I love my iPhone. In fact, I love it so much my wife hates it. I love my two-year-old MacBook. And because in ‘computer years’ it’s basically a dinosaur and continues to handle the latest software without missing a beat (until yesterday), I love my iMac G5 that’s about four years old.
I could probably be described as an Apple geek. But the company has created such a loyal customer I couldn’t help but write why Apple products should be in every real estate professional’s toolbelt.
1. Reliability :: Apple products, at least for me, have always “just worked.”. Whether it’s my handheld computer - the iPhone - or my portable laptop (the MacBook) or my trusty ‘ole iMac, every Apple product I’ve owned works 99% of the time. And read below on what happens when something goes wrong. I don’t know how many times I hear other agents complain about their laptop or home computer is “on the fritz.” Or maybe it’s the Microsoft “blue screen of death” and their Windows-based computer just won’t startup. Apple products have worked for me for four-plus years almost without fail… Including the oldest iMac.
2. Compatibility :: One of the biggest fears of most people to make the Apple switch is the fear of compatibility. You’ll hear it all the time from Apple-Converts: “Once you go Apple you’ll never look back.” A lot of that has to do with the fact that nearly every software program or website used is also available on a Mac and usually easier to use.
With today’s cloud computing environment emerging as the way to create, edit and store documents with tools like Google Docs - “real software” is quickly becoming a thing of the past. With tools like Google Docs, I can create presentations, spreadsheets and written documents all on the web. Plus, documents are auto-saved so I don’t have to worry about memory loss.
And when I want software, I can turn software that Apple puts on every one of it’s machines - iWork and iLife. iWork gives me Pages (like Microsoft Word), Keynote (like Power Point) and Numbers (like Excel). iLife gives me easy-to-use programs to organize my pictures (iPhoto) and make movies (iMovie). I’ve never spent much time with Garage Band, but if I wanted to create my own music, I could. All of these programs are way above-and-beyond anything offered on a Windows-based computer with seamless integration to many online programs. Once I create a movie on iMovie I can post it to YouTube with just a few mouse clicks. These included programs are well worth it - and included.
3. Customer Care :: When I hear family members, clients and other agents complain about their Dell or HP I sometimes hear of them having to send their computer or laptop away for two or three weeks to get serviced. Then, I usually gloat about the service I get at Apple.
Sunday morning, I went to update the sidebar widget that displays the current pricing trends in Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe on my iMac. Instead, my iMac was frozen - which has happened zero times before. I reboot the system and instead got a blue screen after I saw the friendly Apple logo. I hopped on my MacBook to secure an appointment at the Apple Store’s Genius Bar at Chandler Fashion Center at 2:40 PM the next day. While I was at it, I figured I’d bring in my MacBook which was cracking on the palmrest - a known issue.
When I arrived at 2:40 PM yesterday, a Mac Genius was available for me by 2:45 PM (not bad for the week prior to Christmas). The Apple employee spent about thirty minutes trying different solutions to fix the iMac problem. By 3:30 he recommended I go grab a drink while he reloaded some files he thought may have been corrupted - a 45 minute process. My MacBook was already fixed - a brand new keyboard and palmrest replaced for free on a two year-old machine.
While others freak out about sending their laptop or desktop away for two or three weeks, I was told to go enjoy an adult beverage while Apple attempted fixed mine.
After enjoying my cold brewski and writing much of this post on the Wordpress widget on my iPhone, I returned to find out that my iMac was repairable, but would require either new RAM or a new hard drive. Because of it’s age, the Mac Genius recommended I repair it myself as it would be too expensive to have Apple repair it. Instead, he described to me how to troubleshoot it myself at home. Turns out, I was able to determine the hard drive went bad - a hard drive I had replaced a year and a half ago myself.
Show me a company that offers free service on four year-old products and replaces parts for free on two year-old products. You won’t find it in most industries, let alone the computer and electronics industry!
Apple products provide real estate professionals with reliability, compatibility with today’s business tasks and best of all - outstanding customer service.
