Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!mcnc!decvax!dartvax!eleazar.dartmouth.edu!xerox
From: xerox@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (James Osborne)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple's Horrible Product Quality
Message-ID: <13786@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 4 Jun 89 20:02:31 GMT
References: <13743@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> <2694@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Reply-To: xerox@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (James Osborne)
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 61


mouser@portia.Stanford.EDU (Michael Wang) offered some suggestions as to what
Chang's problems with the SE might have been.  Now, I do not wish to say 
whether Apple's service or product quality is bad, but I can offer some facts:

First, if the environment is the cause of his problems, then why doesn't every
other campus in the dorm (or the campus for that matter) have the same problem?
Since Chang doesn't smoke, his room has the same environment as mine, which
is next door, and everyone else's here at Dartmouth.

Second, the power supply for the dormitories, as well as all buildings on
campus, is exceptional, since we rigged the buildings specifically for 
computers (each room has one or two hardwired appletalk ports, and the dorms'
electrical systems give constant voltage with little spiking, etc.)

Also, if it were a bad power supply that was his problem, then why didn't the
technicians detect that the second or third time in?

Regarding power supplies, mine went on my SE/30 1 day out of the box. I had
it repaired and it has been working well for about a month, but it didn't
make me feel any better about the quality.

Every fall we sell about 1,000 macintoshes to the incoming freshmen.  Half 
are SE's and half Pluses.  I would say about 99% have no problems, but the
other 1%, about 10 people, seem to get lemons.  They bring in their computer
to be serviced several times during the year and still have problems.  ALot
have to pay for service since they still might be having problems after the 
whimp of a warranty has expired.  I think there should definitely be a lemon
law for computers.

Just to cite two examples, it was common knowledge a couple of years ago that
anyone who owned a Mac shouldn't be surprised if his/her power supply failed
about a year out of the box.  It just happened.  The thing of today seems to
involve the 800K drives.  I have talked to the service people here and they
have complained to apple that the product is faulty, because they have to
fix so many of them.  It seems the same type of thing, too, since most of them
go about a year or so after the computer is purchased.  I know my 14 month old
SE was having problems with the internal 800K drive, and I know many other
people who claim the same thing.  Much the same thing holds true for the 
"older" SE internal 20 meg hard drives.  At least three people I have talked to
say their hard drive got louder and louder until it just died.  It happened to
the 9 month old SE we use as one of the cash registers at the computer store.

Apple's product quality shouldn't be condemned, but I think that everyone would
agree that at least THEY should show confidence in their product by giving it
a longer warranty.  I've heard the absurd argument that BECAUSE Apple is 
confident in their product they give a short warranty, but they are the only
company who uses this logic.  I'm sure that the number of people who would
buy Apple's products because they have long warranties (former fence-sitters
most likely) will make up for any sales that Apple loses with decreased Apple-
Care purchases, and service fees.

Macintoshes are the best.  Apple is great.  But they need some new financial
consultants to tell them how to manage their marketing strategy.


_james.Osborne@mac.dartmouth.edu
".sig file? Oh yea! That's the one we archived yesterday!"

C
Also, if it were just a bad power suppl