Don't smoke your Mac!
Vod Halperin
smoking isn't good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn't good for
your computer, either? It's true, at least according to Apple. Two
readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare
warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed
their cases up to the office of God Steve Jobs himself. Both lost.
<http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-near-apple-computers-creates-biohazard-voids-warranty>
Steve Hix
Vod Halperin <v...@hallllpy.com> wrote:
Might could be that CalOSHA trumps even Jobs.
Priam
I would think Jobs agrees: less Macs to fix. OTOH...
Heavy smokers' Computers really are a health hazard. You need a charcoal
gas mask and a good shop vac to work in them. I mean *really*.
Otherwise, you don't wonder if you're going to die six months from now,
but right on the spot. Check:
Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
Horror beyond human imagination
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/ventblockers/>
But Apple should make clear that smoking near their computers voids the
guaranty. People have no idea of how cigarette smoke affects a computer.
OTOH, it should have no effect on HDs because they're sealed:
"She said that the computer is beyond economical repair due to tar from
cigarette smoke! She said the *hard drive is about to fail*, the optical
drive has failed and it isn't feasible to repair the computer under the
warranty."
<http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-near-apple-computers-creates-biohazard-voids-warranty>
This is Jooby's problem, not the user's. In any case, Apple should at
least provide a new HD.
jt august
All I can say is that I can hear the lawyers queuing up already.
jt
Salmon Egg
I guess that if it appears on the internet it has to be true. Just like
those Nigerian letters.
How can you tell if your Mac has been tobacco smoked? How can you tell
that it was not a smoking resistor or some other part giving off
volatiles? In my stamp collecting days I did buy a stamp collection in
an album obviously owned by a smoker. It was not one of my favorite
smells but not nearly as bad as smoke directly out of someone's lungs.
Bill
--
As the years go by, dying just before having to fill out a tax return has merit.
Vod Halperin
Another smoker who never dared take a sniff inside his Mac :) Note that
for the 3 years that AppleCare covers, it's not so bad. After 5 years,
it gets more serious.
Steven Fisher
Salmon Egg <Salm...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> How can you tell if your Mac has been tobacco smoked? How can you tell
You absolutely can tell. It causes severe yellowing of the case on the
plastic models, and I wouldn't be surprised if it yellows the internals
on metallic models. Definitely amounts to abuse of the hardware, and
certainly not the manufacturing defects covered by warranty.
Steve
Vod Halperin
> In article<SalmonEgg-38F73...@news60.forteinc.com>,
> Salmon Egg<Salm...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> How can you tell if your Mac has been tobacco smoked? How can you tell
>
> You absolutely can tell. It causes severe yellowing of the case on the
> plastic models, and I wouldn't be surprised if it yellows the internals
> on metallic models.
Wouldn't be surprised if? It puts tar all over. Then cigarette smoke,
undoubtedly helped by static electricity, sticks there. That's why it
doesn't smell so bad at the PSU fan.
You open the case, it smells like a million cigarettes all at once. No
way, around it, you can tell. As Priam puts it, you really need a gas mask.
> Definitely amounts to abuse of the hardware
It hasn't been defined so in the warranty and many people in our society
still smoke, even more in developing countries.
Steven Fisher
Vod Halperin <v...@hallllpy.com> wrote:
> It hasn't been defined so in the warranty and many people in our society
> still smoke, even more in developing countries.
It's nicely covered nicely as an external cause. What else would you
cause toxic chemicals dumped into it?
Steve
Justin
at my last job I fixed a printer for a tobacco company.
When I was finished, my fingertips were slightly yellow. It was not
toner, the type of printer was dye sub and didn't use traditional toner.
Paul Sture
Steve Hix <se...@NOSPAMmac.comINVALID> wrote:
Careful or we'll be back in court case territory where unless the
consumer is explicitly told not to do something stupid, it's the
manufacturer's fault.
--
Paul Sture
Sander Tekelenburg
Steven Fisher <sdfi...@spamcop.net> wrote:
[...]
> Definitely amounts to abuse of the hardware, and
> certainly not the manufacturing defects covered by warranty.
Beh. I've got 20-year old Macs still running without any problem
whatsoever, despite 20 years of second-hand-smoke. Macs have gotten a
lot cheaper, but they tend to die muchu much younger, even without
nicotine.
> and
> certainly not the manufacturing defects covered by warranty.
Depends on the legalese that applies, doesn't it?
Anyway. The story isn't whether the tar causes defects in the Mac, but
whether it causes defects in the person that has to open and fix the
thing.
