Best Buy: No Way To Sell Apples
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Best Buy: No Way To Sell Apples
Why its service to optimize Macs is a terrible strategy.
Posted Wednesday, November 25, 2009 - 9:45am
It was last week, when I was wondering what Best Buy (BBY) had done to a brand-new Mac, that I realized this holiday sales season would be war. My mother's Mac had been commandeered by Best Buy's Geek Squad, which scared her into believing that new Mac computers are often faulty. The Geek Squad then "optimized" it for $40 and sold her a $300 warranty to boot. My mother, like many new Mac buyers, paid an extra $340 to insure a computer that would have worked just fine if she had simply taken it home and plugged it in.
As the holiday period circles around again, retailers are expected to slash prices for a recession-sensitive season. But consumers should take note of one retail practice that will only intensify as strapped stores search for ways into the wallet: the upsell, in which consumers are pressed to buy services they don't need, usually out of fear.
The best example of the dishonest upsell is the way that Best Buy tries to peddle Apple's Macintosh computers by implying to new buyers that Macs need to be "optimized" to work. "I'm sure Apple would not be pleased to know that services are being sold by running down their products," says Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with independent research firm Technology Business Research. Apple (AAPL) and Best Buy are mum about their relationship, according to analysts, which may be why Apple declined to comment and Best Buy did not respond to my request.
As even a computer novice might expect, "Mac optimization" is useless. One supposed benefit is putting the user's name on the computer, according to Best Buy representatives I spoke to. Presumably, anyone who is buying a computer knows how to type in his or her own name, or follow the prompts to do it. Another supposed benefit: checking the Mac's network connection. This has no value because it is done in the store, while the buyer will use the Mac with a different network at home. Yet a third step involves loading the Geek Squad's own proprietary software on the computer to scan drives—drives that have never been used and so don't need to be scanned for trouble. An anti-virus program is also part of the mix, which is an insult to the virus resistance of Macs. "There's nothing of that sort that any brand-new PC needs, and Macs less so," Gottheil said. "Apple requires far less configuration." Best Buy's hard sell on "optimization" is like peddling mythic unicorns based on the value of their horsepower.
The Mac optimization service in particular is a terrible strategy because it is sold through fear—the fear that a brand-new product will somehow be faulty right out of the store. At Apple stores, about half of Mac buyers are first-time Mac customers; it's not a stretch to believe that the numbers are similar at Best Buy and other retailers. This probably creates a lot of opportunity to sell PC-type optimization packages to Mac buyers who don't yet know that Macs don't have the same applications and virus issues as PCs. The "Mac optimization" sell at Best Buy seems to be aimed at such switchers or at little old ladies looking for a computer. Many PC owners who switch to Macs do so because they are exhausted by the maintenance—the daily or weekly virus scan, the spyware deletion, the risk that some kind of exotic Russian-engineered robovirus will commandeer the computer or erase the hard drive. In my mother's case, the Geek Squad representative openly said that her Mac would not work without optimization. As for the $300 warranty, barrels of ink have already been spilled about its limited usefulness.
There is no trustworthy account of the exact financial terms of Apple and Best Buy's relationship. It is fair to say, however, that selling Macs is a pretty financially thankless task for Best Buy, according to retail analysts. Apple sells its own computers at its own stores for thin margins already—in fact, the iPhone's estimated 60 percent margins are thought to be subsidizing the relatively low profits Apple makes on other products.
Photo of Best Buy storefront by Matt Stroshane/Getty Images
Comments
who cares?
anyone still obsessed with OS or logo on the box is a dipshit.
i've been in the computer biz since radioshack was the main supplier.... and can tell you one thing...
INTERNET / CLOUD *IS* the OS.
apple sucks. microsoft sucks. linux sucks.
just get me online, fast and cheap.
you noob fanboys need to get a life. instead of f'in around with the damn box... get out there and build something. make something.
the box is the path... not the destination.
you want a good computer? go buy a refurb XP box. i buy them for my staff at around $59 each with everything i need and xp pro. chunk it if it breaks. i usually get 2-3 years.
who cares if it has silver handles or green lights? or a fruit on the side? it's all gay.
grow up.
