Problems with the Mac promised land
I've definitely learned something in recent weeks about reacting to the inevitable problems that will happen in life--how it can be possible to turn a problem into a huge opportunity, but also how a problem can become an even bigger problem overnight with neglect.
Perhaps it was inevitable for Apple this year, as the nearly unprecedented iPhone hype from this summer was followed by a surge in Mac shipments. Peeved by their experiences upgrading to Leopard, some high-profile Apple customers have taken to the Internet in recent weeks to complain, suggesting that Apple is leading them on with the brand promise of the Mac.
The launch of Leopard left some Apple customers wondering why it didn't 'just work.'
(Credit: Apple)It's never clear in the early going exactly how many people as a whole run into problems with Macs, since things get quickly blown out of proportion under the intense scrutiny paid to Apple. But the basic complaint seems to be: this ain't what we thought it would be. Buggy upgrades? Security issues? This is why we switched to the Mac in the first place, right?
That's the image Apple wants people of have of the Mac: the anti-Windows. The clever Mac vs. PC commercials underscore that promise, pointing out some of the early problems with Windows Vista and smugly implying that Macs are free from such frustrations.
The problem is that's simply not true. Mac owners will encounter problems during the life of the product, maybe not as many as Windows owners, but frustrating, on-hold-with-tech-support types of problems will happen. Apple sets itself up for this kind of backlash with a holier-than-Windows marketing strategy if people run into some of the very problems they are trying to escape, such as blue screens of death. But how big a problem is this?
My friend Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates, back when we were trying to figure out if Microsoft and Intel had a chance at selling Windows Media Center PCs as digital living room hubs (they didn't), used to always note that people expect and are willing to tolerate a certain amount of "funk" from a PC. Basically, people are so used to encountering problems with Windows PCs that they have sort of gotten used to it, and while it's a hassle it's just part of using a PC.
Problems with Mac customers can actually be ways of winning them over permanently to your side.
(Credit: Apple)But try taking away their TV. The consumer electronics industry tries to make simpler products that turn on instantly and don't require updated virus definitions or defragmenting or task management. They just work, and people aren't willing to tolerate anything less than a consumer electronics product that just works. I've put up with lots of PC issues over the years, but when the right half of my brand-new HDTV went snow white an hour into Boston College's first football game of the year, I was on the phone and livid in seconds. (Looking back, perhaps it was an omen.)
Apple has been trying to pitch the Mac as a consumer electronics device that "just works," against a Windows PC that sort of works. In general, I agree that Apple's attempt to set the bar higher and set itself apart from its Windows competitors is an excellent goal; most people would agree that competition makes for better business.
The trouble is, the Mac is still just a computer, and it's often subject to some of the same weirdness from time to time as Windows PCs. If Apple really wants to roll out its entire Mac ad campaign as a comparative exercise with the competition, it had better offer a much, much better experience; not just in terms of features and appearance, but with installation, troubleshooting, and support.
That last part is where the opportunity comes in. Back in 2005, a blogger named Jeff Jarvis started chronicling his harrowing experiences with Dell's PCs and customer service. Jarvis' goal was to cajole Dell into admitting that it had no idea of the scope of the customer service problems, which the company failed to do until it was really too late.
At the end of Jarvis' saga, he gave in to pressure from his readers and bought a Powerbook. To his credit, he realized right away that simply switching to Apple wasn't going to eliminate every computer hassle he'd ever encountered. "It feels like moving to Paris and not speaking French (though it sure is pretty there). There is as much illogic in part of the Mac world as in the Microsoft world," he wrote in 2005.
Not every new Apple customer is going to reach that conclusion. They are probably people who have had at least one or two Windows computers and many of them see the Mac as the answer to all their computer problems, even some who should probably know better.
If Apple fails to deliver that experience, those people might wonder what all the hype was about, and react as disproportionately as they did assuming Apple was the Answer. And long-time customers might feel slighted that in Apple's pursuit of new markets such as the iPod and the iPhone, they've let the fundamentals deteriorate. Although Apple's customer service scores are still the best in the industry, they did slip last year.
