Smoking kills... your Mac

Guess this just proves that Macs are "superior" until Apple is tasked with actually honoring the warranty. It is because of policies such as these that there are many class action suits. It certainly doesn't help Apple's image that they try to pass off their products as "superior" but then won't even give you a reasonable three year warranty in some cases without charging $349. If Apple made a decent product, they wouldn't need to charge extra just to ensure relative profit safety within a relatively short period of time following the purchase.

It really is time to put an end to these type of shenanigans for all manufactured products. If you can't make a product that lasts five years under normal use, you shouldn't be making products. Instead, you should just stick with insider trading. Unless you're OK with companies stealing your money in tax bail outs and then having almost no accountability, this is the least that could be legislated.

This is one of the most disgusting thread I've ever read ! Really the puritan bullshit at its acme!

Smoking while working on the Mac or entertaining oneself with a cigarette and a Mac (or PC for that matter) is a daily habit of millions and millions of customers across the world. It's been considered normal behavior for the last 25 years and it never occurred to a single smoking Mac user that he was not behaving properly.

So it's just plain unfair to deny him his right to warranty... unless, of course Mac prints on his warranty that it will be void in case of use in smoky conditions. But that move would take a commercial initiative which could appear awkward... maybe even unlawfull.

Some of the self-righteous anti-smoker commenters on this thread are obviously not aware of the perfect ridicule of their attitude. Getting tar residue on your fingers will not give you cancer ! Some weird metals in a computer could harm you, some problems could drive you nuts, some wifi emission could damage some precious part of your body but cold tabacco odour or tar caramel won't hurt you. Just wash your hands afterwards.

By the way, I've been continuously smoking at my dear Macs' face for the last 15 years and never had to use the warranty or even a qualified Mac repairer...

When I worked for Apple as a Genius at the bar and when I was a Apple Technician for a Authorized Service Provider, we got a few computers in with Cigarette "Smoke Inhalation" and Yes I refused service. One computer was a White iMac the old bubble one and it wasn't white anymore it was GREY and it was nasty. As a technician we know that carbon from smoking can indeed cause damage to electronic devices. Plus it just nasty! I also, while working at the Apple Store opened a computer and it just stunk. You could smell the smoke and also the mildew that accumulated. When I opened it iMac (white flat screen) there was tar buildup on the circuit board and after seeing that I voided his warranty. Apple Care covers Manufacture defect, NOT abuse by the customer.

In reply to the 'no respiratory complications of marijuana use' post, there is this article which may be of interest, together with a comment from UpToDate (medical evidence review site, sho just need to get the resource ported to the iPhone to sell it to every clinician out there!) :
Cannabis use and risk of lung cancer: a case-control study. Aldington S; Harwood M; Cox B; Weatherall M; Beckert L; Hansell A; Pritchard A; Robinson G; Beasley R. Eur Respir J. 2008 Feb;31(2):280-6.
Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
PMID 18238947
The absolute risk of lung cancer that a given individual accrues likely relates to the magnitude and duration of drug use, the amount of adulterants coingested, and whether exposure to concomitant carcinogens (such as tobacco smoke) is present. In a case-control study, the risk of lung cancer increased 8 percent for each joint-year of marijuana smoking after adjusting for cigarette smoking [46]. In comparison, the risk of lung cancer increased 7 percent for each pack-year of cigarette smoking after adjusting for marijuana smoking.
Thus in this case-control study - never the pinnacle of medical research to be sure - the magnitude of risk increase is similar for tobacco and marijuana.
Hope this clarifies somewhat
Ben

I became an Mac consultant AFTER I quit smoking.

Now I can say what I couldn't understand before.

Cigarettes and smokers stink in a most nauseating way. I can't stand to be near cigarette smoke. If you step outside for a smoke, please stand where the wind blows the stench AWAY from the door!

The gunk inside a smoker's Mac is done on purpose and therefore is not covered by AppleCare. They chose to light up where smoke would permeate their computer.

I shudder to think what the inside of my Mac looked like in the late 80s. The outside was all yellowed and an ashtray was to the right of the mouse.

And I didn't know how bad it smelled.

I no longer smoke, but I dislike the self-righteous attitude toward smokers as well. What bothers me these days is the attitude that smoking is the devil YET drinking is still just A-OK, fine and dandy. Having been in an alcoholic relationship for almost 10 years, I cannot even begin to explain how that bothers me! --- BUT - None of that is part of this argument. I do not think ANYONE should smoke indoors period. It makes everything smell nasty, and yes... it leaves a film of tar on everything. What's worse with computers is that you get people sitting in front of them for hours on end, chain-smoking 2 or 3 packs, blowing smoke directly at the screen while they're chatting on Facebook or playing World of Warcraft (This is honestly not a stretch. I know more than one person that does this. Ugh.) -- I think from a common sense standpoint, Apple has a valid (although very narrow) argument here. I would hope the Apple service reps did more than *smell* the Macs before they refused service. I can see them refusing service if - as one person said can happen - the internal hardware is caked in tar, but simply smelling of a computer and turning it away is a decision lacking any form of diligent analysis or critical thought. -- AGAIN, best advice is to the computer user... don't smoke in the house. :-/

I'll work on them. I've repaired computers to PLCs that are used in production and industrial environments. Units used in production environments make nicotine encrusted boxes seem like a walk in the park. There are people who make a living from working on these types of units. The down side is that you can expect to pay at least 3 times the rate that a typical tech would charge. I can't tell you how much fun it is to work on a system in a full hazmat suit.

Fred, your comments that pot doesn't leave tar may be correct. I'm honestly not sure what you would call the junk that remains in the pipe, my roomie called it "resin" and was always cleaning his pipe out so he could re-smoke the resin. You must smoke joints or something.

I used to work in a computer repair shop. I always hated working on smokers' computers. They always had nicotine caked on the insides and smelled horrible. We would take the towers out back and blow them out with a shop vac before even considering working on them. After that we would wear rubber gloves, not for static shock, but so that we didn't have to get any of that nasty crap on our hands.

Moral of Story: Nobody wants to clean your disgusting computer out if you screw something up and smoke. If you want repairs, clean it out yourself. Ugh.

Why does everyone have to be so gullible?

No one has seen a copy of the letter from Apple saying that they wouldn't work on the computer just because it had been in a house with a smoker (sort of like the Google nonsense where Google claimed that Apple rejected their apps but never showed anyone a copy of the rejection letter).

Where's the letter? How about some proof?

I'm willing to bet that if the warranty was voided at all, it was not because the computer was in a home with smokers, but rather that it was covered with 1/4" of tar and clearly would be a mess to work with.