I would like to celebrate the birth of an upgraded iMac with my very own iMac story and a tip that may be helpful in an emergency for my fellow Apple aficionados.
Before we get into the details, please refer to the following:
- I would like to think that I am not the only one who has gone through this terrifying experience.
- Yes, I do act mindlessly at times and do stupid things. Ok, fine. I’m one of the clumsiest people on earth.
- MacGyver was my hero when I was growing up, except that mine spoke Korean (dubbed; I was seriously traumatized when he started speaking English).
So with these in mind, let me start the story.
It was a peaceful Saturday morning. I had just gotten out of bed and was ready to start the day. A watch I had purchased was just delivered and with great excitement, I took a few pictures, so I can post them on Twitter. Then, as usual, I removed the SD card from the camera and inserted into the SD card slot on my iMac… or so I thought I was… until I felt it falling deep into a black hole (aka DVD Drive). @.@
In my head, Britney was singing, “Oops, I did it again” because mind you, this was NOT my first time. I thought, crap, my husband’s going to kill me. I tried hard to calm myself down. Breathe.. Breathe.!! Thank God he was asleep so I had some time to clean up the mess and act like nothing happened. The question was, ‘How the heck am I going to get it out?!?’ Darn, the last time it happened, hubby had to take it to the hospital (aka Apple Store)… It was covered by warranty and nothing was scratched but just the hassle of having to unplug everything, take it to the store only to return to pick it up is just a pain. So I had no choice but to think fast and strategically.
I thought of MacGyver, the genius who always had a solution to everything. I asked God for wisdom.
Then my light bulb went on. I grabbed an earring from the drawer. I needed a metal wire but thin enough to access the card slot. I thought of metal hangers or chopsticks but they were too thick and hard to manage once inside. So the earring hook came along. It was straightened then curved at the end to fit the card. I unplugged the computer, placed a towel on the floor and tilted it vertically (not completely vertical but I’d say about 45 degrees) and gently shook it back and forth (As you know, the slot is covered with rubber-like protectors so you really can’t see anything. Just focus on trying to get the card move to the bottom of the slot so you can pull it out). Then when I felt like it was where I wanted it to be, I inserted the earring hook at the bottom of the slot, set it at a right angle, and gently started dragging it out. Voila! Magically, the card was now on my palm. I felt so smart! hahaha anyways… yeah. that’s the end of the story.
So if you have any questions regarding this tip, please let me know. I will try my best to help. Remember that you are NOT ALONE. I’m not sure how many of you will, or have encountered this issue but I hope one day Apple will realize that this is indeed a result of a design defect. Seriously, who places a CD/DVD drive right below a SD card slot (world’s most innovative company does), especially when you can’t see neither from where you are sitting?! Come on.
Some may argue that you should always be cautious of what you are doing, but how many of you would get out of your seat and watch the “insertion process”?! I don’t know about you, but I’m lazy when it comes to things like that. I’m an economical person and prefer not to waste my time and energy on things that don’t (or shouldn’t) require much attention. My temporary fix was to place a scotch tape over the CD slot though I admit its ghetto-ness. oh well, until Apple introduces a countermeasure, a scotch tape should do…
But in all seriousness, while I am a diehard Apple fan, I need them to do something about this before it happens again. Mr. Jobs, are you listening!?
Photo Credit: Bing Images
© 2010, Tomi. All rights reserved.
Since new iMac was released today, I was hoping they would relocate the slot for SD card..but..
Spec for New iMac is very tempting, though.
thanks for the tip. it really helped me out today. =)
Glad you found it helpful! :D