I’m sure we can all imagine the full range of computer problems that people encounter, and a similar range of consequences that they can cause in our lives. I’ve always felt that if your computer dependence was total, then you better have more than one computer and complete back-ups. But in today’s world, even “casual” computer users have some level of dependence on their computers, and need to have them working all the time (or nearly). Which all leads to tech writer Paul Thurrott, whose MacBook suffered a palmrest discoloration. He was rebuffed by the first line of customer service representatives so he blogged about it. That immediately caught the attention of Apple’s Corporate Executive Relations department, who telephoned and e-mailed him. I’ll spare you the details, but Thurrrott’s problem was speedily handled, and he was even offered a free iPod nano or $149 Apple store credit for his “troubles.” Apple later acknowledged the general problem of MacBook case discoloration and advised owners to contact AppleCare, without mentioning what remedy they’d be offered. I’m not even sure where I’m going here, except to maybe weigh the problem (discoloration) on one hand, and the remedy (executive fix + iPod) on the other. I always thought the frame discoloration on my Titanium was cool.

Here we go again. The AppleInsider Web site says that Phase II of a 47-store Best Buy pilot reseller program will begin Nov. 26th. This time Apple is doing everything short of having their own employees staff the Apple area of the selected stores: extra training, a flight to Cupertino for one team member, and ASCs in about half the stores. AppleInsider says Best Buy issued a memo to employees saying, “One of our goals with Apple is to become the partner of choice with them versus having them team with one of our competitors. We will prove to Apple that Best Buy is the best place and has the best sales people to sell their products.” Wow! Sounds like they’re really interested in the Apple sales experience. Actually, it sounds like they’re interested in Apple the “cash cow,” and not missing out on what analysts believe will be $400 million in sales from the partnership. I’m anxious to visit my nearest participating Best Buy, which is just 1,200 feet from a Comp-USA, and compare how they sell Apple gear. And then I’ll drive the half-mile to the Emeryville Apple store to see how they both compare with that store. What a sales triangle!

I continue to see TV consumer reporters talk about Wi-Fi security, and they never quite get to the crux of it. First, there is the issue of access to your home or business network by anyone living, working or driving nearby. Outsiders could simply piggy-back on your DSL connection for Web browsing (sucking up bandwidth along the way), use your computer to illegally upload or download files, or attempt to access the data on your computers. There are several ways of restricting log-on access to your Wi-Fi access point and your computers, including passwords, MAC addresses and firewall settings. Second, there is the issue of snooping (or “sniffing”) on the raw radio signals generated by a Wi-Fi network. Someone with the proper equipment, software and expertise can easily suck in the radio signals, decode them into relevant data and view the information that passes through the airwaves. This may or may not be a significant breach, depending upon the applications you use and the information that flows on your particular wireless network. The solution here is pretty simple–encryption. This will make the data much harder to decode if it’s intercepted. Either way, most wireless systems are not secure by default, but must be laboriously configured to their maxiumum security. So if you’re installing a wireless system, you’re at risk until you do the work.

There have been tons of reviews Microsoft’s Zune mp3 player. Whether the player itself is success is up to consumers. But I do know one thing…their pricing scheme is beyond strange. You don’t buy a song for 99 cents. Instead, you purchase points, with a minimum $5 purchase. You then use the points to purchase songs. But–get this–the points don’t correspond to dollars or cents. That is, a 99 cent song requires that you use 79 points. Now, if that isn’t a great example of consumer psychology, I don’t know what is. It’s also a patently transparent attempt to scam song buyers into believing (or making it more difficult to believe) that the songs are less expensive than they are. Oh, and if you buy only one song immediately after purchasing the minimum $5 amount of points, why does Microsoft get to hold on to your $4.01? Obviously they’ll also be profiting from the float on unpurchased music.

I’ve talked before about how the current Hewlett-Packard TV commercials are what Apple’s ads should really be–creative, ingenious and very inspiring. Now H-P has posted its “Hands” campaign, including print ads and TV commercials. Take look at the Jay-Z commercial as one great example. When shown on TV, the spots amazingly now include a momentary disclaimed…”Simulation.” Apparently viewers were a little too expectant.

