Secret Diary of an Apple Store Mac Genius
By Peter Rojas 
posted March 7th 2005 9:23AM
posted March 7th 2005 9:23AM
There are only four posts up on it so far, but supposedly the higher-ups at Apple are none too stoked about
"Genius-like", the LiveJournal of someone who works at Genius Bar of one of the Apple Stores. And we can see why: he or
she dishes the inside dirt about what it's like behind the scenes, like being repeatedly told during training that it's
easier to get accepted into Stanford than become a Mac Genius, or how Apple charges $135 to install a new replacement
logic board, even though it only takes six minutes, and $600 for a new SuperDrive that'll set you back $69 from
Newegg.
[Via Waxy.org]
I wonder if they will sue the owner of the blob for revealing business trade secrets... or something stupid like that.
I wonder if Apple will sue the owner of the blog for revealing business trade secrets... or something stupid like that.
Maybe apple should sue, now it seems to have got a taste for going after the little guy!!
Sounds like someone new to the computer industry/service industry. Everything they complain about is something that has been done for decades by any manufacturer repair shop...car, computer, blender, stereo or otherwise. that's what the independant guy is for...
Wonder if people forget how freaking expensive things like toner, ink, cables etc are comparing to what they cost in production.
So this is nothing new.
woop-dee-doo this is no secret. I've worked computer retail for a major chain.
i am upset that this link puts apple in a bad light. very upset.
Come on eric, Apple isn't flawless, just better than the rest. Don't be so sensitive.
I'm amazed that someone with such a cool, high profile job would start blogging against their employer.
I guess that's the way it is, people that have the most in life have very little gratitude for all their blessings.
Uggg :(
uh, i've been to the "genius" bar. nothing to genius about the wanna be techs working there. i actually had to dress one down who was giving serious snot nose attitude to all the non techies there for service..
Its interesting that he makes reference to the auto repair industry because they have set hours for repairs too, regardless of how long it takes. I had two good friends who worked at a Toyota dealership who would tell me of labor charges of 3 to 5 hours when the job could be done in 30 minutes or less, and quicker if he had someone helping him.
Nothing new here really.
Side note: I sent my old G3 Pismo into Apple to get it repaired when it was crashing all the time. They charged me a flat fee and ended up replacing the LCD screen (?). It worked fine , but after the 90 day warranty was up, it started to act up again (ain't that always the case).. so I just dealt with it. A year later I sent it to MacResQ and got it fixed (the original 128 DIMM was bad) and it was cheaper -- so there are alternatives to the Apple Store.
the salary for a mac genius is like $35,000. seems like a genius should earn more than, say, a telemarketer.
Whats really funny, is that I could build an entire computer for what Apple is charging to replace a superdrive. And I'm not blaming Apple, If idiot's keep paying it, then Apple should keep charging it.
$600.00 drive vs. $69.00 drive: Anybody who has taken econ 101 knows that the true cost of the Genius Program includes: salary, workmen's comp, benefits, rent, utilities, training, advertising, R&D, even the burden of the beancounters who figure out true costs, the list goes on and on...
Hey funny... i know a person that used to work at the Mac Store and also has a Livejournal account. mmmmm
I'm not sure why Apple is lambasted for actually trying to make money. If you add up the cost of materials in a typical automobile, you'll have trouble getting into the five-digit range. Yet they charge easily twice that - and more - for a typical vehicle. They must all be thieves, right?
In reality, every organization has the right to mark up products and services to the point that a sustainable business model is maintained. If this is not the case, then said business will cease to exist.
The key is in determining how to balance an appropriate level of profit with an appropriate level of payment from the intended market. Easier said than done, but to blanket-vilify the company for building in seemingly large markups is, frankly, too simplistic.
Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
This genius ain't so smart. I had a Superdrive replaced at work, and it only cost $300.
maybe this guy should get a loan and go to stanfford for an MBA :p - he definatelly has some issues, but they are not unique to apple. customer support is ALWAYS like that, not to mention that he doesnt understand business and economics.
A MAC Genius???! oh please.... The whole point in owning a mac is that you arent required to be too swift to begin with.
