Steve Jobs for President

**my prayers are with Steve and his family as he battles one the worst diseases known to man**

As Valentine's Day comes to a close, I would like to say that what stole my heart this day is by far and away Apple Inc. Don't get me wrong, the adorable Valentine's Day card from my 6-month old was fantastic,
BUT
let me tell you about why Apple is has the key to customer happiness. I truly believe the world would be a better place if Steve Jobs ran our government (and that's not necessarily a negative comment on any past, present or future political power).

For Christmas this year, my husband (the most creative man I know) did a 12 Days of Christmas gift and I got an iPhone 4 on day 12 (Christmas Day). Now, while some people need a daily does of caffeine to make it through the day, I apparently cannot survive a 24-hour period without a daily dose of dropping my billion dollar phone. To remedy this chronic problem, we have bought me case after case after case to prevent as much damage as possible when the inevitable happens...and it ALWAYS happens. Even still, with all caution observed, I have dropped my new iPhone at least 43 times since I received it (I didn't pick it up until December 28th, and then I managed to keep it off the ground for the first few days). Finally, not surprisingly, I began having problems with it last week. For a few weeks I have noticed that the tilting function wasn't working properly (the screen is supposed to switch from landscape to portrait depending on how you're holding it), and then just last weekend I discovered that my phone would no longer ring. The speakers still worked, but the ringer was disconnected...shocking, I know. So today I took it into the store.

The best way to get service at the Apple store is to make an appointment. This ensures you have a time slot just for you and you can save waiting time (which decreases the likelihood of you wandering around the store searching for something to burn a hole in your wallet). So I do this and go in today. I am helped by a ex-Long Islander named Pete. Not only was Pete super helpful about my phone, he also let me know that my Jeep might have a fuel injector problem (long story; another time). Pete looks over my phone, confirms my issues and says, I quote, "Well. It looks like your ringer has disconnected on the inside and this can be a major problem to fix. Not only that, but my diagnostics show that you've had a number of unsafe shutoffs and hardware crashes. I could fix this, but I think it'd be easier to give you a new phone. That is, if you've got some time to kill." {{{uh...of course!}}}

AND BAM! There it is. Apple realizes the ever-present business truth that is cost more than double to find a new customer than it does to retain a current one, and they're wiling to put their money where their mouth is. Now, granted, I'd only had the phone about 6 weeks, but did you notice that Pete never asked me if I had dropped the phone or abused it in any way? He must've known that WHY it was broken was not as important to me as the fact that it WAS broken. Case closed. It cost Apple MUCH less than $200 to make that phone...guaranteed....so it is a VERY effective and efficient use of their staff's time and their company's overhead to heat the small cost of another phone and recycle the one I had so clearly "refunctioned". I realized today that, yes, I may spend more than my food budget on my cell phone bill, and I may be a Apple nerd and appear materialistic for only buying MacBooks and getting updated iPhones, but it's worth it! I've had two Apple computers in my life time and three Windows-inspired PC's (that were exclusively mine). The Apples have NEVER come down with a virus, needed hard rebooting (you know, where you see that c:// on startup), never run a virus software and never been hacked. My PC's, on the other hand, ran McAfee like Starbucks runs coffee (except slower) and was constantly telling me I needed to do "critical" updates...like every other day! BLAH! No, thanks! Not only that, but when my Toshiba crashed and I went to ANY store for help, they were less than willing to even diagnose my issue for less than $50. PUH-LEES! If you think my story is uncommon, or you're doubtful because "anything can happen once", let me tell you that I have had not one, not two, but THREE iPhones replaced for free - not because their product is ridiculously faulty and bad, but because my hands are apparently made of baby oil and I somehow manage to hold EVERYTHING else in my hands when I am relocating from one spot to another, except that stinking phone.

So my question to you is this: Are you an Apple lover? If so, you are a genius! If not, why not? If your <insert non-Apple brand name device here> has problems, can you walk into a store and not be asked to leave until you feel CONFIDENT that your problem has been solved? Apple knows that the best marketing they can have is a happy customer, so they do everything from the moment you walk into until you get home and have a question to make sure you are a satisfied, confident user of their product. After all, who would get excited about your iPod and want to buy one if yours remained in your desk drawer because you couldn't figure out how to download that new CD you bought. NO ONE! And Apple knows this, they believe it with all they have, and they back it up. Would I vote for Steve Jobs as president? HECK YES!

Not because of his politics, not because of his money, but because one day he had the idea that things needed to work well and so he made them work well. He decided that his company needed to be user-friendly and efficient, the type of company he would want to buy from, and he made it that way. Couldn't you just imagine a world where tax forms were easy to understand and House and Senate bills were drafted and organized in a way to where the simple minds that the laws impact could read them (instead of only those who have gone to law-school)? WHAT A CONCEPT! You go, Steve Jobs; you have my vote!