Lots of Apples Going Rotten

If the home computer you purchased through Harvard's Office of Information Technology (OIT) is an Apple Macintosh, then there's a 1 in 5 chance that it will require repairs within the first fifteen months.

And after that, breakdowns may occur even more frequently, says Lance Jackson of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Computer Services department.

Of the 2400 Macintoshes sold through Harvard during the last 15 months, 550 have come back to OIT for service, said Assistant Technical Coordinator Christine Ryan.

Jackson said the repair rate is not much lower for the IBM PC or the Digital Rainbow, both of which are also sold by OIT but serviced by the manufacturers. Spokesmen for both IBM and DEC refused comment.

Ryan cited the power supply and the logic boards--parts particularly susceptible to power surges--as the two areas that fail most often.