MacNow Magazine: Apple's Big Mistake

Apple's Big Mistake

This article is a stretch from my normal MacNow software review column, in that this is a rant about some of Apple's mistakes. Let me say up front that you can have my Mac when you can pry it from my cold dead hands, and I write this article not to bash Apple, but just to open their eyes to the plight of a select group of their customers....

The Industry Leader
In Apple's history they have been innovators, pioneers and leaders in the personal computing industry. They have set the standards for all others in the industry with systems, software, and even hardware innovations. That is why I love Apple. But Apple is not perfect. Case in point: the Apple PowerBook 5300, AKA the Apple Bar-B-Q. Two PowerBook 5300s burst into flames from defective lithium ion (LiIon) batteries. Apple recalled all machines, and immediately fixed the problem by installing nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries. Mistake? Yes! Forgivable? Yes--they rectified the situation, and learned from their mistake.

Apple's Big Mistake
Now comes Apple's Big Mistake. Apple decided to start the Performa line of personal home and small business computers--a killer idea, since these machines were packed with loads of productivity software, and were fast and very reasonably priced--but when Apple introduced the Performa 5xxx-6xxx line of machines, they shipped them with bad ROMs (Read Only Memory), bad motherboards and bad caches. These cause frequent Type 11 errors, will not allow you to use Apple PowerTalk or the Apple Microphone, won't let you connect online, or just plain crash your Performa more times than you'll ever admit to your PC-using friends. Sure, Apple made a tester available, the 5xxx/6xxx Tester, and even snail-mailed it to their registered users, so you can run this little program on your Performa 5xxx-6xxx and see if your machine has any of these bad parts. And yes, Apple implemented AREP (the Apple Repair Extension Program), which means that if the tester finds any of these problems, Apple will repair them for free [1]. Major problems? You bet! But even so, at this point damage control was still possible. The Big Mistake was still to come...

Mistake: Part 1
Here is the first part of the Big Mistake: the 5xxx-6xxx Tester only works some of the time! In other words, some models need to be visually inspected and the serial numbers of the actual parts compared to the list Apple provides to its Apple-Authorized Service Providers. So, you can run the Tester a hundred times, and it will say your machine is fine and tell you to look at your installed software for conflicts. Of course, if you do so you find no conflicts, and when you run the tester again it still says it's your fault. And all the while it's the 5xxx-6xxx Tester program that is wrong, and as much in need of fixing as the systems it is supposed to test.

Mistake: Part 2
Here comes the second part of the Big Mistake: even if you manage to establish that your Performa 5xxx-6xxx does have the bad parts, and even if you take it to your local Apple-Authorized Service Provider and have it repaired, once you get the machine home you could still end up with the same problems. Why? Because Apple shipped more bad parts to the Apple-Authorized Service Providers!

Mistake: Part 3
Now the third part of the Big Mistake: finally you have all the correct replacement parts installed in your Performa 5xxx-6xxx, you get it home with new System software (MacOS 7.5.3 Update 2.0 at the time), and everything seems stable. A month or two goes by, and you start having more difficulties such as hard drive failure and monitor problems [2], but now your Apple warrantee has long since expired. So either you have to complain to Apple many, many times, or shell out the money to replace those items out of your own pocket!

Solution?
So, Apple made a Big Mistake. What now? Do Performa 5xxx-6xxx owners just deal with it? Or does Apple have a responsibility to its faithful customers, who bought what they thought was the top-of-the-line Performa model at the time?

It is my humble opinion that, for those of us who still have problems with our machines after AREP, Apple should do something! How about replacing our defunct, problem-riddled 5xxx-6xxx machines with the next-higher model, such as a Performa 6400CD? Or maybe give us credit toward the purchase of a better Mac that works. Or perhaps Apple could create a special machine for those of us who still have bad 5xxx-6xxx machines, even after AREP.

I do not have the perfect answer, but I do know that I am tired of using this bear of a 6300CD. I've replaced two motherboards, two sets of ROMs, a hard drive (the data transfer for which I had to pay for out of my pocket!), two floppy drives, and an Apple Multi-Scan 15-inch monitor, and the machine still has problems!

I cannot be the only one who is fed up with an Apple Performa 5xxx-6xxx machine, nor can I be the only one who has been through AREP and ended up with a machine that is still not operating correctly. So, why has Apple forsaken us? Are we not loyal users? Do we not defend our platform choice to the PC hoards? Yes! and Yes! And yet, Apple leaves us to fend for ourselves.

Get with it, Apple!

[1] It must be noted that the AREP program only covers the ROMs, cache and/or motherboard; it does not cover any hard disk, floppy drive or monitor damage these problems cause! (Apple officially claims that these problems do not cause drive or monitor damage, but I beg to differ.)

[2] Let me say here that this is not always the case; a good portion of people who have had their machines repaired in AREP have great working machines that will last 10+ years.

Copyright © 1997, WilliamLH , All Rights Reserved.
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WilliamLH's reviews can be viewed at WilliamLH's Reviews, and he is the creator of The Mac Trading Post (tm).