[rubyfan]

The article misses the point of insurance (which AppleCare actually isn’t technically). AppleCare is an extend warranty program which includes accidental damage coverage. There is a manufacturer/ customer relationship component here that the author might be overlooking.

Those expensive but cosmetic fixes aren’t the kind of thing you use insurance for generally. If you are Apple you might be happy to keep your customers on the latest OEM accessories and machines in good repair. Profit on the plan isn’t the only reason to offer AppleCare. Keeping consumers buying the next greatest Apple device might be part of how Apple value AppleCare. Apple may be designing the coverage to be used as the author is using it in which case makes the plan less profitable than we all might imagine. However the overall customer lifetime value benefit to Apple is probably still positive.

[Syzygies]

Yes. I could work for AppleCare phone support. All my friends call me instead. When I need to call, I'd do well betting a year's salary that the first person won't know the answer. I always get escalated, sometimes to someone with a deep understanding of the issue. I'm willing to pay for that, as I have trouble letting go otherwise. AppleCare buys me back days of my life.

This article threw me, first with the "you're" in the caption, then the muddled second paragraph. It's a "Where's Waldo?" of grammatical errors. I lost count.