Like most people I just want my phone, computer, tablet to work. I'm not a technology person - I'm a user. The kind of person that was foreign to RIM several years ago. And, thanks to both RIM and Microsoft, I hate updates.
Updates screw things up, change settings, mess with reading lists, lose contacts, etc.
So. I've hesitated. And I've hesitated more subconsciously than consciously - it's some kind of RIMDOWS hangover. It's both interesting and troubling. Based on my experiences until now I never expected to think of Apple in the same light as those other, over-the-hill providers.
Unfortunately, my daughter didn't hesitate. She loaded the new Mountain Lion update on her Macbook Pro a couple of night ago. AND IT'S NEVER RESTARTED.
Clever me. I sent her to Google and the Apple website for fixes and insight. There are lots. She's not the only person this has happened to. Nothing helped.
But, HERE'S THE REAL SCREW UP. She took her Macbook Pro to the Apple Store the next day for some real help. Like many people (most? the world?) she needs her laptop for work.
And they told her to go away. How dare she just show up like that?! She didn't have an appointment.
In fact, they let her know pretty clearly that she was fairly nutzo for even thinking that she could just walk in and have someone take a look at her computer like that.Wow. Another. Dumb. Customer!
So she left. Helpless and angry. The clerk - is that what they call them at Apple Stores? - shrugged.
Which is the scary intersection with the other over-the-hill computer companies from the past. BEING BETTER AND SMARTER THAN THE CUSTOMER NEVER WORKS! It didn't work for RIM and won't work long for Apple.
The we-can-do-no-wrong attitude is what leads to risky, untested updates, failed apps, lousy service and weak apologies. Unchecked, it spells doom.
So. Tim Cook. Please wake up now. Whether you see it yet or not, Apple is in trouble.
