MacBook Users Fix Trackpad Problem with Origami Paper

yonnage writes "Some Apple MacBook owners are plagued with what seems to be a defective trackpad button. The button, when pushed, seems "squishy" and sometimes even unresponsive. While these MacBook owners are getting turned away at the Apple Genius Bars, they have come up with a custom and unique solution to the problem. A piece of paper, placed strategically under the battery pack where the trackpad is located, seems to fix this problem for most users."

Could work, but for how long?

[IntelliAdmin (941633)]

Looks like the solution is to fold up a piece of paper, and put it under the actual mouse button. This might work for a little while, but it is a laptop. I can see this paper falling in some other part of the laptop, like say a fan or a hot battery - and you will have a more interesting problem of fire, or CPU death.

Disable USB Drives - Remotely [digg.com]

Re:Could work, but for how long?

[Shawn Parr (712602)]

Actually if you look at the pictures (not sure if these articles have the full pictures, I RTFA'd earlier when it was posted on the Apple forums) the paper is held in a small circular indent above the battery. The battery holds it in place and it should not escape, unless Macbook batteries start swelling like the Macbook Pro batteries and push some gap into the mix.

Re:Could work, but for how long?

[KiloByte (825081)]

the paper is held in a small circular indent above the battery

I wouldn't trust "circular indents" in a tossed about laptop. And what's the solution?

The force that holds the Universe together.

Duct tape.

(well, well, I would actually use some crappy adhesive tape instead of the spacecraft-grade variety, but you got the idea)

It's not quite that simple.

[Ohreally_factor (593551)]

Looks like the solution is to fold up a piece of paper

It's not quite that simple.

The article is inaccurate. It says you you can fold an origami star or merely just fold the paper in a square. Neither of these methods will work. Instead, fold the origami (or other, but origami paper is preferred) into a crane, as shown here [monkey.org]. Then smash the origami crane with your fist, using a quick up and down motion, as if you were masturbating.

From here, follow the rest of the directions in the article, and your trackpad should soon be clicking like there's no tomorrow.

you COULD do that,

[killa62 (828317)]

or you could just buy a malfunctional battery (one the buldges) and it'll just work just as well

Paper Over Hot Battery?

[PRC Banker (970188)]

Paper over hot battery? Fire risk?

Re:Paper Over Hot Battery?

[gardyloo (512791)]

No way. Rock crushes hot battery. Good ol' rock. Nothin' beats that.

Re:Paper Over Hot Battery?

[by Anonymous Coward]

If your battery runs hot at 451F I think you're going to have problems either way.

Sounds like a decent way to burn your house down

[onlysolution (941392)]

Are these the same batteries we saw pictures of heating up and warping a few days ago? Are these Mac users trying to make their own exploding Japanese Dells?

stupid Macbook tricks make frontpage?

[Doppler00 (534739)]

Why is it that a silly trick like this makes front page of slashdot? If I submitted a blog article of how I used a toothpick to fix the mousebutton on a generic ACME brand laptop would anyone give a care?

Same thing with this whole "discoloration" thing about the palm rests. People, laptops are machines, they wear out, they have flaws. It's like some people get so emotionally attached to their computer that if they see one flaw with it they have to write an article about it.

Re:stupid Macbook tricks make frontpage?

[Baricom (763970)]

The story isn't the solution; the story is that there's yet another defect with Apple portables. The somewhat recent changes to Apple's hardware quality are surprising considering the past obsessiveness with getting the design right. That's why these stories keep coming up.

Re:stupid Macbook tricks make frontpage?

[ArbitraryConstant (763964)]

"The somewhat recent changes to Apple's hardware quality are surprising considering the past obsessiveness with getting the design right."

Tell that to my G3 iBook and its 6 logic boards.

Re:stupid Macbook tricks make frontpage?

[masklinn (823351)]

Duh. Mac systems have always been known to be extremely dodgy as far as rev1 is concerned, which is why veterans whose live doesn't require to immediately upgrade usually wait for rev2 of any hardware Apple produces.

iMacs, iBooks and PowerBooks always suffered high defect rates for rev1s, the difference is that since Apple had much less popularity, there were less switchers and we had fewer internets on the web, it was noticeably less publicized.

