Those of you who read the captions on my Flickr photos may be aware of the deal I struck recently with my nephew Alix: he allows a photo of himself to be used in the public service videos I produced recently for UNICEF; I buy him a 1G RAM module for his Mac Mini.
Well, the RAM was delivered yesterday, and I — as tech support scapegoat go-to gal for all my family members and friends living at the Black Hole within a 20km radius — was naturally the one to install it.
Practically all of the instruction guides on the web insist that a putty knife (and in at least one case, two putty knives) is essential to the Mac Mini-dismantling process. This is because practically all of these instruction guides are written by men — who have no clue that a icing spatula (straight version) works just as well!
The trick is to insert the blade of the spatula into the non-existent space between the Mini’s metal outer casing and plastic back cover, then grasp it a few inches from the top (to keep it rigid) before prying the cover up — an exercise, I should warn you, that involves some rather alarming cracking and popping oops-there-goes-my warranty-grade sound effects. (This may explain why Apple does not publish instructions on its own web site and why they’re absent from the Mac Mini manual as well. The warranty remains effective, however, unless the case shows signs of severe mistreatment).
If there’s a down side to using an icing spatula instead of a putty knife, it’s that you might attempt to apply a layer of frosting to your Mac Mini after you complete the upgrade. But then again, which is easier to remove: frosting or putty?
Frosting – plus it tastes better!
You win the prize, J9! (Too bad there isn’t one).
But maybe you should try applying a few dabs of Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge Chip to those two finicky iBooks you’ve got down there in the Black Hole. You never know.
My method is similar but involves a sledgehammer, a chisel and a large jug of sangria. Frosting is optional.
More pictures of the entire process would have been appreciated…
Vernon, I think the main difference between our methods is that, in my case, the computer is still usable at the end — and I don’t wake up with a hangover the next morning.
And sorry, Hassan, but I needed both hands just to deal with the Mini, and didn’t have a photographer around at the time.
OH…I should have mentioned I didn;t realize you produced the spots for UNICEF…they really are excellent and very effective. Good work Georgia!
And the trick to my Mac Mini method is having a credit card handy at the end of the process.
Cheers from Vern and Tinkerbell.
P.S. While I know you are busy these days it would be wonderful to have more postings from you….even ratch ones.