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'Joint Venture' Small Business Program Officially Launched
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It's already happening!
Sadly (frighteningly), the Wal-Mart in my town does have a division of a local hospital in it where they can do all kinds of medical exams. Not sure about colonoscopies, but they can do a variety of labs and x-ray -type exams on-site (my sister works there as a radiology tech). Furthermore, the hospital gave Wal-Mart the rights to set the prices for these services!
Apple retail employees fixing my biz machines indeed. What's next... going to Wal-Mart for tires, fried chicken and a colonoscopy?
Sadly (frighteningly), the Wal-Mart in my town does have a division of a local hospital in it where they can do all kinds of medical exams. Not sure about colonoscopies, but they can do a variety of labs and x-ray -type exams on-site (my sister works there as a radiology tech). Furthermore, the hospital gave Wal-Mart the rights to set the prices for these services!
Sadly (frighteningly), the Wal-Mart in my town does have a division of a local hospital in it where they can do all kinds of medical exams. Not sure about colonoscopies, but they can do a variety of labs and x-ray -type exams on-site (my sister works there as a radiology tech). Furthermore, the hospital gave Wal-Mart the rights to set the prices for these services!
I have often thought that if they build an Apartment complex in the back, they could close the doors off and create a self sustaining community.
Waltopia
Five computers eh? Isn't that ProCare was back in the day?
Wonder if they will upgrade us legacy customers.
Not everyone owns a tech business.
My parents for example run their small business, but they are always looking to integrate technology into it to speed things up; right now I'm their tech support, but would be the support for those parents who have kids who are tech illiterate as well? Then there are owners who are just not parents or their children can't be doing support all day.
"Big people": Care to explain the terms you're using instead of using throwing them about?
Wonder if they will upgrade us legacy customers.
Not everyone owns a tech business.
My parents for example run their small business, but they are always looking to integrate technology into it to speed things up; right now I'm their tech support, but would be the support for those parents who have kids who are tech illiterate as well? Then there are owners who are just not parents or their children can't be doing support all day.
"Big people": Care to explain the terms you're using instead of using throwing them about?
I think by "big people" he meant businesses who can afford IT staff and large budget to support it.
@ Fwink:The reality is that most businesses can afford neither IT staff nor have the budget to truly outsource. . Apple isn't creating this for fortune 500 companies or anything close to it. This is for mom & pop shops. As such, i think that this is priced really aggressively and will add a lot of value through time saved.
someone posted earlier that most people who read and post to forums can (arguementally) be called more savvy computer users. So if you take the general pulse from this forum, JointVenture isn't going to make a lot of sense. But for other people it will be a welcomed service.
I mean the one-to-one... that program offers nothing to me that I would be willing to sit through for free, let alone pay for. But EVERY time I go to an apple store, there are several people taking those sessions. Someone is getting value in it.
I think it is ridiculous to not expect Apple to capitalize on that market, especially when the price is reasonable for the service.
This sounds like a fantastic idea. Personally speaking, it's one helluva way to get fellow Mac illiterate colleagues up to speed without taking time away from running my business.
I'd like to see the Genius Bar options play out before dropping $499 though. Their history for "Pro Level Support" is actually kind of terrible. ProCare was nice, but no one in the middle of the line (between illiterate and nerd) could understand why they'd need it. And the GB just isn't a very nice place to be standing around. And I don't want to have to wait two weeks while some 19 year old tries to replace my top case.
Either way, I may just go to the retail store and probe a lot, and ask a ton of questions.
Indeed I am sure they will. Some of the first things that has come to my mind is:
How many loaner comps will be stocked? What will the specs be? Will I have to reinstall my software/files or will you pull the HDD on the spot right this minute?
I know the article didn't mention it, but what about a Mac Pro repair? Will I have to suffer with a 15" base model MBP as a loaner for a 6 core Mac Pro repair while I working with Uncompressed 4:2:2 HD?
Quote of the week/month/year for sure.
Another one of the many questions. I have journalists that need Final Cut Pro, Motion 4, and Soundtrack Pro training, will they be able to get training for these apps at the local retail store? And to what level will they be able to go?
