I’m sorry and I hope you’re all right
I’m shocked what I’m hearing. A lady gets burned, physically burned (with photos to show it), and all many people can say is, “Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha.” Didn’t anybody here think to say "I'm so sorry. I hope you’re all right?" Instead the subject quickly became “Apple is under attack and which side are you on.” Who cares! This a human being we're talking about and it shouldn’t have happened with any machine—even a can opener. As one anonymous commentator wrote, “Getting an electric shock and being burnt is simply not acceptable. If you had a heart condition or suffer from epilepsy, it could have been serious." And as Ally, another commentator questioned, "Why is this acceptable?"
I didn’t post to take sides or to defend issues. As Emily wrote about leaving the laptop under the couch, “I told them it doesn't take a genius to work out the risk and added that I have two children under four in the house.” It was a bad idea plain and simple. Additionally, not having a backup computer when your business is journalism is also indefensible. In fact, to tell you the honest truth, I don’t know of any company, where computers are mission-critical, that would allow an employee to be without one for more than two days and, as one commentator pointed out, “how come during this hellish time when you ‘couldn't’ work you managed to update your blog every other day?” Everyone can afford even a used computer and to go 55 days without one and still keep her job? I’m not sure how she did it.
The point I’m trying to get to is let’s remember to be respectful when it comes to posting. Nobody likes to be shouted at, made fun of, called “stupid.” In fact, one of the most frightening things that I ever read was from another commentator who wrote, "silly silly silly...you're like my granny. one time she had to change the light bulb in the kitchen. she stopped doing the washing up, climbed on a wooden stool and replaced the light bulb with her wet rubber gloves dripping water. dumb luck can't always be depended on." I’d hate to be his grandmother.
Here’s just a sampling of some of the comments. I’ve left the names out because of the point that I just made:
"A word from tech support to Emily Turner...'Tell them you're too f*cking stupid to own a computer!!!!!'"
"Most of the decent commenters focus, correctly, on the blatant ineptness and stupidity of Emily Turner."
"She's a woman, of course this article is melodramatic. Of course she did everything wrong; like baking it every night under the sofa or not calling Applecare when her screen started flickering and logging a ticket before total failure or RTFM. I wonder if her "check engine" light is on right now...When she finally called during her "emergency", I'm sure she was a bitch on the phone making the customer service person keep her on hold a little longer. Guys, she is a woman. This is how they are. Even in the end, she gets a much better computer and she still isn't happy. Just like a woman, there is nothing anyone can do to make her happy, including a multi-billion dollar company that occasionally may have a lemon or two slip by QC. I can only imagine what she is like when her significant other doesn't put down the toilet seat! This is not journalism, it is a bitchfest. I wonder it El Reg had to pay for this article?"
"you are a sucker. P.T. Barnum only wishes he had met you...Women! they can be soo lame sometimes."
"Boo Hoo...So you got a lemon. Boo Hoo"
"El Reg: Emily, when Apple PR ask you if you are a *God*, you say "YES""
"the machine the writer ended up with was a far superior machine by comparison, and will be a much greater investment, so in some respects the writer is lucky to have such issues in terms of short term hassle, but long term gain."
"How much will you pay me to whinge about my experiences to your readers? Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you."
"So you bought a lemon, its regrettable...What result exactly would have made you happy? Oh, heres a £1500 laptop and your money back? Come on."
"you manage to make yourself sound like an ass, to such an extent I can't feel any pity for you."
"You can't blame your poor planning on apple - they didn't help the situation but since you were whining about having to act as their personnel manager it seems a tad hypocritical to expect them to be your contingency for free."
"I'm impressed you weren't tempted to play the "I'm a tech journalist, so sort this out sharpish or I'll write you up" card. If you did, and this was the result, heaven help us non-journo types."
"Pardon me while I wipe away these crocodile tears...Here's a clue"
"somehow I kind of doubt that you will do that though......."
"Sorry to hear of your poor experience with Apple. But you don't have my sympathy."
"Main sympathy you get from me is over the shockingly crap courier service we have in the UK. Nothing to do with Apple, it's just terrible service where they commit to a specific time slot"
“As for a product recall, please, get real will you?. When the 'never used an Apple because it's too different/PC's are cheaper' camp demand the same from their makers every single time a machine faults then I will demand the same from Apple. Until then, get a life and give it a rest eh?”
And this one that I just plain didn’t understand:
"What are you doing trying to burn DVDs and CDs? The feature is clearly just unimplemented"
The world’s mean enough right now and we don’t need any more mean. Although several of Emily's actions are open to question, the fact remains that her computer should not have done the things it did, much less catch on fire and almost electrocute her. Let’s not forget that. And no one has the right to be publicly abusive. I don’t care what the reason is. If you’ve got something to say, say it respectfully—as one human being to another. There’s enough aggression in the world lately. Let’s keep it civil and to borrow the words of the last commentator, “give it a rest eh?”
Biting the hand that feeds IT