Apple's extremely bad record with rev1s is the reason why I'm still waiting before buying a mac. That, and the Core2 being released by the end of the year that seem to literally spank the Core (and AMD chips) perfs-wise.

Re:stupid Macbook tricks make frontpage?

[Mr. Underbridge (666784)]

They used to be the best. It looks like the move to Intel has been a lot more than just a processor move. These new Macbooks are plagued with problems that PC laptops have had for years, and some issues are even never-before-seen. I don't know if Apple just decided to disguise the cheapening of their laptop line with the chip move, but if they did, it's a big mistake.

Um, Apple was having these sorts of problems loooong before the intel switch. Logic boards on iBooks? Hinges/latches on last gen powerbooks? Etc, etc, etc.

The public is still being charged a premium price for comparitively less powerful hardware.

I'm going to assume you completely missed the last 5 years of PowerPC development which ended up with a G4 chip that could barely run a calculator, and a G5 that would initiate nuclear fusion if placed into a laptop. They switched because they had basically no choice if the wanted to remain in the computer business.

The move to standard hardware now provides consumers with a basis for comparison. Before, you couldn't compare megahertz to megahertz because the G3/G4/G5 processors were more efficient than standard desktop Intels. Now you can because Apple is using the same hardware, and they can't hide behind motorolla/ibm anymore.

So now it's not that PowerPC is more powerful - it's just that they can't dupe consumers into thinking it is? How about just make good computers and let the public decide instead of lying to them? And if you're still trying to suggest that the new dual core Intel chips are slower than a G4, you're nuts. Talk to anyone who's used both.

Software and software alone is what's driving Macintosh sales, since quality and performance are no longer viable selling points.

One chip does not a whole machine make. Compare Thinkpads (pre Lenovo especially) with, say, eMachines - they both use Intel, but there the similarities stop. Honestly, as a latecomer to the Apple camp, I've never understood the obsession with microchips among a group of people who wouldn't recognize one if they were staring at it. Apple makes its money through an OS that many people feel is far superior to Windows, and by creating well-designed machines that are very functional and visually striking. This has not changed with the Intel switch. And like most makers of functional, pretty machines, something comes up lacking and sometimes that's component testing (kind of like a European sports car). But the thing is, that is NOT new.

Same problem...

[shadowmatter (734276)]

I purchased a MacBook two weeks ago. At first, it was slightly irritating me. I like that responsive, affirming click when I press the mouse button. But then I realized that only the left and right sides of the button are squishy. The middle of the button doesn't have this problem, so train yourself to push it there. It becomes second nature quickly. (Perhaps YMMV.)

Or go into the system preferences and set it so that tapping the trackpad clicks. (Tapping it with two fingers to 'right-click' is nice too...)

- sm

One thing all these MacBook problems have shown me

[opusman (33143)]

... as a non-Mac user, is that Apple's after-sales service seems to suck. Sure there seem to be lots of hardware problems, but that's not really uncommon these days. However I would have expected reports of better service given Apple's reputation for "quality products" and the cult-worship it seems to get from it's fans. It's like it's giving a big "fuck you" to its users while at the same time expecting them to whoop and holler everytime Steve Jobs farts out something new.

All about the Apple Care problem

[ModernGeek (601932)]

