Mike Wuerthele

Turner.StevenL said:

I bought an iMac 27" from B&H (Good Deal, quick delivery 3 days v Apples 10+)
Within a week of using it the keyboard started to stick on the keys.

Step 1
Online Apple support.  After a bit of discussion the person told me that they could send me a new keyboard in 5-7 days or I could go to the Apple Store 50 miles away
The Tech told me I would need to take the whole computer with me.
It felt like I wasn't being trusted immediately, having to carry the whole machine for a keyboard issue

Step 2
Set up an appointment at Apple Store

Step 3 
Contacted Apple online support again, this time to ask if I really needed to take the whole computer to the store, since I was concerned about damage in transit.  I was told to take the keyboard, mouse (bizarrely), the receipt and to make a note of the serial number.  More feeling of distrust

Step 4
Showed up at the Apple Store
Tech took my keyboard for a short while, then came back to tell me I'd need a new one.  He would order one for me.
Wait - What!!!  There are a bunch of new keyboards on the shelf right in front of me.
Well he explained - since I didn't buy direct from Apple, I needed to order a keyboard.
I asked why I was being treated differently based on where I purchased my computer.  No sensible response other than he was trying to help me.

Step 5
Manager showed up
He changed the story and told me that I still needed to order one and that the keyboards I could see were for retail sale only.
Apparently Apple reserves in store keyboards for walk in customers and not customers who already handed in their money
He then told me that I would need to return to the store to pick up the keyboard, or he could get me in touch with someone that could order one direct to my home
By this time I was getting very impatient and lacking understanding of Apple's service policy for defective parts.
I told the Manager to think differently
He told the tech to give me a keyboard and then walked away without saying a word to me.  

Summary
Apple seems to have a different policy for repairs based on where you bought the computer.  For those buying outside an apple store or online store, it is a 2nd Tier service.
There was a lack of continuity in the service for a very minor defect.  The runaround was pretty appalling


Anyone else had the same issue?

13485 said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

SpamSandwich said:

Knowing someone who had to fight to assert their well-earned patent rights, I don’t think it’s fair to call any person or company a “patent troll” until they’re proven otherwise. Until everything shakes out in court they are simply a party filing a lawsuit.

If you aren't producing a product, you are by definition a patent troll.

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/patent_troll

Wow, Mike. How nice of you to decide that a patent owner, who may have to wait years to get some regulatory approval completely separately from patent issuance, or perhaps having to spend years negotiating to license other patents in order to practice their patent with a piece of hardware in the marketplace, is a patent troll worthy of disdain and disgust. 

slothj said:

Wait, that last photo: the Watch 5 has a Notch?

k2kw said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

avon b7 said:

"No, there is no 5G on the iPhone 11 Pro family at all, and there shouldn't be this year. Standards are still shaking out, carriers are still getting their act together. What works this year is probably not going to be even close to a full array of what 5G will support in the future."

If we take an educated guess from the rumours, it is almost certain that Apple was aiming for a 5G modem this year but intel didn't deliver.

Releasing a 5G modem next year will not change the 'standards are still shaking out' claim. The relevant standards for current 5G modems were finalised at the end of 2017. Commercial deployment is now a reality and Apple probably wanted to be part of that reality.

Long before Apple ships anything with a 5G modem, Huawei alone will have shipped 2,000,000 5G base stations worldwide. Add in Ericsson and Nokia, plus Qualcomm and Samsung and it is clear that Apple is at both a marketing and technological disadvantage. 5G will roll out far faster than previous generations.

5G coverage will vastly improve through 2020. China is accelerating an already accelerated 5G roll out. Korea has massive plans. Europe too. The devil is in the details but Release 15 is finalised. The only changes to that will be stabilisation efforts. NSA is what current modems (with the exception of Huawei which claims SA support too) are using and that is finalised and real.

Apart from the brute speed angle, things like 4GLTE/5G (NSA/SA)  network slicing will also bring big advantages to everyone. Apple is obviously going to find it harder to compete in even a 5G NSA world without a product and when it does have a 5G product, the standard will still be 'shaking out'. I think it matters today from a purchasing perspective and no doubt a fair amount of potential buyers will put purchases off to wait for it along with the rumoured body redesign. Users looking for a phone to take them through a three or four year cycle might be even more reluctant to upgrade now.

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2018/03/21/first-5g-standard-complete-so-whats-next

I understand what you're saying it, and why you're saying it. The problem is partially the rollouts and partially the modems. The modems available today are hot battery drainers, and Apple's presence in the space doesn't magically change that. Those "finalized and real" modems you speak about are anything but finalized, and are pretty bad. This year, right now, we're in about the same implementation space as the iPhone 4, two years before Apple rolled out LTE in the iPhone.

Couple that with the ratification of the latest modem spec about two weeks ago, and another expected in about March of 2020 right when Apple will need modems, and inclusion of a not-ready for prime time technology in the phone this year remains a bad idea regardless of what Joe Public may think that they want.

We're not opposed to 5G. It's just not ready for a good implementation, delivering what the mass market wants right now. In regards to that roll-out, I live in a dense suburb of Washington DC. I am about six miles away from the White House. I won't see 5G in this neighborhood for four or five years. DC proper won't have a "complete" rollout for two more years.

And, there will always, always be something to wait for next year about. That is the nature of technology. This is no different. At some point. companies need to produce a device and a consumer needs to jump on the purchase train.

That’s America.   What is William Gallagher saying about how long 5G taking to roll out in UK and Europe?   Wish you had an Asia based reporter to give insight to that market.

SpamSandwich said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

SpamSandwich said:

Knowing someone who had to fight to assert their well-earned patent rights, I don’t think it’s fair to call any person or company a “patent troll” until they’re proven otherwise. Until everything shakes out in court they are simply a party filing a lawsuit.

If you aren't producing a product, you are by definition a patent troll.

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/patent_troll

That’s false. They would be an NPE (Non-Practicing Entity). “Patent troll” is not a legal term. I thought we addressed this distinction previously.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2bc351e0-c393-4637-9c38-306ff7713557