“Gadget makers love to sell us on all the things their devices can do, whether it’s letting us chat with distant friends at any time or watch movies on our commute. But can anyone fix this stuff when it breaks?” Andrew Vanacore asks for The Associated Press.

“That’s a question raised by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which discovered in a survey released Sunday that 15 percent of people who had some piece of technology break down in the previous year were never able to get it repaired,” Vanacore reports.

“Nearly 40 percent of computer users said their machine stopped working properly at some point in the past year. Almost 30 percent of cell phone users said the same,” Vanacore reports.

“Ask Avery Griffin, who switched to an Apple Inc. computer a few years ago for its audio recording software. The 24-year-old musician said his new machine wouldn’t stop freezing up and crashing. But he said all he heard from Apple was, ‘At least it’s not a PC,’” Vanacore smears. “The PC he uses now works just fine, he said.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers to numerous to mention for the heads up.]

This is an example of a “journalist” inserting an anecdote into his “reporting” even though – and perhaps because – it flies directly in the face of fact. The fact is that Apple Macs (and iPhones and iPods and operating systems) routinely rank highest in customer satisfaction. Vanacore should have used just about any PC box assembler for his “freezing up and crashing” example if he was interested in reporting reality to his readers. He didn’t. Instead, of all possible companies, he chose Apple — the leader in customer satisfaction in multiple independent studies for multiple years running — as his example in an article that will be syndicated to thousands of outlets (there are currently 2,540 separate instances of this article found via Google) worldwide. Let’s all ask the Associated Press why:

Andrew Vanacores’s “evidence” is one user’s claim. Contrast that to our list of “Related articles” below:

Apple debuts new ‘Get a Mac’ Web ad: Mac Customer Satisfaction (with video) – November 11, 2008
J.D. Power: Apple iPhone ranks highest in business wireless smartphone customer satisfaction – November 06, 2008
ACSI: Customer satisfaction rockets for Apple’s Mac; rest of Windows PC industry drops again – August 19, 2008
ChangeWave: Mac OS X Leopard satisfaction far outpaces Vista; Apple Mac strong despite PC slowdown – March 26, 2008
ChangeWave: Apple iPhone maintains big lead in customer satisfaction; top choice among likely buyers – February 07, 2008
ChangeWave survey shows big Apple Mac sales, very high Mac OS X Leopard, very low Vista satisfaction – January 17, 2008
ChangeWave: Apple’s iPhone races to huge lead in customer satisfaction – October 18, 2007
Apple Mac desktops, notebooks top PC Magazine’s Annual Reader Satisfaction survey – again – September 18, 2007
Survey: Apple iPhone nabs unprecedented 92% satisfaction rating (plus likes and dislikes) – August 16, 2007
Apple continues to lead PC makers in customer satisfaction – August 14, 2007
Study: Apple iPhone owners ‘off the charts’ satisfied with device – July 13, 2007
Microsoft’s customer satisfaction drops following Windows Vista launch – May 17, 2007
Apple’s secret ingredient? A large group of very satisfied customers – April 10, 2007
Apple Mac desktops, notebooks top PC Magazine’s Annual Reader Satisfaction survey – again – August 22, 2006
Apple Computer tops PC satisfaction study – August 15, 2006
Apple Mac desktops, portables top PC Magazine’s 2005 Reader Satisfaction survey – August 24, 2005
Apple continues to lead in customer satisfaction, Dell loses more ground – August 16, 2005
Apple Macintosh leads in personal computer customer satisfaction – August 24, 2004
Apple Macs top PC Magazine’s ‘17th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey’ – August 10, 2004
Apple leads PC Magazine’s 16th annual Service and Reliability Survey – July 10, 2003