But this was a truly new experience to me. I just simply didn?t have to think?like my mind was truly free. Nothing could?ve been so perfect.
\tAfter just a single day with my new PowerBook, I couldn?t even stand looking at my one-year-old Windows laptop. I noticed something: Windows XP looks exactly like it did 8 years ago when Windows 95 came out. There were absolutely no signs of innovation or aesthetics whatsoever. It makes you wonder what they actually do at Microsoft, besides copy Apple. I decided to use my old computer as a server to stream my music over the campus?s wireless network. None of that FTP bull, I just use iTunes?too cool.
\tOn the morning of the third day that I had my brand new PowerBook, it was like a nightmare had come true. As it turned out, one of my suitemates spilled water all over my PowerBook while I was sleeping. It was quite possibly the most atrocious thing I could have ever witnessed. Nobody would admit to have committed the deed, and I was pretty much left with only one option?to send my baby off to be repaired.
\tSo here is where my story ends. I have experienced the iPod. My girlfriend & I still love the experience we share with our iPod mini?s. But now, what stands between me & my brand new PowerBook is repair expense that will take several months to pay off. I was provided only a glimpse of Heaven, and now, I am stuck behind the Gates with Windows again.
Please save me from this torturous nightmare.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...&postid=617816
So you guys know, I had my PowerBook for 2 days, and I woke up the third morning & found it covered in water---apparently one of my suitemates (or maybe one of their friends?) accidentally spilled water on my PowerBook. Whether it was intentional or an accident, Apple is charging me $1023 to get it repaired. Whoever did it remains unknown, and now I'm left having to pay for the expenses myself. I decided to write a letter to Apple regarding the incident, in addition to my Windoze "Switch" story. I don't know what exactly to expect. But all I can say is, "Save me, Steve!"
Here's my letter:
Dear Apple:
My name is ****** ***, and I?m a sophomore undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, the nation?s nerdiest undergraduate school. I had been an adamant Windows user ever since junior-high, and have always recommended to my friends & family that they use Microsoft products. Despite all the stress in dealing with Windows, it just seemed like the right thing to do because everybody else was using it~ Bugs & errors just seemed like they were supposed to be a part of using computers.
My job at CMU as an Assistant Computer Technician should?ve taught me right away that Apple was the way to go. However, my stubbornness in refusing to switch had forced me to learn the hard way. At work, I had computer support lines for Dell, HP, Gateway, and Compaq all on speed-dial because I called them so often. But again, I grew up believing that computers were made to have problems. I figured that it was also a good thing that people used Windows, otherwise I?d be out of a job. But to begin my story, I want to first talk about my experiences with the Apple gateway-drug: iPods.
As soon as iPods became Windows-compatible, I started saving up for an awesome second-generation, touch-wheel 10Gb. They were just simply the hippest electronic devices that anybody could?ve owned, and right before winter-break of my freshman year, I finally got one.
This iPod blasted every high-tech gadget back into the Stone Age; it was simply one of the greatest purchases I?ve ever made. Even today, no matter how much the competitors try to copy Apple?s iPod interface, the Apple file-navigation system is still number one! The only problem, however, was its lame compatibility with Windows through the goofy JukeBox program that was provided. But! Thankfully, iTunes saved the day.
\tThis past year, I could think of none other greater gift for my girlfriend?s birthday than a pink iPod mini. It required a lot of saving up, and again, a lot of monotonous work at my Computing Services job (Can you say... RPC Virus?). Thank God Macs don?t have viruses, or I probably would have quit right then. But anyway, it all paid off in the end as it turned out to be the perfect couple-gift ? an iPod mini for each of us. Since then, there has never a moment when we?re not thinking of each other while listening to our playlists.
\tSo winter break of my sophomore year ends and school is back in session. But I start to notice something. Most of my Design friends & Computer Science friends have something in common?they all use PowerBooks! Very so often would we challenge each other to a dueling argument of Windows vs. Mac, but I never could understand their reasoning of ?Macs just work.? Fortunately, they found other ways to show me the light?I fell in love with Mac?s latest OS: Panther. I was left speechless with how it made optimal use of the graphics cards. What the iPod scroll-wheel did for mp3-players is what Exposé did for OS GUI?s. There was innovation spilling out of the Apple screen, bringing graphics to a whole new dimension that Windows would never reach.
