I GIVE UP...
So much for the 'dark side', my experience with the MacBook Air has officially ended in failure. I took the damn thing back tonight and got my money back.
Damn, I hate to have another 'Droid' experience, but it seems to me that all those gadgets designed and used in large numbers by those who drink their coffee at Starbucks, prefer 'free range chicken' over KFC and drive cars that are '...good for the environment...' demand and purchase products that flat refuse to work for me.
Now if you have something that was built for someone who routinely wears clothing covered at some point with excrement, soil, engine oil, lubricating grease, dirt, mud and most especially blood, drinks coffee from Mickey Dee's, considers greasy food and red meat to be essential elements to any 'normal' diet and believes any reasonable pick-up truck should have 4x4 drive (just because) or the alternative 'performance' sedan should have an ample size V-8 internal combustion engine because that motor is a gift from Gawd himself, then in all probability I can use that product, whatever it may be, without the first trace of a problem!
The big problem with my MacBook Air purchase is I didn't want to start out fresh with their protocol. I wanted to use the files I have stored on 3 different PC's, so I bought the Windows software for Macs that the salesman said would do that. (How do I know now he was lying? BECAUSE his lips moved!). That software didn't translate. Supposedly, you are supposed to download the free Apple 'Migrating software' onto your PC and then the two machines will 'talk' to each other via WiFi. I did, but they wouldn't. Of course, me being the brite light technology guru that I am, it didn't dawn on me that something wasn't happening until AFTER 96 hours of 'Migration'?
Took the whole thing back to the Lafayette Best Buy store and had a talk with 2 pimply members of their Geek Squad. "You need a cable." "Fine, but which one? The book doesn't specify what type." "This here USB cable will work perfectly," they both said. NOT! It didn't help a bit. Well, other than increase their sales by $45!
Talked to my son after I got back home and he said, "I knew this was going to happen. Dad, calm down and just think. Follow the directions and it will WORK." "Michael, there are NO directions." "Go online, Dad, Google it and you will find them." Tried that and I couldn't 'find' the answer to my first question, which was "How do I get this thing to recognize the WiFi here in my office?"
Called Apple, I now have my own personal case number. Isn't that neat? I talked to 4 different people and after some delay I wound up with one of their "advanced" people. The cable the pimply Geek Squad sold me won't work according to him so the kids with the facial condition got me on that one. As for the WiFi 'migration' if it ain't fast, it corrupts the information going into the computer. I informed him that my DSL came off a transmitter located on top of a grain elevator 6 miles away. 2 hours later after multiple and exhausting attempts to remedy any number of different problems, none of which were successful, he said I had to take the hard drive out of my PC and take it to an official Apple store and they would fix it so the information could migrate from my old PC to the MacBook Air.
THEN and, only THEN, apparently would my MacBook Air work like it does for all those yuppies who drive hybrids and generation X or Y people who eat stuff because it's labeled 'organic' when they have no idea exactly where it came from.
I informed him I lived out in the middle of nowhere and my nearest Apple store was 100 miles away!
That was the moment when I made the decision to take the damn thing back and get my money returned.
Any consumer business that has part of their business service model the attitude that you, the consumer, have to make a special effort in terms of time, money and distance before you can even start to enjoy satisfaction with their product is living on a different planet, if not a whole other universe, than the one on which I reside...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Damn, I hate to have another 'Droid' experience, but it seems to me that all those gadgets designed and used in large numbers by those who drink their coffee at Starbucks, prefer 'free range chicken' over KFC and drive cars that are '...good for the environment...' demand and purchase products that flat refuse to work for me.
Now if you have something that was built for someone who routinely wears clothing covered at some point with excrement, soil, engine oil, lubricating grease, dirt, mud and most especially blood, drinks coffee from Mickey Dee's, considers greasy food and red meat to be essential elements to any 'normal' diet and believes any reasonable pick-up truck should have 4x4 drive (just because) or the alternative 'performance' sedan should have an ample size V-8 internal combustion engine because that motor is a gift from Gawd himself, then in all probability I can use that product, whatever it may be, without the first trace of a problem!
