I’m sure many of you are wondering how things are going with my Macbook. Unfortunately, things have been only getting worse. This open letter to Steve Jobs should help fill you in on the new developments.

Dear Steve,

Well buddy, it looks like you no longer care to value your loyal customer and ardent Mac enthusiast any longer, and now wish to stab me in the back. I find this unfortunate because I was actually starting to think your company was better than the others, and even went as far as introducing many people to your products. However, now that I actually need something from you, not just advice on buying a new product, I see what I’m really worth to you.

Let me share with you my dilemma. Back in the summertime, I brought my Macbook in for service and diagnostics since there were a few issues, including a bluetooth malfunction in particular. The Apple store cheerfully accepted my computer for service and called to notify me that it was being sent off for repair. Even though they said the repair might take up to 5-7 days, the computer arrived at my doorstep only three days later, even despite the Fourth of July holiday. I was very pleased to get my computer back so quickly. In fact, I had only one problem with the service…the bluetooth still didn’t work!

So, a few weeks later, my computer ended up back in the Apple store, and again went out for service. This time, however, there seemed to be proof that the problem would be fixed. The repair records showed that Apple repair replaced a bunch of bluetooth-related parts, including the module and antenna. So, satisfied that they surely had gotten it right this time, I returned home that August day with my computer and began using it. It seemed to be working fine, and seemed to hold up just fine for a couple months.

But, not too long after, the bluetooth started croaking on me again. First, I just noticed it had gone out once, and came back when I rebooted. I shrugged and thought that hopefully it was just a little glitch. A few weeks later, though, it did it again, and over time, these instances happened more and more often. Before I brought my Macbook back to the Apple store for a third time for this issue alone (it had been there for other things as well), the problem was so bad that my bluetooth would show up for like 20 minutes, and then go out for several hours before returning again, constantly throughout the day. You may not think this is a big deal, but it actually rendered my computer half useless to me. See, I do a lot of graphics design and things that require a lot of workspace, so I have a huge external LCD display that I hook up to my Macbook, and then use an Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse. So, when I’m in the middle of airbrushing something in Photoshop and my keyboard and mouse die, it’s a fairly big deal.

This repair experience with the Apple store was by far the worst I’ve ever had, and in fact was downright unpleasant. The folks at the Apple store that Friday told me they’d get the computer in for diagnostics that night and call me on Saturday. On Sunday, still not having heard from them, I called them to find out they were just getting to running diagnostics on it (or in other words, they had forgotten about it and rushed to actually do something with it while I was on hold for a combined, oh, 40 minutes). They called me back on Tuesday to inform me that my computer would be sent in for remote repair, and it would be another 7-10 days before I could expect it.

Well, today I got another call from Apple, telling me my repair had been put on hold because I upgraded my hard drive last month. Apparently, since hard drives have so much to do with the bluetooth (yes, sarcasm), they felt they could use it as an excuse to not fix my computer. Apparently, talking to them makes no difference either, because after over an hour and a half of debating with four different Apple repair employees, they still tell me the same thing. My third-party hard drive is bad, and because of it they can’t fix the bluetooth. No, it’s not causing the bluetooth problem (at least they could handle figuring that one out). The bluetooth is definitely bad. They just refuse to fix it with a “bad” third party hard drive in there. Of course, they refuse to tell me why it is bad, or even if it really is bad. Apple tech “James” himself even admitted that there’s nothing requiring them to back up their statement that it’s “bad” and therefore, they theoretically could just be lying about it. Of course, since I couldn’t get a straight answer from them on whether or not it was “bad” or not, there’s no official response to determine whether or not it’s a lie.

Oh, and when did you resign from Apple? Because James claimed that he was “the highest person I could speak with here [at Apple]” when I asked him several times to transfer me to someone. Apparently you have a repair tech in charge of your company now. I’ve got to admit, Steve, that’s pretty cool.

