Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders

Promising Apple Ecosystem Business

Podcast Video | Posted by Phil Leigh on March 23, 2010

Download Video to iPhone or iPod here.

If you would like to learn about a company presently benefiting from Apple’s success of the last seven years, this interview is for you.

Today’s guests are Steve Bush and Ross Newman of Screwbox Solutions. Their company specializes in the repair and maintenance of Mac computers and iPhones. The sharply rising popularity for Apple products is leading to a concomitant growth in demand repair services. When our Apple devices break, most of us rely upon the Genius Bar at the closest Apple Store to fix them. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems with such dependence.

First, most of the time an appointment is necessary. This means that a business user with a Mac that isn’t working might have to wait a day or two to merely present it for repairs. Next he might have to wait days longer for the repairs to be completed. Given the competitive stresses normal to most businesses, such delays are often unacceptable.

Second, workers at the Genius Bar seldom attempt to recover lost data. Although Macs are generally reliable their hard drives are mechanical contraptions. As such they are ultimately prone to fail just as with Windows-based computers. When the drive fails all the stored data can be lost if no recovery expertise is available. Merely replacing a defective hard drive with a new one, as typically done by the Genius Bar, does little to restore the computer to its prior condition from an information equivalence viewpoint.

Third, Apple’s standard warranty does not cover a number of common problems that might otherwise be fixed quickly for a small fee. One example is a cracked glass face for the iPhone. Normally Apple charges $200 - $250 for any iPhone repairs beyond battery replacement which itself is priced at $86.

Fourth, most of the time physical repairs to Apple products are not done on-site at the Apple Store. Instead the applicable unit must be sent to a repair center while the consumer waits days, or longer, for it to be returned in workable condition.

Readily available Apple repair services from independents with certified workers like Screwbox are an increasingly attractive alternative for consumers who want to avoid the delays, added expense, and other disadvantages of the Genius Bar.