Being confined to my apartment because of the curfew and stay-at-home edict, last week I decided to install two Security Updates from Apple into my MacBook laptop. (A sign of how bored I am.) I figured the processes would take maybe an hour — these have always gone smoothly.
Not this time.
The first upgrade stopped after only a few minutes with the word “Error” followed by a number. No explanation of what had gone wrong, or what in the hell I was supposed to do. So I continued to the second one, which seemed to work fine, but after it finished I was unable to restart the laptop. In fact, I could not even shut it down — the only way to turn it off was to press the power button for six or seven seconds (known as an Emergency Shut Down). Not something that should be done on a regular basis.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to fix the trouble, even going so far as to download the new operating system (Catalina), which froze on the final step. Finally, I threw up my hands and began a reboot from a flash drive — something I’ve never done before. This time everything worked (to my immense relief) though I was kept busy most of the next two days restoring my personal settings. (Good thing I have all this free time on my hands.) In the process I ran into a another serious problem and decided it was time to contact Apple for assistance. But once again I was flummoxed. Their help number only had six digits following the 1-800:
Call Apple Support:
1800 019 900
09:00 to 17:00 (Monday through Friday)
These are just more sad examples of the company’s lack of concern for its customers, especially those who are still using its basic products. The macOS High Sierra release I’m currently on has almost daily problems of varying degrees. It seems that the focus — and priority — has shifted to the aren’t-these-neat devices (the latest iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Apple Condoms), leaving me with a screwed up machine and no way to call for help.
I believe I will pass on purchasing any of the showy Apple gadgets. I do not want them in my life. With the pandemic continuing to spread throughout the world — and the Bangkok bars closed 😲 — my blood pressure is already too high.
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