Raising the Bar for Futility
We made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Fort Stockton yesterday with the goal of getting my father-in-law's computer woes addressed and getting him back online. We succeeded only in redefining the term "dismal failure."
His problems began a couple of months ago when the local ISP succeeded in bringing down email for the entire town for an extended period of time while they did...something? Who knows what? In any event, his email never came back on. So he decided to take matters into his own hands, having decided that perhaps it was his computer that was causing the problem. Unfortunately, his solution began -- and ended -- by inserting the system installation disk. By the time he did whatever he did, not only did his email continue not to work, but neither did anything else.
All of his files were gone, some of his applications no longer started up or worked, and his internet connection was completely inoperable. To compound the problem, the administrator password was somehow reset, making it impossible to change many system settings.
To my chagrin and embarrassment, in three hours of trying everything I could think of, I succeeded only in finding a few of the missing files (mainly photos) and confirming that his internet connection was operable, which I did by connecting my laptop. However, I never was able to establish an internet connection for his computer. The fact that his computer would not automatically detect and connect is troubling, but I don't know if it indicates a problem with his system (software OR hardware) or if it's a problem involving the ISP's configuration.
Oh, did I mention that his computer is a Mac?
Admitting that a Mac is broken beyond my ability to repair it is bad enough, but what's worse is that my father-in-law must now submit himself to the $70 minimum service call from the ISP, the representative of which will come out, look at his computer and say "oh, we don't know anything about Macs. Here's your bill."
I suppose the moral of this story is that regardless of the kind of computer you own, it is possible to break it. The one advantage a Windows user has over a Mac user is that there are a lot more people who have experience in fixing a broken PC.
It's nice to see that your father's misfortune has brought out the best in the blogging community. A beautiful sight, like vultures swooping in for an overheated squirrel...
Me, I'm just wondering how this saga will play on the Mac/PC commercials:
Justin Long: Hi, I'm a Mac. Today we're going to... Hey, it's Patches O'Houlihan!
(Wrench flies in from off-camera)
SFX: Bonk!
Justin staggers backward, knocking over easel with pie chart labeled "kickin' it" at back of set.
John Hodgman: And I'm a PC. Wow! You're right! Macs are WAY cooler than PCs.
Posted by: Bret at September 25, 2006 09:34 AMThe one advantage a Windows user has over a Mac user
Regardless of the context, I'm rendered stunned and speechless by seeing that half-sentence on this blog.
Posted by: Jim at September 25, 2006 09:39 AMLike Jim, I'm stunned at the use of "morale" where I think "moral" was intended. Clearly, morale suffered in the making of this story. ;-)
Posted by: gwynne at September 25, 2006 09:43 AMI'm stunned at the use of "morale" where I think "moral" was intended.
Making a four hour round trip with these results makes me cranky, and when I get cranky, I don't spel gud.
Posted by: Eric at September 25, 2006 09:46 AMI've been giving some consideration to buying a Mac as my next PC, but you've given me another reason for pause.
As a former owner of a Sony Betamax, I'm a little sensitive to the perils of the "this is technically superior, but good luck finding stuff that goes with it" scenario.
Posted by: Kelly at September 25, 2006 10:02 AMKelly, do what you want, but given your concern let me also tell you that this is the first time I've encountered something like this in 18 years of Mac use. Plus, Midland's in a little different situation than Fort Stockton with regard to the level of technical support expertise.
As you know from working in the oilpatch, you can break anything if you put your mind to it. ;-)
Posted by: Eric at September 25, 2006 10:04 AMI've heard it said that Apple's just as guilty of stealing from Microsoft as the other way around.
It's interesting to finally see some evidence to support that theory.
Posted by: Brian at September 25, 2006 11:45 AMI've only had a couple brief encounters with Mac computers. After years and years of having no choice but to understand a lot about my Windows machines to keep them working, the notion of a computer that purports to be so stable that it won't admit me to its innards frankly makes me nervous.
Kind of the technical equivalent of Hank Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive".
Your father-in-law's situation brings me no joy. I feel your pain every time my college buddy relates another chapter in his tale of woe about the net connectivity problems he has with his Mac, and I can only shrug and admit that I wouldn't have the first idea where to start debugging a Mac. The Mac that he--having by his own admission a nearly complete lack of technical ability--bought because Macs "just work".
Posted by: Foo at September 27, 2006 09:17 AMAbout the publisher
Random Abbye photos...
"Glove Box Stories" is Back!
Eel on a Wheel
Meteorological Musings
Random Thursday
Is stupidity the Net effect?
More Invaders
Back Yard Birds
Book Review: "The Year of Living Biblically"
Sometimes, you get lucky...
June Sunset
It's Official...
Google's new favicon rocks the design world
Give the Gift of Flame
The Incredible Shrinking Math Skills
The Neighborhood:
West Texas Blogs:
[Midland unless otherwise indicated]
Other Texas Blogs:
The Business:
The Church:
The World:
Well my friend, today is your lucky day. After having my new supercomputer built last May, I just happen to have my old computer sitting right here. Just what you need, a Compaq with all the bells and whistles.
That's right 3.2 Gb hard drive and 64 Mb of RAM. As a bonus it even has all my photos on it, so your father in law won't have to take anymore pictures. And....it's a REAL computer, with Windows. I could let you, a friend, have it for under $500.
Posted by: Wallace-Midland, Texas at September 25, 2006 09:14 AM