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Gah! The White Spot Dilemma
Anyone who has talked to me at all during the last three months can tell you that I love the 15” Aluminum Powerbook I got in October. They’ll tell you I’m glued to it, that I keep going on and on about how it’s made me more productive and made computing fun again. They’ll tell you that about how much I love Panther, and how bloody brilliant I think they are for combining FreeBSD, a slick GUI that makes it possible to natively run apps like Photoshop, and sexy hardware. They’ll tell you that I’ve become a passionate Apple addict—and they wouldn’t be wrong.
But now? There’s trouble in Paradise. And I’m pissed.
Don’t get me wrong; I still think my Powerbook is one of the most powerful, flexible, well-constructed, and beautiful laptops I have ever used. I don’t regret waiting for months for its release. I don’t wish, in any way, shape, or form, that I’d bought a PC laptop instead.
But I am thoroughly annoyed that my mobile computer has fallen victim to white spots.
For the record, I know I still get complimentary hardware support (no, I didn’t get AppleCare). And I know Apple will replace my screen; I got off the phone with them not ten minutes ago. But according to the tech, it’ll take my computer away for me for a week. And I have stuff to do before I get on that plane to Melbourne. And by the time it gets done, there won’t be a week left to send the computer in. I’m either going to have to go to Australia without it, or spend five months with a defective unit. Grr…
Is quality assurance really that difficult? It took Apple nine months to come up with this model—I could have carried a child to term during the time it took Apple to debut the model. Did they learn nothing during those months after the big and smaller models were out, and the older Titanium model languished? Did they not push and tweak their prototypes during the months the Apple watchers waited for this model to be released? Were they just sitting on their butts after they designed this thing, in an attempt to ramp up anticipation for this model instead? I know the hardware department was probably spending a lot of time on designing the Powermac G5, but busy should not be synonymous with negligent. I have little respect for a hardware department that can’t juggle projects—not if they take three-quarters of a year to get done.
Apple, thank you for designing this baby. But spend some more time paying attention the next time, okay? For a company that prides itself on its mobile computers (last year was the ”Year of the Laptop”, wasn’t it?) and its reputation among visual artists, this sure was one strange fubar.
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