I would love to take advantage of someone's Xsan knowledge, does anyone in this place know about Xsan and distributed storage across a subnet that needs to run at no less than 150Mb/s with iSCSI hardware?
No need to correct anything just said in red, I am just trying to make a point.
I'd like to see the Genius Bar options play out before dropping $499 though. Their history for "Pro Level Support" is actually kind of terrible. ProCare was nice, but no one in the middle of the line (between illiterate and nerd) could understand why they'd need it. And the GB just isn't a very nice place to be standing around. And I don't want to have to wait two weeks while some 19 year old tries to replace my top case.
Either way, I may just go to the retail store and probe a lot, and ask a ton of questions.
Indeed I am sure they will. Some of the first things that has come to my mind is:
How many loaner comps will be stocked? What will the specs be? Will I have to reinstall my software/files or will you pull the HDD on the spot right this minute?
I know the article didn't mention it, but what about a Mac Pro repair? Will I have to suffer with a 15" base model MBP as a loaner for a 6 core Mac Pro repair while I working with Uncompressed 4:2:2 HD?
Quote of the week/month/year for sure.
Oohhhh workshops
Will they cache supplies for on-site repairs (e.g. spare hard drives) ? Doubtful
Are they open 24 hours and on weekends for questions? No
Will they teach anything past the most basic of task, such as the use of XSAN or how to use UNIX to control OS X? Doubtful. More likely they will wax on about how to use the '' menu or the virtues of The Inspector.
Another one of the many questions. I have journalists that need Final Cut Pro, Motion 4, and Soundtrack Pro training, will they be able to get training for these apps at the local retail store? And to what level will they be able to go?
I would love to take advantage of someone's Xsan knowledge, does anyone in this place know about Xsan and distributed storage across a subnet that needs to run at no less than 150Mb/s with iSCSI hardware?
No need to correct anything just said in red, I am just trying to make a point.
It's so nice to see that searching the Apple.com site for "joint venture" puts the correct link the 4th one down on the list.
Way to go, Apple! Sounds like you poured about $400 into this program.
http://www.apple.com/search/?q=joint+venture
Way to go, Apple! Sounds like you poured about $400 into this program.
http://www.apple.com/search/?q=joint+venture
Just another option that can't hurt market share. Maybe pricy to me, but that is every businesses choice, and better to have the option than non at all.
A few years back (2007 i think) i signed up with pro care to get help with FCP and DVD studio. It was listed on the list of apps that were included in procare training. When i got there, I was all but told that no one at my local store was really good with either one.
I doubt much has changed since then, but to help cover them selves, apple has removed all proapps from the list of apps covered on one-to-one. I HIGHLY doubt the JV program will cover anything that one-to one doesn't cover.
I wonder if those kids in that pic will mow my lawn after school hours?
LOL!
Apple retail employees fixing my biz machines indeed. What's next... going to Wal-Mart for tires, fried chicken and a colonoscopy?
You think they're better than them? Stop being so arrogant.
I get my tires at Costco, so what?
Your ego is soaring mate, come back down where the commoners are...
I wonder if those kids in that pic will mow my lawn after school hours?
LOL!
Apple retail employees fixing my biz machines indeed. What's next... going to Wal-Mart for tires, fried chicken and a colonoscopy?
Hysterical! Yeah, they could have put in some pictures of people who actually look like they graduated college and have EXPERIENCE in the field of COMPUTER SCIENCE and appear OLDER. Businesses don't exactly hire Tommy to support their infrastructure when Tommy appears to be 19 and just got his first credit card.
customer:"how's it going with the problem?"
techie:"I think I am close. But I have to leave to go home for dinner. See you Monday!"
You two are so disgusting. As if experience shows on the face. So ignorant, and arrogant.
I have nothing to say to you but this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GrfEeLlZW0
That's kind of hard to say when there's a Fortune 500 company who also happen to run the fastest growing retail chain in history who run solely on Macs and Apple software...
Clearly all those bitching about the service pricing have no clue or experience in the real world.
If you're a business of 10 people, and your office has 10 computers, $1,000 a year for tech support service is unbeatable. Most "IT Guys" as small companies call them, come in once a week to check on things, and bill $50 for the visit... that's $2500 a year just for them to provide no real service.
