*$(#ing Macs

We are a Dell shop, running Windows XP, for better or worse.

I run linux but have to run an XP box for obvious reasons.

This morning we got a question about someone’s Mac.

“My computer won’t let me get to the internet.”

Uh-oh, don’t you have a Mac?

Yeah, I guess.  Why?

Because none of us support them because we don’t use them and prefer that they not be on the network for this reason.  Don’t you remember what happened after you surprised everyone by showing up with a Mac and expecting it to be supported?

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We would be within our rights to suggest they do something physically impossible with the errant machine but I do try to be polite upon occasion.

What was the issue?   No network connection.

It worked at the jack and the switch.  It also seemed to be plugged into the pc and the monitor, which is the first time I’ve ever seen this.

Since the Mac is so simple and friendly and since I happened to be the one standing there, I figured I’d give it a shot.  The first thing I noticed was that there were no LEDs on the ethernet connector, which was not helpful.  [Mac: making things so simple that no one can use them].

I managed to locate the network connection panel, which informed me the connection wasn’t activated.  Ok, looking around, there was no way to activate it, so I tried configuring.  This was no help at all.

I called in a colleague, who has some Mac familiarity, to investigate.  He went through the same process and claimed the network card wasn’t responding (although it seemed to respond to IFCONFIG at the command line).  We cobbled together a wireless connection for her as an emergency fix to get her back to work and waited for the one guy who is all things Mac.

Our one Mac expert, oddly enough also our iPhone expert, tends to keep his own schedule.  This is a nice way of saying he arrives at the crack of 1:30pm and stays later (or so we think).  We politely requested his troubleshooting assistance and he ran right off to look.

POOF - working system.

I like knowledge so I asked what he did.

“I enabled the connection.”

[waits for inevitable question]

WHY WAS IT DISABLED?

“I disabled it yesterday.”

WHY DID YOU DISABLE IT YESTERDAY?

“Oh, she needed some sort of special connection.”

Ok, then.  Thanks for letting us know.

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I asked how one enables a connection.  He told me it was `slightly’ hidden, as in seven levels down, clicking on the special wheel, hopping up and down on the LEFT foot, and repeating, “There’s No Place Like Camden.”

Not only do I have to put up with Macs… I’m now getting it from my own coworkers.

Let them eat linux.