But any company can win customers for life if the first time they run into a problem with your product, you fix it quickly. The lesson from Dell's experience is that you can't let these customer service problems stagnate. Apple has a unique opportunity to act quickly on its customers' concerns because it controls the way its customers experience its products much more closely than any of its PC competitors.
Think about it: Dell and Hewlett-Packard do Microsoft's customer support. Best Buy and Circuit City sell HP and Acer's products. That's customer behavior information that has to pass through several different companies, and that can be difficult even if everybody has excellent working relationships.
If you're going to turn a problem into an opportunity, you have to be honest and up front with your customers about the scope of the problem, and act quickly--especially if they bought your product because you promised it was so much better than the other option. As I pointed out, Apple's customer satisfaction numbers are generally better than its competitors, but it will be interesting to see how those numbers change as the company adds new users on new products, such as the redesigned iMacs.
I have to admit, though, all this complaining about the brand promise of the Mac does make me laugh to a certain degree. Have you people ever seen a commercial before?
After a long investigation, I've also discovered that ladies won't necessarily flock to you as you walk down the street wearing Axe Body Spray, you shouldn't expect your Toyota Tacoma pickup to survive an encounter with the Loch Ness Monster, and switching to Salesgenie.com might not ensure that you can bring your cute 4-year-old daughter two new puppies with all the money you're now making.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom.
professional user (at work only) for much the same time. You
are 100% correct that Macs do have problems. They key
difference for me was when I opened the box and registered it,
that was it. I didn't have to pay to have all the "junk" deleted, I
didn't get pop-up questions and warning every time I use
something, etc. While it will have issues (as WE all do) it just
seems to be that there are fewer and many of them can be
resolved using a relatively small bag of tricks.
But, if you are a first time Mac customer, buy the Apple Care and
Pro Care and you'll be assured the golden ticket experience that
you can get with no other computer, period.
I appreciate your honest approach to Apple issues while
reflecting on the irony that we hold commercials to varying
standards.
user......(Are you serious?)
Funny, all I ever hear about is the wonderful experience with
Leopard. Nobody claims things aren't without problems, but as a
whole, this launch was as successful as any other.
Really, is it -that- slow of a news day that you have to fabricate
these kind of stories? Most Mac-haters at least try and not be so
obvious.....
very real circumstances. Mac's aren't perfect and little glitches or
missteps by Apple can be magnified or blown out of proportion due to
the 'expectation'.
First, let me say.... I've been a Mac user for over 17 years and it's
been a great experience. I've experienced minimal hardware/software
problems and I wouldn't switch to Windows for anything. I've also
used Windows on/off during this same period and have extensive
experience with XP and Vista. My Windows experience has been.....
aaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh! Need I say more.
The reality is that Apple makes great products, but not perfect
products. There's usually room for improvement and sometimes
problems arise. I believe it's been a blip on the radar compared to
Microsoft woes which is why I stick with Apple and recommend their
products frequently. However, as more and more people make the
SWITCH, we'll here more and more grumbling. Us Mac users have been
a bit smug watching Windows sufferers while enjoying our slick Apple
experience. The long-running, very-funny and right-on-target
Mac/PC ads are poking Windows users even more. The expectation for
these new Mac users is extremely high and the slightest problems will
quickly annoy. Tom's just pointing out this reality.
BTW: Who's Dave??
windows PCs are definatly more "network friendly" i can control when they update, what users have permission to access, what gets installed, all from the comfort of my own desk in my office, where as i have to visit each and every mac to do the same.
that apple talk protocol is broadcast happy and slows down my entire network ,and if you uninstall it, then some of them don;t like to print using unix lpr based printers...
go figure...
find the article to be "Mac-Bashing" at all. There is much truth
in what he says and Steve Jobs would do well to heed the point
about customer service.
And before you start bashing me, I switched to a PowerMac G5
just over four years ago from Windows and have never been
sorry I did so. I have even talked several people into getting
Macs. But, as the author stated, it has not been totally problem
free. When 10.4.0 came out I tried to install it and afterwards I
could not connect to the internet. turns out there were
problems between Tiger and my Airport Express wireless router.
