The rate at which Apple releases new products, rendering previous versions of hardware obsolete is simply maddening. It seems every time I purchase hardware, something replaces it just a few months later. Better technology, same price. Damn you Steve.
But at the very least, I’d expect that the so-called “geniuses” and sales consultants in the Apple stores would know what they’re talking about. But it seems they can’t keep up with the new products either.
There’s a caste system of sorts in the apple stores. The flocking sales people in their orange and blue t-shirts are there to mostly keep the kiddies at bay and from drooling all over the iPhones and Macbook Air computers. Their product knowledge is pretty shallow.
I generally ask enough tough questions that I get passed on to someone who is supposed to know what they’re talking about.
Yesterday I was at the apple store planning to buy a MacBook Pro, a Mac Pro, and a few Cinema Displays and I caught a glimpse of the ultra-sexy and brand-new 24″ LED Cinema Display. Amazing. Ready to pick up a few of those beauties, I was informed that they’re actually not shipping until the end of November.
OK then, I’ll wait, because THAT’s what I want for the Mac Pro that I just purchased.
In the meantime, I planned to use the Mac Pro with a 23″ Cinema display that I already have. Not wanting to be stuck when I got home, my question was what adapter do I need, if any? I’m currently using it on an iMac, which has a mini DVI adapter on it. I had a nagging feeling that I was all set, but wanted to make sure. He looked around for a female mini DVI to DVI adapter to plug into the Mac Pro. He didn’t have the part that he thought would be needed. Going on hope that I really was all set, I was on my way.
After getting home to be able to take a look it turns out that there was already an adapter on there converting the DVI into a mini adapter to fit into the iMac. Of course the right answer was that I’m all set. At least the news was good.
I then moved on to further research on the new LED Cinema display. It turns out that is only compatible with the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. If you’re planning to use one of these new LED Cinema displays on your Highest of high-end Mac Pros, forget about it. At least for now.
Had he known this little fact, he would have made a few more thousand dollars, and saved me a bunch of trouble.
Lesson learned. Don’t count on the Apple store crew to know what they’re talking about. They’re figuring out out as they go just like the rest of us.
And I know that as soon as I buy a second display for the Mac Pro, they’ll come out with an LED display that will work on it.
But not a minute sooner. That’s just the way it works.