I then did my research and found that there was no Windows laptop on the market that had better hardware than a Apple PowerBook. The Gamer inside of me refused relentlessly, but it was true. I ran across VoodooPC?s line of notebooks, but even when their hardware was matched up against a PowerBook, the Voodoo was $200 more expensive, and the dimension were still bigger?! The PowerBook had a beautiful OS and top-of-the-line hardware to back it up. That was the ticket right there. I was sold.
\tMy brother, Robert Yee, was the first person I called to tell the great news, I had just purchased a new 1.5Ghz Aluminum PowerBook. I had flipped up the RAM to 1Gb, the HD speed to 5400rpm, and the video memory to 128mb. Not only would this be my first very-own Apple computer, it would end up being the biggest purchase I?ve ever made for myself?I was too psyched. I decided to try to familiarize myself with Macs by hitting mac-sites before my PowerBook would soon arrive.
I quickly joined the online Apple community and was welcomed whole-heartedly. Spymac, AppleInsider, macrumors ? forum-posting became an addiction. I soon felt something I knew I could never feel from Microsoft, a feeling of caring & an overall sense of community. People tended to my curiosity & naïveté with kindness and patience, and just I asked myself: ?If 95% of computer-users are Windows-users, why can?t anybody ever just give me a straight answer whenever I have a problem?? It was like whenever I had a question regarding Windows, I?d have to either end up begging, paying, or fighting for an answer! There was just so much Mac-user friendliness along with genuine Mac user-friendliness! It really felt like I was a part of a big family.
\tFinally came the day when my months of hard work would pay off. My PowerBook had arrived?and my boss even let me take the day off to ?explore the new world?. The first thing I noticed was something so subtle. It was something that only a long-term Windows-user could notice, and it was that I didn?t need to think. I just simply didn?t need to think. All this time when I had been using Windows, I?ve always had to keep a set of unwritten rules in the back of my mind so that my computer wouldn?t end up crashing & burning. These rules were discovered simply by having a number of bad experiences with Microsoft programs, like IE or even basic tools like Explorer. But this was a truly new experience to me. I just simply didn?t have to think?like my mind was truly free. Nothing could?ve been so perfect.
\tAfter just a single day with my new PowerBook, I couldn?t even stand looking at my one-year-old Windows laptop. I noticed something: Windows XP looks exactly like it did 8 years ago when Windows 95 came out. There were absolutely no signs of innovation or aesthetics whatsoever. It makes you wonder what they actually do at Microsoft, besides copy Apple. I decided to use my old computer as a server to stream my music over the campus?s wireless network. None of that FTP bull, I just use iTunes?too cool.
\tOn the morning of the third day that I had my brand new PowerBook, it was like a nightmare had come true. As it turned out, one of my suitemates spilled water all over my PowerBook while I was sleeping. It was quite possibly the most atrocious thing I could have ever witnessed. Nobody would admit to have committed the deed, and I was pretty much left with only one option?to send my baby off to be repaired.
\tSo here is where my story ends. I have experienced the iPod. My girlfriend & I still love the experience we share with our iPod mini?s. But now, what stands between me & my brand new PowerBook is repair expense that will take several months to pay off. I was provided only a glimpse of Heaven, and now, I am stuck behind the Gates with Windows again.
Please save me from this torturous nightmare.
Comments
Roommate spilling water is unfortunate, but it's not covered under the warranty. What do you want from Apple? If it was in the maifesto, I missed it... obviously
Cut it down to 5 lines or less and send it to someone in PR or your campus rep who could try something. Doubtful as it is that they would help you. It would set a very bad precident for them.
Maybe chop it down about 99%.
Also, I agree that chopping the manifesto down to a clear and concise statement of what went wrong and which of the usual recourses you've exhausted would be your best bet. The PowerBook is under warranty, so you should be able to get it replaced through Apple's usual support channels.
Originally posted by deunan
... Apple is charging me $1023 to get it repaired....
Is that USD? if not, what is it? and if yes then I say forget the repair and just get a whole new unit...damn, $1023 is probably apples cost for building a whole computer, OS, software CDs\\DVDs manuals, cables, box and all