Got Mom to Switch!!!
FINALLY.
She's absolutely had it with her PC...everything about it. I've been gently suggesting for months now that "there IS an alternative...".
Well, she seems to be open to it. I'm going to take my iMac DV (my beloved tangerine jellybean I just got back from my friend in Indiana two days ago) to Mom's house, set it up, get it online (she's got cable modem) and show her the ropes about Macs, OS X, the iApps, etc.
At least learn on this for a little while and she'll probably have an eMac within a couple of months, based on how she was talking earlier today.
Just getting a Mac in that house is a victory! And I'm very happy for her.
I told her if she and my stepdad bought an eMac (or whatever), I would be more than happy to a) buy a 512MB DIMM to bump the RAM up, b) buy her a .Mac account and c) buy the new OS X version of this greeting card-making program she loves to use (and actually makes money off of...hell, she does more freelance work that I do!).
She's got a kick-ass Canon S45 digital camera and a really nice HP photo inkjet, both of which are OS X compatible (iPhoto and so forth), so she really won't miss a thing. My stepdad surfs, does the occasional e-mail and plays Solitaire or games like that, so I'm betting I can easily find some good OS X versions of that sort of stuff?
Use the iMac as "training wheels", then graduate to a 1GHz G4 eMac with Combo Drive, 32MB graphics, 17" screen, etc.
You don't understand...this is a HUGE deal. I never thought it would happen!
My sister and Dad are next... [insert evil laugh]
Comments
Good Job!
Good stuff
Fellows
Originally posted by pscates
I told her if she and my stepdad bought an eMac (or whatever), I would be more than happy to a) buy a 512MB DIMM to bump the RAM up, b) buy her a .Mac account and c) buy the new OS X version of this greeting card-making program she loves to use (and actually makes money off of...hell, she does more freelance work that I do!).
What a good son!
The least I could do...
Your story is inspiring! I'm gonna make him buy that AlBook even sooner now! Nice work.
I really have a stupid salesperson at Circuit City to thank for this. He pissed them off so much they gave up for a while. Then when I had to go down to the Apple Store to buy Photoshop Elements, they were incredibly impressed by the salespeople, and bought an eMac and Airport Extreme equipment on the spot.
Of course, now both the ABS and eMac are broken, and I have no clue how to fix it.
(See my thread about my ABS in Genius Bar(please?))
I'm switching my sister this Christmas!!!
Did you ever dream that your little Tangerine Dream had such a noble task left in its lifetime?
WHO'S NEXT, when Mom gets the eMac? You gotta keep passing that Switcher Special on down!
8)
When my sister sees Mom doing the whole iPhoto/.Mac homepage gallery thing, that'll be it! The tangerine iMac probably won't even come into play!
Then once my sister goes that route, she'll, in turn, work on my old man (which I'm kinda doing in the meantime as well).
There's a very real chance that the whole clan could be sportin' Macs by summer. The key was Mom. Get her and the rest will crumble!
then when she runs into trouble, you can have her turn the client on and connect to her machine and show her on screen what you're fixing while explaining it over the phone.
tech support for family members over the phone sucks.
Originally posted by alcimedes
tech support for family members over the phone sucks.
Here! here!
*Raises frosty beer mug*
Hey, what's $250 compared to a lifetime?
The least I could do...
... doesn't seem so expensive when you put it that way eh?
Originally posted by alcimedes
if you want to try and make this process as painless as possible, i highly suggest that you get the Apple Remote Desktop admin software on your machine.
then when she runs into trouble, you can have her turn the client on and connect to her machine and show her on screen what you're fixing while explaining it over the phone.
tech support for family members over the phone sucks.
alcimedes - one may get the feeling that you're talking from experience there!
But very sound advice, nonetheless. I'll remember it. Thanks.
Originally posted by Ebby
Solitaire was a requirement when i switched my Grandpa from Win 95 to OS X.
Should have convinced him to get an iPod too then...
My brother/parents would keep calling me [I live about 400 miles away] asking "how to fix their Windows PC" ......
I told them to PLEASE just try using a Mac.
At the time, the 17" widescreen iMac just came out.
So they bought it on my word. Also, I promised to sell it for them on eBay if they didn't like it.
a year later ........
i don't get anymore computer-related calls, and they won't use Windows again! lol
And my dad loves playing with everything at the Apple Store, and just recently bought himself a powerbook
It's just that initial "come on, try it..." that's so hard. And I understand, but...
Sure would be nice to have some help from Apple themselves...
\
All the stuff I'm telling my Mom...why is that not out there a bit more, for the masses, via TV and print ads? I have to do all the heavy lifting and legwork? Now that Panther is out and the hardware officially rocks (everything has on OS X/iApp-friendly G4, everything comes with FireWire, Ethernet, modem and AirPort, etc.), there's no good reason on God's green earth that Apple isn't hitting the public over the head with this stuff.
We (the faithful and passionate) are STILL carrying their water and having to do all the convincing.
Imagine how dramatically the tide might shift if Apple simply created - AND AIRED - compelling, gorgeous ads....heavy on substance AND eye appeal. It can be done...
So for every person they convert to Mac via the ads or stores, they get half a dozen other customers who've been persuaded by the first person...
That's one of the things I like most about Apple...
I had this idea the other day: "Switch a friend, get $50 off your next purchase" It would work.
And all the little things we do/show to our PC-using friends, families, co-workers that makes them switch or seriously consider switching is NEVER shown to the public.
Again, it's us doing all the legwork and convincing. With little to no assistance from the mothership.
All the things I showed my Mom (iTunes, iPhoto, Sherlock, Expose, .Mac, iChat, AirPort, etc.) that got her thinking "wow, what a cool computer..." has yet to be shown in any sort of print or broadcast ad. Argue with me all you want on why you don't think it should ( ), but, fact is, people just don't know.
They're NOT going to suddenly wake up one day and instantly "get it" about Apple and Macs. Anyone thinking that is a goofball.
They gave ONE half-ass attempt last year in the form of the "Switch" campaign, which Fred Anderson himself said was pretty much a failure. And I deemed it such about, oh, 16 or so months ago, so...
Hell, maybe I can work for Apple with such staggering, after-the-fact insight?
If Apple ever actually got a clue and launched a campaign as gorgeous and eyecatching and cool as their products, I absolutely shudder to imagine the incredible response that would result!
You think people are "curious" now because of some colorful iPod ads? Jeez, people...that's just the surface of what COULD be done if Apple just did it.
I'd like to get my Mum a 2nd hand iMac to start with and it will probably be a G3 model, so I'm interested to hear how it is going.