I had to revert back to the previous version and wait for a
firmware upgrade to the Airport Express. !0.4.1 installed and
ran like a true champ.
I have had several other problems crop up, and to be fair most
were corrected by a visit the the forums on the Apple site. This
is one place where Apple shines. It usually only takes a few
minutes to research and find a fix for problems. MS would do
well to copy Apple here.
If you read the article as it is written instead of trying to read
between the lines it is more a piece on perception that a piece
trying to bash OS X. He is right, the perception from the ads is
that you don't have problems when you use a Mac and that is
simply not true. And as the author says, this is a time of
opportunity for Apple. They need to seize it and use it to their
best advantage.
service is far and away better than the competition. I don't care
what some blogger says - ask Consumer Reports. Apple has
consistently ranked at the top of the heap for as many years as I
can remember. Instead of a single, anecdotal report, an objective
news organization would look to a large pool of data - such as
that performed by Consumer Reports. Of course, this would
assume that CNet is an objective news organization. My
anecdotal evidence also says that Apple's customer support
speaks English (operators I have recently talked to were in
Cupertino and Austin) and is helpful: two things I haven't found
from other hardware manufacturers.
Clearly, money-hemorrhaging CNet is trying to drive traffic the
only way they know how to: Dvorak style. Oh, CNet - may you
be as frequently and consistently as wrong as he before your
liquidation sale...
few problems people were having with Macs. Not so much,
apparently.
However, what was not mentioned is the FREE support that
Apple provides its customers....in person....the Genius Bar. How
many companies have face-to-face customer service available?
The last time I checked, Microsoft does not; HP, Dell, and Acer
don't (Geek Squad doesn't count, because it's not free!) So Apple
knows that there are going to be problems, but they also offer
an extremely convenient way to get help and resolution. You
failed to mention that in your article.
appointment and wait (unless you shell out the bucks for ProCare)
- but yes, Apple's free support is terrific.
No system is perfect, but its important to note that what sets Mac apart is their readiness to acknowledge their mistakes and quickly issue updates.
c|net needs to learn to make a distinction between the news story and the blog. An opinion is an opinion and there's no point in arguing with it. The reason you upset people is because the opinion is being put on a plate right nest to news stories. And it kind of tastes funny there, particularly when no one was asking for perspective of a situation no one really talking about.
When I read the article, I thought he made this point very clear. In fact, I thought the article made Apple sound very good. He mentions a slight slip in customer service, but still gets across that Apple is a premier company.
And, by the way, I thought that he had a fairly good OPINION of Apple as I read it.
TV (is there such a large user-base who really uses it?), iPhone
closed system, and, well, Apple users. I won't deny those
because, well, I don't care for none of them.
The problem is that the only thing that you mentioned relevant
to what the article is actually talking about (Apple computers) is
about the viruses issues. For your sake, I'll assume you mean
malware (because, nope, no 'viruses' yet, sorry). Malware, like
scripts hidden in images that can be emailed to retards that
open every attachment, can be created easily for a Mac. And,
yes, you're right, the problem here IS the user, that thinks
he/she is safe from everything because of owning a Mac.
However, the article was portraying an obvious reasoning of: "if
the Mac doesn't do good customer support, it will lose
customers to Windows", but marketing it by promising talking
about problems about the Mac. And the little that the author
talked about them, it was about issues that I (and all of my mac-
owning friends, which count as many of 30) have never
encountered when using the Mac... I'm not saying that these
problems don't exist, just that it is obvious to expect them from
a computer system (no matter who made it) and that there are
ways to avoid them.
So, yes, I agree with SOME of your opinions, but just stick to the
subject, please.
After 16 years in Mac and Windows environments with hundreds
of machines I have a list of real issues with Apple machines, as
well as with Windows.
But why lie and speculate nonissue, like viruses on mac?
they are all doomed to fail no matter who makes or supports them.
Even a clever Time Machine won't set the evil computer back on it's
feet. When the ink in my pen stops flowing, no matter what brand I
purchase, write no more and buy an Apple computer. It needs no
ink to write, but it might fail so keep the pen handy.
