Remember When Apple Recommended Physical Persuasion to Fix a Computer?

Apple has long been a key part of the technology industry, producing quality hardware year after year. Although Apple tends to produce sleek and high-end hardware running its proprietary operating systems, these devices are far from perfect and were especially controversial at certain points in the past.

One Model Had to Be Slammed on the Desk to Work Properly

You can’t make this stuff up. We would normally steer clear of telling you to whack your device on your desk, but one particular Apple device needed a little tough love in order to function properly.

1982 saw Apple experience a massive surge in popularity. Steve Jobs was on the cover of Time magazine, and the company experienced its first ever $1 billion in annual sales. Even though Apple was producing devices that looked marvelous in comparison to the competition, they often came at the cost of functionality. Look to the Apple III for a perfect example of this in action.

To make the Apple III as sexy as possible for the consumer, the unsightly air vents were removed.

Computers produce a lot of heat even under the best of circumstances, so imagine how much these bulky pieces of machinery produced when cooling vents were removed from the equation. When there is no air circulation, you create what is essentially an oven that roasts the insides of the device, rendering it incapable of functioning as intended.

And let’s also remove the fans for good measure, Apple said. Why do you need fans if there are no vents?

In response to the considerable heat, parts would expand within the device and grow dislodged from their connectors, leading to further issues that turn the computer into a $4,240 liability–the equivalent of about $14,270 in modern US currency. When their devices wouldn’t function properly, frustrated business workers would call Apple to complain and ask for support.

One day, in frustration to the issue, an Apple engineer by the name of Daniel Kottke accidentally fixed his device by slamming it onto his desk, snapping the warped parts back to where they were supposed to be. With the parts back in place, the device worked as it was intended to all of a sudden.

So, you can imagine the look of shock and astonishment on people’s faces when they contact Apple for tech support, only to have the technicians tell them to slam it on the desk and give it a smack for good measure.

We Won’t Tell You to Beat Your Technology

Of course, modern technology support has evolved considerably since 1982. We won’t tell you to beat up your device to get it to work the way it’s supposed to; we’ll take care of your technology for you so that you can focus on being productive throughout the workday. To learn more about what we can do for your business, call us today at (703) 743-3056.