Remember how stunned we all were each time that Apple listened to us customers over the past few years? Consumer outrage can bring about many positive things. There was the upgrade of the original iMac's internal modem from 33.6 to 56K, the reduction in price of the AppleShare IP 6.2 upgrade from $499 to totally free, the reinstatement of the cancelled backorders during the "G4 Speed Dump" fiasco, etc. The company's even shown occasional signs of listening to developers, like when it rewrote its QuickTime license in a less boneheaded manner. Sure, these examples are all instances in which Apple made a really stupid move and then fixed the problem after people screamed at them, but it's a step in the right direction. It means that one day Apple might not make such goofy mistakes, and instead may have time to listen to customers' suggestions instead of their complaints. (Hey, we can dream.)

Now, here's something interesting; it appears that Apple's even listening to complaints from its service providers. Remember a couple of weeks back, when word came down that Apple Authorized Service Providers were no longer allowed to repair 1999 and 2000 model PowerBooks themselves? The rationale was that too many service centers were misdiagnosing systems and sending them back to Apple for major hardware repairs, when all they needed was a software tweak or two. Eventually Apple decided it would just be better for all new PowerBooks needing service to be sent in for "depot repair," which is apparently how all iBook service is handled. This, predictably, led to a bit of an uproar from competent service providers who would have to irritate customers with a minimum three-day wait for something as simple as a keyboard repair-- and they'd also lose the revenue from performing the repair themselves.

Well, according to Go2Mac, the protests paid off. Apple has reversed its earlier decision due to "overwhelming opposition from service providers," and now will allow providers designated as official "Apple Specialists" to continue repairing newer PowerBooks. That's good news for competent service providers, and for PowerBook owners who'd like to minimize their downtime when their systems go kablooie. So let's see, here-- Apple's listening to (and acting on) complaints from customers, developers, and service providers. The next thing you know, Apple will be listening to stockholders and resellers, too, and then the Mac media-- at which point pigs will sprout wings, hell will get a skating rink, and we'll all be bunkering in for the apocalypse. But it'll be a fun ride getting there.