mwilkins@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Mark Wilkins) (03/20/90)
The image processing package I'm developing was on hold for two weeks,
recently, because my RGB monitor had the failing-flyback-transformer
jiggle.
The local Apple service engineer at U.C. Riverside indicated that my
monitor was eligible for some type of free bug fix or something, so away it
went.
When it returned, the red, green and blue channels were misaligned in a
way not fixable by twiddling the knobs on the back. Also, the display was
tinted an ominous red, a color strangely reminiscent, at the time, of service
engineer blood.
However, being civilized, I stayed my feral instincts and politely
returned the monitor to them. I was informed that the monitor had been
serviced by a former secretary with no prior technical experience who'd just
graduated from Apple's one-week service course. The same individual was to
correct the mistake.
When my monitor returned a week later, it was almost the same color as it
had been before. "We turned the red all the way down," said the service
engineer, "and this is the best it'll get."
Mystified that turning up the red and the green hadn't occurred to them, I
pointed out that they could do better. Finally, the monitor came back a
third time, accompanied by a senior service engineer and his supervisor.
Although it still looks a little pink, I let it ride.
When I asked for information about the adjustment procedure, I was told
"that's proprietary." So tomorrow, I call up Apple and remind them that I'm
under non-disclosure too, and could I please have the appropriate pages out
of the manual. Chances are, they'll say no.
What prevents Apple from providing, say, a two-week course? Or maybe a
month? What prevents them from saying "here's our repair information, do
what you want and don't come crying to us when you break things" or
something like that? Why is my monitor pink?
-- Mark Wilkins,
wilkins@jarthur.claremont.edumwilkins@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Mark Wilkins) (03/20/90)
Turning up the green and blue was the fix I suggested. No flames, please. -- M. W.