{"id":225841,"date":"2010-01-25T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2010-01-25T14:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theappleblog.com\/?p=39598"},"modified":"2010-01-25T09:58:26","modified_gmt":"2010-01-25T14:58:26","slug":"apple-to-time-capsule-customers-all-your-files-are-belong-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/225841","title":{"rendered":"Apple to Time Capsule Customers: All Your Files Are Belong to Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Back In October ‘09 I wrote an article about a disturbing failure-rate<\/a> in Apple’s Time Capsules that was starting to gain some attention in the press. An apparent design flaw in the device was causing some units to die after about 12-18 months in operation. Reports on the Apple discussion forum at that time suggested the same flaw also affected Apple\u2019s Airport Extreme, a device that shares an almost identical form factor.<\/p>\n

In what would prove disastrously precognitive, I wrote:<\/p>\n

\n

Imagine, then, the pain when a well-used Time Capsule croaks, taking up to 18 months\u2019 worth of incremental backups with it. I don\u2019t mind admitting that the thought of it strikes fear into my heart. I use two Time Capsules every hour of every day.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help thinking that I don\u2019t own two Time Capsules; I own two ticking Time bombs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fast forward to early last week when my Mac Pro\u2019s 1TB Time Capsule breathed its last and died a sudden — if not entirely unexpected — death.<\/p>\n

I called Apple Support and the guy on the other end of the phone asked me for the TC\u2019s serial number. A moment later he confirmed Apple was aware of \u201ca fault\u201d with that model and offered to replace it for free. So far so good.<\/p>\n

The process was explained to me; I would receive the replacement TC in a few days, whereupon I had to return the dead TC to Apple. Immediately alarm bells rang in my brain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about my stuff?\u201d I asked. There was a year\u2019s worth of data stuck on that thing. Finances, contacts, personal and shared calendars, photographs, email\u2026 I didn\u2019t relish the thought of sending all of that data to someone I didn\u2019t know. Not even if it was<\/em> an Apple technician.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we will wipe the drive thoroughly for you,\u201d offered the support guy, \u201cIt\u2019s safe with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

No it isn\u2019t<\/em>, I worried. \u201cCan\u2019t I just remove the drive and wipe the data? I\u2019ll put it back if necessary, only, I\u2019m concerned about\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. You must not<\/em> open the unit. If you do, you will void the warranty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already<\/em> out of warranty,\u201d I replied as politely as possible, not wanting to sound like a jerk. \u201cYou\u2019re replacing it because of a design flaw, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Apple Support guy wouldn\u2019t budge. \u201cIf you open the case we will charge you the full price of a new Time Capsule.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bottom line; Apple forbade me from retrieving my<\/em> data from their<\/em> Time Capsule. Doing so would somehow make me<\/em> responsible for its death, even though they admitted the product was already faulty.<\/p>\n

Now, I understand Apple wanting to retrieve faulty gear for study. Doing so helps them improve their products. But this isn\u2019t a broken mouse or keyboard. This is a device that stores a lot<\/em> of valuable personal information. In this instance, shouldn\u2019t Apple exercise a higher degree of flexibility and sensitivity to customers?<\/p>\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking; maybe they\u2019d wipe it right before my eyes at the Apple Store? So I asked. He replied, \u201cNo. They\u2019ll give you a replacement but they will send the faulty device back to us for wiping.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, either way, I get a replacement Time Capsule\u2026 but I have to surrender my personal data to Apple.<\/p>\n

Trust<\/h3>\n

Apple sells a Time Capsule as part of a complete backup solution. Time Machine + Time Capsule = Backup. Right? The Time Capsule website even proclaims, \u201c\u2026you never have to worry about losing your important files.\u201d I guess the small print needs to add \u201c\u2026except when you\u2019re handing all your data to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple's bold promise on their Time Capsule website<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What\u2019s more, in the days it took for the replacement to arrive, I had no satisfactory backup solution. Of course, it\u2019s not Apple\u2019s responsibility to ensure I always have a complete and reliable backup strategy in place, but it sure felt<\/em> like Apple had let me down. (Yes, now I’m just ranting.)<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Apple is<\/em> doing the right thing by replacing (most) affected units, even if they\u2019re out of warranty and not covered by AppleCare. Yet I can\u2019t help feel that there\u2019s more<\/em> they could have done; starting with permitting me to take responsibility for my own data, rather than threatening me with a hefty charge to my credit card if I did so.<\/p>\n

Apple normally pays close attention to the little details other companies miss, but here it feels like they failed to appreciate the single biggest<\/em> issue \u2013 the proper handling of customer\u2019s valuable personal data. If they had<\/em> paid closer, more careful attention to that detail, I might not feel so indignant today… and I might still be recommending the Time Capsule to my friends. As it stands, the Time Machine + Time Capsule solution is great when it works<\/em>. But if it breaks, customers may have to face zero backup functionality and<\/em> a worrying lack of perspective from Apple when it comes to allowing them to take steps to secure their personal data.<\/p>\n

Am I overreacting? Should I simply trust Apple with all my personal files, no questions asked? Leave a comment below to tell me I\u2019m a shameless drama queen and how, like you, I should be using an offsite RAID array if I’m serious about backup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/div>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back In October ‘09 I wrote an article about a disturbing failure-rate in Apple’s Time Capsules that was starting to gain some attention in the press. An apparent design flaw in the device was causing some units to die after about 12-18 months in operation. Reports on the Apple discussion forum at that time suggested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225841\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}