I purchased Applecare for my Aluminum Powerbook for $350. The Apple
Store says that includes TechTool Deluxe. Great - $50 saved.

Imagine my surprise when the included Tech Tool disk was version 3.0.3
rather than version 4 which Micromat is now selling?

Imagine my greater surprise when this older TT disc wouldn't boot my
new Powerbook? Apple Support verified that I had the correct version
of TT. On the version 3 version 4 issue they were mute.

I finally got to a "Product Specialist" that knew that some updates had
been done to the TT 3.0.3 disc for new machines but he was very
specific in telling me he wouldn't promise if it would boot my machine
or not. The new disk is on it's way to me but it will still be version
3.0.3.

Am I just unlucky or has anyone else noticed that Apple is becoming
harder and harder to deal with ? Seems like everything they say is
couched with ambiguity to cover a variety of shortcomings.

in article 080120041515256687%ipoche@ix.netcom.com, Irwin at
ipoche@ix.netcom.com wrote on 1/8/04 1:15 PM:

>
> I purchased Applecare for my Aluminum Powerbook for $350. The Apple
> Store says that includes TechTool Deluxe. Great - $50 saved.
>
> Imagine my surprise when the included Tech Tool disk was version 3.0.3
> rather than version 4 which Micromat is now selling?
>
> Imagine my greater surprise when this older TT disc wouldn't boot my
> new Powerbook? Apple Support verified that I had the correct version
> of TT. On the version 3 version 4 issue they were mute.
>
> I finally got to a "Product Specialist" that knew that some updates had
> been done to the TT 3.0.3 disc for new machines but he was very
> specific in telling me he wouldn't promise if it would boot my machine
> or not. The new disk is on it's way to me but it will still be version
> 3.0.3.
>
> Am I just unlucky or has anyone else noticed that Apple is becoming
> harder and harder to deal with ? Seems like everything they say is
> couched with ambiguity to cover a variety of shortcomings.

I think apple is getting stuck in the "get it out fast and fix the problems
later" instead of just taking the time to get it right the first time.

Mac OS X is the boon and bane of the Mac world. There' such a fever to
"upgrade" that there's no time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the
current operating system.

Most companies these days seem to be scrapping customer service in exchange
for a bottom line, when in reality, they are killing their bottom line by
doing this at all.

Kind Regards,
Nathaniel
--
flikWORLD Design
reply to: nat at flikworld(dot)com

In article <BC2313AE.3AEB%nat@flikworld.com>, Nathaniel Flick
<nat@flikworld.com> wrote:

> in article 080120041515256687%ipoche@ix.netcom.com, Irwin at
> ipoche@ix.netcom.com wrote on 1/8/04 1:15 PM:
>
> >
> > I purchased Applecare for my Aluminum Powerbook for $350. The Apple
> > Store says that includes TechTool Deluxe. Great - $50 saved.
> >
> > Imagine my surprise when the included Tech Tool disk was version 3.0.3
> > rather than version 4 which Micromat is now selling?
> >
> > Imagine my greater surprise when this older TT disc wouldn't boot my
> > new Powerbook? Apple Support verified that I had the correct version
> > of TT. On the version 3 version 4 issue they were mute.
> >
> > I finally got to a "Product Specialist" that knew that some updates had
> > been done to the TT 3.0.3 disc for new machines but he was very
> > specific in telling me he wouldn't promise if it would boot my machine
> > or not. The new disk is on it's way to me but it will still be version
> > 3.0.3.
> >
> > Am I just unlucky or has anyone else noticed that Apple is becoming
> > harder and harder to deal with ? Seems like everything they say is
> > couched with ambiguity to cover a variety of shortcomings.
>
> I think apple is getting stuck in the "get it out fast and fix the problems
> later" instead of just taking the time to get it right the first time.
>
> Mac OS X is the boon and bane of the Mac world. There' such a fever to
> "upgrade" that there's no time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the
> current operating system.
>
> Most companies these days seem to be scrapping customer service in exchange
> for a bottom line, when in reality, they are killing their bottom line by
> doing this at all.
>
> Kind Regards,
> Nathaniel

No doubt you are absolutely correct.

The pisser is that from day one they knew, or should have known, and
definitely could have known, that they were selling a product that
wasn't compatible with a new product line. They keep this a secret as
evidenced by my having to get to a "product specialist" and that as of
now there is nothing in the support database stating this.

I still have some trust of Apple left in me, but not a lot.

