Belkin's PC-to-Mac migration dongle spares you the annoyance of an Apple Genius
Belkin's latest color coordinated Apple dongle is $50 and comes bundled with Migration Assistant software, automating the process of switching your files and preferences from a Windows PC to a Mac... but, of course, not vice versa.
Sure, an Apple store employee will do this for you free, but I'd actually rather pay $50 than deal with Apple's vat-grown eugenic soldiers of supreme genetic douchiness, the "Apple Store Genius."
Switch to Mac USB-to-USB [Belkin via Gizmodo]
the latest
latest episodes
Actually here in San Francisco the Mac Geniuses I have encountered are really nice and not at all douchey. One guy even managed to get my Canon scanner to work with Tiger after Canon stopped upgrading the drivers in 2004.
Occasionally I have come across an incompetent "Genius", but then I just ask to see someone else. The someone else has always been great.
I would much rather have a helpful person do something for free than pay 50 dollars for a cable I would only use once.
Did you watch that E-Waste in China video bbGadgets recently posted? Why buy crap you don't need?
Hey, be nice. Some of us douches read your blog.
vat-grown eugenic soldiers of supreme genetic douchiness ?
Come on, John, that's a bit harsh. The Apple Geniuses at the Willow Bend Mall store in Plano, TX (north Dallas) have been uniformly pleasant and competent, with not even a hint of douchiness :)
And it's a hell of a lot greener to just avail yourself of the free service vs. buying yet another gadget that has to be manufactured, packaged, and shipped from the Far East :P
Isn't Migration Assistant included with all Macs? Is this more than just a USB cable? I've used Migration Assistant with Firewire Target Disk Mode, but never USB. It's an honest question: Is there something special about this cable?
By merest coincidence, "vat-grown eugenic soldier of supreme genetic douchiness" was the name of my High School geometry teacher.
I hate to say it, but having recently made the switch I am in total agreement with Mr Brownlee.
Despite my enthusiasm to part with oceans of hard earned pennies in the store, and a serious case of incipient fanboyism I found the process of actually dealing with the great steaming piles of white clad smug flavoured poo in my local store (Near Sheffield) so utterly repugnant and off-putting that I bought online and waited two weeks longer rather than give them the satisfaction of making a purchase.
I feared for their safety and my sanity should their lips curl one more millimeter further up in self-satisfied crowing at my final submission to the gods of Aluminium and Unix.
So There
Genius douchiness keeps me away from my apple store as well (West Des Moines, IA). The employees on the sales floor are almost always great to talk to but I'll never return to an apple store for service again.
"By merest coincidence, "vat-grown eugenic soldier of supreme genetic douchiness" was the name of my High School geometry teacher."
...That's the one you had the crush on, right?
Q: Why does the file migration go only from PC to Mac?
A: Because once you go Mac, the PC world doesn't want you back!
Obviously you arent hurt by the recession - yet - then we shall see how those 50$ matter.
The Geniuses at the stores in Japan are overall OK even when they cant solve my problems.
Also I agree with the "why pay" part. When I migrated years ago, I just copied my data files over wifi. Nothing more.
Well, at least no one got their eyes gouged out this time.
Damn! This post includes a douche alright, but it's not the Apple Genius.
Be nice!
Apple Genius Douches?
Just because its a douchey title doesnt mean theyre all bad folks.
Alot of them are actually pretty friendly and quite helpful.
You're an a44. Seriously, you're intimidated by a guyb that knows Macs and will help you for free? Gatesian L00ser...
LOL, well we'd all complain if there wasn't ANYONE to ask about problems...
the Apple wannabe geeks at the 'Jeenyus Bar' in Stonestown SF were major douchebags who managed to totally screw up my laptop a couple of years ago (scratched the screen, lost my hard drive, then tried to blow me off)...some of them were (maybe different now) a major piece of arrogant moronic work. All hat, no cattle.
Bring your computer to the PowerbookGuy in SF -- he knows what he's doing.
http://powerbookguy.com/
then tried to blow me off
Now that is an Apple service you'd pay $50 for...pfft
/desparate
LOLCATROLFMAYO
I stood in line for two hours to get a 3G iPhone and when I get to the front, the guy says that I can't get it because my wife's name is on the AT&T account. Ugh. I ask for a coupon so that I could come back later in the day (with her). They were handing them out to others so that they didn't create a glut of customers at one time.
The guy said no. HE was a douche. He works at Fair Oaks Apple and wears a hat. He is a genius wanna-be.
Hey, in an Apple Store here in Western NY, the Geniuses are good guys, but have very little "out of box" thinking.
Promotions (or hiring) into a Genius position aren't based on anything other than ones ability to suck up to upper management. Those individuals with solid technical backgrounds end up doing the heavy lifting the Geniuses can't do, and will eventually quit Apple.
And "Data Transfers" at that store get done by the more technical Mac Specialists, the ones angling for a Genius promotion. Geniuses rarely know anything about Windows at all, making their migrations a bit dicey, at best.
Of course customer service people are going to get criticized. I'm not at a corporate store, but here's how my shop generally works:
If feel you are being treated rudely, it is possible that:
1) You are being unreasonable.
2) You treated us rudely and we find it difficult to hide how much we really want you to go away.
3) We are tired/stressed/having a bad day. It happens, we are people. Sorry if you feel it's being directed at you.
#18 has hit the nail on the head.
Mostly "customers" claim they are treated "rudely" as a blanket issue to gain something from the store/management/corporate body.
What people in the complaint department/management want to know is HOW you feel slighted, and WHAT remedy you'd like to see. Going on and on doesn't help your case, and neither does "I was treated rudely, give me something" type of attitude.
You can see this frequently in restaurants where a server is treated like a slave. Order arrive cold/wrong? Might be the cook, but people automatically blame the server. The server might be as polite as possible, but your real issue isn't "rudeness", it's that's your order is incorrect.
With these "apple douches", you should address SPECIFICALLY what you'd like (ie, data copied over, programs working, ect.) and what you don't. Being talked to like a kindergartener? Not having your questions answered? That's cause for complaint. But it's not necessarily "rudeness", it's lack of empathy or training.
When you want compensation for mistreatment, say EXACTLY what it is you want, and EXACTLY HOW you were mistreated.
Anecdote: Genius + AppleCare.
My laptop hard drive failed. I explained to them what was wrong and verified the issue on the spot with one of the 'Evil' Geniuses in under 10 minutes.
The AppleCare technicians replaced my hard drive, recovered all of my data, and updated my operating system for free.
Could I have done this all myself? Sure.
Did I have the time, resources or will? Nope.