We Are ALL iPods . . . NOT!

OK, so here's one of those kind of ironic stories.

I give a speech on customer service. I'm scheduled for Calgary and Dallas in October. The title of the speech is "We Are ALL iPods." The premise is that the presentation of the iPod is as good as the technology - that all customer service reps have to think of themselves as products . . . and aspire to present themselves up to an iPod standard . . . and by extension, an Apple standard - the desirable computer of the day. That's the computer I use on stage for all my speeches (a MacBook Pro). It carries visual support, including video.

So, here's the thing. My new Intel MacBook Pro had its battery blow up at Christmas. I took it in and they replaced the battery - right off the shelf! However, within the week, whenever the computer started to get hot, the keyboard and mouse would just stop working. By May, it had become unbearable. It just got worse and worse.

It's now the end of June. My computer has been in service for a month and a half. I've had it back twice, the first time for less than a day and the second time for three days. The second time, after three days, EVERYTHING blew - the display, sound, the keyboard - you name it!

This will be the second time they've replaced the logic board. They're just shooting in the dark. Never mind that I need it for my presentations . . . and I take the Apple name with me up on stage. It has no bearing. On and on we go . . . suspended in computer service purgatory.

You'd kinda think maybe someone would just replace the whole thing . . . after a month and a half. But no, that doesn't seem to be in the cards. We'll see what happens this third time in. Not that it will make me comfortable even if it appears to come back fixed.

Because here's the kicker. When I took it in the first time, it was under warranty. I asked them to give me an extended warranty. However, when I got it back, it was out of warranty and they refused to give me the warranty. So, if I get it back, you can bet I'm going to try to get the thing to break as quickly as possible, so that it's still under the same service contract. Because if it doesn't break for a month or so, I may be completely out of luck. It may be the same problem, but I won't have an extended warranty.

Now, I've been a Macintosh buy since 1986 and I'm a registered Apple Developer. I own about 20 of their computers. And I promote them on stage visually and verbally.

Do you think I'm starting to think about changing the title of my speech? And the content? You bet.