This is just a blip on my blog map to sing praises for Apple Macintosh computers.
First, you must understand that I am, indeed, a fanboy (girl). Always have been and always will be. With that out of the way I want to take this opportunity to explain why I finally can stand up with some hardcore facts to back up my otherwise foolish obsession with all things Mac.
My MacBook Pro died on Sunday night. I know that isn’t the best way to start a post saying how great Macs are. However, I’ve been working on Macs for the past 22 years. And I am very hard on them. I push them to the max with memory, applications, dragging them around everywhere I go, occasionally dropping, etc. I usually replace my machines every 2-3 years. In all those years, with all those computers, I have never, ever – even once – had to send a machine in for service. Yes, I’ve spent endless hours tweaking software, resetting the PRAM, the SMC, reseating memory, etc. Endless hours. But never, ever, have I had something go bad in my computer that required service. That’s amazing, isn’t it?
Well, my streak came to a screeeeeching halt on Sunday. After blaming everyone in my family for wrecking my Mac, and generally freaking out, I finally accepted the obvious and made an appointment online at the closest Apple Store with a tech person (aka the ‘Genius Bar’). That, in and of itself, is an amazing service. You make an appointment online, 24-7, for a specific time and get instant answers. The answers might not always be what you want them to be, but you do get them.
I arrived at the store and met with someone about my MacBook Pro. It definitely needed to be serviced. And I wondered: has anyone ever broken down in tears at the Genius Bar? I don’t remember exactly how long they said it would be gone because I was in shock. Seven days? Ten days? It doesn’t matter. Even one day is too long.
[Update on 12/11/09. I got it back in THREE DAYS! I was astounded. And happy. Happy. Happy. Still happy.]
But here is where I think Mac gets amazing. We have an iMac at home for the kids. I have a .mac (now mobileme account). I’ve always thought $99 seemed high for the mobile me services. Not anymore. Within minutes I had synced all my emails, contacts, calendars, bookmarks and Lord knows what else to the iMac.
I also use Time Machine on an external drive (a Drobo). It backs up without me ever doing anything. Time Machine is simply the greatest. It has saved my butt more times that I can ever remember. Yes it can be a space hog, but who cares when a client calls about a job that you swore you backed up and can’t find and just go back six months in Time Machine and drag it to your hard drive. Honest to God it almost seems magic.
Which brings me to today. I hauled the Drobo over to the iMac. And dragged all the files I needed over to the iMac from Time Machine that would have been otherwise unavailable to me or even lost.
And I’m suddenly in business. Without more than a half hour of set-up.
I am amazed.
My files.
My bookmarks.
My calendar.
My email.
Everything.
Well… except my log-in passwords on 1password 3. I had to download the desktop software to the iMac and set it up to sync with my iPhone. Then I had to find the license key in my old (unsynced) mailbox. It took me a few minutes to find it, but there it was in my user library in the Time Machine back-up. I imported it to Mail on the iMac, found my registration key and now I don’t have to look up any passwords. 1Password is great.
I also use SuperDuper as a clone backup system. Double peace of mind. But honestly, Time Machine just keeps coming through.
Anyway, I just had to share my Horror-Story-turned-Fairy-Tale. Well, fairy tale is pushing it, I’ll admit. Still. I challenge anyone to beat this story. I was overwhelmed beyond words for the last 48 hours, only to find out everything was just fine, thanks to Apple.
The only bummer is, I no longer have a good excuse for my clients as to why their job is late.
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