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“Welcome to the Apple Store, sir, I’m Ben, your Apple Genius. We don’t have any barstools
at this bar, but you can lean your elbows on the counter top. No one will mind.”
“Thanks. My arms are sore from pounding on my keyboard all morning. I think my computer is
broken.”
“Maybe you should not pound on it.”
“It was just an expression.”
“Sorry, My poor attempt at humor. Folks think that if you stand in front of a sign that
says genius, you need act like you are in Stockholm accepting a prize all the time. Why
don’t you tell me a little bit about your Mac.”
“Well, when I hit the power key on the keyboard, it rings, the screen flashes, then the
happy Mac faces comes up and stares at me.”
“The happy Mac stares at you?”
“Yeah, just stares at me. Big old dumb grin on its face. Kinda ticks me off.”
“What have you tried so far to fix it?”
“I unplugged it from the wall. That put an end to that stupid grin real quick.”
“That’ll do it.”
“I plugged it back in and tried again. I usually get that Mac face, but once and a while I
get a bunch of little pictures across the bottom of the screen, and then a tiny wristwatch.”
“Hmmm, the watch cursor. Okay, what happens next?”
“Well, if I move the mouse, the little watch thingy moves.”
“Did you try anything else?”
“I found a card in the box that said Apple help line, and called them.”
“Oh, so you just bought the computer?”
“Yep.”
“And it did this right out of the box? You never had a chance to use it?”
“Nope. I don’t really know much about computers. My son bought it for me so I could email
him at college.”
“Did he buy it here?”
“No. Is that a problem?”
“Oh, no! I’m just glad WE didn’t sell you a broken computer.”
“I think my son bought it at the U store at school.”
“So the Apple help line wasn’t any help?”
“Oh, they were very helpful. They had me plugging in this and unplugging that, using CDs,
they even suggested I give the case a whack on the side. We must have talked for two
hours, but nothing worked.”
“Did they have you put a CD in, and start the machine while holding down the C key?”
“Yeah, I did that. I got a screen full of little CDs. Once I got that far, they had me
reinstall the system. I think that is what they told me.”
“That sounds right. They would have had you run the installer to replace the system
folder. Did that help?”
“No. But instead of a watch, now all it does is show a colored spinning ball on a blue
screen. That’s when they said I probably couldn’t fix it myself. I was so frustrated that
I came to the mall to get some fresh air, and when I walked by here I saw the Genius Bar
though the window.”
“Uh, the CD you tried, did it have a big blue X on it?”
“Yeah.”
“And finally help line person said you should return the Mac to the store you bought it?”
“Yeah, but my son goes to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. That’s pretty far. I was hoping you
could help.”
“Well, if your son bought it at an education store, I don’t think we can take it back
here. Uh, what kind of Mac is it?”
“An iMac.”
“What color?”
“Indigo.”
“Indigo! Did your son install any additional memory?”
“My son didn’t set it up. I took everything out of the box. It didn’t have any memory.
Just a CD, is that what you mean?”
“No. Memory. RAM, it’s a small circuit board that looks like that picture there. I think
your computer needs a little more RAM.”
“Is that expensive?”
“No. In fact, if you bring your Mac in I’ll fix it for you right here, and I won’t charge
you a penny. That is the least we can do to fix what I realize has been a very frustrating
experience.”
“That is awful nice. I really appreciate that.”
“Once I put in the RAM, the computer will work perfectly. I really should not tell you
this. Those model iMacs don’t have enough factory installed RAM, and unfortunately, it
should not have taken a genius to figure that out.”
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"Welcome to the Apple Store"
