nikak: apples and ipods

so i just bought a 30 gig ipod, but i have to tell you the story of how it came to be, lol, you'll love it.

My wife has wanted a new laptop for a while, so we've been shopping online and otherwise. Well, she decided she wanted a Mac. So we brought it home, and we start to install [try to install] all the stuff she needs on it to run her business. (Adobe Creative Suite 2, Trade Manager, TradeCenter (stock)) - all from legal sources of course such as The Pirate Bay.

But those necessary programs have not been developed for Mac, or else haven't been developed for the new Intel processor that Macs started using as of Feb of this year. So you have 2 options (both of which suck) to get the programs:

1. Download (buy) an emulator that allows .exe files to work but that run at snail speed, or

2. Download the new Apple Bootcamp which basically allows you to partition your hard drive and run Windows XP on one partition. But the problem with Bootcamp is that it is only still in Beta version, and some teeny-tiny issues still exist like....NO VOLUME CONTROL!!!..or...SORRY! SOME KEYS ON THE KEYBOARD DON'T WORK!!!. In other words, it sucks.

So of course, we tucked our tail between our legs and raised the white flag and tried to return the lappy to Apple. Keep in mind this is less than 48 hours later. They are ready to refund the $$$ when, oh yeah, there is a $109 re-stocking fee because we opened it. WHAT!!!??? Yep, and it's impossible to get out of. We went to the store manager, and then to her manager, and then to her manager's manager. But no dice.

My problem is this: The idiot salesman told us that we would be able to install all of the progs no problem, and that everyting was cool whatever. Obviously, Apple is trying to get people to switch over to Mac. I want to switch. But then you get one and you find out that developers are just not supporting Mac, and you would think Apple would do the best they can to make it easy for the consumer. But no, if you take it back they charge a 10% re-stocking fee.

Anyway, I'm saying all this stuff to the store manager, and an idea pops into my head. "Hey", I said, "Why not give me $109 credit towards the purchase of an iPod." She was like, "ummmm.....OK" Woo-hoo! I got my iPod brand new for $109 bucks off!!!!

Of course, my wife is still pissed 'cause now she has to keep looking for a lappy. (But that didn't last long, she found a PC she loves)

What are your thoughts on Apple?

5 Comments:

At 06 June, 2006 10:15, Anonymous said...: From an IT person stand point.

I love OS X for it's stability (UNIX-based) but I'm also in a tight spot if I try to switch because I need to test the stuff I do on Windows IE and Windows Firefox. Pretty much the same problem as yours - support by developers sucks. Other than that the system is great.

After considering that I found a different solution. I bought a bigger harddrive (80G) in addition to my current (40G), repartitioned it so there is enough space for Windows, OS X and more.

I already have all of the stuff ready for the big experiment (burning the OS X DVD today). And on saturday I'm going to try to install it on my pretty powerfull Sony laptop.

I also have an iPod (nano) and it's awesome, but that's a bit different since you can sync it on Win, Mac, and whatever else you might come up with.

P.S. I'll keep you guys updated about it (the experiment) but it might be about 1-2 weeks from now.
At 06 June, 2006 15:08, bla said...: Man don't even get me started lol. 4 of the guys I've worked here had Macs and would not stop talking about the great features of it bla bla bla! I gotta admit that when it comes to style, looks, stability Macs are awesome, but it all comes down to what you said - compatibility. There are so many little programs that I use and most of the developers never really bother creating anything for OS X or any other Mac platform. However Macs are great for video editing and so on, so if you are looking at something like that then stick to Macs. The Visual Communications and Design department here in Kent requires you to have Macs and only Macs, same with some other majors that deal with video editing etc. Also with the big current change that MacOS is going through with switching to Intel it's a bit messy, although those laptops are crazy powerfull!

As far as your story we had the same problem and the dude even told my mom that they can return it, but the morons at BestBuy were like no there's like a 250$ restocking fee if you return it. So you got off nicely!

All in all Denis's idea isn't bad either, but if you ask me best way to run MacOS is on their hardware, because most of it is built by them (unlike PCs who have 1000000000 differnt vendors for each part) which is what makes them so good. Macs also have really good support for the same hardware reason.

Oh and by the way congrats on the iPod! They don't have iPods with large enough hard drives to fit my music yet :( so I'm waiting lol.
At 07 June, 2006 00:31, Random said...: You voiced my concern dod about Denis's idea: hardware. PC stuff on Mac hardware just doesn't do as well...

As far as the restocking fee, we did learn something: If you buy at Costco, it doesn't matter if you get home, open the box, crash the hard drive, jump on it, and then take it back to the store. There is no fee to return anything ever at Costco. Full refund. God bless capitalism. :->

-maximus
At 07 June, 2006 00:34, Random said...: By the way, my wife ended up with a nice Sony Vaio that she loves so far...
At 07 June, 2006 09:06, bla said...: Yeah man Circuit City is like Costco too. That's why I prefer them to BestBuy. Hate BestBuy with passion! lol

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