Cancel Tech Schmeck 


Going from bad to better upgrading technology. 

Yesterday we left off with network as usual (iMac G3 2nd floor, iMac G4 3rd floor) and one Powerbook broken right out of the box. Well, I wasn't sure whether it was broken or not, I left the possibility open that it was just some stupid little mistake I made.

This morning bright and early, I hauled the new Powerbook out to the Apple Store at Westport.

You've got to hand it to Apple, they have managed their image well. See, there right in the middle of this small but brightly lit square store full of delicious digital toys, they have a genius bar. Yes, that's what it's called. Not even capitalized, so you know it's youthful. Two very young and hip looking tall, slim guys were passing out smarts to the clients. One, Andrew, had a shaved head, very dark eyebrows, fine features, and two of those large-ish silver earrings. The other, Joe, was your average good-looking geek. Both sported wedding rings. I stood there for a while, then sat there on one of the several black stools the had around the front of the bar. Both Joe and Andrew were helping customers. After a while, it dawned on me that there was a queue of names being projected on the wall behind the genius bar, interspersed with trendy and even exciting things your Mac will do. "Duh," I said, introducing myself, "Do I have to sign up for help here?" Joe helped me get my name in the queue.

Andrew was helping a young photographer with a digital camera, a camcorder and a 12" Powerbook. Joe was helping Tim, who I at first tagged as square, but who turned out to be a really nice guy. He had an older Power Mac running System 9.2.2. He told me that he had decided not to get the Apple Protection Plan after the warranty expired, and, of course, a month later, it was in the shop and costing him a bundle. Tim was a base player with a busted, but healing finger. I asked him if his band was a garage band (witty, witty), but he said with a smile that they had never made it out of the basement. His wife teaches kids art. Tim commented on how much time these computers take. I maintained that this was just a price you paid for being a tech savvy person. I said that if we were runners, we'd probably have down time with injuries and sore muscles. But on the other hand, it's like the networked computer is the "spaceship" into cyberspace, and a whole new environment unfolds. Of course, the ship will be in the repair barn a lot.

Anyway, I drew Joe. With all my computer experience, I told him I had duplicated the problem three times, which basically was that it wasn't coming out of sleep right. It just came on with no video. So Joe tried a whole bunch of tests on the machine, but of course, it wouldn't duplicate the problem. I bet I was there at least a half hour. Nada. So finally, Joe said he would write up a ticket on it, and proceeded to do so. Just as he was finishing, I thought I would just try to get it to fail one more time. Ha! It did. I said to Joe, "I think I have duplicated the problem. Tim said "It must have warmed up enough." So now Joe did a few more tests, and straightaway, he traded the malfunctioning Powerbook for an identical new one (which has been working perfectly). I bragged that I had owned an Apple computer of some kind since December 24, 1979, and this was the first one that didn't work straight out of the box. Joe said, "Well, you were overdue for this, weren't you?"

So, today, I'm happy. The Powerbook (with Tiger OS X 1.4) is a pretty exciting and friendly tool. Tomorrow I haul the iMac G4 out there again to get the superdrive repaired (under the Apple Care Protection Plan). I planned it so that if it has to stay in the shop, I can leave it there while I go out of town to see my 92 year old mom next week. And I get to try the Powerbook's wireless network connection, Airport, while home.

This will hopefully set me up for doing blogging on the road. Hey, we're headed for a great future. Yah, we can moan about the Bush Administration and global warming. I do myself. But, if we don't blow up or blow away, I am right in the middle of where human communication is headed. And don't cha know, the Planet just might take care of itself. And it might not. What's new?  

Posted: Thu - October 27, 2005 at 12:13 PM          

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