The Real Issue
The real issue for me is the "upselling" that Best Buy continues to do. I was in the market for an Apple TV before Christmas that is $229 retail from Apple, but $279 from Best Buy. The "upsell" difference of $50 is a ripoff. I asked the CSR if they would price match, but they wouldn't because it's a website. They would however price match on it if there was an Apple store near there which of course, there wasn't. Hopefully, in the end, these kinds of tactics will be the death of Best Buy.
Just wow doug
You are worse than the Mac vs PC commercials. So let me hit you with some knowledge. You say windows is "clunky" well my friend you should really try looking at Windows 7 instead of listening to all the bs that Steve Jobbs fills your brain with. True macs can run windows. I gurantee that your mac which has to run a whole background program can run it as efficiently as a PC. Running windows on a mac as well as trying to run a resource intensive program = fail. Also another advantage you forget is that us PC users can easily purchase a new part for far cheaper than you mac users can and swap it out. We don't have to send out PC's in for repairs. I'd like to delve into the whole netbook genre I guess you could say. Lets take the Apple Macbook Air vs say my Asus EEE. Your Air wins in the anorexia category, but as far as quality and functionality my Asus EEE beats the Air, even in the whole hipness factor. I have 3 USB ports which means if I ever needed a USB CD/DVD drive I would still have USB ports left for a mouse, External HDD, or flash drive. I have no problem with macs as computers but it is when fanboys who claim they have all this knowledge who don't really know shit try to defend them. There is a reason why many big businesses use PCs.
1)The cost is much cheaper than buying an office full of macs.
2)Virtually no businesses have servers that support Apple, and most are configured with Windows Server or Linux. Overall configuration is easier.
3)Most big businesses have in house IT support who can easily swap out hardware since PCs are not proprietary like your macs are. Which means more output by an employee because they don't have to wait to send in their Mac.
If you fail to notice all the Mac vs PC commercials show is that Mac says Windows sucks. They have no other arguments they just try to put down windows as much as possible. The only reason anyone with windows gets viruses is because they are retarded and open unsafe files or e-mails. I don't think it is to hard to run a virus scan that takes maybe an hour while i sleep and set it to turn my PC off after. Virus scans in no way inihibit my ability to use my PC. Macs also run very hot and have little or no ventilation from what I have seen. That is why us PC users have laptops that last us 5 years without any trouble while you have macs that last max of 2.
Another argument is gaming. Me being a gamer will always use windows. Not because oh look we have more games. But I know for a fact that my pc with dual 25" widescreen monitors can run lets say Call of Duty 4 better than your mac running windows with a boot loader program. I have more resources at my disposal as well as the freedom to upgrade my PC at any time I want and being able to overclock my components if needed. Macs have nothing that PCs can't do. You have photoshop so do we. You have garageband we have Fruity Loops etc. You are "virus-proof" we can be too. You have a little gay docklet for your icons we can have that too. You have a little light up apple, I have a window that shows the inside of my computer and have colored fans that are red along with light up ram. Your macs maybe "hip" but as far as being "badass" PCs win. People nowadays like customization which macs don't give. You need to upgrade your mac good luck looks like youre buying a new one. Also my PC was only about 800 dollars for everything thanks to newegg and tiger direct. So either way i saved money and have a very powerful PC. For as much knowledge as you claim to have. Showing how big of a fan boy you are about macs was retarded. Also im pretty sure Macs can't do crossfire.
http://lifehacker.com/5277207/windows-7-versus-mac-os-x-leopard-the-feat...
that link is a side by side comparison of features for both W7 and your UNIX-OSX. As you can see you only won in categories of hipness. Also saying IE at the bottom for PCs is stupid as IE is shit and everyone uses firefox which is far superior to Safari.
