Test Me: Office Depot Thread

[Messiahtosh]

I am going to try and get a job selling Macs at the local Office Depot. I would love it if this thread could be for the more knowledgeable people in this forum to quiz me on things I would need to know as a salesperson. If I can't answer I will say I can't and then one of you real geniuses can give the correct answer. Sound good?

Here we go... :cool:

[709]

When is DOOM III coming out for yer MAC? :p

[Ryan]

Ok, here we go:

When I turn on my computer, I get a flashing question mark. What do I do?

[HOM]

Why does this iMac have half as many megahertz as the Dell I was looking at?

Does it run Microsoft?

Will web site X work?

Does it come with solitaire?

Can I use my old software?

Will my peripheral X work?

Isn't Mac out of business?

Doesn't Microsoft own Mac?

Does it come with Word?

My brother/cousin/in-law/kid/geek down the block says that Apple's won't work with the internet, is that true?

My kid wants a computer for games, can this play games?

If you can answer those, I've got about two dozen more.

[709]

OK, seriously, here's something I'd like to know. If I came up to you on December 23 wanting to buy a brand spanking new tower, and you *knew* (as in you read it on AN and/or TS that week) that newer, faster and better machines...with more future-proof stuff like PCI-X, FW1600 and whatnot...were coming out in the next few weeks, would you tell me to save my money for a better machine that is coming in about a month or go ahead buy my son his first MAC ( :) ) for Xmas that will be outdated in about a month?

[FFL]

I've got a few good ones if HOM runs out. Pretty good start though....

Why does this iMac have half as many megahertz as the Dell I was looking at?

Does it run Microsoft?

Will web site X work?

Does it come with solitaire?

Can I use my old software?

Will my peripheral X work?

Isn't Mac out of business?

Doesn't Microsoft own Mac?

Does it come with Word?

My brother/cousin/in-law/kid/geek down the block says that Apple's won't work with the internet, is that true?

My kid wants a computer for games, can this play games?

If you can answer those, I've got about two dozen more.

[Quagmire]

Here is something I want to know. As I am alway am I want to know the history of the apple. How reliable is apple? With the current news about longhorn now based off unix as well, will we see more viruses for Mac? I
know Macs are not good gaming computer. But, I don't care. What ever happened to Scully after he was replaced and I heard he started a new company. Is it still around today?

[709]

I think Messiahtosh's head just exploded.

[HOM]

Here is something I want to know. As I am alway am I want to know the history of the apple. How reliable is apple? With the current news about longhorn now based off unix as well, will we see more viruses for Mac? Im know Macs are not godd gaming computer. But, I don't care. What ever happened to Scully after he was replaced and he started a new company. Is it still around today?
Ok, I sold Macs for two years and I never got asked something even close to those.

Were you suggesting them for Messiatosh or do you actually want to know?

Now, more questions:

Does it come in red?

I had a Mac like 10 years ago and it was terrible. ( I know it's not a question but you're going to hear this a lot)

Is tech support 24/7?

If Macs are so reliable why should I buy AppleCare?

Ok, you must know Macs. I've got an old iMac and the internet is broken, how do I fix it?

Can I upgrade X?

But Macs have no software, right?

My (insert person close to customer) has a Mac and hates it, why should I buy one?

Do you do tech support on the side?

Oh, there are tons more where those came from.

[Messiahtosh]

Why does this iMac have half as many megahertz as the Dell I was looking at?

Does it run Microsoft?

Will web site X work?

Does it come with solitaire?

Can I use my old software?

Will my peripheral X work?

Isn't Mac out of business?

Doesn't Microsoft own Mac?

Does it come with Word?

My brother/cousin/in-law/kid/geek down the block says that Apple's won't work with the internet, is that true?

My kid wants a computer for games, can this play games?

If you can answer those, I've got about two dozen more.

1. Yes, the Mac can run Microsoft Windows with virtual PC, but it doesnt come with it. It runs Mac OS X, which is a far better system than Microsoft's.

2. Yes, you can use Safari, Internet Explorer, or countless other web browsers.

3. It does not come with solitaire, it comes with much cooler games, but you can get solitaire for free off of a website that hosts tons of free applications. www.macupdate.com

4. Your old software, if made just for the PC will not work with the Mac. But, all Macs are pre bundled with many of the necessary applications that you would need to fulfill all of the basic computing tasks and more advanced ones as well.

5. Almost all peripherals work with the Mac, because OS X has all of the drivers and software built in. You wont have to worry about downloading drivers or configuring software to get your peripherals to work.

6. Apple as a company is doing quite well, they have 5 billion dollars of cash in the bank and are nearly a 10 billion dollars of revenue per year company. With the Macs and the iPods, Apple is bringing in a healthy cash flow all while offering innovative products.

