Last March I picked up the Apple wireless keyboard, which I absolutely love. Unfortunately, yesterday my semicolon/colon key stopped working for no apparent reason. As a programmer, this is a key I couldn’t live without (though the on-screen keyboard feature in Mac OS X made it pretty simple to keep working). I had to get a replacement ASAP.

I was wary about trying to return this device. It was still under its standard 1-year warranty, but I’ve always heard that Apple is crazy strict about what they’ll replace and what they won’t. Nevertheless, I made an appointment on-line and jumped on the train to the downtown San Francisco store.

I was mentally prepared for dealing with red tape when I arrived, but what I experienced was quite different. I checked in with the concierge, about 2 minutes later I heard my name called to check in at the Genius Bar, and the conversation that ensued went something like this:

Norah, Apple Genius, “So you’ve got a keyboard issue?”
Me, “Yep, the semicolon key just stopped working yesterday.”
Norah, “Ok, just grab a new one over there. [points to shelf]”
[I grab a new keyboard, return to desk, she scans.]
Norah, “You’re all set.”
Me, “That’s it?”
Norah, “Yep.”

So, say what you will about Apple’s support, but my experience was pretty great. Or should I say ::::::great;;;;;; I wasn’t treated like an idiot, I wasn’t questioned as if I was trying to cover up negligence, and I was at the crowded SF store for a total of about 5 minutes, and only about 30 seconds to a minute of that was spent with the support staff.

This article was edited after publication by the author on 11 Jan 2009. View changes.