Jeff
This is very depressing, the complaining in the story the bashing and complaining in the comments, everything. There really is no way to ensure 100% quality on 100% of a product line, the ensuing man hours would shoot the cost of a $1200 product to over $3000, then no one would buy one. I really do not see the point of allowing "reporters" of the Register to complain as a story. This is not a story it is a rant.
I worked for HP as a tech support rep for three years offering service to laptop owners. I can tell you that I was confronted with these same issues all the time. Three to nine times a week I had to explain to someone that it would cost $900 USD to replace either their LCD or Motherboard due to customer damage. And after the price comes out the conversation tends to get nasty. As for the design flaws, which cause customer damage, Apple has minimized these with many of their own innovations. The MagSafe Power connector for one. 80% of all customer damage calls were due to the fact that someone either tripped over the power cord or due to regular use the internal pin or power connection inside the computer had come loose. Apple had this problem mostly solved with it's previous implementation of its power connector, but did not wait for someone to surpass them, they created something 10 times better than anyone else was offering.
Yes I love apple products, do I think Apple Inc. is infallible? No. For that matter neither is anyone else. And having worked for HP for three years, I can say without a doubt that Apple's quality control is far better. On several fairly frequent occasions I had to calm people down that had not seen their computer since it was picked up, 9 weeks ago, and others still who had been through 4 repairs with each repair cycle reaching toward 2 weeks.
As for setting up a pickup, it is not an exact science, as some "educated" people would have you believe. It is merely a poorly implemented scheduling system. Theoretically if the routs are mapped out on computer and it is known how long it takes to do the run it shouldn't be a problem to postulate approximately when the truck would be by. Thereby giving possibly a 2 hr window as opposed to an 8 hr garage door.
There is no reason that this "article" should be a part of the Register's Hardware section. It should be part of Odds and Sods, under a new section called Reg Rants (RR's). These RR's have become increasingly frequent in past weeks and it is disheartening to say the least. I fear the Reg is in jeopardy of losing more than a few readers, and they are quickly losing my respect with this kind of frivolity. Rants do have a place, but articles should be written with detachment not personal feeling and tainted perspective lest they become an editorial.
When writing an article submitted as news it is prudent to consider more than one viewpoint, thus ensuring an even and well-lit story, which people of many dispositions can enjoy. I must admit that this article is in far better taste than the senseless iPhone rant but I still believe it belongs in RR's.
For your consideration.