Carmi, Apple is lambasted for the same reason the drug industry is lambasted, they over charge their customers by a degree that is borderline criminal. There is no reality where $600 is appropriate for a drive replacement. People pay this under the mistaken belief that Apple's computers will only work with genuine Apple parts. Apple makes very slick pieces of kit, then makes it so cost prohibitive to repair them, that customers buy new product instead. Why do you think it costs $249 for ANY Ipod repair? So they can tell you it's only $50 more for a brand new one. Sounds kosher to me!
funny, i just read this in the trib this morning:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/sns-ap-fired-for-blogging,1,4368317.story?coll=chi-technology-hed
I am a computer sales rep, or "customer shopping assistant" for Best Buy. I used to love my job when my management respected the customers and still had their integrity. It comes as no shock of the coporate service and pricing of Apple. As a sales rep, we don't get commission and we are supposed to emphasize that to the customers, but then why are we still trying to rip them off? Isn't that even worse? It hard to sell customers 1150v battery backup or notebook essentials kit when I wouldn't even buy it myself. Also, we are not allowed to have any personal opinion on the pricing of Geek Squad service as they charge $250+ to boot up the computer and install an antivirus software that takes total of 10 mins. The customers are the worst. I don't know what it is but some customers walk into Best Buy and expect to be treated like loyalty. Sometimes I swear that I can just punch some of them in the face and tell them what a bunch of retards all of them are. Apple is no different than others, it's just another coporation out to make some profit.
The whole point of all this is that certain people perceive Apple products to be a positional good, a status symbol. People put Apple stickers on the backs of their cars for the same reason ghetto kids put big Nike symbols on theirs.
Part of this status aura is being able to go into a trendy-looking store in the mall and pay an absurd amount of money so some fashionable dweeb can perform the technical wizardry his limited education allows.
Aside from the hardware monopoly, you pay more for a Mac for the same reason you pay more for Coke than Sam's Cola. Pointing this out is not failing to understand the market, it ridiculing the morons who *don't* understand the market. It is an act of market correction. Look! The Mac store is ripping you off! Don't go there!
Man, imagine if blogs existed back when Apple first started. I've heard that Steve is a total a-hole, plus watching the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" doesn't make him look too good either.
I would LLLLLLOVE to hear some of those stories. Seriously, how much "dirt" can you scrape up working at the genius bar? Maybe that's why he only has 4 posts.
Fishes,
narco.
"pirates of silicon valley", yes thats a very accurate retelling of history heh.. kidding of course.. you should check out "triumph of the nerds", its actual interviews with the people involved..
that being said.. i was offered a mac genius position at one of the high profile stores, but they wanted me to go below 40K a year.. which wasn't gonna happen
>There is no reality where $600 is appropriate for a drive replacement.
Right. But did you ever require a replacement part for a laptop of any major brand? You would have noticed that it is absolutely usual to pay 1000$ for a new display, or 600$ for a optical drive replacement.
Lets hope the 'genius' doesn't blog in work time using a work mac whilst at work as thats asking for trouble (the sack!).
>
That's not really funny. It's more, well, nerdy.
[Man, imagine if blogs existed back when Apple first started.]
#23, not exactly blogs, but I think I know what you are looking for
http://folklore.org
It looks like the blog's been deleted!
As of this posting, the blog had been deleted from LiveJournal.
That didn't last long!
There is nothing wrong with this, as long as people don't put Apple on an artificial pedestal. Apple is the same as any other company, with the possible exception of Google, in that they will continually rape their customers until they say "no", and they will let off just enough until they shut up. They are no better than hp or dell, the only reason these things get to this degree is because the average apple customer will keep coming back for more, and apparently doesn't know how to say "no".
did anyone get a mirror of the site?
What's left of the Google cache:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:5WVwrAhl5uIJ:www.livejournal.com/users/themacgenius/+&hl=en&client=safari
Apple is like the evil candy makers that use sugar for the evil task of destroying little childrens teeth. And I ask you, have you ever seen negative reporting about Hershy? The candy apple company can do no wrong.
Sugar high and goodbye
Someone said:
"I'm amazed that someone with such a cool, high profile job would start blogging against their employer."
I say in return:
LOL. If you consider that high profile . . . you might want to rethink your position on that statement hehe.
"Error
Journal has been deleted. If you are themacgenius, you have a period of 30 days to decide to undelete your journal."
This account has been deleted....hmmmm
How many "Mac Geniuses" (or Geni-ii?) are there anyway? It can't have been hard for Apple to narrow it down!
Not to start that tired Mac versus PC debate -- but it's obvious most of the wise crackers here don't get it -- The Mac Genius job is a highly technical position, Apple spends a ton of money to train them -- I can tell you that becoming certified as an Apple technician is more difficult than getting A+ certification for a PC, which amounts to buying a 10 dollar book and spending a Saturday night at home -- Has it ever occured to anyone that it's not a good thing if a tech is constantly dealing with tedious problems associated with a certain OS -- then again a lot of PC techs would be out of a job if MS ever got it just kind of right...touche
As for the guy that had the blog -- maybe Apple should pay their highly trained staff more if they don't want them spreading company business around -- that being said, I think most Mac users who are paying attention already know what the deal is on the cost of repairs and upgrades... you get burned with that first machine, but then you wise up -- so it's really not news...