Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Demigod Mac

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2008
836
280
How good are you at helping people with computers, whether it's solving technical problems or showing them how to use programs, organize files, use portable devices, etc?

In addition to a regular job you can make a bit more on the side by helping folks with tech stuff. Best Buy typically charges $100+ to send out a Geek Squad agent; you can undercut them by half of that and still make a tidy sum.

Start with friends of family members and get familiar with the experience, then branch out further.
 

MacMilligan

macrumors 6502
Aug 2, 2012
255
8
I was lucky enough to have stipends for graduate school on a fellowship, so I was able to fully devote my time to education. My friends had random jobs such as Gamestop, Applebees, Kroger, selling tickets at the stadium, etc. You just got to go ask and look. There are plenty of jobs for minimum wage.

As for the computer. Buying a $2000+ rig to learn video editing is, to be frank, dumb. When I first started learning to program for OSX/iOS, I borrowed a low-end, older model MBP from a family member. Once I knew it was something I definitely wanted to do, I built a cheap hackintosh. Once I started making money doing it, I searched for a used Mac Pro that fit my needs. I wanted a 12-core brand spankin' new rig, but I ended up with a 4.1 Quad that I upgraded with 16GB of ram, 5.1 firmware, and nvidia GPU. Its been great.

Lesson to be learned, you don't need what design studios use to make hollywood movies to learn on. Save up for a Mac Mini or a used Mac Pro. There will be plenty of time to purchase the latest and greatest when you are earning money with the machine.
 

gavinstubbs09

macrumors 65816
Feb 17, 2013
1,386
256
NorCal boonies ~~~by Reno sorta
There's not a chance this is realistic. Buying low and selling high in the world of (especially) PC-based machines is next to impossible, unless you spend considerable amounts of time for replacement part and quickly sell the whole before its value falls too low. And time, at 15, or 16, or 17, you don't have. School should take all your time.

Everybody is struggling in my city. Be they 20's, teens, or 30's. No wonder poverty level is so high here.

If you are aiming for university, don't count on any number of hours on a minimum-wage job to pay it. If your parents didn't get the bright idea of putting money aside from your birth each month, or if you come, like many others, from a middle-class family, forget about your dream. It's that, or you'll end up ruined until well past reproductive age. Education costs unreasonable amounts of money to individuals, yet return on investment is dwindling fast, unless you're training for a guaranteed job such as MD, vet, or dentist.

There is a reason why Quebec's student fought to keep education affordable for all, even if many still have trouble paying for it. They will just have less of it compared to other countries where fees are disconnected from daily reality.

On the other hand, I do agree with above poster that you definitely don't need such a machine to train on video edition, even HD. A maxed-out i5 or C2D MBP (preferably 15" for the dedicated GPU) would do a fine job, albeit slower than a full-fledged iMac.

I stopped reading here. You're "Old Economy snarfquest". Your experience is irrelevant in 2013.

...actually Apple Store turn down even moderately experienced salespeople and Apple enthusiasts and savvys. Do you really expect them to hire a 17 guy who never had a Mac?

Last time I looked, Apple-based solutions were THE industry standard.

I think the OP stated he wanted to add additional practice time at home while going to college during the day. Nothing wrong with that, although if he get bad habits, they will be difficult to undo later on.

Huh, no. A $500 Windows 7 machine will lead you to the desktop in 45 seconds, and peacefully navigate from one app to another, manatee-style. Oh, and this setup will require you wear earplugs at all times. Stay away from any homebuilt PC that is not at least $800 (says the guy who had four of them and will prefer to walk than going back to these inefficient piles of silicon).

Well, it is not strictly necessary to have a powerhouse at home, but much like learning a foreign language, if you're never using it outside of class, you'll never learn it properly. Having a fast enough (though not lightning fast) machine is like having a broadband Internet connection vs. having a dial-up modem: you are simply much more efficient in your looking for information and learning (on smaller renders of course) of the workflow. Similarly, a better-organized, more beautiful UI does help one work more efficiently. The brain doesn't like extraneous information intruding in an already-complicated workflow.

That is actually very wise an advice.

I would beg to differ with you. I'm not by all means a star of a student, however my GPA is a 4.0, and I do spend quite a bit of my time with anything regarding school. And, I live in the boonies of the west where not one person sells computers unless you go to the Walmart. And yes, I have sold machines in the past. Just the other week I bought a 2007 iMac for $230 and sold it for $300 within 5 days. That, is making money. And at my age, that's pretty damn good. I know I couldn't make a living off of it if I was like 20, but now, I can buy everything I want without a niche.
 

wepiii

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2012
553
153
There's not a chance this is realistic. Buying low and selling high in the world of (especially) PC-based machines is next to impossible, unless you spend considerable amounts of time for replacement part and quickly sell the whole before its value falls too low. And time, at 15, or 16, or 17, you don't have. School should take all your time.