On 1/8/04 5:51 PM, in article 080120041751327037%ipoche@ix.netcom.com,
"Irwin" <ipoche@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> In article <BC2313AE.3AEB%nat@flikworld.com>, Nathaniel Flick
> <nat@flikworld.com> wrote:
>
>> in article 080120041515256687%ipoche@ix.netcom.com, Irwin at
>> ipoche@ix.netcom.com wrote on 1/8/04 1:15 PM:
>>
>>>
>>> I purchased Applecare for my Aluminum Powerbook for $350. The Apple
>>> Store says that includes TechTool Deluxe. Great - $50 saved.
>>>
>>> Imagine my surprise when the included Tech Tool disk was version 3.0.3
>>> rather than version 4 which Micromat is now selling?
>>>
>>> Imagine my greater surprise when this older TT disc wouldn't boot my
>>> new Powerbook? Apple Support verified that I had the correct version
>>> of TT. On the version 3 version 4 issue they were mute.
>>>
>>> I finally got to a "Product Specialist" that knew that some updates had
>>> been done to the TT 3.0.3 disc for new machines but he was very
>>> specific in telling me he wouldn't promise if it would boot my machine
>>> or not. The new disk is on it's way to me but it will still be version
>>> 3.0.3.
>>>
>>> Am I just unlucky or has anyone else noticed that Apple is becoming
>>> harder and harder to deal with ? Seems like everything they say is
>>> couched with ambiguity to cover a variety of shortcomings.
>>
>> I think apple is getting stuck in the "get it out fast and fix the problems
>> later" instead of just taking the time to get it right the first time.
>>
>> Mac OS X is the boon and bane of the Mac world. There' such a fever to
>> "upgrade" that there's no time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the
>> current operating system.
>>
>> Most companies these days seem to be scrapping customer service in exchange
>> for a bottom line, when in reality, they are killing their bottom line by
>> doing this at all.
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>> Nathaniel
>
> No doubt you are absolutely correct.
>
> The pisser is that from day one they knew, or should have known, and
> definitely could have known, that they were selling a product that
> wasn't compatible with a new product line. They keep this a secret as
> evidenced by my having to get to a "product specialist" and that as of
> now there is nothing in the support database stating this.
>
> I still have some trust of Apple left in me, but not a lot.

Not really, or at least I don't think so. They probably have a standing
order for, say, 350,000 boxes of AppleCare for PowerBook every quarter. The
box includes the current version of TT AT THE TIME THE BOX WAS PRODUCED. The
box then may sit on a shelf for months while newer versions of the PowerBook
come out.

I've bought three PowerBooks thru the Apple Store, all with AppleCare. Two
came with non-bootable copies of TT. Besides, it isn't even Tech Tool Pro,
which is the one you want. It's a "lite" version.
--

Brian Ehni

Irwin <ipoche@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message news:<080120041751327037%ipoche@ix.netcom.com>...
> In article <BC2313AE.3AEB%nat@flikworld.com>, Nathaniel Flick
> <nat@flikworld.com> wrote:
>
> > in article 080120041515256687%ipoche@ix.netcom.com, Irwin at
> > ipoche@ix.netcom.com wrote on 1/8/04 1:15 PM:
> >
> > >
> > > I purchased Applecare for my Aluminum Powerbook for $350. The Apple
> > > Store says that includes TechTool Deluxe. Great - $50 saved.
> > >
> > > Imagine my surprise when the included Tech Tool disk was version 3.0.3
> > > rather than version 4 which Micromat is now selling?
> > >
> > > Imagine my greater surprise when this older TT disc wouldn't boot my
> > > new Powerbook? Apple Support verified that I had the correct version
> > > of TT. On the version 3 version 4 issue they were mute.
> > >
> > > I finally got to a "Product Specialist" that knew that some updates had
> > > been done to the TT 3.0.3 disc for new machines but he was very
> > > specific in telling me he wouldn't promise if it would boot my machine
> > > or not. The new disk is on it's way to me but it will still be version
> > > 3.0.3.
> > >
> > > Am I just unlucky or has anyone else noticed that Apple is becoming
> > > harder and harder to deal with ? Seems like everything they say is
> > > couched with ambiguity to cover a variety of shortcomings.
> >
> > I think apple is getting stuck in the "get it out fast and fix the problems
> > later" instead of just taking the time to get it right the first time.
> >
> > Mac OS X is the boon and bane of the Mac world. There' such a fever to
> > "upgrade" that there's no time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the
> > current operating system.
> >
> > Most companies these days seem to be scrapping customer service in exchange
> > for a bottom line, when in reality, they are killing their bottom line by
> > doing this at all.
> >
> > Kind Regards,
> > Nathaniel
>
> No doubt you are absolutely correct.
>
> The pisser is that from day one they knew, or should have known, and
> definitely could have known, that they were selling a product that
> wasn't compatible with a new product line. They keep this a secret as
> evidenced by my having to get to a "product specialist" and that as of
> now there is nothing in the support database stating this.
>
> I still have some trust of Apple left in me, but not a lot.

It is a stripped down version. I was a bit disappointed. It gives
just a little more information than the diagnostics shipped with the
machine. At least it was that way a year ago.

Robert