The Different is now closed and no longer accepting new cases. This website will remain open as an information resource. If you want to contact me about working in Apple support or consultancy for your company, please use the contact button, above.
The Sizzle Reel
Career Highlights and Relevant Facts
35+ years as a Mac User, 12 years in Mac support and 4 years in unix (Sun Solaris support).
7+ Years working on Apple devices in Finland, I have experience working on Macs set up in Finnish, English and some in Swedish.
Previously specialised in TCP/IP networking and Unix email solutions.
Tiger Team member in a multiple-thousand seat CRM installation project while at Sun Microsystems.
Background in business process and project management.
Trained in Kepner Tregoe’s Analytical Troubleshooting, a variant of the troubleshooting process NASA used to get Apollo 13 back to earth safely.
Project managed the development of an “internal open source” repository for user developed applications at Sun Microsystems.
Trained in project management by Kepner Tregoe, some basic Six Sigma training.
Supported / consulted at Marks & Spencer’s Packaging Design Studio, implementing a standard configuration for their Macs, reducing down-time and increasing the productivity of the designers.
Consultancy for the Gay Times & Diva magazines to take them from B&W to colour publications.
Apple trained in technical troubleshooting (Genius, Apple Certified Mac Technician, Apple Certified iOS Technician) and customer service
Apple “Genius” (customer-facing technical support & repair) at London Stratford City, Bristol Cribs Causeway retail stores.
Ran and participated in multiple remote / virtual teams.
Experience in business continuity and disaster recovery.
Software project life cycle experience from requirements gathering to training and roll-out.
Worked as a semi-pro photographer, published in The Sunday Times Magazine and Prog Magazine.
Certifications
Go to my certifications page for a full list of the courses, training and certifications I have completed in my IT career, download My CV. You can find my personal LinkedIn here, company social media links can be found in the site footer, below
What?
Short answer: Software repair of Apple equipment, consultancy to help you get the most from your Apple devices.
Long answer: The two things I focus on are, fixing Macs that are not working correctly and consultancy to make sure that you are getting the most from your Apple devices. Your Mac may be slow, crashing or not starting up. My priority is to ensure your Mac starts up quickly, has all the applications you need on it, is connected to the services you need and has access to your data. My idea of consultancy is to ensure you understand your Apple devices, understand how they can best be used in your organisation and, ideally can enjoy using them. User-focused technology solutions, if you like.
On my way to starting The Different I spent a little time in a company that had some IT systems that had been implemented by “IT people”, it was awful. It prompted me to write down what I saw as good and bad IT systems (I won’t bore you with the whole thing here). The basic conclusion was that there is a kind of IT person who wants to make everything easy for themselves (not necessarily a bad thing) and make sense to them. This often results in bad IT. Systems that make senes for the IT person, but not the person using the system – the “end user”. End user is a terrible term. It implies that the user of the system is the IT department (or the business, in slightly better installations) and that the person who actually spends all day using the system is an afterthought, an inconvenience. This is the complete opposite of how I see IT systems. The primary focus is to make sure systems work for the people using them. If the systems are easy to use, they will be used correctly which will result in higher quality data. Systems which are difficult to use, obfuscated and make no sense to the people using them will result in junk data, harm your business and make your employees miserable. I can help you make your IT systems better.
Why?
Short answer: Because this is the work I love using the equipment I love.
Long answer: There’s a story about Steve Jobs, when he returned to Apple after starting NeXT, he was surprised to see many of the same people, still at Apple, even though the company was in really bad shape. When he asked them why they were still there, the answer was “we bleed in six colours” – referring to the early Apple rainbow logo. Soon after came the “Think different” campaign. It was a call to arms for the people both inside and outside Apple who believed in what Apple was doing and how that differed from the rest of the computer industry. IBM, then Microsoft symbolised everything Apple did not want to be, large, inflexible corporations servicing other large, inflexible corporations with effective but uninspiring solutions. Apple was the upstart, the company that made computers for people, not for companies, computers that you could do cool stuff with, a “bicycle for your mind”. Is Apple still this upstart company? Of course not. Do I like everything that Apple does? No, I don’t. Do I still believe that Apple is focused on doing its best to make great computing experiences for its customers? Yes I do and I want to be a part of that process.
I did “Think different”, I was one of the people that ad was aimed at, one of the different.
Why be independent? In time I want to create closer ties to Apple and perhaps some other software and hardware vendors. For now, I’m looking forward to working with my customers to create great computing solutions. Just me and the customer, working to fix a problem, not worrying about another company or someone else’s agenda. Us, fixing it together.
When?
Short answer: How soon is now? The Smith’s quotes aside, I started the different following MacHuolto closing in 2022.
Long answer: There is no long answer to this. As far as timeframes go, I always aim to complete work as quickly as it can be done whilst delivering a quality solution.
Where?
Short answer: I’m based in Helsinki. I can travel to site, or you can send your device to me.
Long answer: If you are an individual with a Mac problem, the best solution is probably to bring your Mac to me for repair. While I may charge two or three hours for a software rebuild, the time it takes to do the work may be much longer than this. If I were to do this at your home, I would have to charge for the entire time I am there or would have to travel to you twice (once to start the work, then again to finish it), making the job more expensive than it needs to be. I will probably have to back up your Mac then restore the data, this can be quick or very time consuming, depending on how much data there is and a number of other factors. Bringing your Mac to me will save you money, but if you want me to come to your home, I can do so. Being on site can also be the best way to fix some issues, like networking problems or problems with devices that are too big to move easily.
For businesses and consultancy, I very much believe in being on site. Being at a customer site gives me a better understanding of how your business uses Apple devices and how they integrate into your company’s workflow. Small businesses may also benefit from having multiple issues or devices fixed at a time, for example two or three Macs could be rebuilt at the same time. We can also look at other work whilst a rebuild is underway.
Can’t you use MDM (mobile device management)? MDM is a very useful tool for managing Apple devices but there are some things to bear in mind. A full MDM implementation can be time consuming to create, and may not represent a good use of time, especially for smaller companies or if you employees use their own devices for work. MDM is best installed when the Mac is new, installing MDM on a device that is already faulty can cause the problems to become worse. So, MDM is very useful, but does have its limitations.
How?
Short answer: By applying many years of Apple experience and a good understanding of how computers and businesses work.
Long answer: The truth is there’s no secret to what I do, it’s just a combination of knowledge and experience applied in a sympathetic way to resolve whatever problem, issue or question you have. I am fortunate and somewhat unusual In Mac support as I trained as a Unix system administrator and spent several years in Unix support. Since macOS is based on the Open Source XNU kernel, having a knowledge of Unix internals is very useful when troubleshooting Macs and other Apple devices.