The Middle

I had to say goodbye to my Powerbook today. And now I'm nervous about it's healthy return.

A little background: Last year, I caught the Mac bug in a big way, and completly fell into the RDF. I read all the Mac blogs I could, furiously followed the news and rumor sites, and pretty much dove into Mac life full-force. This included purchasing an Aluminum Powerbook G4 from a kind gentleman on eBay. It was only a G4 1.25Ghz, but this thing was decked out with every upgrade possible: 2GB's RAM, 80GB HD, bluetooth, airport extreme, all the way down to the illuminated keyboard.

Sadly, sometime in the last week, the machine started misbehaving when I would try to go mobile (the point of a laptop, right?). Whenever it was running, which it did perfectly on AC or battery power, the insertion or removal of the AC plug would cause it to immediately shut down as if it had no power whatsoever.

So, I tried resetting the PRAM. I tried resetting the PMU. I tried a buddy's battery AND AC adapter. Same symptoms every time.

After reading all the praises for the heralded "Genius Bar" at each Apple store, I signed up for an appointment today at my local Apple store. As a side note, signing up for a queue with arrival times at service-oriented merchants on the web is brilliant! I wish the car mechanic, dentist, and every other service provider did this. No more waiting, ever!

I arrived at the Apple store at my appointed time, and was promptly talking with Katherine, my own personal Apple Genius. Turns out they aren't all of exceptional IQ in every range of Apple hardware, as she basically took my problem down, and escaped into the back to 'call the Mac Genius', some super-genius breed that is too rare to stock one in each store. I imagine they sit in some Cupertino black-ops call center, frantically answering questions from the lowly 'Apple Geniuses' around the world.

Anyway, once she told them the problem, they immediately said "Logic board hosed. Take it, box it up, and send it to the mothership, we'll have it patched up and returned in 3-5 business days".

"Logic board hosed" were really not the words I wanted to hear. I was, however, quoted a very reasonable price to have the whole thing repaired. So I handed the box over, filled out a form with my name and powerbook's serial #, and was out the door.

Shortly thereafter, I realized I had just handed over to a complete stranger several thousands of dollars worth of gadget, not to mention the primary, and in some cases, the only copy of a great deal of my digital life, and had received no confirmation from them as to the makeup or even their possession of my gadget.

I know Apple is very lovey-dovey, and committed to customer service, but that makes me extremely nervous.

So now, filled with anguish for not having my Mac to use at home and for pet projects, I also get to spend the next several days, including the weekend, assuming that my powerbook will be repaired, returned, and summarily placed on eBay by some unscroupulous Apple store employee. Fun times.