Why now when the Tenth Anniversary of working there was really the day after Labor Day (September 1996)? Obviously my house’s Fifth Anniversary was more important, more pleasant and probably won’t end bitterly like PowerComputing (PCC) did.
I decided that making a quick tribute to several of the people there who really made a difference in my life was fitting and overdue. With enough time and effort, I could’ve pushed my brain harder to come up with a strong, non-Halloweenish theme (colors, banner, etc.) but when I thought of these people, my mind was set.
After working at PowerComputing for a month, I had gained some momentum on and off the phone. The year I had spent with Apple was just mainly handling PowerBook calls and it told me the general nature of tech support. It was nothing very challenging or more importantly, career developing. I originally had the mindset of PCC being something I’d do for a year, then move on. As I told some friends, I had just left McDonald’s (Apple) for Wendy’s (PCC), only this McJob gave me health insurance and a 401k. Turned out there were some people at PCC trying to prove Apple wrong about some of Cupertino’s ingrained assumptions. As one trainer quoted a customer, “We love Apple’s products, we just hate dealing with you.” Other matters PCC tackled while Apple wouldn’t were customizations of the systems at the factory a la Dell, assisting customers on the phone with hardware repairs and longer tech support hours with limited weekend help. These are now just assumed since 2001.
But PCC’s “revolutionary” practices weren’t enough, it were these people I worked with who really changed my opinion of the company until the Revocation in 1997.
Rob Fedson: I only knew him from a couple conversations at Apple and he landed a sales job I applied for (no hard feelings from it though). Rob jumped at the chance to be the manager of a tech support team around the time I came aboard, PCC was expanding rapidly. He became my boss shortly after he was brought up to speed. Rob really pushed on my abilities and raised my confidence on the technical aspects. At Apple, the PowerBook team had immense talent I didn’t feel I could compete with, thus I could only take calls, not much else. PCC was practically building from the ground up, so here was a chance to make a difference and participate in entry-level QA (Quality Assurance). Rob went on to run PCC’s training department, then rejoined Apple doing similar work until he was org’d out this Spring. However, he landed on his feet within a couple months as director of the Austin branch of the Media Tech Institute.
Kris Lawley: She came aboard around this time, give or take a month, but I didn’t really work with her much until early 1997. Kris originally handled PCC’s on-site repair vendor and then had to handle its outsourcing. At least in the Nineties, no one considered sending the calls to India but more often they did go to parts of the US many considered Third World locations. I still am a huge opponent of outsourcing (legacy products is all I will capitulate on) yet while working with Kris, I had a positive effect. I couldn’t stop the bad decisions to use 1-800 Service Partners or Softbank but I could hold their feet to the fire instead by pointing out the poor quality of their work which resulted in them having to shape up. The ugly truth is that companies specializing in this will always cut corners. Thus the other beneficial thing Kris helped me with was showing the suits why our employees did a better job and saved money despite having higher salaries. She and Rob were instrumental in me getting to live in Las Vegas for four weeks too! Kris was one of the last people to stay and lock the door when PCC folded. Then Apple practically begged her to come back. She returned after they set her up new position in Austin. I recall her wearing many different hats until she left in 2005. Last time I ran into her, relaxing was the only thing on her day planner. We’ve been good friends on and off (I don’t see her much lately, there was never any falling out). Other than the PCC matters, I will never ever be able to repay her for being instrumental in my return to Austin in 1998.
Bill Bova: He was a co-worker that joined PCC in the Spring of 1997. I then got to know him better after all four tech support teams were reunited in the PowerMart, a former Wal-Mart building that became the company’s final resting place. We actually became better friends during my time in exile in North Carolina. When I returned to Austin, we would occasionally hang out, namely going to movies. Bill even tried to interest me in a gig with UT’s IT department. I sadly had to turn it down because Apple would’ve been more money, something I needed urgently then. We were even roommates for three months near Wells Branch. I won’t go into the circumstances why he needed a roommate. Despite the brief housing arrangements, we remained friends and I would say he was one of the most frictionless roomies in history. Lately, his online presence has diminished but I think he’ll try his blog sometime soon.