I am very frustrated with Apple today. I recently installed a recommended security fix on my server (the server providing this blog) and lost FTP access. The connection between the FTP problem and the security fix was not immediately apparent and I spent several hours attempting to determine what I could have done or what random corruption had occured. When everything I tried failed, I connected to Apple and searched the discussion lists to see what I could learn. This is when I learned of the connection between the security fix and the FTP problem.
Here is what makes the situation frustrating. I had no role in creating this problem – I took the action recommended by Apple (there is some information about what the fix fixes, but I would guess a very low % of Mac users would know that any of these descriptions would signal a potential problem). I called Apple Education Support and at this point I cannot receive help because I do not have a service contract. In the words of the younger generation – this sucks. Why should I be required to purchase a service contract against problems created by Apple? If the stemmed from third party software I decided to install, a poor decision on my part, etc., perhaps I could understand this position.