7. Microsoft invested 150 million dollars in Apple, back in 1997 just as a public relations ploy to get the DOJ off their back. Apple is it's own company with Steve Jobs as its CEO, who himself is worth billions of dollars.

8. It does not come with word, it comes with Appleworks, a similar product. Microsoft Word is available to buy for the Mac though, and most users say the Mac version is actually better than the PC version.

9. Every Apple computer will work with the internet, they are just like other computers except they run a different operating system and they look much nicer. Everything about them is easier to do, more fun, and nicer to look at. The Mac does the same as the PC essentially, just differently, I would say it does it all better.

10. I would not reccomend the Mac as a game platform, there are Playstations and Gamecubes for that. The Mac does support many good games, but it doesnt play all the games available on consoles. I would buy a console for gaming which is cheaper than a PC and a Mac for other computing needs, which it is more capable of than the PC would be.

11...actually number 1 but whatever. The iMac has less Megahertz because it uses a different processor than the Dell does. Processor speed is a generic way to measure the horsepower of a computer. There are other factors though, and I can go into detail but the Mac is just as fast if not faster than the Dell you were looking at. (I could talk about pipeline stages, efficiency, bus speeds, optimizations like Quartz and OS X being less bloated than XP etc)

I am tired, sorry for the grammar errors. Horrible..ehck.

[Luca]

Oh man, there are so many people that are just completely dead-set against Macs that they don't even know why they feel that way. I was at a party with some friends and somehow it came up, and this one guy was insisting that Macs "weren't compatible with anything."

What? Are they not compatible with keyboards and mice? Not compatible with the internet, perhaps? I presented these ideas, and he was left speechless. I think he realized that he really didn't know anything about Macs at all, and it was just a friendly gathering anyway so we dropped it to avoid a bit, stupid geek-fight.

[Messiahtosh]

I just wish I knew HOW people got that way. Where does it come from? I do not understand why I feel the exact opposite way, and there are people who, for whatever reason, hate or bash macs. I can't figure it out. I guess you persecute what you can't understand?

:\

[psmith2.0]

1. Does Steve dress right or left, if you know what I mean... ;)

2. Can my Mac go fast for the Internet if I have lots of hard drive memory?

3. Since Macs are only for graphics, what do I use to write a letter? Is there a program like Microsoft Word made for the Apple?

4. I've heard the iPod battery goes completely dead after four hours, and that Apple charges $799 to replace it. That sounds a bit fishy to me...what's the real story on that?

5. Do you have Danika Cleary's phone number?

[curiousuburb]

It says "Press any key"... where's the "any" key? :p

[Eugene]

5. Do you have Danika Cleary's phone number?
Phone number? Pfft, I bet she's using the iChat Mobile Messenger for all her communicating needs!

[Eugene]

1) Can I use public key authentication with OS X's included SSH daemon? If so, how?

2) My System Preferences shows duplicates of one control panel where another panel is missing. How can I fix this?

3) The Character Palette pops up every single time I open up another palette like "About This Mac." How can fix this?

4) How do I assign two different IP addresses to the same network interface?

5) I have a SMC EliteConnect 802.11g Cardbus card. Will it work with my PowerBook G4 Titanium?

[SilentEchoes]

Ok, you must know Macs. I've got an old iMac and the internet is broken, how do I fix it?

Heh, I'm sort of known around my town, and when I was in school my high school, for "knowing about computers". Specifically Macs. I used to get asked questions like that all the time. Some one would come up to me, you have a mac don't you? Well the internet is broken on mine can you come fix it for me?

...

I used to work at a help desk for a school district in their tech department. It was standard for all new employees to spend a month on help desk before they could do anything else. The things you hear at a help desk of a school that only teachers are going to call is unbelievable. The school was all macintosh at the time by the way. My kind of job.

One lady called me up and said she had a problem with her e-mail. She said if I wanted to come over and take a look at it for her, she had already deleted her desktop for me...

I still to this day have no idea what she thinks she did what what she DID do or where she even heard of such a thing or why she thought her desktop would have anything to do with her e-mail.


As for the questions you hear selling computers. I used to go to compUSA a lot for fun and save the people from the horrible sales people. I would just stand around the mac section and wait. Your going to get a lot of questions about compatibility. Your also going to get a lot of questions worded in such a way your going to have a hard time not laughing. When you get these questions remember if you start talking technical to them your going to lose them right there and they are going to just nod their head and smile, but at the same time you cannot talk to them like they are an idiot. I think your toughest part is going to be finding that groove in between tech talk and idiot talk.

Good luck.

[SilentEchoes]

1) Can I use public key authentication with OS X's included SSH daemon? If so, how?

2) My System Preferences shows duplicates of one control panel where another panel is missing. How can I fix this?

3) The Character Palette pops up every single time I open up another palette like "About This Mac." How can fix this?