For $1,000, this service would be invaluable for small business. For those of you who saying people have no business running a business if they don't know how to do simple computer tasks, clearly you're an employee not an entrepreneur. Many executives in fortune 500 TECH companies couldn't even add a bookmark to their iPhone's browser, but that doesn't mean they're not good at managing people or running multinational billion dollar organizations. A good leader knows how to delegate. In a big organization that's what the IS department is for, but in a small organization, it doesn't make sense to pay an IS Dept (1 guy?) $50-100k a year... makes more sense to have a "guy" or a service like Apple is trying to knock into, and for 1-2% of the cost of having a dedicated person, it's the only option.
Just because something doesn't apply to you or me, doesn't mean that it's overpriced. Clearly those naysayers on here are uneducated and lack real-world experience, or you'd know that there's a huge market for this type of service.
If you're a business of 10 people, and your office has 10 computers, $1,000 a year for tech support service is unbeatable. Most "IT Guys" as small companies call them, come in once a week to check on things, and bill $50 for the visit... that's $2500 a year just for them to provide no real service.
For $1,000, this service would be invaluable for small business. For those of you who saying people have no business running a business if they don't know how to do simple computer tasks, clearly you're an employee not an entrepreneur. Many executives in fortune 500 TECH companies couldn't even add a bookmark to their iPhone's browser, but that doesn't mean they're not good at managing people or running multinational billion dollar organizations. A good leader knows how to delegate. In a big organization that's what the IS department is for, but in a small organization, it doesn't make sense to pay an IS Dept (1 guy?) $50-100k a year... makes more sense to have a "guy" or a service like Apple is trying to knock into, and for 1-2% of the cost of having a dedicated person, it's the only option.
Just because something doesn't apply to you or me, doesn't mean that it's overpriced. Clearly those naysayers on here are uneducated and lack real-world experience, or you'd know that there's a huge market for this type of service.
From the Joint Venture webpage:
"If you need a computer while were working on yours, well loan you a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air ready to go with Mail, iCal, iWork, iLife, and Microsoft Office. So even if one of your machine is temporarily down, your business wont be."
That would "one of your MachineS" not "machine".
A copy mistake like that is not very convincing for businesses to get your services.
"If you need a computer while were working on yours, well loan you a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air ready to go with Mail, iCal, iWork, iLife, and Microsoft Office. So even if one of your machine is temporarily down, your business wont be."
That would "one of your MachineS" not "machine".
A copy mistake like that is not very convincing for businesses to get your services.
For $499 dollar you could an employee or yourself to a tech school and learn how to manage basic Mac networks.
I'm sorry this is highway robbery. Its basically One-to-One expanded to businesses.
I'm sorry this is highway robbery. Its basically One-to-One expanded to businesses.
Thats totally not true. I used to consult and walking into a foreign environment no matter the size is difficult. Plopping some random tech and saying this and that doesn't work and my business depends on it is difficult. Any company that depends on tech needs a tech savy employee or an IT person. All this is, is Geek Squad for the Mac.
Also I want some references to your Fortune 500 comment. I work for a for a company listed in the Fortune 500 (top 50) and we are a non tech company and most of our Execs are extremely savvy.
Please tell us where you can find someone who'll work for $499 per annum, or anywhere offering a year's tailored software training (not just "networks") plus tech support for a 5 person team for that amount?
Yeah, thought so.
Sorry, but this is just plain clueless on how many small businesses operate and use tech services.
+1
I like how he knows what's best for running a small business, especially since he is still working for someone else. As a small business owner, I do not see Joint Venture as a need for my company due to my tech background. But I have a lot of associates who could benefit from Joint Venture for their small businesses.
tell me about it
i did some quick IT consulting for a small business a year ago and almost every answer was "I don't know."
who is your ISP? how do the phones work? what is this?
and then people think you just magically press some button and it works. or you move stuff to another office, plug it in and it just works
The problem is it won't be tailored to your company. You won't have techs who are familiar with your set up and what your users need to be done. Any managed IT firm or freelancing consultant can do a better job, not for $499 a year but they will definitely work within your budget. Joint Venture will only apply to those too lazy to shop beyond the Apple store.