Since I bought the new iMac, it has frozen on me at least 3 times.
Leopard amounts to a service pack update if you ask me...why the hell should I have to pay for it?
that in the press its usually negative. Who would go out on the
internet and say geee, I installed Leopard on my Late 2006
MacBook Pro, Nov 2004 PowerMac G5 2.0DP and MacPro at work
with out a hitch. Those are stories you don't hear. My Mac can
also out run most PC computers we purchase at work why, its got
VMware Fusion and is a QuadProc.
with no problems whatsoever. It was just like any other OS
upgrade; make sure your drive is backed up first.
OH, and the Leopard install on my iMac G5 1.8GHz went without a
hitch as well. Go figure.
The issue here is not about the OS, the message here is about the MAC AD's
Funny this article sat next to another story on what happens to wind and solar power when the lights go out and wind dies down. Is CNET working for both Microsoft and the oil companies now? Please print news and put blogs somewhere else. This is News.com right?
So, how the vendor handles the inevitable is what makes the biggest difference.
I Purchased a G5 3.5 years ago, and a friend purchased a similarly equipped PC. We then tracked extra time to manage the PC (installed drivers, virus fighting, reformmatting, etc). I spent 2 hours in that time. The issues were drivers for an Epson 2200, Norton AV removal and Leopard Update. The latter had a problem with a graphics tablet driver (AIPTEK) I had failed to remove two years ago.
My friend logged in over 40 hours, including removal of adware, reformatting/reinstalling the OS TWICE, network configuration, Upgrade to VISTA (5 hours!!!).
Regarding Leopard...I installed (flawlessly) on 4 computers, and one with modest trouble.
I have never called apple for support. Their community forums have always, always been useful. In Microsoft's defense (and a slight dig) their site has tremendous amounts of information. Forums are good, as well as the knowledge base. However, it is NOT FRIENDLY to the average user. They need to either add diagrams or simple explanations (and not go into detail why things are happening) for their average user.
I am a tech professional, I think the MS site is fine. BUT for the non-tech professional, Apple's support is far superior.
Geez.
views on a page.
The problem that I had with this article, though, is that I actually wanted to learn
about the 'problems' that a Mac can have (which do exists, now that I read
elsewhere *cough* Wikipedia! *cough*), but the author went down another road,
and concluded that "well, Apple support needs to stay being good, if not, users
will go to Windows", which is "like Duh!".
So my main beef about the article is not that it talks bad about the Mac, is that
its title is marketed to poke at the fanboys and it has no real substance. And
worse yet, it's put aside news... it's fine if they want to speak their opinion, but
opinion's are biased, news shouldn't be. I say put blogs on their own section
(editorial maybe?), and the news on another. And, frankly, if I wanted to read
another's opinion, this not the forum that I'd look into... *cough* Wikipedia!
*cough*
Customer service used to be good! I have been using Apple
products for more then 20 years now, Apple is not Apple
anymore! Apple starts to become like Microsoft. They become
more complicated every day. I f you talk to the Hotline, you talk
to very incompetant people, who don´t listen at all. Apple sells
unlockked iPhones in Europe which don´t work at all, if you use
SIM-Cards from other counties then GB, D and F - but the
Hotline does not care at all - all they say is: "Sorry, I cant help,
you have to complain to Irland, we are not responsible!" But on
the other side, they ? 999,- for products which are not
working!? Software-Updates are an other problem: they don´t
test them anymore before they give them to the market. There
are much more bugs within Leopard, Aperture & Co then we had
in all other OS´s together. it´s a pitty, but Apple is not a user-
oriented company anymore, Apple is just money-driven!
hitch and continue to operate flawlessly. We use the Intel Macs for
just about everything from web creations to finances and it all
works. Apple support has always been a step ahead of any other
support we've tried, so I'm not sure what the writer has on his/her
mind.
My current XP box has blue screened twice in 3 years. Other than that, the only kind of crash I had was BF2 or BF2142 crashing. Not XP's fault... since they have nothing to do with EA. EA is well known for rushing unfinished products out the door and I am willing to bet games will crash just as frequently on OSX as they do in XP/Vista.