4) How do I assign two different IP addresses to the same network interface?

5) I have a SMC EliteConnect 802.11g Cardbus card. Will it work with my PowerBook G4 Titanium?
Those are pretty good questions but I doubt he will be hearing them to much as a sales person. If he does it would seem as if he is pretty well versed with a computer and is more interested in technical support than a sale.

If this is a case he is not going to want a pushy sales person telling him this and that about mom and pops computer. However I know that you are going to get a fair amount of tech support questions. It would be a good idea to search around and find out what common problems on the platform are and the ways to fix them, that way when you come across this situation you can at-least help.

[ast3r3x]

Oh man, there are so many people that are just completely dead-set against Macs that they don't even know why they feel that way. I was at a party with some friends and somehow it came up, and this one guy was insisting that Macs "weren't compatible with anything."


I was recently informed macs have the common problem of overheating :)

[Chinney]

Oh man, there are so many people that are just completely dead-set against Macs that they don't even know why they feel that way. I was at a party with some friends and somehow it came up, and this one guy was insisting that Macs "weren't compatible with anything."

What? Are they not compatible with keyboards and mice? Not compatible with the internet, perhaps? I presented these ideas, and he was left speechless. I think he realized that he really didn't know anything about Macs at all, and it was just a friendly gathering anyway so we dropped it to avoid a bit, stupid geek-fight.

My own experience is not so much that a lot of people are “dead-set” against Apple, but that they are just plain unaware: comments ranging from “oh, do they still make Macs?” to “I’ve heard that Macs are computers for kids”. Believe it or not, I’ve even heard comments like these from the MS-trained IT drones who maintain the PCs at my workplace (are who are kept very busy fixing problems :lol: ).

Often this ignorance is a benevolent ignorance: Macs still generate some warm fuzzies from people who used them in the 80s. But many of these people now just assume that Wintel is synonymous with personal computing and they don’t have the time or interest to even think of looking beyond.

[psmith2.0]

I've found that, to the average person (a non-techie), just casual, friendly talk - devoid of "salesman schmaltz" - simply does the trick. In my CompUSA "rescues", all I've ever really done is sidle up to the person who was just left dumbfounded or pissed by the Red Shirt and simply ask something like "wanting to get online and e-mail, huh?".

100% of the time, they've seen that as an opening, recognized I wasn't an employee, etc. and just opened up.

30 minutes later, they'd be walking out with a Sage iMac, or graphite iBook, TiBook, etc. (this was a while ago, when I still lived in a place that had CompUSA stores).

:)

And you're right...compatibility questions were first and foremost. And this was back in the pre-OS X days. Now, I imagine, it would be even easier in many ways (now that most companies like Canon, HP, Epson, etc. are onboard with OS X drivers and software. But so many people simple had no idea that Microsoft Word (or Office) existed for the Mac. They assumed they'd have to use some odd, proprietary word processor. Their eyes would light up when I'd show them the Word for Mac or Office for Mac box.

:)

Again, I think that's a serious flaw/shortcoming on Apple's part that so many people simply don't know this. There isn't an Apple Store in every city...and even if that were the case, you can't guarantee people are just to accidentally wander into it, unprodded. You have to reach out, make an effort.

I'd love to see a survey/study conducted to prove this, but I'm of the opinion that a HUGE number of people DON'T buy Macs simply because they've got wrong or bad or dated information in their heads. Their brother-in-law pooh-poohed Macs 9 years ago because HE had a floppy go bad, etc.

:rolleyes:

[ast3r3x]

One of the biggest problems when helping someone is that they are using horrible terminology. This is problem number one most of the time. The one I hear most often which still bugs me, but not enough to correct them (because I used to, but next time I talk to the person, they are still saying it wrong) is calling their available HD space memory.

Them: "Is downloading music going to slow down my computer, I have 50GB of memory"

Me: "Oh really...:err:"

[psmith2.0]

:lol:

Yeah, it seems the whole hard drive vs. RAM thing trips many people up. Words are used interchangeably (did I spell that right?) that probably shouldn't be, so it creates quite a haze that has to be muddled through!

Remember those little Golden Books? They still might make them. Someone needs to write a computer book in that style (18-24pt. type, with short sentences, no more than 4 per page). Cute little illustrations, etc.

"Here's a hard drive. He looks happy. He's happy because he's filled up with lots and lots of important information. Don't forget to back up Mr. Hard Drive, otherwise you're fucked."

:D

[709]

Remember those little Golden Books? They still might make them. Someone needs to write a computer book in that style (18-24pt. type, with short sentences, no more than 4 per page). Cute little illustrations, etc.

"Here's a hard drive. He looks happy. He's happy because he's filled up with lots and lots of important information. Don't forget to back up Mr. Hard Drive, otherwise you're fucked."

