Didn't Get the Hint

Last week, my kids (again) killed their Mac mini. The Ala Moana Apple Store held on to it for a few days, but eventually (again) replaced the optical drive at no charge. Since the keyboard my kids were using — a black and blue classic from an old G4 tower — had already been abused to the point of losing its spacebar, I figured I might as well buy a new USB wired keyboard while I was down there.

But when I got to the store on Sunday, the shelf where these keyboards used to be stocked was empty. I was bummed, because I actually liked the basic white-and-clear wired keyboards Apple sold (for an almost un-Apple $29).

"Yeah, we've been out of stock for a while," one Apple Store employee told me. "For some strange reason, they stopped shipping them."

"Hmm," I said.

"I mean, who knows, that probably means something else..." he continued, but his voice trailed off. "If you really one one today, though, I can call the Kahala store for you."

"Sure, thanks," I said, oblivious.

And as it turns out, he didn't have to. Jen had approached another employee, who went in back and retrieved one. We showered him with thanks and praise as I paid, and we left, satisfied.

Sure enough, not two days later, Apple unveiled new keyboards. D'oh!

The new keyboards are beautiful, very MacBook-like in design. But, they're also more expensive (the wired model is priced at $49). And maybe just a little too nice for a piece of equipment for three young children to pound on.