The simple fact is if you have a nice machine and know what you are doing, you will not have the problems that Mac users always complain about. You load up Kazaa, LimeWire or BearShare and start downloading crap... or you hit porn sites in IE you are asking for trouble. Unfortunately you have the myspace generation on PC's doing all sorts of stupid things and there is an underground that preys on the stupidity of computer users. The more of them that switch from PC to Mac will eventually run into the same thing.
As I said, one crash in Vista, 2 on my other main XP box. So for me, XP and Vista just work!!! I never run into the issues that the Mac commercials always portray.
rightfully trashing Eidos' "Kane and Lynch" video game because
Eidos paid for a lot of advertising on Cnet's Gamespot site.
So I am guessing you just got a big check from Microsoft for
some advertising?
I made "The Switch" after two Windows laptops and eight hours.
I would never, ever switch back to Windows unless forced. Why?
Because OS X just works.
Mac computers at work where there are over 10,000 employees. The
division I work for directly and fully supports about 2,500 of those
employees. There are a few apps where we support all 10,000 plus
employees.
The people that we support that use Macs clearly, on average, have a lot
more technical programs on their computers their our average Windows
computers yet we have less calls from them than average Windows users.
And FAR less numbers of calls from people that have a very close equivalent software (graphics vs graphics people, marketing vs marketing
people) on Windows.
Could it be because Photoshop just works better on a Mac? Could it be
that Microsoft Office just works better on a Mac? Could it be because we
don't have any anti-virus software on a Mac? Why is it that we have maybe
90% less calls for equivalent people?
Macs are not perfect. Nothing is perfect. Like you noted about ads for
products like Toyota and others, nothing is perfect.
Compare the Toyota vehicles we've had vs Ford (about even and they over
lapped for a half dozen years. Our Toyotas weren't perfect but they had
significantly fewer problems.
Our Macs are that way compared to Windows computers.
And when they do have problems? The amazing thing is that it is far
easier to rebuild a Mac computer compared to Windows.
Of course we have hard drive images (ghost) that we use to re-image
Windows computers. And yes most of our default applications are on
those images. And yes we can and do remotely push applications to our
Windows computers. And sure we have roaming profiles for Windows
profiles.
You know what though? With Windows roaming profiles get corrupt. Hard
drives get so fragmented that you have to defrag the hard drive or re-
image the computer. Then there is the team of more than a dozen people
that are dedicated just to security on Windows computers.
With Macs it is just easier because there is less corruption of computers.
Nothing's perfect. But if we switched to all Macs we would probably have
60% less tech employees the next year round.
Windows means job security to lots of people that I know. Having said
that, more and more co-tech-workers in my group are seeing how easy it
is for me working with a Mac at work (I have to use Windows for some
things but can now do that on my Mac with bootcamp, vmware, or
parallels) that they've started buying Macs (usually MacBooks) for their
personal computers.
These people were hard core Microsoft fans that are starting to see that
there are alternatives to Windows and good ones. Nothing is perfect.
As for friends. When their computer is having problems I take my G4
Powerbook with me to their house, create a user account for them on it,
copy their files over to it, show them how to use the Mac software to
access their data, the internet, then leave them with that for a few days
while I take their computer home.
I don't have to take their computer home most of the time but usually,
purposely show up late in the evening when they don't want me to stay. So
I trade them computers for a few days, long enough for them to have to
use it and see what it is like.
They call and ask me questions and I answer them. At first they find it
confusing but quickly figure out they are trying to do too many steps that
they are used to having to do on their Windows computers. Once they
realize they don't they settle in and work and play. I made sure there is at
least one game a person in their 40s, 50s, or 60s will enjoy.
A few days later they will comment about what a nice experience it was.
Or not. But almost always, now that you can run Windows or Mac on a
Mac, they are buying Macs to replace their Dells and HPs, etc.
Nothing's perfect. But some things are just better. Linux is getting closer
to Windows every day. For the people that NEED more control over their
computers, I point them that way but also note they can run Linux just as
well on a Mac as they can on any other hardware. Why not have a choice
of Windows, Linux, OR Mac?
