Mac Snobs & Jobs

I am not a Mac snob. They exist, I know. I am not one. I couldn’t care less what type of computer operating system you choose, the brand name you’ve picked or the size of your RAM. Frankly, if you don’t own a computer I hold you in high regard on a number of levels. I own (or have purchased) an embarrassing number of computers since our first one sometime in the late 1980’s. It began with a fascination for this new gizmo that was once the size of a gymnasium but was now able to sit on a desktop – thus the name. It could calculate, catalogue, print, store, file and assist you with all manner of correspondence, bookkeeping and games. (Every family with a child was foolish if they had not purchased this most useful educational hardware to help their little brainiacs prepare to go to MIT.) That first computer we bought was a ‘no-name,’ - put-together-components built by a friend of a friend with Microsoft applications within a Personal Computer Operating System and it functioned quite well. Since then I have owned 2 Dells, 1 Gateway and an IBM. I can’t say that I disliked any of them although the all-in-one-color printer/fax/copy/toaster/microwave that came in the Dell bundle was simply awful. Anyway, just before the turn of the century (that has a new meaning for some of us, does it not) my attention turned toward those cute and colorful iMacs that appeared on the scene manufactured by Apple/MacIntosh. I bought one – a Blueberry – and I got hooked on the Mac Operating System. Since that initial ‘Mac’ purchase I have added an eMac, a MacBook for myself, a MacBook for our daughter and one of the more recent versions of the iMac desktop – an absolutely stellar computer – to our Apple arsenal. I continue to use all of them. The reason I even outline my brief and shallow history in the world of computers is this: I just went to The Apple Store in my neighborhood for assistance in repairing a software problem that was caused by operator error; I, of course, being the operator. Yesterday I logged onto their local web site and booked an appointment for 4:00 PM this afternoon. The store was packed when I arrived with about 40 individuals hanging around ‘The Genius Bar’ waiting to have a few minutes with the Mac Magicians. But I had an appointment. I arrived at 3:55 and as I approached the hapless and helpless masses one of the Geniuses announced, ‘Tom S – 4:00 PM appointment.’ I walked through the crowd, took a seat at The Genius Bar and felt prince-like. I explained my issue and the guy understood. He said, ‘This should not be a problem.’ Ten minutes later he had re-installed a whole bundle of software that I had managed to bungle. I asked him what I owed him and he said, ‘How about a handshake?’ That is customer service.