Everybody is struggling in my city. Be they 20's, teens, or 30's. No wonder poverty level is so high here.

If you are aiming for university, don't count on any number of hours on a minimum-wage job to pay it. If your parents didn't get the bright idea of putting money aside from your birth each month, or if you come, like many others, from a middle-class family, forget about your dream. It's that, or you'll end up ruined until well past reproductive age. Education costs unreasonable amounts of money to individuals, yet return on investment is dwindling fast, unless you're training for a guaranteed job such as MD, vet, or dentist.

There is a reason why Quebec's student fought to keep education affordable for all, even if many still have trouble paying for it. They will just have less of it compared to other countries where fees are disconnected from daily reality.

On the other hand, I do agree with above poster that you definitely don't need such a machine to train on video edition, even HD. A maxed-out i5 or C2D MBP (preferably 15" for the dedicated GPU) would do a fine job, albeit slower than a full-fledged iMac.

I stopped reading here. You're "Old Economy snarfquest". Your experience is irrelevant in 2013.

...actually Apple Store turn down even moderately experienced salespeople and Apple enthusiasts and savvys. Do you really expect them to hire a 17 guy who never had a Mac?

Last time I looked, Apple-based solutions were THE industry standard.

I think the OP stated he wanted to add additional practice time at home while going to college during the day. Nothing wrong with that, although if he get bad habits, they will be difficult to undo later on.

Huh, no. A $500 Windows 7 machine will lead you to the desktop in 45 seconds, and peacefully navigate from one app to another, manatee-style. Oh, and this setup will require you wear earplugs at all times. Stay away from any homebuilt PC that is not at least $800 (says the guy who had four of them and will prefer to walk than going back to these inefficient piles of silicon).

Well, it is not strictly necessary to have a powerhouse at home, but much like learning a foreign language, if you're never using it outside of class, you'll never learn it properly. Having a fast enough (though not lightning fast) machine is like having a broadband Internet connection vs. having a dial-up modem: you are simply much more efficient in your looking for information and learning (on smaller renders of course) of the workflow. Similarly, a better-organized, more beautiful UI does help one work more efficiently. The brain doesn't like extraneous information intruding in an already-complicated workflow.

That is actually very wise an advice.

Way to turn all the good advice the OP has received into the worst advice possible.
 

pertusis1

macrumors 6502
Jul 25, 2010
455
161
Texas
A different perspective

At risk of sounding persnickety, I have a few suggestions for a 17 year old.

1) Read a lot of books. Read technical stuff. Read history. Read classical material. Even read books about 'management' and negotiating, etc. Expand your vocabulary and perspective.

2) I echo the sentiment that you don't need the world's fanciest computer. You can get an old Mac pro or an iMac and learn to be quite a capable video editor.

3) As far as earning some money, there's a million ways to do it, but here's one that not many teenagers think about. In first world countries, there are millions of old people who only had one or two kids, who are too old to do things for themselves, and whose kids are too busy to assist them. Even simple tasks like changing a lightbulb become very difficult. Add to this list grocery shopping, yard work, etc. Although it seems odd, you might consider dropping in on elderly folks in your neighborhood, tell them you are looking to earn some spending money, and ask if there is any way that you can help them. Chances are good that you will end up with some customers, as well as some enjoyable long-term relationships. Half the time, they'll have you come over to do some stuff for them just because they're lonely :)
 

palmharbor

macrumors 6502
Jul 31, 2007
408
0
Impractical at best

Hello People i was wondering as a college student in only level 2 media (this is not higher education so i cannot get the student discount), i was wondering if anybody could give me any ideas on how to earn money to buy these machines,The reason I need a Mac pro or just a high level iMac is because for my future job i want to be a video editor I need my own mac instead of just using the college's one's because I learn more on my own I want to use programs like final cut pro X (or 7 which ever i chose) to make a good portfolio of work to show to companies, In England there are currently no jobs for people of my age (i'm 17) and i currently have a crappy samsung laptop incapable of even playing Minecraft. can people please give me an idea of what to do to get the money to pay for the high priced equipment and software needed to make my future so i don't have to be stuck in a dead end job all my life.