Secondly... "Could it be because Photoshop just works better on a Mac?"
Of course Adbobe Photoshop is going to run better on a Mac interface from the get go. Adobe is a Mac Centric Company, they originally built for the Mac and Still Center on the Mac, photoshop was a Mac first program.
continuing the installation of Leopard. It was a bit scary. But
frankly, the three days I spent totally reformatting my brother in
law's PC Windows after giving up on spyware and adware
takeovers, then finding no drivers for their speakers and other
problems, made me happy that my ten minutes of worry were
just a long wait. The dozens of Macs I have worked on never
gave me even 1% of the problems of the several PCs I have had
to deal with.
When a friend returns from China, she is dumping her Dell
laptop for a MacBook. She is tired of reformatting and never
having stuff work, viruses and adware.
Frankly, the Mac IS a computer and sometimes it has problems.
It's just that you can usually fix them without dumping out the
baby with the bath water.
Macs can get rebuilt quicker simply because there's VERY limited hardware when it comes to systems. You HAVE to use what Apple gives you for hardware. Where with my PC I can pick and choose my parts at will.
Vista's a bit of a hog, yes. Maybe it should have waited for another year before it was released. But I didn't have any problems using it at all.
have frustrating problems. However, I would have appreciated
more detail -- perhaps examples, rather than the vague
insinuation of issues with the Mac.
I've conducted over 100 Leopard installations since its release.
I've had 2 Macs that did not behave nicely. Both were,
ultimately, traced to the APE issue -- a third-party system
haxie. This is all well-documented now, but at the time, it took
a little while to learn where the issue was.
So I'm at just over 98% problem-free on the install. I've had
numerous complaints (8, so that's a little under 8%) about such
items as Time Machine. The complaints were all about two
items: 'what do you mean I need a spare hard drive for this to
work?' and ' what do you mean it will take longer than 5 minutes
to do the first backup (of 100+Gb of data)?'. These are from
folks who never read the instructions, specs or requirements.
Guess what -- moving that much data over Firewire does take a
little more time. The fine print DOES say it needs another drive
or partition.
So many whiners on both the Windows and Mac sides are such
because they do not want to take responsibility for their own
education, or behavior. Any computer will 'break' when used
improperly. If I could only lock down all of my clients' Windows
systems, they'd require far less work. But users are curious, or
stupid, or stubborn, or p0rn-starved and apt to install things
willynilly and not pay attention. Then, Apple/MS gets the blame.
But hands down, I have customers who will attest to at least a
92% satisfaction rating with Leopard, and the others will never
admit their own culpability in screwing up. Apple is far from
perfect, and they are arrogant, but 92% isn't such a bad grade
even in the US education system.
If only Photoshop 7 hadn't been such an ugly surprise...
Server uptime of 99% or better is considered normal. The servers here only get rebooted for updates. It's the applications and users that cause problems. With client computers mostly concerned with running apps, your experience is good but also normal. Complaints arrising from user ignorance of the OS "what do you mean I need a spare hard drive" should not count so your percentage needs adjusting. My last one was "you can't copy it to a CD disk because your computer doesn't have a CD burner."
"If I could only lock down all of my clients' Windows systems, they'd require far less work."
If you are using windows servers, you can lock down your windows client computers using a centralized policy on your domain. There are thousands of lockdown choices you can make in your policy. While features like this don't help home users, it is fantastic in business. Why haven't you done this yet?
"...and the others will never admit their own culpability in screwing up."
No surprise there. How about this one... "What did you do?" "Oh, I was just clicking."
- Stirring up the fanboys, eh?
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by No Man
December 5, 2007 6:52 AM PST
- There's nothing like a pointless article about the Mac to generate some artificially inflated page hits.
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Reply to this comment
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by Buggermac
September 1, 2008 12:55 PM PDT
- I have had NOTHING but trouble with my Intel mac since I bought it two years ago. I cannot do anything at all without seeing hte beachball of death. What's worse, a windows laptop is far faster to access the interweb. I give up
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