> Going back to the Apple issue though, only about 30% of the times I've > gone > through Apple's TIL I found what I am looking for, since I am very > experienced in Macs and only look when I need to. Needless to say > whatever > Apple has in their website I already know. That's were technical > books come > in. If Apple offered answers to all the questions then why is there > troubleshooting books for sale?
Apple TIL is a huge resource, but because there is so much there one has to be good at finding it. Research is a skill regardless of the genre. I have a hard time believing that any of us has complete knowledge of the content of the hundreds of thousands of tech support documents in the TIL. The entire US legal system is completely available to the public, yet there are books on "making the law easy" and "how write contracts," why? Because there is a market. If you want the most info go to the TIL and learn how to dig, heck even video pin-outs are there. Troubleshooting books are targeted, why search the whole TIL when all I want to know is about OS 8.6 internet access issues? There are books on whatever people will buy, it does not mean that Apple does not offer the information, many troubleshooting books over look easy solutions in the TIL, why? because they are written from someone's personal experiences. > The thing is Apple is so confident that their equipment is so easy to > work > with, they forget about the little details little "advanced > troubleshooting" > (is there such thing in the Apple website???) not that I know of. > Well I > think there's not such thing in any computer tech support website. I > wish > Dan was reading this, and give his opinion. Well, compare basic issues on a Windows PC with basic issues on a Macintosh computer. Say adding a printer, or adding RAM, both are much more streamlined, both are much more available to the end user on the Macintosh. Now compare more advanced [not yet professional level] issues. Look at adding a hard drive to a desktop. On a Power Mac it is quick and easy, on an iMac it is not even considered something the end user can do on their own. There are set expectations for these products and who does what to them. On a Windows PC it varies largely how easy physical installation is by OEM. However, compare preparing the drive for the OS in each Windows and Macintosh - DOS like prompts asking you to fdisk cause more reluctance and hesitation than does either the Mac OS installer [which does format your disk for you without any complication of the process] or the Apple Disk Utility. When one gets to truly advanced we must realize that the definition of them varies more. Apple insists that installing a new hard drive in an iMac is a job for a technician, you or I might think different than they and do it ourselves. Advanced troubleshooting, in the sense of what I labeled professional, for the most part consists of things that tech OEMs do not want to endorse the end user doing and therefore while the information can be found to do it in most cases they do not push it out to the public as readily as more basic troubleshooting. > Of course we as the users usually have such rare and unexpected > situations, > and problems do come up when companies don't follow the "Apple rules" > when > developing software/hardware for the Mac. There is a lot of that out > there. > And Apple is usually not to blame. I've used both PCs and Macs, and > while I > wouldn't put a PC on my desk I have to agree there is a lot of things > PC > users take for granted, that we don't have. I understand Apple fixed > a lot > of that with their OS X release (screen saver, more powerful > utilities), but > I haven't been able to enjoy it yet (G3 333 w/ OS 9.1). Kinda late if > you > ask me! I don't follow this, your point got lost for me. What was kinda late? Releasing 10.1? Releasing 10.2? I can't believe you were waiting for the screen saver and the improvements in server administration to move from 9.1 to 10.x. > Upgrade is not an option unless I can find a dirt cheap copy of OS 10. I don't follow this either. Above it seemed like you just said that Mac OS X wasn't good enough, but might be now, but this line seems to work on the premise that Mac OS X is only good if its cheap ... I am sure I am misunderstanding cause it really doesn't mesh. David -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
