Replies to post #682 on Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Zanny]

Find several Apple message boards that have people who are good at technical support (SUCH AS THIS ONE)

Then, as soon as you get a problem, post it on the boards. You'll get answers faster, and spend less time futzing around on your own trying to find the solution. That should help.

Even Windows IT people do that too you know. They use the internet and talk forums.

If that fails, lay off some people :-)

[ljk]

Chas: On the support question

The G4s have substantially dropped in price. A few days ago, I saw the 1.42 duals going on eBay for less than 2K, some new, some with lots of enhancements. Okay, your company isn't going to buy from single individuals on eBay, but the dealer pricing is also dropping damatically. Why not consider upgrading everyone to G4 1.42 duals? If that's too much money, the dual 1 gigs like my desktop machine, Donna, are going very much cheaper than the 1.42s.

I don't know how many you're ordering, but if you were to upgrade a dozen or more people to dual 1 gHz machines, I wouldn't be surprised if you could negotiate a deal to do it for $1200 each, or less.

Linda

[cotton]

chas: I would recommend getting a copy of The Missing Manual by David Pogue. And read up on the troubleshooting part. I think it will help you to see there is not that much to do overall.

[BlueDjinn]

Chasky--just a few items to keep reminding yourself of when you feel like "falling off the wagon:"

1. Viruses for Windows: tens of thousands, a large portion of which can still effect current versions.
Viruses for Mac: tens, most of which haven't had any effect since OS 8 and up.
Viruses for OS X: None that I know of.

2. Security for Windows: think swiss cheese; dozens of new "critical" exploits every week. Often months go by before any sort of fix is released...which often causes even worse problems.

Security for OS X: one or two oddball issues per year, so far, each of which has been swiftly and cleanly addressed, often within a day of being discovered.

3. "Product Activation" for Windows: gotta get Uncle Bill's permission to make major hardware changes, and you don't actually own the software, you're renting it.

"Product Activation" for Mac: you pay for it, you own it. No registration codes required for the operating system or any of the bundled software; registration code is restricted to the Heavy Duty software like Final Cut Pro, etc.

These are just a few things which come to mind right off the bat--the low-hanging fruit, no pun intended :) I'm sure others (hey, Bill!) will come up with dozens more.