Screwed ⇥ eggfreckles.net

Thomas Brand (via Stephen Hackett):

The era of Genius turning screws is coming to an end. Macs are becoming harder to get into, and instead of being repaired at the Apple Store most of the computers Apple sells these days are being refurbished at a central repair facility. Faulty iPhones, iPods, and iPads are replaced at the Genius bar, and shipped off to be disassembled and remade into refurbished devices with new cases and batteries. These refurbished computers return to the Apple Store to be used as iPhone, iPod, and iPad replacements.

Akin to the demise of the easily-repairable automobile, there’s a melancholic aspect to the loss of the computer made with screws, instead of adhesives and magnets. But the user experience shift of a problematic iPhone to having it replaced on the spot is unbeatably great.

The problem with this approach that Apple is now able to hire people who don’t really understand why a problem is happening. While they may be able to replace your iPhone on the spot, your custom-configured Macintosh probably can’t be.