Windows 2 Apples

Skype to the rescue!

For the first time I had the opportunity to recommend a longtime Windows user shift to an Apple. My friend had been using Windows computers for many, many years primarily because Windows was required to work with the various specialized interfaces he was marketing. When I quizzed him about his needs he said he primarily needed his computer to safely surf the Internet as he researched, for writing and occasionally recording audio podcasts.

Given his history of problems with Trojans and viruses and limited requirements, I suggested it was time he considered shifting to the Apple platform. He decided to drive to an Apple store approximately an hour and a half away from him to make his purchase. A few days later when he called to ask for help in setting up his e-mail client and for instructions on how to shut down his Apple I was dismayed to find that after making the hour and a half drive to the Apple store plunking down cash for a shiny new iMac and extended one year support contract that the store personnel did nothing, absolutely nothing to help him shift from Windows to apples.

They didn’t even show him how to start or correctly shut down his machine. He had been simply pressing the power button to turn the machine off. They’d told him that he would have to bring his Macintosh back to the store so that they could install iWorks as promised in their advertising or to receive any hands-on support from their “geniuses”. For several days he endured something close to a nightmare as he tried to use Apple Mail. I’m sure he spent at least five hours on the phone with Apple tech support and three with me before we had his accounts working correctly with Apple Mail. I can’t help but feel that 45 minutes of tutoring in the store the day he purchased his machine could have saved Apple at least four hours of telephone support.

As I was working with him to configure his Apple Mail client the top-tier IT support from Apple called 45 minutes later than the scheduled appointment time. I had almost completed the configuration by that time using Skype to voice and cut-and-paste account settings. I have been a long time user and fan of Skype and realize that this was the first application he should install if we were going to work out the kinks of shifting him from Windows 2 Apples.

When he described the Skype screens, I realize the version he was using was different from what was displayed on both my PC and Mac. I went to the Skype website and discovered a new update was available that had not been automatically flagged when I launched Skype on either platforms. I downloaded and installed the latest version of Skype on both systems and was very pleasantly surprised to find Skype now allows you to share your desktop during a Skype conversation. This proved to be extremely helpful as I helped my friend not only configure his Mac Mail client but to take a few moments to give him a short tour of the Apple Leopard user interface and way of doing things.

Skype does not allow remote control but being able to see what he was pointing to and clicking on proved invaluable. One of the major problems when trying to provide online tech support is communicating efficiently about what one is or should be doing. I was impressed with the responsiveness of Skype desktop display and the excellent integration with voice, video, text and file transfer.

I assume that when my friend worked with Apple online tech support they would use the remote desktop option to assist him but they said they were not allowed to take control of customers machines because of legal issues. This is certainly not been his experience when working with tech support issues on his Windows machines. Several times in the recent past he has received online support in which remote-access played a pivotal part.

The last time I talked to him he was feeling much more comfortable with his Mac and his decision to make the switch. He enjoys the operating system and hardware but has less warm and fuzzy feelings towards Apple sales staff and support. Apple sales let my friend down and could have saved their online tech support hours of frustration for both themselves and my friend if the store personnel had simply taken 30-45 minutes to review a few of the obvious differences between working with Macs versus PCs.

Thumbs down for Apple store staff and thumbs up for Skype!

Dictated using MacSpeech Dictate, recorded using MixCraft 4 and hosted using Podbean.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [ 5:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (111)