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Should I fear the bubble?

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Yeah, kind of a strange title for a thread, but hopefully I'll make some sense of it.

So I have become fully immersed into the Apple eco-system.

I've got iPods, iPhones, iPad and now my iMac.

So let me start by saying I LOVE them all. In fact, the sooner I could go and get a Macbook Pro and replace all of our home pc's the better.


But that also got me thinking about something. As I read articles on other websites (not pc or apple specific, just tech web sites) you read all sorts of articles from those both for and against Apple products.

You begin reading articles about hardware failures repeatedly (iMac screen issues, and Macbook Pro battery issues, etc) and these don't seem to be isolated issues, but rather, more widespread than you'd hope for.

In any case, and to get back to the Thread Title a bit, is my bubble going to burst? Is all my Apple gear going to start revealing their flaws and hardware malfunctions?

And before anyone says it, yes I know it's possible that ANY piece of equipment from ANY manufacturer can fail, so that's not what I'm talking about.


I guess I'm asking a very subjective question that maybe doesn't even have an answer.

But I'm just hoping that the BUBBLE doesn't pop. So far I'm really enamored with Apple products and the user experience has been incredible. SO FAR.


I guess I'm just hoping that my experience continues to be stellar.

I want to be able to have this iMac working flawlessly 4 to 5 years from now. I would like my other pieces of hardware to working the way they are supposed to.


Am I making sense here?

I've been so crushed by just about every other pc purchase in my past, almost to the point of KNOWING that the pc or laptop I was buying wasn't going to last that long, that I was REALLY HOPING for all of that to change.



So has anyone else found themselves in this position? Completely on cloud 9 with Apple products only to have your bubble burst by hardware failures beginning to crop up?

Thanks.
 

chscag

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So has anyone else found themselves in this position? Completely on cloud 9 with Apple products only to have your bubble burst by hardware failures beginning to crop up?

Bubble bursting can happen with any product. My brother in law purchased a Mercedes Benz SUV, supposedly one of the best made autos in the world (certainly one of the most expensive). Well, it didn't take very long before his bubble was burst....

Anyway, quit worrying about your Mac products; just continue to use and enjoy them. And your post really did not belong in the Switcher forum.
 

RavingMac

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Not really a busted bubble, but I had such a good initial experience that the first real problems I encountered were a bit disheartening.

I got over that pretty quickly (partly due to daily exposure to Windows and equipment problems at work). Still love my Mac(s).

And, to paraphrase, "In this (modern electronic) world ye shall have tribulation . . ."

So, don't worry about a bursting bubble, or anything else for that matter. ;)
 

vansmith

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Depends on your needs and desires. I've been using my current Mac for about 3.5 years now and although it doesn't have the same allure that it did when I first got it, I still love it (it's a tough little workhorse that has, and continues to, serve me well).

As to whether the bubble will pop - I'm with chscag. Don't worry about it. Just use your products as you normally would and enjoy the machine for what it is.
 

Slydude

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I've been using various Apple products since the mis 1980s if you count the Apple II products. There are two things that have always impressed me about the company:

1. The build quality is generally top notch.
2. Their reputation for customer service is not matched by anyone else in the industry AFAIK. In most surveys Apple consistently has double digit leads in its closest competition. Does that guarantee there won't be problems? No, but it's nice to know that if I have a problem there's a better than average chance the solution will be reasonable.

I will also say that some of the posts from dissatisfied customers seem to be the result of not understanding whether the product was designed to meet the demands placed on it. I've seen more than one post from iPad users, for example, who seemed to expect it to behave more like a computer.
 

chscag

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I will also say that some of the posts from dissatisfied customers seem to be the result of not understanding whether the product was designed to meet the demands placed on it. I've seen more than one post from iPad users, for example, who seemed to expect it to behave more like a computer.

This reminds me of a good friend of mine. He routinely travels with his Sony Vaio, iPad, and MBA.... :Smirk: He has all his bases covered..
 
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Enamored... crushed... cloud 9... I can't predict whether your figurative "bubble" will burst or not, but I'd respectfully suggest that perhaps you might consider stepping back a bit and putting these devices in proper perspective so you are not in a position to be "crushed". They are cool, useful and fascinating devices, but they are just imperfect complex systems designed, assembled and distributed by imperfect beings. Don't take them for more than they are and you won't be "crushed" when they eventually fail - like all complex mechanics eventually must do. No offense intended.
 
