Why Does This Sandwich Maker Have a Logic Board?
1. Who are you?
Andrey “Andrey Summers” Summers; Macinhome Consultant.
2. How long have you worked for Macinhome?
Almost a year. Almost.
3. What’s the most complicated Mac situation you’ve come across?
I once arrived at a gentleman’s home, having been dispatched to fix his email. Once onsite, I discovered that our client in this case was an elderly Japanese man who spoke little-to-no English, and was also quite hearing-impaired.
The computer he was having trouble with was a 2001-era “Kiva” iMac, running Mac OS 9. Within this operating system, the mail client he was using was Microsoft Outlook Express 5. Oh – and every single word was in Japanese.
As Macinhome Consultants, we are expected to communicate clearly with our clients. We are also expected to have a firm grasp on what we’re doing and be up to date on troubleshooting practices. I think you can see how being up-to-date and well-versed in English were almost entirely vestigial skill-sets in this case.
Luckily, the client and myself managed to understand just enough of what the other person was communicating to surmount the language/auditory barrier, and after some baffling poking around I managed to solve his problem in about half an hour.
Don’t ask me how I did it, though, because I still have absolutely no idea.
4. What’s the most frequent problem that you fix (at work)?
Dysfunctional email.
People tend to think of their email application as this mysterious, genie-like benefactor that stops bestowing you with letters when it’s displeased, or you’ve run out of wishes. Really, it’s more like a high-school locker with a combination lock. Sometimes, the lock sticks, but really as long as you have the combination, you’re okay.
In this scenario, your email provider is the popular girl who doesn’t remember your name, whose locker you’re desperately trying to break into.
5. What do you love about your job?
I experience a somewhat unhealthy, narcotic thrill when a client’s computer goes from being a pile of problems, and suddenly becomes the ultimate solution for their workflow, or lifestyle. It’s basically that moment that I’m chasing every day at work. Yeah, it sounds worrisome, but I’m reasonably sure that Macintosh isn’t a gateway drug.
At least not to anything but micro-transactions.
6. What’s the next piece of software/design feature/device that you’d like to see Apple bring to market?
I guess I’m supposed to say “the tablet”, but I’ve never really liked tablets. Honestly, I’d like them to find a way to lower the price of a new MacBook. The world would be so much calmer. When’s the last time you saw a terrorist on 24 hacking CTU’s mainframe on a Mac?
Editor’s Note: After writing this, Andrey started watching season 8 of 24 and was baffled to discover that now CTU does all their hacking on Macs! Also, CTU NY looks exactly like an Apple Store.
7. What’s one Mac-maintenance habit you wished your clients would undertake on an ongoing basis?
Keep your Applications in the Applications folder! Surely you’ve seen what it’s called.
Andrey also writes for various websites! Look – we have proof!