Tropical Techman is about making things work and keeping them working at the far, far end of the marketing chain. I fell in love with macs at first sight in 1984, when I had access to one of only 4 new cute little macintosh computers on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa. There were no real resources available locally and one vendor who sold to the Education Department and had an exclusive technical support deal.
In the mid '90s, I was working for the AS DOE as a science teacher who dabbled in computers. The student information system was a mac based program called MacSchools by Chancery Software. I trained myself in it's use and was fortunate to be sent off to Vancouver for Advanced training and entered the world of big time Mac use.
I was also lucky to attend an advanced chemistry workshop in 1996 at UC Santa Cruz where the graduate assistant to the chemistry professor was the wizard of a new technology called the 'Internet'. We were offered the opportunity to check out the new 'T3' connections he was making and explore using a new program called Netscape [version 1]. I also acquired the inaugural issue of MacAddict Magazine which featured a CD with Mac utilities and other free software.
I was soooo hooked. With internet access coming to American Samoa in 1997, I spent more and more time immersed in macs, their capabilities, and how to keep them running as they should. It has not been financially lucrative for me personally, there has always been the PC vs Mac debates and the 'business oriented' PC was a central meme in our local education administration. Also, the local computer support companies found PC more profitable, and there were few options for Apple purchases.
This has changed with the rise in on-line purchasing, making apple products much more accessible to the general public here in the South Pacific. There are now many Apple products around, but still little actual tech support.
I have filled in this need in Pago Pago for more than 16 years, though most often as an unpaid 'MacGuyver', solving issues for friends and acquaintances. There are a few business people who love macs, an architect, several legal offices, newspaper publishers who have provided me with opportunities to conduct paid professional services. I am grateful for their business, but it is still a side job to augment my main employment as a technical support and training manager in government service.
I hope to expand my repair capabilities for iOS devices and other mac services. Eventual certification toward an authorized apple service center for warranty work would serve our remote location [about 2500 mi. SW of Hawaii] best. Using macs since 1984 in the South Pacific.