Anyways, as I tried to ask those boneheads for almost two hours today, is there anything you can do to just fix your defective product(s) in my computer without blaming my hard drive? Fax me a waiver; I’ll sign it.

Thanks, Steve. It’d be nice to prove all these thoughts of how you don’t care about your customers wrong. Do you care about me after all?

Regards,

Chris DeMarco
(ex-loyal Apple enthusiast)

…in an estimated 7-10 business days.

Or at least that’s what Apple tells me. My bluetooth hardware on my MacBook has been malfunctioning for, oh, the third time now. Now, you might be saying, “Well, Chris, that’s no big deal, who cares about that?” However, you would be gravely mistaken, my friend.

See, bluetooth malfunction is a bit more obnoxious when you typically hook up your computer to an external monitor, clamshell it, and only have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. So, when I’m in the middle of typing a paper, or making a logo in photoshop, or writing a blog entry, and suddenly my keyboard and mouse die, I am not happy.

Really, though, I don’t care what the problem is, because I bought a computer so that I could expect it to work. In fact, I bought an Apple for that very reason - it’s supposed to just work, and this is just unacceptable. This is the third time it’s been in with this problem. The first time, they didn’t do anything about it, the second, they replaced every single bluetooth-related part in there, and now, this time, they’re sending it off for another 7-10 business days as of yesterday. This is actually the seventh day so far since I’ve brought it in, so according to them, it will have been a minimum of like 13 days before I might get it back.

Never mind that I’m taking 8 classes right now and all my class work is (was?) on there, or that I have web/graphics design work to do and no computer to do it on, or that I can’t do any recording.

At any rate, they better be 100% positive it’s fixed this time, even if that means giving me a new one, because if I get it back and it’s still not working right, I will be one unhappy boot camper.

Wikipedia has just announced that it will be offering payment for its contributors. Don’t get too excited just yet, though, thinking that you can go write articles on Wikipedia and make money for them. Wikipedia is only offering payment for needed diagrams and other images, a list for which it will release soon.

Basically, this is possible because a man named Philip Greenspun discovered information - information that he originally published online - published in a book. Something was very different about the information’s presentation in the book, however, and that was the use of diagrams, pictures, and illustrations used to compliment his text. So, Greenspun has decided to donate $20,000 to Wikipedia so that it can pay people to create diagrams, pictures, and illustrations for its articles. He and Wikipedia are hoping that this will help give Wikipedia an edge in its competition with other encyclopedias, like Britannica.

Wikipedia will soon be releasing a list of 50 such illustrations that it would like created. People will be able to submit their work, and if Wikipedia chooses it for the article, that person will earn $40. So here’s a fair heads-up to any interested graphic designers out there…watch for that list!

To read more, see The New York Times’ article here.

Today is Google’s 9th birthday. Over the course of these past 9 years, Google has not only itself changed, evolved, and improved, but it has also helped change, improve, and evolve the entire internet. Google’s constant drive of technology into the future with new, creative, and innovative ideas and the development of new technologies helps provide new opportunities for internet users each and every day. Google provides a wealth of opportunities for the average end-user, the web designer, the developer, the advertiser, the blogger, and just about every other type of internet user. No matter who you are, or what you use the internet for, Google has something cool for you that is effective, easy to use, and reliable. This is perhaps why Google has remained so popular and well-reputed, and has stuck around for so long, with hopefully an unimaginably long future ahead of it as well.

Thanks to Google’s many resources and easy usability, The “C” Branch has been able to team up with Google to help cover the costs of running the site through Google AdSense. More recently, The “C” Branch has been able to provide yet another new site, Go Surf Now, an internet start page that provides easy access to links to the most commonly used websites as well as Google search, news, and a plethora of other valuable resources.

We encourage you to take an opportunity to improve your web experience while supporting both The “C” Branch as well as Google. We work hard to make Go Surf Now what we hope to be the best startpage you could use. Please feel free to check it out, set it as your homepage, bookmark it, and use it for all your internet searching and starting needs.

