Today, my Apple bubble burst and I am officially done with them. I took my charger and cord out of my pocket at work and YET AGAIN the power cord has separated at the joint. In my mind, this is clearly a defect. This is the second time it's happened and I have a friend whose cord is starting to separate. My old Blackberry charger, used and abused, still works to this day. When I look at every other peripheral device I have, the area around where the cable joins to the USB plug is reinforced. Except for ALL of my Apple cables. For crying out loud, a $3 extension cord I recently bought at Walmart is more durable. Why continue to pay ten times that amount for a replacement cable that is only going to continue to separate? My deep suspicion is that they are just doing that to save money and bump up their margins ever so slightly. The design of that is *****ng junk. So now I am going to have to find a third party mfr (I think AT&T sells one) that is built the way it should be. Even after spending $200 on my phone, I am going to have to spend another $30 on a cable because Apple, in their infinite wisdom, can't design a ****ing cable that won't separate. All of their plugs are cheap. I'm sure people will write and say how their have been perfect and haven't separated - I don't care, don't want to hear it - mine has twice and that is enough for me. Coupled w/ AT&T's crappy service (which we are all forced into because, IMO, AT&T is the only one Apple could strong-arm), I am strongly considering getting a Google phone when this contract is up. I won't be waiting to multitask, or be forced to upgrade to a new phone because my phone won't support multitasking. Oh yes, I won't be able to play checkers, or one of the myriad other time wasters, but BFD. I can see through Apple's clever marketing game and I've had enough. I had every intention of staying with this company for a long time but they can kiss my ***. Apple is arrogant enough to mock PC's (not entirely unfounded) but then they can't focus enough on details to make a power cord that doesn't separate...or like I wrote in my initial post, round the entrance to the disc drive such that you don't have to hold your disc perfectly level to avoid scratches. If you don't want to focus on fine details, FINE, but don't go around with your nose in the air about how superior your products are when they need work. Need more? What about the original iphone charger cubes that plugged into the wall? I've heard that some of those broke off and shocked people and not to use one if the green dot is not present. UNACCEPTABLE.
Computer experiences are personal. There are plenty of folks who have had no problems, or minor ones with their PC. Plenty who have had major problems. Same goes for Apple. It's how brand loyalty is gained or lost. What I will say about PC's is that now, it is easy to get onsite warranty coverage - Lenovo offers it, for example. You are right about Geek Squad, and hauling your pc into Best Buy - that is a freaking waste of time. But to me, an onsite warranty beats boxing up a computer (no small feat for an imac or pro) and hauling it down to a **** mall to hand it over to a "genius" who may or may not be able to fix it. I've never heard personally of an hour wait time to get a mac fixed in the store. There are plenty of postings about people who have had bad experiences with the geniuses. Again, it's personal. Some have had no issues, others have had plenty. But as someone who has the know how to take apart a computer and replace the hard drive, for example, I'll continue buying products whose manufacturers don't design so that I can't do that.
Everything about Apple is locking you into them. Hate AT&T but want an iphone? Too bad. Got a problem with your computer (their best-selling imac?) - gotta haul it in because taking it apart is beyond most people and can even void your warranty. Want to program on the iphone? The technical press, even some of their sites and folks who are pro-Apple are ripping their new requirements. I don't know whether or not the requirements are good or bad, all I know is that it's more restrictions.
I'll pass on waiting for four product cycles to get a USB plug on a tablet device (hey guess what, looks like it uses the same cable as my iphone...) I won't buy a new iphone just because they've decided to let me multitask.
I could go on but I won't. The bottom line? I'm done.
Computer experiences are personal. There are plenty of folks who have had no problems, or minor ones with their PC. Plenty who have had major problems. Same goes for Apple. It's how brand loyalty is gained or lost. What I will say about PC's is that now, it is easy to get onsite warranty coverage - Lenovo offers it, for example. You are right about Geek Squad, and hauling your pc into Best Buy - that is a freaking waste of time. But to me, an onsite warranty beats boxing up a computer (no small feat for an imac or pro) and hauling it down to a **** mall to hand it over to a "genius" who may or may not be able to fix it. I've never heard personally of an hour wait time to get a mac fixed in the store. There are plenty of postings about people who have had bad experiences with the geniuses. Again, it's personal. Some have had no issues, others have had plenty. But as someone who has the know how to take apart a computer and replace the hard drive, for example, I'll continue buying products whose manufacturers don't design so that I can't do that.
Everything about Apple is locking you into them. Hate AT&T but want an iphone? Too bad. Got a problem with your computer (their best-selling imac?) - gotta haul it in because taking it apart is beyond most people and can even void your warranty. Want to program on the iphone? The technical press, even some of their sites and folks who are pro-Apple are ripping their new requirements. I don't know whether or not the requirements are good or bad, all I know is that it's more restrictions.
I'll pass on waiting for four product cycles to get a USB plug on a tablet device (hey guess what, looks like it uses the same cable as my iphone...) I won't buy a new iphone just because they've decided to let me multitask.
I could go on but I won't. The bottom line? I'm done.
