I am the owner of a 12-inch iBook G3 900. I bought this computer in the summer of 2003. Since then the logic board has failed a total of four times, most recently in October of this year. These breakdowns have been a huge inconvenience because the iBook is my primary computer, used at work, school, and home. After getting my computer back most recently I contacted your company by phone about the issue. I was hoping that Apple would be willing to give me a discount on a new computer, or at least suggest some options which would allow me to discontinue working on a machine which is continually prone to component failure.

While the person who initially handled my call was very receptive to my situation, when her superior was invited to consult I was tersely informed by him that Apple "does not offer discounts". When I inquired as to whether there were any other options I was actually told that I had "no options" because Apple does not replace working machines. Despite my argument that a machine which has failed four times due to the same problem does not truly qualify as "working", I did not get anywhere further in my conversation with him.

I have been a Mac advocate my entire adult life. My iBook represents the fourth Mac I've owned, not counting a machine I've purchased second hand to function as a OSX webserver. I've personally convinced several friends and family members to switch to Mac OS. That said, I've never experienced such horrible performance from an Apple product, nor received such utterly unhelpful and disappointing customer service for an investment of this importance.

The fact of the matter is that Apple designed a product that wasn't properly quality-tested. They put a laptop out on the market which wasn't capable of standing up to the daily rigors of being a portable machine. Now I, the loyal consumer, am expected to put up with those inefficiencies. Because I was hoping to be able to use this machine smoothly for another year at least, this is a bitter pill to swallow.

At the very least, your company owes me a sincere, personal apology, along with a damn good explanation as to why I shouldn't seriously consider switching to Linux or Windows.

I await your reply,