The big problem with my MacBook Air purchase is I didn't want to start out fresh with their protocol. I wanted to use the files I have stored on 3 different PC's, so I bought the Windows software for Macs that the salesman said would do that. (How do I know now he was lying? BECAUSE his lips moved!). That software didn't translate. Supposedly, you are supposed to download the free Apple 'Migrating software' onto your PC and then the two machines will 'talk' to each other via WiFi. I did, but they wouldn't. Of course, me being the brite light technology guru that I am, it didn't dawn on me that something wasn't happening until AFTER 96 hours of 'Migration'?
Took the whole thing back to the Lafayette Best Buy store and had a talk with 2 pimply members of their Geek Squad. "You need a cable." "Fine, but which one? The book doesn't specify what type." "This here USB cable will work perfectly," they both said. NOT! It didn't help a bit. Well, other than increase their sales by $45!
Talked to my son after I got back home and he said, "I knew this was going to happen. Dad, calm down and just think. Follow the directions and it will WORK." "Michael, there are NO directions." "Go online, Dad, Google it and you will find them." Tried that and I couldn't 'find' the answer to my first question, which was "How do I get this thing to recognize the WiFi here in my office?"
Called Apple, I now have my own personal case number. Isn't that neat? I talked to 4 different people and after some delay I wound up with one of their "advanced" people. The cable the pimply Geek Squad sold me won't work according to him so the kids with the facial condition got me on that one. As for the WiFi 'migration' if it ain't fast, it corrupts the information going into the computer. I informed him that my DSL came off a transmitter located on top of a grain elevator 6 miles away. 2 hours later after multiple and exhausting attempts to remedy any number of different problems, none of which were successful, he said I had to take the hard drive out of my PC and take it to an official Apple store and they would fix it so the information could migrate from my old PC to the MacBook Air.
THEN and, only THEN, apparently would my MacBook Air work like it does for all those yuppies who drive hybrids and generation X or Y people who eat stuff because it's labeled 'organic' when they have no idea exactly where it came from.
I informed him I lived out in the middle of nowhere and my nearest Apple store was 100 miles away!
That was the moment when I made the decision to take the damn thing back and get my money returned.
Any consumer business that has part of their business service model the attitude that you, the consumer, have to make a special effort in terms of time, money and distance before you can even start to enjoy satisfaction with their product is living on a different planet, if not a whole other universe, than the one on which I reside...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Labels: Damn Lies and Propaganda, Economics, Organized Stupidity, Personal Philsophy, Technology
26 Comments:
If you wanted to transfer files from a PC to a Mac (or any other computer) your best bet is just to grab a USB thumb drive, stick in the PC, copy your stuff over, eject, stick it in the Mac, and copy it again.
Cost? $14. Buy one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TS1J1I/
It can also act as a handy backup. Keep in your desk, copy important crap to it every week or month, and there you go.
The WiFi and USB (or Firewire) transfers from PC to Mac are made for yahoos like me that have 100-300GB of crap on their old computer that they need to transfer over.
"Customer service" and "user-friendly" are foriegn concepts to tech companies. Period.
Sorry to hear about the agony.
My experience with Macs has been pretty much the polar opposite of yours. But then, I've never owned a Windows machine.
For what its worth, in mixed (PC/Mac) training environments I've been to ... seems like the guys that are the most expert with PC's have the most trouble with Macs.
I was a little worried this would happen! It looked to me like the MacBook Air is a little difficult to connect with a lack of cables.
Sure, all you have to do is take out our PC hard drive and put it in an external enclosure and connect it to the Air.
Or copy the files you want on to a flash drive.
But, did they give you the correct connector at Best Buy?
Or did anyone know more than you at best Buy?
Doesn't really seem like it. So, another customer lost...
I don't blame you for taking it back, rather, as a Mac owner I sympathize.
Frank,
I sure sounds like an apples and oranges thing.