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if any bubbles do pop, it's likely going to be far less severe than any windows product. I've certainly had my share of failed logic boards, iMac screens going south, etc., but it still doesn't make me want to endure the sheer face slamming frustrations of windows in a daily basis.

Whenever I hear someone say, I've used windows for years and never had a problem, I just think, you sir, are definitely in the 1%. :)
 
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It's not whether or not stuff can or will break on a Mac/Apple product... it can and will sometimes! It's what Apple does about it that matters. With the warranty and AppleCare, when things have broken and gone screwy on my Mac and I've been unable to resolve the problem myself, I take it to the Genius Bar, tell them what the problem is and walk away :) When they've fixed it, I pick it up! No hassle, no fuss.

I used to work at Tiffany & Co (the jeweler), and I consider Apple & Tiffany to kind of be along the same lines of thought in retail. Sure, you can find other computers & jewelry for cheaper prices. What sets them apart is the designs, a higher level of product quality (notice I said "higher level", NOT perfection, nothing in this world is or can ever be PERFECT), and good customer service before, during and after the sale.

People would bring in thin chain necklaces that had broken and complain that they'd broken... "It's TIFFANY! How can it break?!" Meanwhile they would be sitting in front of me holding their baby on their lap letting the baby pull on the necklace they were currently wearing... Hmm, I think I see the problem, and it's NOT the workmanship of the necklace!
 

cwa107


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You begin reading articles about hardware failures repeatedly (iMac screen issues, and Macbook Pro battery issues, etc) and these don't seem to be isolated issues, but rather, more widespread than you'd hope for.

In any complex product, be it a computer, a car, a DVD player, whatever - anything that has lots of moving or complex parts, particularly in something that sells in massive volumes, you can pretty much assume a 0.5% or higher failure rate.

That's just the nature of technology and mass production. Why? Well, there's only so much quality control you can do, particularly at incredibly high volumes (think hundreds of thousands or millions) - and that's just quality control for the stuff that you make, in many cases, there will be parts and pieces that you don't. A case in point would be the massive decline in hardware reliability that impacted just about every major computer manufacturer around 2003-2004. One Taiwanese producer of capacitors (a basic electronic component) had a manufacturing problem that resulted in premature failure of normally very reliable machines, years after the products that contained them were sold.

So, let's just say that 0.5% of 1,000,000 copies of a particular device have a defect. That's 5,000 units. Does that make the product a lemon? NO... there's 995,000 units out there that are defect free. It's just a fact of life when you're producing devices at this kind of scale.

Additionally, when you start reading into individual stories online, you have to consider that people tend to be a LOT more vocal when they're having problems than when they are not. How often do people bother to log into a support forum, or write a blog article to say "everything is fine, working as expected"?

So, with that in mind, I don't think you have anything to fear.
 
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If Apple Care did not exist, I would not have invested the money that I did. Excellent reply from XJ-linux, which saved me the bother of saying what I was about to.
 
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I don't fear the bubble, the bubble fears me! If you like something buy it. Don't spend money on something you are not sure you want. Learn from your own mistake, and don't live wondering what it would've been like had you bought that one thing. This includes spending $$$ on something that might end up being part of that small, TINY, fraction that have some kind of problem.

I just bought my cousin, who lives in Europe and will be taking it to her, a new Asus 15" i5 laptop. I bought it because of Asus's good reliability and reviews. I've been seeing it up to perform well(getting rid of garbage bloatware, and installing needed programs) all day so far(takes a WHILE when you realize there are 40 Windows updates to download and install). While this laptop was pretty cheap compared to my MBP that is almost 3 years old, I would still save up to get, what I believe to be perfection in design and simplicity.
For me, I would even be willing to take a chance at something that had a 50% chance defect rate as long as I had something that's as nice as my MBP. Honest! Got an Xbox 360? Do some research on its defect rate...now that's a joke! However, I still bought 2 of them in my lifetime.

As they say, something truly good is worth the risk...whatever risk that might be, gigantic or miniscule.
 

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