Cost is a factor. I see you can upgrade for 29$ to the new mac os. But most companies are offering free windows 7 upgrades as well as if you are a student or know a college student, you can easily get windows 7 for free or little to no cost.
MacOSX good Windows 7 just as good. Macs won't ever be able to beat out PCs with overall functionality and easy support.
That is my two cents.
Oh shut up
"You never really disputed swarley's point about the OS being a glorified BSD because it's true. You just threw some of that Mac love all over it."
The real question is how dumb do you need to be to think that's some sort of negative, or an intelligent point of any kind?
wow
Well, douglas_in_minnesota, that was the best Mac fanboy post I have ever read. So much for objectivity. You never really disputed swarley's point about the OS being a glorified BSD because it's true. You just threw some of that Mac love all over it.
I do agree with you and many others on the assessment of BB as I have had similar issues. At least Circuit City was somewhat upfront about being on commission at the time.
I have a great respect for Apple and Macs (I started on a IIe), but still cannot understand how or why the hardware is priced 30% higher than for a Windows machine. Lower the price and offer those "great" programs as an add-on and I may be in for one. Let me decide what is great and what is not, not Apple. The 500-700 dollar difference mentioned earlier is also true and could by me some decent software that I want.
Plus, with the closed system that Apple employs with their OS testing, upgrades are as full of bugs as some Windows releases. My iPhone has never worked right after 3.1, and Apple sticks their head in the sand about the issue (they are all over the Apple message boards) and does not let users revert to a previously working version. Nice.
I bought my daughter a MacBook because she preferred it to Windows. Great, and she loves it. But her upgrade to Snow Leopard was full of problems, much like mine to Vista. Why pay the hardware upgrade if the problems are still there?
Apple has scored many new customers with the hip factor that it uses. But to call it the greatest computing platform ever is quite a stretch. At least Linux is free.
Please read some accurate truth (here)
I rarely post replies or comments on blogs or as follow-ups to articles on the web, but I am going to make an exception here. There are so many outright falsehoods contained in some of the 20 comments here (as of Nov 30) that I must respond, if only it is my small contribution toward the truth.
First, my bona fides, so that you know where I am coming from. My history:
Using Mac computers daily since the 512K Mac (aka FatMac) came out. That is more than 20 years.
5 years as a Consulting Independent Macintosh Technologist, working for large companies, small companies, small office/home office clients, and individual/consumer/residential level clients.
7 years as a System Administrator for an international book publishing company, supporting and administering an installed base of 112 Mac Workstations, including dozens of Desktop Publishing applications.
2 years writing custom software for a Macintosh based machine vision system, with 9 cameras and 4 host CPU's.
6+ years as a Research + Development Engineering Technician, at a medical device manufacturer in Minnesota, specializing in using Macintosh computers interfaced with dozens of custom made and off the shelf test equipment devices, and creating high speed Data Acquisition and Man Machine Interface systems hosted to Macintosh CPU's, including using National Instruments Labview.
I am an expert in deep level system diagnostics and functions, and I know the Mac Operating System better than the vast majority of everybody who works on Mac computers, including nearly all of the so-called "geniuses" at the Apple Stores.
With those qualifications, I have the following comments to make.
To 10-k and gyffes; Your comments are excellent, and totally on the mark.
To swarley and a few others, your comments are, excuse the word, "ignorant", at best.
I am not going to spend many words on the question of whether Macintosh Computers are better than Windows PC's, because no partisan is going to be swayed by mere words, even if those words represent facts. So, using extreme self discipline, I will just mention a few facts.
Please bear with me, or if this paragraph about the benefits of the Mac bother you or turn you off, please skip this paragraph and go to the next.
Here are a few things that everybody should understand. I will try to be as objective as I can (as a Mac partisan), and I will try to limit my subjectivity as much as possible.