Yes, I imagine the MacBook would do great. But migrating between computers, that sucks, it always has.
The last time it worked for me, I used two thumb USB memory sticks, about eight or twelve passes, and I think I got most of what should be kept.
Since your data hadn't migrated amongst the three pc's, my recommendation from the git-go would have been to take all four to someone that promised, for a fixed fee, to gather the PC data onto the MacBook Air. It only has to be done once (hopefully), and most of us don't need to invest in learning all the stuff needed to be a "expert" at that particular operation. Consider it like learning Latin so you can read "E Pluribus Unum". For the most part I go with the popular translation and go on with my life.
As for the Best Buy dynamic duo. In Sunnyvale, CA, in the 1980s there was a store, Fry's Electronics. Fry's had resistors and ICs and capacitors and computers and pencils and Gatorade and such. At this store, I was told, you were allowed to ask two questions: What is the price; and Is it in stock. The general wisdom was that if they actually knew the answer to any other question, they would lie to you about it. We all understood it was "buyer beware" with a vengeance, but the prices were OK, the stuff wasn't available anywhere else, much of it, and we got along.
Luck with the next iteration!
Justin: What you suggest was Step #2 in an agonizing 2 hour 12 Step Program that left all of us frustrated and at odds with the situation.
It simply doesn't address the basic need to satisfy this "Migration" requirement with the MacBook Air...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
And I thought I was the only person over 65 who thinks that computers hate senior citizens.
Don't forget popcorn with real butter ... and real salt!
BTW, I use Dropbox (free) to move stuff back and forth, assuming all interested computers can get to the internet. No conversion, just movement.
Trying to go from a PB to a Mac, or vice versa is, in my mind, like going from speaking Russian to Swahili.
The last time I tried to use a MacBook, I wanted to set the thing on the floor and do some fine adjusting with the butt end of a Mosin-Nagant. It was infuriating.
Congratulations on escaping the Borg. MacBots are about as bad as liberals. Well, in some cases, worse.
Frank, say it isn't so! Ok Starbucks IS snooty, but they atleast stood up to the antis- Mickey D's donates vast sums every year to antigun groups.
+1 on Gorges' comment... nuff said...
He he. I was concerned when you suggested you would try them.
It is a question of right brain over left. If you have any mechanical apptitude, you will be limited in your success with anything apple. If, however, you admire the curves on bottecelli's venus for there ascetic, apple is for you.
As to the arrogance of apple support, that to is well known.
Ken O: What you say is absolutely true, but here's the deal. I drink coffee on a daily basis in a Mickey Dee's that sits next to a cornfield. There are NO Starbucks in this area or the 2 counties. The closest one is close to 40 miles away and even then I doubt if there is a Prius-free parking spot for the 'Tang...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Frank, I've got maybe 2 years on you. My daughter's a lawyer(got the hell into the business world quickly), son-in-law is a PHD (medical stuff) he said his next computer would be a MAC, I'm thinking, he's pretty smart, maybe that's the way to go. A friend, (pretty good business man) say his brains is full. If something comes in, something gotta go. Well, I'm thinking after your trouble with this MAC, to hell with MAC. I need a new computer, I don't want to learn a bunch of new stuff, I'ma gonna stick with the old way(microsoft). (I need time to go shooting). Thanks for the free education. Woody
Think of Apples as the Obooma of computers. Lots of press, publicity, buzz, and charisma. No substance and full of false promise.
(now I'd better duck from the potshots)
Q
Two words: Panasonic Toughbook. Tomorrow's top of the line prices with yesterday's latest technology, but the thing will last forever.
Heh, Apple.
I downloaded the itunes program onto my new MS laptop. Wouldn't open.
Uninstalled it and a coupla days later downloaded it again...nada, zip.
Now I'm pissed. Email to Apple Support, got a reply telling me to do the stuff I had been doing for two days.
Got Apple/itunes on the horn for two hours trying this and that until the boss gave up, I gave up, and was ready to chuck the whole thing into the pond. I'll buy my stuff from Amazon.
