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Heat, Whine, and Now Yellow MacBooks
unPlugged-2.0 writes "It appears that Apple's woes with the new MacBook line continue as there have been reports on the forum that the finish on the new MacBook is flaking off or turning yellow.
An article on Daily Tech
summarizes this report saying:
'Some users have reported the palm rest area, touchpad and mousepad of their new white MacBooks has begun to discolor.' It goes on to say that 'some users on the Apple support forums are reporting moderate to severe discoloration near the palm rest and other locations of their new white MacBooks. At least one user has posted images of the problem to Flickr.'
Is this a case of just dirty hands or could it be another problem in Apple's new Intel saga?"
do these people smoke? Nicotine will stain white appliances.
Everytime someone says 'who cares what it looks like' Steve Jobs dies a little bit.
Seriously, though, this is a company that has made it's living on how things look. When they tried to put out standard PC-looking beige boxes, their sales went into the toilet. If it isn't pretty, it can't be an Apple product.
Just wash your freakin hands, people!
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Which is the philosophy of most IBM PC users. If it works, it doesn't need to be pretty.
However most Mac users are, by definition, more concerned about appearance than their PC counterparts. Apple products are supposed to be shiney. If the Mac in question is as aesthetically shoddy as most clone PCs, then why would you drop the extra money on it?
Of course, stingy PC-using heathen that I am, I don't see why you'd pay extra for a pretty interface and decorative casing in the first place, but that's beside the point.
From the summary: "Is this a case of just dirty hands or could it be another problem in Apple's new Intel saga?" Other than the computers in question having "Intel Inside," how does this relate to Intel? Then again, aren't Intel processors known for causing case discoloration? Apple should've known and used AMD instead. . .
Which is the philosophy of most IBM PC users. If it works, it doesn't need to be pretty.
Oh I dunno. What about the popularity of windows? Does that fit the description of something that "works, but isn't pretty"?
Assuming you have two otherwise equal PC products and one has a more attractive interface, better marketing/branding, or is otherwise "prettier" than the other, which one wins in the market? Actually, I wouldn't even say that it has to be a question of equally functional products - appearance can triumph over functionality. Companies ranging from microsoft to AOL are proof of this.
I agree with most of your post, but your average PC user really isn't that different from your average mac user in this regard. It's just us hardcore geeks who care more about utility than appearance.
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
Writing this from my not-discolored MacBook I can tell you that these are obviously idividual cases.
Let me finish one of your sentences for you.
"....this is a company that has made it's living on how things look, as well as how things work, their product reliability, and support."
I sell computers. Most pc customers are concerned with a)lowest price, b)hdd size, c)cpu speed, etc..... and still, many of them recognize what's up when shown the Apple option. Those who switch do it because of the software & support. No one has ever bought a mac from me, just because it was pretty.
As for the palm rest discoloration, it's happened on every ibook in the past. It even happens to pc notebooks. You just can't see it as well. It would be nice if Apple would abandon the white cases for notebooks altogether.
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
The thing is, the Macbook *was* designed with longevity as a prerequisite. The polycarbonate exterior is there because its durable, doesn't dent under normal use, and hides scratches better than aluminum. The case entirely lacks all the moving parts, flaps, nubbins, etc that inevitibly get lost or break off on many portable devices. The hinge for the LCD is very thick and securely attached. The new keyboard is designed to make it easy to clean out the crap that gets between keyboard keys. The keyboard surface and palm rests are free of grooves and are rubberized, to make it easy to clean just by wiping it off.
If the keyboard discoloration is a real issue, as opposed to a localized problem (mine doesn't show any signs, though I've only had it for a little while), then its an oversight in the design, not a sign that it was designed without regards to durability.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
I'm sitting in front of my white 2004 iBook G4 right now and I just tried your eraser proposal. You're right, the faint dark spots on the palm rests of my machine can indeed be brushed away with a rubber eraser.
But I have another problem: Over the course of the past two years, the keyboard has slowly lost its imprints. First on the "s" (where my ring finger rests during touch-typing), then on the "e", "a" and "c" keys (for the first two, it's probably the frequency with which they're hit, for the "c" it might be because of the angle at which my index finger hits it: with the nail). It doesn't seem to be a common problem, but Apple won't replace the keyboard (despite my AppleCare contract), because it is a standard usage effect, they claim. Granted, I don't need to see the keys during typing, but it sure looks ugly. Let's see how this problem turns out with the new machines.