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[sevenlayermuddle]

The 'official' Apple silver keyboard is pretty, but not particularly nice to use, still I use one for the MAC Mini as, although a windows keyboard will work, some of the keys are subtly different which would annoy me.  When in Rome, do as the Romans and all that.

A couple of days ago I noticed the USB cable, which is unusually thin and fragile, had somehow got physically damaged, a nasty graze and exposed wires leading to intermittent operation.  No problem, I'm fully qualified to wield a soldering iron, so all I had to do was open it up and replace the cable with that from a dead mouse that's been lying around for a while.  Clever, huh?

No.     A quick bit of internet research tells me the keyboards are glued together, and not just at the edges, each layer of construction seems to be glued on top of other layers - the whole thing sounds like a kind of 'potted' construction.   They simply cannot be dismantled without destroying them, and a new keyboard is of the order of £40!

For the time being I've settled for a shameful looking spliced repair, all bound up bodged with insulating tape.   Longer term, I'll fit a new USB plug to the short 'stub' of remaining cable, then use a USB extension cable to connect to the MAC.  But what a palaver over a damaged keyboard cable, why is nothing ever easy when fixing/modifying Apple bits!?

[asbokid]

Look on the bright side: Apple stock is up 72.47% since January alone.  Due in no small to part to those shoddy keyboards!

cheers, a

[kitz]

lol..   Im with you on this 7LM, 

My ipad charger is currently botched together with a bit of tape and an elastic band, because I refuse to pay £30 for a new one of these

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD824ZM/A/lightning-to-30-pin-adapter-02-m?fnode=3c



I wouldnt pay £30 on principal - bearing in mind thats only the lead, and not the full power adapter (another £25),  that has got to be one of the biggest rip offs!! 
£55 for a power adapter and lead, they are having a laugh

No wonder the graph asbo posted looks like it does.

[kitz]

PS why is that tiny pin adapter £5 more expensive than the Power adapter to USB?

Its because theres idiots like me who forget that its plugged in, and the connector soon breaks after after its been given a few yanks, so the lead breaks off.   Yep..  its an easy to break part isnt it 

[Ronski]

This is one of the reasons why Apple is the richest business in the world with around $100 billion cash in the bank, that's cash not assets,  because they rip everybody off along the way.

Glueing a keyboard together is going to be cheaper than screwing it, and when it breaks because of the low quality cheap cable, they can sell you another.

[Black Sheep]

I think the key is to take greater care with ones personal possessions. Being Apples current biggest fan  I can understand the outcry at the pricing, but surely the company cannot be held responsible for personal mis-use, however unintended that may be ?

I shall now don my 'Incoming hat'. 

[sevenlayermuddle]

Interesting comments.

I've commented before that enterring into an Apple retail store make me feel a bit like poking my head around the door of some weird religious cult.   Sounds like BS may be aspiring to high Priest? 

I'm not anti-Apple mind you, I think everybody who enjoys the 'gadget' culture owes them a big vote of thanks.  I seriously doubt whether other smartphones would be nearly as good if they hadn't had an iPhone to copy.   Same for tablets and the iPad.   And the cheap MP3 players that so many teenagers take for granted must owe something to whoever invented the iPod.   

I just wish they would be more accepting of the idea that people expect to be able to upgrade/repair their own PC's, and replace batteries in phones, etc!

[kitz]

I freely admit it was my own fault that the lead has got worn, but Im sure it shouldnt have gone so quickly,  I have a HTC device that is charged just as often as the Apple one, which is still in perfect shape and shows no sign of wear and tear like the Apple one.

The point is Apple are ripping us off - they are deliberately non conformist and make it exceedingly hard and expensive to replace extra parts.

Apple USB to Mains Charger £25
Genuine HTC USB to Mains Charger £3.69
Apple Power lead - £30
Genuine HTC Power lead - £1.08

So Apple wants £55 for something that a competitor charges £4-77 for?

Thats one hell of a damn mark up and blatent abuse of their consumers.  Yes I like the Apple stuff I have, but I dont like being ripped off... that makes me mad

[kitz]

 

[sevenlayermuddle]

 

[burakkucat]

   I can appreciate the humour but, to me, that is misuse of a perfectly good Dell Laptop (I believe) and an apple. 

[asbokid]

Looks like a French Golden Delicious to me.. so not really fit for human consumption any way!

[sevenlayermuddle]

My new solderable USB plug arrived today, so I set about the permanent repair, such that the keyboard will just have a very short stub of cable, connected to the PC with a USB extension cable 'option' that Apple kindly supplied when I bought the keyboard'

But, once again, No 

I'd neven noticed before, but the original USB plug on the keyboard has a notch cut into it.  And the female on the USB extension has a ridge that engages in that notch.  For some reason, Apple wanted to ensure that the USB extension cable is used only for the keyboard, and nothing else, so they  used modified USB connectors.  And since the USB plug I've bought is a standard connector with no notch, I can't use the Apple extension cable. 

OK, standard USB extension cables are cheap enough, I'll buy one.  Or maybe I'll file a notch in the plug so it fits.  But it's always just so darned difficult to do anything at all, when it comes to Apple hardware!