With as rough as you are on computers you probably need something made for more extreme enviornments than a coffee shop. Something like a toughbook.
http://www.panasonic.com/business/Toughbook/laptop-computers.asp
I think Sony has a version also there are a bunch of smaller outfits making units for the troops etc.
I did the hard part of my migration from PC to Mac by stopping at Linux along the way.
You learn lots that way.
The spur was how large Office was making simple Word documents. I dipped my foot into Open Office and suddenly had small files and a platform neutral word processor.
The gigantic boon that came with changing to mac is the things seem impervious to my wife and kid's ability to destroy PCs.
I need a new 'puter as we speak.
Wife suggests that maybe I should get a Mac, then all her Apple 'I' crap would dovetail nicely with my computer. When she saw the look I was giving her, for some reason she promptly changed the subject.
Now at least I have the personal gratification that some gun nut farmer in Indiana feels the same way!!
Frank, I understand; I grew up in a S. Texas farm town. Mercifully there is a coffee shop run by a farm wife where you can get biscuits and gravy or huevos rancheros. The town is still free of the giant, urine yellow "M". It is my personal crusade to see that the "M" people get as few gunny bucks as possible, voting with our wallets as it were. My step-daughter was dismayed that there would be no "smiley meal" when she is with us. I asked the nine year-old which she preferred: the "smiley meal" or her Cricket .22. When my darling daughter understood that part of the money for her "smiley meal" went to fund those who would take her beloved Cricket, Whataburger suddenly became her new favorite joint. Here's to hoping some gunny farmwife gives you an alternative place to plunk down your hard earned cash on coffee 'n' greasy grub.
Frank,
I think of the Mac, and Apple, as a kind of tractor that works wonderfully, powerful and strong.
But it is built of different sized fittings. Neither metric (Unix/Linux) tools nor English (Microsoft/PC) tools would work.
You couldn't find anyone to service the thing, except the original or licensed dealer. From the outside it looks like it does the same work, but has different strengths and limits.
Both those that start out with Apple (it is fairly east to learn) and those that survive the cross-over from another type of computer will be quite content.
Straddling the PC/Mac divide, though, isn't something that either camp is really happy about.
It has been true for 25 years, since the first Macintosh needed a LISA computer if you wanted to write a program for a Mac, that the Mac is the right choice if you want to get work done. The PC is accessible, flexible beyond Apple's blessing, and built around compatibility with the rest of the world.
The limitations imposed by the Mac are difficult to accept when coming from the "outside". Once on board, though, those same difficulties act as a barrier to distractions, freeing up time and inconvenience.
Got secretarial work to do? Mac. Want to write programs, cobble stuff together, explore new horizons in computing (play groundbreaking games)? PC, or Unix. In between? Choose wisely. Generally the threshold into the Mac realm has appeared pricey at the start, compared to the PC. Over time, I am not sure this holds true, but a *lot* of companies and people were swayed by the blandishments of the "cheap" PC.
Ken O: A couple of things; the first is one of the managers at the local Mickey Dees gives me free coffee from time to time simply because he knows I'm a 'gun' guy and he says he likes the idea of someone he trusts sitting in the cafe who is armed. (Not that I would actually do anything, but I'll take free coffee from time to time.)
Secondly, we have a local cafe like you describe but because of the gossip, the political intrigue and the agricultural back-stabbing I would much rather drink my coffee at Mickey Dees.
(At least with the anti-gunners I KNOW who to distrust, rather than the locals who pretend to be your long time friend, but say one thing to your face and then turn around and betray you to others...)
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Frank, no idea if this is pertinent to your Mac problem, but Apple recently did a security update that has royally screwed up their software. Something called Snow Leopard, I think. People are having problems with files, which sort of sounds like your difficulty.
"This update has totally crippled my business... I've got no accounting or bill paying ability... He spoke like their was no reason for Apple to be concerned about this or even attempt to fix it... Now this simple Security Update damaged my whole business..."
Some really pissed off people who use to be Apple lovers.
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