Your Anti Meme

If you check the Apple discussion sites, you’ll see that Air owners are experiencing catastrophic failures of the hinge mechanisms. What’s worse is that Apple is balking at repairs, claiming it is human error rather than a design flaw. I’m sorry, Apple. You are wrong.

Apple calls its portable computers “notebooks”. Others call them laptops. The Macbook Air is among the very lightest around. It seems perfectly suited to sitting on your lap or resting on your knees when you are stretched out on the couch. That’s where the problem lies. If you have the Air positioned so you can use it, chances are that you will be placing a lot of the weight on the bottom rear of the computer with most of the weight being borne on the back end. If you look, you’ll see that the bottom edge of the top half (the half that holds the screen). Therefore, the two parts that are feeling the most pressure? The hinges.

In my mind, this falls under the category of “design” flaw. Yes, users should not rest the Air on its back lid edge. But that is the most likely resting place when you have it on your lap – especially if your knees are at all raised. Apple should acknowledge its error, and pay for the repairs when necessary.

Use your head – use a cooling pad

If you use a cooling pad, the laptop rests on its feet. This will avoid the problem. Also, never, ever carry the laptop with the lid open. Close it – it will be exactly as you left it when you get to the couch or the throne room or wherever you are carying the thing, and you’ll do it without stressing the hinges.

But if you do have a problem with the hinges, be persistent with the Apple support team. It seems that if you refuse to take no for an answer, Apple will eventually fix the problem for you.

I woke up this morning to the first change in delivery status. Sometime overnight, my precious Air arrived in Tampa. As I write, the package is ‘out for delivery’. I am so excited, I can barley tpye.

My iPod and my iPhone both have invisible shields. They have protected these devices so well, that I just ordered one for the Air as well. I know that it is going to be a lot harder to put on the Air, but it will be worth it. I am not gentle on my electronics. The invisible shield does an amazing job of protecting the metal from scratches. When I finally decide to get rid of the Air, it should look just as good as the day I got it.

Thursday morning.

Shane was overly optimistic about the shipping. Yanno, I wouldn’t have expected it to be here at all were it not for Shane’s rosy estimate of delivery time. As it is, the laptop and the SuperDrive are still “In Transit” from San Francisco. The mouse and iWork are another story altogether. They are being shipped by DHL. Estimated delivery date has been updated to next Wednesday for them. How sad.

In the meantime, I have been reading up on my new toy. Most of the folks who have actually used the thing have discussed the issue of heat – the laptop gets hot, and then either slows or shuts down. This usually happens when doing graphically intensive things, like watching YouTube or Apple Developer Connection videos. That could present a problem.