One thing that Apple still takes a lot of heat for is cutting back support services. Remember the good old days when you could call (800) SOS-APPL for free at any time and talk to knowledgable, friendly support staff who could walk you through a nasty extension conflict? A little later, Apple apparently tried to skimp a bit, because the quality of the staff answering the phones really seemed to degrade. It never inspires confidence when the person you're calling seems to know significantly less about Macs than you do; for example, we're fairly sure that the first step to troubleshooting a Mac with smoke coming out the top is not to "boot without extensions." And then came further cost-cutting moves-- the elimination of SOS-APPL and the enforcement of only 90 days of free phone support for new Macs. When you add that in with a standard one-year warranty (which, these days, is starting to look pretty skimpy), Apple's support is no longer a reason for Mac users to crow. Not that it's bad, by any means, and Macs are still a lot less likely to need technical support, but Apple's service used to be a big reason to buy a Mac, and now it's almost a checkbox in the "con" column.

So what's the solution? Now you can upgrade your Mac's anemic basic support package by purchasing a new AppleCare Protection Plan! You get not one, not two, but three years of top-notch service and support for one low price. That includes toll-free "direct telephone access to Apple's own Technical Support group"-- no more paying per call after ninety days like the rest of the rabble. You also get the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your whole Mac-- hardware and software alike-- is protected, and will be repaired by "certified Apple technicians using genuine Apple parts" in the event of calamity. Can you put a price on that sense of security? But wait, there's more! You also get access to Apple's "special AppleCare Protection Plan web site," which they swear is not Apple Club. Now how much would you pay? Well, don't answer yet, because you also get a free CD containing TechTool Deluxe, which can "help you diagnose and fix many software conflicts yourself" instead of bothering the very Apple support personnel you're paying to help you. You get all this for just pennies a day-- it's $149 for iMacs, $249 for G3/G4 desktop systems, and $229 for iBooks. (Strangely, PowerBooks aren't listed on the ordering page.)

So there you have it-- the new way to get service comparable to that of the good ol' days. Just make sure you buy in before your system is out of warranty, because by then, you're out of luck. By the way, is it just us, or does anyone else find it a little unsettling that Apple Support appears to have adopted a translucent red Apple logo as its sigil? Apple doesn't have any red computers in its product lines, so it took us a minute to figure out where we'd seen it before-- it's the Apple logo that appeared at the end of the HAL 9000 Super Bowl commercial, reminiscent of HAL's glowing red eye. So is this a subtle reminder that Macs are Y2K-compliant, or a harbinger of the twisted doom we'll encounter when our Macs rise up and rebel?