1. The primary reason (and this is objective fact) why Windows PC's have the largest market share goes way back in history, to the mid 1980's. Apple consciously chose to keep it's operating system proprietary (which means "private" to those of you who have trouble with big words). Microsoft chose to make their operating system available to anybody, and I mean ANYBODY, who wanted to lease it for resale. So you had hundreds of companies selling PC computers with copies of Windows installed. Apple is different, because except for a very short period during the 1990's, when they licensed their operating system to about 3 or 4 "clone" manufacturers, they have always maintained control of the operating system AND the hardware. This means that when you buy a Macintosh, you are buying a computer AND an operating system that is designed specifically for THAT computer. The computer hardware and the operating software are made by the same company. Plus, you get a massive amount of extremely high quality software programs, written BY APPLE. I just counted the number of Software Programs that came with my Leopard operating system, and they amount to 23 very high quality programs. Separately, there are 22 individual Utility Programs. I would challenge ANY Windows PC partisan to compare the number and especially the quality of these included programs with what comes along with a new PC.
It is extremely rare to attach a third party hardware device such as a printer, scanner, mouse, keyboard, or anything else to a Macintosh, and then have to install a "device driver". 90 some percent of the time, the "driver" software that is needed is already installed on the new Macintosh computer, at the factory, as part of the operating system and it's various frameworks and extensions. Window's likes to talk about Plug and Play, but it is known in slang as "Plug and Pray". With a Mac, nearly 100% of the time, you plug your device in, and you start using it, usually without even having to restart the machine, and almost never having to install separate "driver" software to make it work.
Apple also includes the ability for ANYBODY to download a massive suite of Developer Tools available for free download from their website. Many Gigabytes of programs, tools, development environments, etc. And the amount of free documentation available for download is more than any one human being could read in a lifetime.
2. To 'swarley", your characterization of a Macintosh as "an overpriced piece of hardware running glorified BSD Unix" is quite off base. Yes, it is true that underneath the beautiful Mac OS graphical interface, the underlying system is based on the rock solid BSD version of Unix (HIGHLY refined and optimized for the Mac, I might add). But, first, what does that matter, and second, how many Macintosh owners know, or care, that a good part of their underlying O.S. is based on Unix?
This is really at the heart of the "Macintosh Experience". Buying a Mac is buying a computer platform, an operating system, and a very large suite of software, all optimized to run together as a SYSTEM. AND, beyond what is shipped with the machine, their are dozens of other programs that are available for free from Apple. AND, the amount of shareware and freeware programs available for the Mac is Massive. The other software available from Apple that they sell, such as iLife, iWork, and all of the Pro Applications, are incredible, they blow away the stuff available for Windows (if there even IS a similar program for Windows). Ever tried to do page layout, graphical design, or music and video creation and editing on a Windows machine? Good luck.
3. Here is one of the subjective parts of my commentary......a Macintosh, and the experience of using one, is SO smooth, and easy, and just "artful", and truly INTUITIVE, that I just can't understand how anybody can prefer the ugliness and clunkyness of Windows. For those people who do, fine. No problem. Go with it. And if you need to run Autocad, fine, stick with the PC. For me, a Windows PC feels like trying to use a pair of badly rusted scissors.
4. The comment about Apple offering "no decent enterprise support" is one of the most stupid and ignorant statements I've ever heard about the Mac. It is obviously made by somebody who has never even LOOKED at the huge suite of System Administration tools that are included with the Server versions of the Mac operating system. I ran a huge installed base of Mac's for 7 years, and the tools they provided were Superb. And that was way back around the Panther timeframe. The suite of tools they provide now are many times greater than what was available then. If you can't configure your Window's based Servers or backup systems to backup data from a Macintosh formatted volume, you are simply incompetent at your job.
5. I could go on for a long time, but those who have closd minds, or who are entrenched with one platform or the other will not have their minds changed by facts. But anybody who wishes to be intellectually honest should be willing to admit that each platform has it's place, and each platform has some advantages over the other depending on what it will be used for, and by who, and under what circumstances. Calling someone's mom an "idiot" for spending $1200 on a computer is a grossly ignorant immature statement. And if somebody falls for the "hard sell" about so-called "extended warranties" at Best Buy, that is not the consumers fault, it is the fault of the immoral people who run Best Buy, and the sales people who lack the basic morals to be honest with a customer, and sell the appropriate product. Best Buy's customers are generally not technically savvy people, and Best Buy abuses that fact. This is a well known fact among the cognoscenti, and has been for many, many years.
