Kneale: Why Apple Is the World's Best Retailer

I'm all for good customer service, but this article didn't make me feel good about Apple. This reporter is running around trying to get 10.6 for his PowerPC laptop, and he ends up with an 8GB flash stick, a copy of what I can only assume is 10.5 (but he thinks is 10.6), an Airport Extreme and a 2TB USB HDD. Great that he feels good about buying all that, but hearing his story only makes me think that he got deceived, upsold and generally screwed.

I remember the dark ages. When the retailers would have a few Macs tucked into a corner somewhere. And tapping the keyboard would only get you the password protected dialog box. "Guys, I'm trying to buy a computer here. I don't give a fuck about the screensaver."

It amazes me that some retailers and manufacturers still haven't learned this basic lesson. A pretty shockwave video playing, highlighting the useless crapware installed on their PCs. And it's still password protected. Like just the fact that I'm standing in front of it is enough to break it. That's pretty reassuring.