Remember when great technical support was just one more reason to buy a Mac? In addition to a decent one-year warranty, you got free lifetime phone support and a machine that was much less likely to need technical support in the first place. But over the last couple of years, Apple's been chipping away at the Apple support advantage. Free phone support is gone; after the first three months of ownership, Apple charges customers by a "Microsoft-like" plan, now-- pay per call, etc. They still offer a one-year warranty-- but at a time when competitors might offer three years, or even five.

Well, now it looks like one more facet of Apple's once-superior support is changing for the worse: AppleCare. AppleCare is Apple's extended warranty program. Customers can pay up front to extend the warranty on their Macs beyond the initial one-year period; many people consider this crucial when owning a PowerBook or refurbished equipment. Unfortunately, according to MacObserver, Apple continues to cut its support costs by introducing new changes to AppleCare. For one thing, Apple will no longer sell new AppleCare coverage for systems that are out of warranty; you used to be able to buy an AppleCare contract for your Mac even if it was a couple of years old, though we believe it had to pass an inspection to qualify. This change doesn't seem like that big of a deal to us, because it likely won't affect too many people.

The difference that'll hit some people in the pocketbooks is that pretty soon Apple may no longer be selling AppleCare in two-year chunks. Buying two years of coverage at once was a way for customers to save money, but under the expected new plan, coverage will be sold on a year-by-year basis only. Reportedly Apple was "losing too much money" with the old way, and we're all for Apple making a profit, but we're a little sad to see technical support options on the Macintosh continue to get worse instead of better.

People who think that numbers don't lie are the same kind of people who think that photos don't lie-- apparently they've never spent an hour with Photoshop sticking Steve Jobs' head onto Jennifer Aniston's body. (It was an inspired moment, we admit-- and the results were more than a little frightening. No, you can't see. Do it yourself.) As for the numbers thing, it's not hard to find examples of studies whose numbers are plainly out of whack when it comes to reality. For instance, consider the new study from WebSide Story; according to MacCentral, WebSide found that only 2.68% of the web-browsing community are using Macs.

2.68%? Does that sound just a little on the low side to you? Are you also suspicious of the fact that supposedly over 94% of web-browsing computers are running Windows? Well, as it turns out, WebSide's data is based on visitors to web sites using something called the "HitBOX" Tracker. "HitBOX" allows webmasters to view real-time statistics involving traffic to their web sites-- but it's available only for Windows. Given that the webmasters are using Windows, isn't it likely that their sites' content, design, and focus will be much more Windows-centric? You're not going to find MacInTouch or Mac OS Rumors in that list, for instance. WebSide's methodology is akin to trying to determine the number of Americans with Internet access-- by posting a web survey. ("Well, hit my head and call me shorty-- 100%! Alert the media!")

Gee, according to our recent stats, over 75% of viewers tuning in to AtAT are using Macs to do so; that sure seems different from WebSide's findings. Perhaps we should issue a press release announcing that three-quarters of web surfers are using Macs? Sure, our numbers reflect data gathered from one site providing Mac-centric content, but hey, that's for the small print...

Do you have a PowerBook 5300 or 190 kicking around somewhere? If so, it may finally be worth something. Longtime Apple watchers will recall that the 5300 was the first PowerPC-based PowerBook, and the 190 was a 68040-based unit with the same boring PC-laptop-wannabe chassis and plastics; however, both units received less-than-stellar reviews, both from the press and from the user base. For one thing, the 5300 may have had a PowerPC at its core, but it was still dog-slow. And both laptops lacked a CD-ROM drive, when such equipment was standard fare in the Wintel portable world. What's worse, quality control problems with the 5300 and 190 resound even to this day; Apple was forced to offer a seven-year "repair extension program" because the bezel around the screen was so prone to cracking, and if memory serves, problems with the 5300 motherboard caused such wild instability that Apple eventually offered a motherboard replacement to fix the problems. Then, of course, there was the infamous 5300 battery combustion problem. Not a lot of fun, all told, especially since the prices of these two gems were quite high. Mix it all up and see why we at AtAT refer to the 190 as "the sucky PowerBook" and the 5300 as "the flammable sucky PowerBook."

And yet, you can get up to a thousand bucks off of a brand new PowerBook G3 if you trade one in. According to O'Grady's PowerPage, Apple's offering special trade-up prices to anyone willing to send back their old 5300 or 190. The way it works is like this: you call (800) 767-2775, say you want the "PowerBook 5300 Limited Time Offer Upgrade," decide whether you want a G3/266 for $1899 or a G3/300 for $2199, give them a credit card number (preferably a valid one), and then wait for up to three weeks for delivery. Apple will also send you shipping labels so you can send back your old PowerBook-- your credit card is charged at full price when your G3 ships, but you get a $900-$1000 credit once they get your old 5300 or 190 back. Pretty cool.

The 5300 and 190 represent the PowerBook's darkest days. Now it's as if the "new Apple" is apologizing on behalf of the "old Apple" by offering to buy back those less-than-compelling systems for up to $1000. If you ask us, it's a great deal-- even if it's motivated by Apple's obvious attempt to clear its inventory of current G3 PowerBooks in preparation for the newer models. As for what Apple's going to do with all the cracked, slow, crash-prone, and flammable old PowerBooks that they get back as a result of this promotion, well, that's entirely a matter of speculation. The PowerPage hints that they'll be used for parts, but personally, we suspect something more spectacular is in the works. Think "bonfire."