In conclusion, The “C” branch offers a warm congratulations to the Google for it’s many years of service to the internet community as well as its support of our community, and wishes for it a wonderful future filled with many more good things to come. Happy birthday, Google!

Apparently, many iPhone users are still really having a hard time with the price drop…writing letters to Steve Jobs, writing angry and distasteful blog entries, protesting, inciting riots, burning people at the stake, etc. etc.

So, since I’ve just about had it with hearing about this, I thought I would set things straight once and for all.

When you go buy technology, or anything, really, you can be positive that not too long after the product comes out, the price will drop significantly. Either a newer product will come out at the same price of the previous one, or, after a few months, the company will just drop the price since the product has been out a while, or one of about a zillion other reasons for this will cause this. This is standard marketing technique, and is in some way part of nearly every company’s sales marketing strategy. People who want your product right away buy it at a high original price right when it comes out. People who are interested but don’t want to fork out the money right away are willing to wait for a price drop. Once you lower the price into their price range, for whichever reason you do it, these people then buy your product. In some cases they buy previous model if you lowered its price with the release of a newer model; in other cases they buy the latest, which you have simply lowered the price for after being on the market a while. All that matters is that both audiences have now purchased whatever it is that you’re selling. This is quite an elementary concept, really, and I see no need to elaborate further.

Technology companies provide one of the best examples of this marketing strategy. Apple, in particular, has traditionally demonstrated it across its entire product line across the years. It is extremely evident with the iPod. Apple is constantly coming out with newer iPods and lowering the prices of the previous models. Apple also has reduced the prices of iPods without the release of a newer model. This is consistent with nearly every product Apple releases.

For example, I chose to not immediately purchase an iPod when Apple released the second generation iPod Nano. At their release, Apple was selling them for approximately $250. A few months later, Apple reduced this price to approximately $200, and at this point I went ahead and bought myself an iPod Nano, saving about $50 just by waiting a few months after its initial release. Because I observed the pricing trend on Apple’s previous iPods and other products, and because I was aware of this very common marketing strategy which Apple uses, I was able to predict that the price would be lowered and not purchase my iPod until I could do so at the lower price.

It is basically common sense that Apple would lower the prices of the iPhone models shortly after their initial release. Apple did not force anybody to go buy an iPhone when they first came out. If you did, then that was your choice and you need to take responsibility for what you did. You still got an outstanding product, and you even get a refund because you and others like you have whined so much about it. So, if you feel you’ve been taken advantage of or “cheated” or “insulted” or some other word you found in a thesaurus, I don’t want to hear about it any more, because I’ve clearly demonstrated right here that you haven’t.

If I hear another word about the iPhone and the price drop and how allegedly “unfair” it is, I’m going to slap someone. You lose, give it up. K Thx Bai.

I was on Apple’s website last night and stumbled accross a link to a letter from Steve Jobs to iPhone users. Intrigued, I decided to see what it was about.

Apparently, Apple has decided to dramatically drop the price of the new iPhone by $200, after it has only been available for two months. This makes good sense as it employs an outstanding marketing strategy with the holiday season quickly approaching. However, the decision has infuriated many existing iPhone customers who paid $200 more for their phones less than two months ago. Consequently, many of these people sent in complaints to Apple.

Quite shockingly, Apple has actually decided to offer a $100 refund to anyone who purchased an iPhone at the original price. However, in yet another great marketing strategy, Apple is offering it as an Apple store credit only.

I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to make sense, but I still think it will pay out huge for Apple. If you buy a product, you obviously agree to pay what it says on the price tag, and know, especially with technology, that that price will go down significantly and fairly quickly in the near future. Nonetheless, Apple not only has given all existing iPhone users another reason to buy more stuff from them (who will no doubt spend more than $100), but also has just lined up a zillion new iPhone users with the dramatic price drop. So is this something that is really costing Apple money? I highly doubt it, it will probably pay off better than anybody can imagine.

To read more, you can read Steve’s original letter here.