6. Best Buy is based here in Minneapolis MN, and they are deservedly much hated here. Their business practices have been abusive, and sometimes illegal, for many, many years. I will never, ever let my clients go to Best Buy for anything. They are the ABSOLUTE WORST choice to go to for buying a computer, whether a Macintosh OR a Windows PC. Stay away from Best Buy! And that whole thing about "optimizing a Macintosh" before it even leaves the store? That is the biggest pile of bull"bleep" I have ever heard in my life. That is just plain fraud. That is one of the most disgusting dishonest things I have ever heard about Best Buy doing, and I've heard plenty, over the years. Even if you haven't heard any "comment" from Apple yet on the subject, stay tuned. Either you will hear comment from Apple, or you will suddenly see Best Buy's reseller agreement terminated and all Mac computers disappear from Best Buy stores (that would be my bet), and/or you will hear of the government investigating Best Buy for this practice, as they have a number of Best Buy practices in past years, including a sophisticated Bait and Switch policy that they ran for years without being caught (but which they were ultimately charged with by the government and had to reverse and desist from). Apple has the most shark eating lawyers you've ever seen, and I absolutely assure you they will not stand for this $40 "optimizing" swindle. Stay tuned to news in the future on that subject.
7. All of the above have been comments to "comments" attached to this article. The subject of the article was "Extended Warranties", particularly at Best Buy. I will now address that particular subject. The original article has a number of good points, but it is off base in several ways, which I will try to correct.
First, nobody should EVER buy an "Extended Warranty" or a "Service Contract" for an Apple product from anybody other than Apple. Period. Fact.
Apple offers an optional warranty called "Applecare" on all of their computers, and a lot of their other products. I can not comment intelligently about Applecare on products other than the computers, so I won't. But I CAN comment VERY intelligently on the Applecare product for the COMPUTERS. And I will.
Deciding whether to buy an Applecare package comes down, essentially, to a couple of main questions and factors. First is whether you are buying a Desktop System or a Notebook/Laptop computer. In my opinion, everybody who buys a laptop should buy the Applecare protection, if they can afford it. It is well worth it. For both the Desktop Computers and the Laptop/Notebook computers, the standard factory warranty covers the hardware for One Year, and includes 90 days of telephone support. The Applecare protection extends the hardware protection to a total of Three years, and also extends the telephone support to Three Years. The reason that I always recommend that my customers buy the Applecare for their Laptops (IF they can afford it), is not that the laptops are not well made (they are very well made), but because of their very nature, and their intended use as portable computers, they are going to see a lot of mobility, and with that, a commensurate exposure to physical hazards).
On the other hand, a Desktop machine is generally installed on the desk and then just sits there for years, being unmoved, thus they don't have the physical exposure. However, I often do recommend buying Applecare for a Desktop machine, if the customer can afford it. I recently had a client who had a video card fail. Because she had Applecare, the card (and the labor) was covered 100%, so it cost her nothing to have it fixed. The $250 she paid for Applecare paid for itself with that one incident.
The exact costs and benefits of the Applecare Protection for various Apple products can be reviewed at the Apple Online Store website. In general, it is about $249 to $349 for laptops and $169 to $249 for Desktop machines. It is well worth it.
SUMMARY
NEVER BUY ANY KIND OF "EXTENDED WARRANTY" OR "SERVICE AGREEMENT" FOR ANY APPLE PRODUCT FROM ANYBODY OTHER THAN APPLE. YOU CAN BUY IT THROUGH THE ONLINE APPLE STORE (EVEN IF YOU DON'T BUY YOUR COMPUTER THROUGH THEIR ONLINE STORE), THROUGH THE INDIVIDUAL STANDALONE APPLE STORES, OR FROM INDEPENDENT APPLE AUTHORIZED DEALERS.