Yea, yea. I read the article in the San Jose Mercury newspaper saying, “Nine black 80 gigabyte iPods — about $3,141 worth of high-tech trendiness — were reported stolen from the Apple employee [company] store over the weekend.” Despite what other blogs are saying, the store was not robbed–no one came in with a gun and took something from a person at the store. On the other hand, it’s hard tell exactly what did happen. It apparently occurred from the time the store closed on Friday evening to when it opened on Monday morning. So at the most it’s a theft, but most likely a burglary. And without some obvious sign of forced entry, isn’t it even possible that an accounting or shipping error accounts for the missing iPods?

We’re all familiar with the ubiqutious Web browser, which tackles the retrieval and display of all sorts of files, including text, photos, video, audio and more. But a quick look at the Song Bird Web site reveals that browsers are really simple tools when it comes to music. This music application works like a browser, but specifically for music. It finds audio files linked to the Web page you browse, catalogs them, and lets you play and otherwise use the files. I’m not entirely convinced all these features require a separate application (roll it into a browser?). Even so, it provides insight into how primative browsers really are, and how many more capabilities could be provided.

When Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that over 50% of Macintosh sales during the latest financial quarter were new-to-Mac, he wasn’t saying they were so-called “switchers” from the Windows PC world. Instead, these are people who have never before owned a Macintosh, a category that includes switchers, but also incudes those who have never owned a computer before. That’s a big difference. In fact, which is more significant–motivating someone to take the plunge on their first computer, or convincing someone to change operating systems?

Needham & Company financial analyst Charlie Wolf reported on Apple’s fourth quarter financial results, and reiterated his “buy” rating for the company’s stock. He also pointed out a contribution that the retail stores may have made to Apple’s excellent results. He noted that Apple had reduced the prices on some Mac models, making them more competitive with similar PC models. “Apple has been able to do this without eroding its overall gross margin because of the increasing share of worldwide Mac sales captured by the Apple online and retail stores,” he said. How come? He noted that the retail stores accounted for about one-third of worldwide Mac sales. “On these sales, Apple earns a retail gross margin of around 35%. Rather than pocket the increase, the company has, in effect, passed this gross margin windfall back to consumers in the form of lower prices on popular Mac models.” Wolf says the price reductions translated into almost a 10% increase in the overall demand for the MacBook. Analyst Jonathan Hoopes of ThinkEquity Partners has another retail perspective: Apple sold one computer for every 63 persons who visited a store during the quarter. Yikes!

There’s a small, unlucky group of American’s out there. Just 1,500,000 residents of the U.S. are more than 25 miles away from the nearest Wal-Mart store. Whew! That’s just one-half of one percent of the population, according to the company…and they’re continuing to work on putting those people into the buying zone by building even more stores. Right now, there are 1,123 Wal-Mart stores, 2,142 Supercenters, 570 SAM’S CLUBS and 109 Neighborhood Markets in the U.S. And the company recently reported they could find space to put up another 1,100 stores, presumably many in unserved markets. Among retailers, you just won’t find another company with such an expansive reach.

It could be the the perfect example of a customer service story: Dave Rosenberg’s tale of visiting the Palo Alto (N. Calif.) retail store to fix a squeaky keyboard key. He’s a customer with experience and knowledge of Macs, uses his computer for business, and doesn’t mind taking all that out on the Genius and Apple. His posting on the InfoWorld Web site is accompanied by lots of comments that pick at his story. Interestingly, the story is prefaced by the note, “We will not post comments with inappropriate or offensive language.” I guess someone anticipated the flaming that would occur from Rosenberg’s story! Read his posting not for specifics, but rather to understand his attitude, and then try to analyze how he came to feel this way. Start reading here.

OK, let’s put together the perfect portable device. I normally travel with a Sidekick PDA phone, sometimes with a Nikon Coolpix digital camera, and sometimes with an iPod shuffle. So I need e-mail, Web browsing, instant messaging, photos, music and maybe hard disk storage. The Creative Zen Vision W is pretty close, but doesn’t have any of the Sidekick’s communications features. So add in quad-band GSM cellular for international coverage, Wi-Fi for file transfer and hotspot e-mail and browsing. Add basic digitial camera features (1 megapixel is OK with a decent lens). Touch-screen would be neat and maximize screen space and reduce device size. Lose the FM radio. The Zen $299 price point is about right–if they can cram in the cellular features and keep that price. I’m sure someone is working on such a device…maybe even Apple.