:D :lol: :lol: :lol:

[thuh Freak]

One of the biggest problems when helping someone is that they are using horrible terminology. This is problem number one most of the time. The one I hear most often which still bugs me, but not enough to correct them (because I used to, but next time I talk to the person, they are still saying it wrong) is calling their available HD space memory.

Them: "Is downloading music going to slow down my computer, I have 50GB of memory"

Me: "Oh really...:err:"
hd space is another type of memory. what they said there may have been technically accurate, though not directly relevant in that context.

i was talking with my boss, back a few years ago when i was pretty new at the office, and a user pops in and says (to the Cheif Information Officer, as if he was actually going to handle technicial support issues), "i was playing with internet explorer and it stopped working. can you reinstall tcp/ip for me." ok, thats not an accurate quote, but the idea was ridiculous. the tcp and the ip are such integral components of any modern operating system, that i don't think a user could remove them if he had two blunt knives and a blowtorch. the boss gave me a mean look when i started laughing.

even funnier was the other day, just last week actually, a guy had to send me two very large files. too big that, presumably, they wouldn't be allowed through his email account, so when i asked for them, i said something like "since the files are probably pretty large, you may want to zip them before sending them to me." after several hours, apparently discussing the matter with his IT staff, he responded to me along the lines of, "uhhh. i dont have a zip drive, but i was discussing this with my IT staff and they are going to install a zip drive for me tomorrow." several people from my dept read this. it was too funny. i later explained the difference between a zip drive, a zip disk and a zip file. his IT staff gave him a cd burder, he burned a cd and walked it over to me.

[ThunderPoit]

Don't forget to back up Mr. Hard Drive, otherwise you're fucked.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
you bastard, i almost got milk and cereal all over my keyboard!!! you mind if i use that in my signature?

[psmith2.0]

I don't care. Just don't attribute it to me because I wouldn't want the casual population here to know I sometimes use such crude, unbecoming language...even if it's just to be silly. :)

[stoo]

I was recently informed macs have the common problem of overheating

They took "do not expose to fire" out of new manuals, didn't they. :rolleyes:

[dfj225]

Oh man, there are so many people that are just completely dead-set against Macs that they don't even know why they feel that way. I was at a party with some friends and somehow it came up, and this one guy was insisting that Macs "weren't compatible with anything."

What? Are they not compatible with keyboards and mice? Not compatible with the internet, perhaps? I presented these ideas, and he was left speechless. I think he realized that he really didn't know anything about Macs at all, and it was just a friendly gathering anyway so we dropped it to avoid a bit, stupid geek-fight.

I think I might have some insight into this, seeing how I am primarily a Windows user, but use OS X at work and have just ordered an iBook.

Until a few years ago, I really used to hate Macs. I never used OS 8 or 9 extensively, but from my experiences and what I have heard/read it seems like it is really a crappy operating system (although Windows 95 and 98 weren't really much better). If someone had experience with macs from that era, they might be jaded towards them. Also, I really didn't like all the odd colors that older iBooks and iMacs came in. I think the white plastic and metal of the current iBooks and Powerbooks is much better than anything apple produced in the past. Coming from that perspecitve, I can see how someone might not like Macs.

However, what really made me change my mind was OS X and seeing how well built Apple laptops seem to be. Having Unix as part of OS X really sets it apart in my mind. I also think expose and the dock have gone a long way in improving the os. I never could find an efficient way to manage windows on older (OS 8 and 9) macs. I also like tools like Xcode and the iApps that come with the operating system. I think life would be much better if every windows pc came with great tools like that out of the box.

[PXLpainter]

What ever happened to Scully after he was replaced and I heard he started a new company. Is it still around today?I met with Scully some years back right after his days at Apple, when he signed on as CEO of Live Picture, Inc. I was signed on as a spokesman of sorts and an authorized trainer of Live Picture software.

Well, since nobody here probably remembers Live Picture (or Kai Krause or Eric Wenger) and there's no sign of that company today, I guess he may have just decided it was time to retire... maybe? :\

[curiousuburb]

Fractal compression was cool, but Kai's interfaces are a pain.

Is there an OS X version?

[709]

Well, since nobody here probably remembers Live Picture (or Kai Krause or Eric Wenger) and there's no sign of that company today, I guess he may have just decided it was time to retire... maybe? :\Hey! Some of us here might be older than you think. ;)

I remember KPT 1.0 well. Personally, I thought it was the fucking bomb. Not necessarily useful for any of my paying projects...but cool nonetheless. I, unlike most, absolutely loved the KPT/Bryce interfaces. Taking over your screen with no warning was a *big* surprise at the time...and I loved it. :)

LivePicture never really piqued my interest. Couldn't even tell you why. :\ That came out about the time as Macromedia Res, correct?