CONTRARY TO THE GIST OF THE STORY ABOVE, THE GENUINE 'APPLECARE" PROTECTION IS VERY WELL WORTH THE MONEY. I AM ONLY TALKING ABOUT APPLE'S APPLECARE PRODUCT, AND NOT ANY "EXTENDED WARRANTIES" FROM ANY OTHER COMPANY, OR ON ANY OTHER PRODUCTS. I AM VERY SPECIFICALLY NOT MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT PRODUCTS OTHER THAN APPLE COMPUTERS, SUCH AS CARS, WASHING MACHINES, AIR CONDITIONERS, ETC. I AM ONLY COMMENTING ON APPLE COMPUTERS, AND ALSO PARTICULARLY ON THE "EXTENDED WARRANTIES" SOLD BY BEST BUY AND OTHER "NON-APPLECARE" WARRANTIES. BUY ONLY APPLECARE, AND BUY IT ONLY DIRECTLY FROM APPLE, OR THROUGH A TRUE DEDICATED APPLE RESELLER (NOT A STORE THAT SELLS REFRIGERATORS AND TELEVISIONS), OR THROUGH THE APPLE ONLINE STORE OR THROUGH A STAND ALONE APPLE STORE.
IN MINNEAPOLIS, WE HAVE SEVERAL APPLE STORES, AND AN EXCELLENT INDEPENDENT APPLE DEALER, "FIRST TECH". I HAVE PURCHASE, STEERED, OR INFLUENCED THE PURCHASE OF WELL IN EXCESS OF $70,000 OF APPLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THROUGH FIRST TECH, AND HAVE NEVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED, AND NONE OF MY CLIENTS HAVE EVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED WITH THEM EITHER. (I DO NOT WORK FOR FIRST TECH, AND NEVER HAVE, AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN COMPENSATED IN ANY WAY FOR STEERING BUSINESS TO THEM). I WOULD NEVER REFER A CUSTOMER TO ANY BUSINESS THAT WAS NOT GOLDEN IN MY OPINION, BECAUSE IT WOULD REFLECT NEGATIVELY ON ME, AND THUS ON MY CONSULTING BUSINESS.
NEVER LET A SALESPERSON AT ANY STORE TALK YOU OR A FRIEND OR RELATIVE INTO BUYING SOMETHING WHICH YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, OR AREN'T SURE THAT YOU WANT OR NEED. IF SOMEBODY'S MOTHER OR GRANDMOTHER WANTS TO BUY A MAC BUT IS NOT FULLY COMPETENT AND CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO GO INTO A STORE "BLIND" WITHOUT SUPPORT OF A KNOWLEDGEABLE FRIEND, AND DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO SUCH A PERSON, THEN THEY SHOULD CONSIDER HIRING AN INDEPENDENT APPLE COMPUTER TECHNICIAN OR SPECIALIST TO GO WITH THEM. THE INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPEND ONE HOUR IN THE STORE WITH THEM AND HELP THEM FIND WHAT THEY NEED, AND SEPARATE OUT WHAT THEY DO NOT NEED. IT WOULD BE VERY MUCH WORTH THE COST (LESS THAN $100) TO HAVE AN EXPERT HELP YOU. I HAVE DONE THIS WITH CLIENTS MANY TIMES, AND HAVE SAVED THEM, CUMULATIVELY, MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. APPLE STORE EMPLOYEES ARE SALESPEOPLE TOO, AND ALTHOUGH THEY DON'T RATE NEARLY AS HIGH ON THE 'EARTHWORM" SCALE AS BEST BUY EMPLOYEES DO, THEY WILL SOMETIMES TRY TO SELL YOU MORE THAN YOU NEED.
IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING A COMPUTER, AND DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT A MAC OR A PC, PLEASE, PLEASE GO TO AN APPLE STORE, AND SIT DOWN IN FRONT OF A MAC, AND USE IT FOR AN HOUR OR TWO. THE STAFF WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO LET YOU SIT THERE AS LONG AS YOU WANT, THEY WILL SPEND AS MUCH TIME AS YOU WANT ANWSERING YOUR QUESTIONS, AND HELPING YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS CAN DO AND HOW THEY WORK. THEN GO TO A WINDOWS PC DEALER AND TRY TO DO THE SAME THING. I AM CONFIDENT THAT IF YOU DO THIS EXCERCISE, 90% OF THE TIME YOU WILL CHOOSE THE MACINTOSH. BETTER YET, GO TO THE PC DEALER FIRST, THEN GO TO THE APPLE STORE. THEN COMPARE YOUR EXPERIENCES, AND HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE MACHINES AND THE SOFTWARE.
FULL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: I DO NOT WORK FOR APPLE INC, AND NEVER HAVE. I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A DIME OF PAY, COMPENSATION, SWAG, OR ANY OTHER CONSIDERATION OR VALUE FROM APPLE, FIRST TECH, OR ANY OTHER COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION OR BUSINESS FOR RECOMMENDING MACINTOSH AND APPLE PRODUCTS TO MY CLIENTS, RELATIVES, AND FRIENDS, OR FOR REFERING OR STEERING THEM TO ANY PARTICULAR RETAILER, MANUFACTURER, BRAND, OR SERVICE ORGANIZATION. I DO IT BECAUSE I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THEIR IS NO COMPUTER ON THE PLANET THAT CAN COME CLOSE TO THE MACINTOSH. PERIOD.
BEST OF LUCK. YOU WILL LOVE YOUR MAC, LIKE ALL MACINTOSH USERS DO.
-Douglas_in_Minnesota
Apples and Oranges
Nov. 30, 2009 is around Day 75 (since mid September) I have been held hostage by Snow Leopard. My Canon Powershot STILL will not upload photos to my Canon Image Browser on the snow leopard platform. I've asked Costco to stop carrying Canon cameras until they absolutely prioritize their Snow Leopard incompatibility issue.
The gall of still selling powershot cameras that don't work on snow leopard is both Canon and Apple's fault, perhaps more Apple's fault for making their new platform release deadlines more important than the platform's actual compatibility with very common hardware such as a canon power shot camera.
Mr. Baloney
Mr. Baloney: "PCs might not have the cache of a Mac but I am an engineer and couldn't run my specialized programs on a Mac".
Don't you love it when some PC guy smugly talks about all the programs PCs can run that Macs can't -- conveniently forgetting one little detail: Macs can run Windows!
Worst Buy
I went to Best Buy for an ethernet cable. All they had were 'Geek Squad' brand for something ridiculous like $12 a pop. So I went online and found my cables at $2 to $4 (at that moment, Best Buy became 'Worst Buy' in my mind). At the sweet price, I bought an ethernet router and a half-dozen cables. Then I saw "free shipping for orders over $100", so I went shopping -- two flash thumb drives, a DVD stack, two SD cards and a portable hard drive. When UPS delivered my box from Tiger Direct, it was like opening up a Christmas basket. Now that's an 'upsell' I like.
I have a perfecty bright and wealthy friend who's a technophobe, maybe because one of these 'Geek Squad'-type pimps made her feel like an idiot. As moderately savvy, yeah, I feel sorry when I see a tech novice getting hustled by some in-store con artist. I remember the days when some tech skeezer charged me $200 to run Disk Warrior on my hard drive. It's fun to walk through Best Buy, but I won't buy squat from them anymore. I just stock up on accessories when I shop online to get free shipping --and no sales tax!
HA
I won't get into the stupid Mac v PC argument, but I will stick to the topic at hand and say that one of my favorite pasttimes when stuck at the mall is to hang out at Best Buy and correct the lies dropping from the salesdemons' mouths.
"That's not true."
"Nope, not true."
"That's totally not necessary."
"Actually, it CAN do that..."
"No, it doesn't need that..."
Scum, the lot of them.