Many thanks

-Debenex
Grow up, there are few jobs like the ones you are looking for, go to France teach them to speak english....very few do....go to school to learn what you want.
 

alexstjo

macrumors member
Sep 11, 2009
57
7
my kids try to tell me there are no jobs available too. Guess what, no job worth getting is not going to bite you in the ass! You have to try to get them and that doesn't mean just submitting an application, you have to follow up.

Also everyone here at one point couldn't afford a nice computer like a mac pro. 5 years ago i couldn't imagine having that much money for a computer. With hard work you will look back at this post and be amazed!
 

greenmeanie

macrumors 65816
Jan 22, 2005
1,418
606
AmigaWarez
Doesn't your College offer a Data Center where you can use their OS and software anywhere you go on any device?
I worked a crap job all summer to buy my fist Computer at the age of 14. Work will not kill you but the waiting to get it stunk LOL.

Hello People i was wondering as a college student in only level 2 media (this is not higher education so i cannot get the student discount), i was wondering if anybody could give me any ideas on how to earn money to buy these machines,The reason I need a Mac pro or just a high level iMac is because for my future job i want to be a video editor I need my own mac instead of just using the college's one's because I learn more on my own I want to use programs like final cut pro X (or 7 which ever i chose) to make a good portfolio of work to show to companies, In England there are currently no jobs for people of my age (i'm 17) and i currently have a crappy samsung laptop incapable of even playing Minecraft. can people please give me an idea of what to do to get the money to pay for the high priced equipment and software needed to make my future so i don't have to be stuck in a dead end job all my life.

Many thanks

-Debenex
 

wepiii

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2012
553
153
Need a mac but cannot afford one, please help

I own a restaurant, and if someone simply puts in an application, I rarely hire them. I hire the people that follow up and bug me about it until it's easier to hire them than to continue to deal with them following up lol. It let's me know they really want the job and that their parents didn't just make them go fill out applications. It's also always easier to get a job when you have a job. Get committed to finding a job, work hard, and someone else offering a better job will notice. I stole two of my highest paid employees from another business because they impressed me so much when I was a customer. I don't care where you live, if you have access to a computer and can get on this forum, there is a job to be had near you somewhere if you want it bad enough. Do some research on tonymacx.com. I saved $300 and built my own hackintosh before I ever owned any real macs. It's a great thing to know how to do. I understand a lot more about the hardware I'm using now from having to learn how to make it work on a windows machine.
 

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
Try the Hackmac! It is a good one.
Even a second hand Core2Duo PC can become a decent mac.
I have an old 2008 ShuttlePC with 3Ghz E8400 Core2Duo with a Seagate 3TB Barracuda, I used TonyMac Open iBoot to load an official 20$ Apple Snow Leopard DVD on it and it rocks! Raw computer power is behind my current workstation, a 2011 mini with SSD, but thanks to the Seagate it still runs very snappy with heavy files. Guess you can find such a machine for 100 bucks. And since PC's allow various cheap PCIx video cards, the GPU power is on par with modern entry level iMacs. I have a single slot Radeon 6770 in there and it is pretty fast, it kicks the 2011 Radeon Mini's butt. If you can find one with a Q9550/Q9650 it will be really fast and the CPU speed will be on par with a modern i5 dual core.
You can even push them a bit by overclocking. Especially the E8400 can be pushed to 3.5Ghz with ease.
 
Last edited:

wepiii

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2012
553
153
Try the Hackmac! It is a good one.
Even a second hand Core2Duo PC can become a decent mac.
I have an old 2008 ShuttlePC with 3Ghz E8400 Core2Duo with a Seagate 3TB Barracuda, I used TonyMac Open iBoot to load an official 20$ Apple Snow Leopard DVD on it and it rocks! Raw computer power is behind my current workstation, a 2011 mini with SSD, but thanks to the Seagate it still runs very snappy with heavy files. Guess you can find such a machine for 100 bucks. And since PC's allow various cheap PCIx video cards, the GPU power is on par with modern entry level iMacs. I have a single slot Radeon 6770 in there and it is pretty fast, it kicks the 2011 Radeon Mini's butt. If you can find one with a Q9550/Q9650 it will be really fast and the CPU speed will be on par with a modern i5 dual core.
You can even push them a bit by overclocking. Especially the E8400 can be pushed to 3.5Ghz with ease.

I have an overclocked 9550 running at 3.4ghz on mavericks GM. Boot disk is 3 cheap ssds in raid 0, that thing is faster than my brand new iMac.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.