--
Sander Tekelenburg, <http://www.euronet.nl/~tekelenb/>
Mac user: "Macs only have 40 viruses, tops!"
PC user: "SEE! Not even the virus writers support Macs!"
Steve Hix
Paul Sture <paul....@sture.ch> wrote:
We are talking about California here, assuming the declined warranty
cases were there. And that would be their usual "solution" to that sort
of issue.
Steve Hix
Second thought: I'm mildly surprised that CalOSHA hasn't decreed that
such a case calls for a full-court press by HAZMAT teams followed by
knocking down the building and sowing the ground with salt.
Vod Halperin
Work in hazardous environments is common, all that is needed is special
equipment. Here, the said equipment is rather inexpensive. So, once
again, Apple is not playing the game by its own rules.
The next AppleCare contract could specify that tobacco smoke voids the
warranty but Apple would lose sales, both on Macs and AppleCare. So I
suppose Jobs is going to hike the price for smokers. Instead of losing
money, he's going to make some more.
Fred Moore
Priam <pr...@notsosure.com> wrote:
> Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
> Horror beyond human imagination
>
> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/ventblockers/>
Thanks for this link. Great pics. I hope the mice on page 6 are all
comfy and warm.
> OTOH, it should have no effect on HDs because they're sealed:
Actually, they're not. Every notice those tiny (~1mm) holes with the 'Do
Not Cover' label? That's an air vent. Yes, it does have a built in
filter, but that's not perfect. The tiniest particle can kill a
read/write head which is floating on an air cushion measured in microns.
Priam
> In article<heci6m$mn7$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Priam<pr...@notsosure.com> wrote:
>
>> Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide
>> Horror beyond human imagination
>>
>> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/ventblockers/>
>
> Thanks for this link. Great pics. I hope the mice on page 6 are all
> comfy and warm.
I'm afraid they're done :) I'm surprised a mice could get into a power
supply.
>> OTOH, it should have no effect on HDs because they're sealed:
>
> Actually, they're not. Every notice those tiny (~1mm) holes with the 'Do
> Not Cover' label? That's an air vent. Yes, it does have a built in
> filter, but that's not perfect. The tiniest particle can kill a
> read/write head which is floating on an air cushion measured in microns.
Really? Nothing pulls air inside a HD as it is pulled inside the
computer, but maybe. In any case, smoking near a computer is a recipe
for disaster.
Malcolm
The vent hole lets air in or out to equalize the pressure inside due to
altitude or temperature changes. When the drive is in use it gets hot
and air comes out. When it cools it sucks in air (and smoke).
E Z Peaces
> In article <sdfisher-AF6E02...@mara100-84.onlink.net>,
> Steven Fisher <sdfi...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
>> Definitely amounts to abuse of the hardware, and
>> certainly not the manufacturing defects covered by warranty.
>
> Beh. I've got 20-year old Macs still running without any problem
> whatsoever, despite 20 years of second-hand-smoke. Macs have gotten a
> lot cheaper, but they tend to die muchu much younger, even without
> nicotine.
>
>> and
>> certainly not the manufacturing defects covered by warranty.
>
> Depends on the legalese that applies, doesn't it?
>
> Anyway. The story isn't whether the tar causes defects in the Mac, but
> whether it causes defects in the person that has to open and fix the
> thing.
>
hot. The owner opened it and fixed it with a can of air.
The second case apparently happened that summer. The son, a smoker, had
used the iMac two years at college. When it broke and she took it to an
authorized service center, she was told it would be ready in 2 or 3 days.
When she phoned after 5 days, she was told they wouldn't fix it because
it was contaminated. Apple told the manager to photograph it inside and
out. Apple said it would be fixed if it was just the optical drive.
Apple called back and said the hard drive was about to fail, so the
owner would have to pay to get it fixed.
This was about the time the NY Times published Jobs' obituary, so I
don't think he decided either case.
I think the first case reflected Apple's policy because a lot of laptop
overheating problems are probably due to dust, which depends on the
user. "Health risks of secondhand smoke" was an excuse.
The second case may have involved an independent facility. It got put
aside and then rejected because the technician was cherry picking.
Smokers probably room with smokers, and after two years the iMac may
have been a mess, especially if an ash tray was under an air intake.
Apple demanded photos to decide.
Apple rejected the warranty claim because both drives were failing. I'd
say it wasn't about health but the likelihood that both would have
failed if it weren't for the smoke.