murphy@hao.UCAR.EDU (Graham Murphy) (11/17/87)
Having bought a MacII in September, my "authorized Apple reseller"
informed me today that I can obtain the System 5.0 release for free
just by filling in a card and sending it to Apple. This sounds easy and
sensible. As we all know by now, the upgrade is normally worth $49 -
which isn't a large amount of money, but free is free. I go to fill in
my little card and under item number 5.(!), it says "Allow 12 to 16
weeks for delivery." THREE to FOUR MONTHS.
Is Apple reknowned for being VERY conservative on their delivery
dates ?
For those who haven't seen this delightful coupon, item 1 states
that the offer is for those who bought Mac+, MacSE or MacII between
Aug11 and Nov15. Item 2 requires validation by your "authorized Apple
reseller", including serial number. Item 3 - your own address. Item 4
is delightful - send the validated coupon, your original, itemized,
dated sales receipt (oh, keep a copy for yourself, they suggest), plus
the UPC bar code from the macintosh box as proof of purchase. For
software worth as much as $49 ? If I buy A/UX, will a similar upgrade
require a character reference from my congressman ? And then the item
5, I referred to. All that and then down the bottom, in fine print,
certificate must be postmarked by Dec 15, 1987.
Why doesn't Apple trust the "authorized Apple reseller" who
validates this card to just give me the stupid software and fill
in a card there to be sent back in bulk ? Apple must have a
reasonable idea of how many Macs were sold during this period and
could supply a few copies to each store for this purpose.
I should point out that my "authorized Apple reseller" keeps in
close contact with the Apple rep and there has been absolutely no
suggestion of this until now, so I couldn't have sent in the card in
advance.
Basically, I don't think I will bother with it. Is this what Apple
wants ? Or should I just be extremely grateful for the opportunity
of obtaining this for free even though it didn't come with my computer
originally ? I received hypercard for free ... sadly, it is of no use
at the moment.
And anyway, why did I bother with this comment for only $49 ?
Graham Murphy
High Altitude Observatory
National Center for Atmospheric Research
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hardNET: P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000. (303) 497-1514.dlt@csun.UUCP (Dave Thompson) (11/17/87)
In article <960@hao.UCAR.EDU> murphy@hao.UUCP (Graham Murphy) writes: > > Having bought a MacII in September, my "authorized Apple reseller" >informed me today that I can obtain the System 5.0 release for free >just by filling in a card and sending it to Apple. > > Basically, I don't think I will bother with it. Is this what Apple >wants ? And here I've been sitting around, patiently waiting for a phone call from my dealer telling me to come on down and pick up my free copy of Multifinder (as had happened with Hypercard). I'm not about to wait three or four months for a $49 product. Presuming that I can even find it I suppose I'll end up shelling out the cash. I want it, need it, today!! (Actually, two months ago! :-)) I find it rather odd that we should even have to send in some certifi- cate to obtain Multifinder. One would think that they could get this information from the registration card that I mailed in at the time I bought the machine (MacII) in September and just send it out directly. I would have thought that information had been entered into a database somewhere for easy access. Maybe they only give the cards out to the various unwanted glossies so that we can be inundated with subscription offers. But then, again, perhaps it's only a case of one department not talking to another. -- Dave Thompson uucp: {ihnp4|hplabs|psivax}!csun!dlt CSUN Computer Center phone: (818) 885-2790 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330
dlw@hpsmtc1.HP.COM (David Williams) (11/30/87)
Perhaps one of the nice readers from Apple will forward this string onto John Sculley or whoever is responsible for product support at Apple! It is high time that Apple got into the support business especially at the prices charged for their hardware! Just having the operator refer you to your local dealer is not my idea of support, especially when so many of them are no where near as technically competent as they should be. If Apple seriously intends to be in the Workstation marketplace, with the Mac II then a support organization had better be formed quick! Or they could always try a strategic alliance with some other Major vendor to do their support for them -- like Hp for example!
chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (12/01/87)
>It is >high time that Apple got into the support business especially at the prices >charged for their hardware! Just having the operator refer you to your local >dealer is not my idea of support, especially when so many of them are no where >near as technically competent as they should be. If Apple seriously intends to >be in the Workstation marketplace, with the Mac II then a support organization >had better be formed quick! Um, you didn't hear this from me, but a little birdie told me that Apple IS setting up a developer support organization to handle the workstation market. And last I heard, they were looking for a few good tech support people to staff it. Of course, I was the one who told you folks the Open Mac had a VMEbus. So perhaps this birdie was lying to me.... Then again, maybe not. chuq --- Chuq "Fixed in 4.0" Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ
breck@aimt.UUCP (Robert Breckinridge Beatie) (12/02/87)
In article <35127@sun.uucp>, chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: > >It is > >high time that Apple got into the support business especially at the prices > >charged for their hardware! > > Um, you didn't hear this from me, but a little birdie told me that > Apple IS setting up a developer support organization to handle the > workstation market. This weeks (Nov. 30) "Info World" has an article titled, "Apple Targets Technical support, Readies Full-Service On-Line Net". I didn't see anything that would indicate that they'll be giving "Free system upgrade" but it at least looks as if they're finally starting to take support seriously. I've also heard that Apple people are in fact out looking for support personel. So they do seem to be trying to set up a support organization. -- Breck Beatie {uunet,pyramid!weitek}!aimt!breck "Sloppy as hell Little Father. You've embarassed me no end."
fons@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu.UUCP (12/05/87)
I too would like to know more about Mathview. Could someone replying to the first message cc a copy to me at FONS@UIUCVMD (BITNET) FONS@UIUCUXE (UUCP)