Category: Rants

I emailed the following letter to Steve Jobs (the real one) a few days ago and received not so much as a reply. I sent the email twice from two different addresses. I now post it opening in the hopes that someone will help me out.

Dear Steve Jobs,

I have been a long time Apple fan. I remember when my mother showed me a wall street journal article in the early 1980’s with a sketch of the upcoming Lisa. It said that Lisa would be a quantum leap in computing. A few years later I got my own Mac, A Macintosh SE, which I still use to this day! (I use it for sound effects on my podcast because I like the old talking moose sound).

Today I own several Macs and use them all the time. In the past four years I have bought as many macs. I got a G4 in 2003, which I still use as my web server and file server. I’ve bought two laptops- a g4 ibook and a macbook pro, both of which I was and have been pleased with. However, I also purchased a Powermac G5 dual 2.5 Ghz in 2005, which is the (long awaited) reason for my writing this letter.

A few weeks ago I was using the G5 to watch a movie with my dog on my lap. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like fireworks- ‘POP POP POP’ and saw bright flashes of light through the grating in the g5’s case. IT scared me and even my dog ran away and hid, the noise was so loud. Then I smelled a noxious chemical smell and very carefully unplugged the machine, relieved to find it had not set anything nearby on fire.

So I took the Mac to the North Michigan Avenue genius bar, whom I have always received stellar service from. THey told me the problem was the power supply and since I don’t have apple care I’d have to pay $250.00 to fix it. Fair enough, I thought, and agreed to pay for the repair.

Yesterday, however they called me again , only this time with bad news: The cooling system of the processors had leaked fluid onto the CPU, logic board, and power supply and that is what caused the fireworks, smell and breakdown of the computer. The Genius people told me it would cost $2200.00 to fix.

The repair case # is R12260998 and the serial number is RM5105KGQPP.

For a number of reasons, I don’t feel that I should have to pay for this repair:
1) I am a long term and very loyal customer. I have purchased a computer at least every year, and many many iPods and accessories. If you check under my apple id, rishey@hotmail.com, you will find evidence of this.

2) While I did not purchase AppleCare on this Machine, I have on every other machine I have ever purchased from Apple, including the current applecare on my macbook pro, which I have only used once, to repair a burnt up power brick.

3) As a leader in the Gay/Lesbian podcaster community, I have recommended many many podcasters to quit their PC’s and join the Apple world, where life is easier for creative folk as well as those with a sense of style. I run a web site called qpodder which is the primary directory and community for GLBT podcasts.

4) MOST IMPORTANTLY, however, the cooling system failure is a design defect and is not simply a random part failure, such as a broken power supply or CPU, for example. I have done much research regarding this problem and have found many cases of the exact same problem occurring on macs with the liquid cooling system.

5) This design defect was, in fact, potentially very dangerous. I have read teh MSDS for the cooling liquid which leaked onto the chassis and my living room floor. It contains the same sweet tasting radiator type fluid which often kills dogs when it leaks from car radiators. So, my dog could have been killed by this toxic, and who knows what damage may have come from breathing those toxic-smelling fumes.

I feel it is an act of extreme Chutzpah for apple to ask ME to pay $2200.00 for the ‘privilege’ of having Apple allow me to bring a dangerous machine into my living room and having it almost kill my dog.

The least Apple can do is pay for the repair. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. Apple should have at least warned people that this machine could be hazardous to humans and pets. I would have at least kept it off the floor!

Please let me know if you can help me out!

Kind Regards,

Richard Bluestein
richard@bluestein.com
phone 773.XXX.XXXX