I've had excellent results when dealing with apple, however there seems to be a problem with their system. If you call to an operator and say, "I'd like to make a warranty claim", they will make the claim as long as you emphasize that it is for a faulty part. Otherwise, if you say, "My computer randomly shuts off" they will say you need phone support, because in essence, they are helping you diagnose a problem. I talked to one lady at AppleCare telling her I needed to make a warranty claim, and she said that I would need to purchase the three year plan so that I can get the one year of phone support. I asked her how to make a direct warranty claim, and she said I can't do that, I have to go though her, and purchase the agreement with the phone support. She told me I needed to pay $49/hr if I took the machine to a Genius Bar for them to diagnose and send it off. She spread FUD. Their purpose isn't to help people, it is to get those plans sold and extended. They are going about the whole thing the wrong way. "AppleCare sales are low, push them!" The applecare system needs to be revised. It used to be that the Genius Bar provided free help, and that you shouldn't have a problem with getting defective things fixed. I can see charging tech support over the phone to a certain extent (maybe each call gets a free 30 min, or everyone gets 30min/week for free based on your phone #/appleID), but this is just ridiculous. I'd be a much happier apple customer if they would simply help people without all this garbage. I feel like I'm taking an HP laptop to the GeekSquad whenever I talk to Apple. Like they are trying to make a buck off my problem with their product!

Why all the blogging?

[Pliep (880962)]

Someone must explain something to me. I am a European (Netherlands) so possibly it's to do with consumer laws or something.

When I buy a new computer / household device that does not live up to my expectations, I return it to the store and demand a refund or a new one that works properly. I always get what I want, including from vendors such as Apple.

Now why does no-one in the blogosphere think of that? Why start fiddling around with pieces of paper, toothpicks, reinstalling software, "trying this and that because a friend told me". Why? WHY?

GO BACK TO THE STORE AND DEMAND A PROPER PRODUCT!

I could never understand that, either

[melted (227442)]

I bought a Mac mini a few months ago and experienced wireless issues. I took it to the store and had it back in three days with wireless seeing some access points in the vicinity that I wasn't even previously aware of.

But you should see the GIGANTIC thread about this issue in Apple forums. Folks try everything except for the right thing - take it to the store and have it repaired or replaced. Some folks have been posting into that thread for MONTHS.

Re:Why all the blogging?

[ArsenneLupin (766289)]

That's why it is smarter to always pay expensive hardware purchases with your credit card. If the vendor gets silly, just let your credit card provider fight on your behalf.

Not sure what it means

[eyrieowl (881195)]

but the volume of posts I see on Slashdot and Digg about fixes for various MacBook problems both astound and amuse me. I could write it off as very poor quality control on Apple's part...and there may be something to that, but I wonder to what degree the Apple users are being more picky than the average bear.... I, for one, can't imagine buying, say, a Dell laptop and getting at all exercised about the clicky-ness of its buttons. But here we have evidence that not only has it bothered many MacBook owners, but one of them was so concerned that he gave it the thought to come up with a completely unusual solution to the problem. So...was the quality control really THAT bad? or are people just being very sensitive?

First Generation

[rramdin (857005)]

You see problems like this all the time with first generation models, especially from Apple. Almost half of the Apple first-gen hardware that my friends and I have purchased over the years have been completely replaced by Apple within a year of purchase. Don't get me wrong, I swear by my PowerBook, but I'll never buy a new product before the kinks can be worked out.

That's the evidence

[Advocadus Diaboli (323784)]

that even with computers you will never have a "paperless office". :-)

Re:Same with Powerbook

[binary paladin (684759)]

"big heavy MacBooks"? What are you people, hobbits?

This is too true

[Flying pig (925874)]

It's sad (but understandable) that IBM sold to the Chinese, because the combination of Ubuntu 6.6 and a Thinkpad is pretty good. This is in fact Apple's problem. The rest of the world has caught up and you CAN have rock solid industrial strength *Nix on a reliable laptop. I'm sorry, but dock icons that rise to meet you are a CGI too far for real world users. When I bought an Acer two and half years ago because there was no G5 Powerbook, people told me it would be an unreliable piece of crap. Actually it is solid, has never gone wrong, the battery still holds over 90% of original charge, and the only thing it lacks is built in Bluetooth. With an upgrade to a Maxtor 5400rpm drive and Ubuntu 6.6, it's still my main machine.

I watched a demo on a 17" X86 Powerbook the other day and I decided the ONLY real selling point was the screen, for road warriors. The downside is that in order to get the very thin design they must have made compromises, and I bet this is at the root of both the battery problems and the trackpad problems. Lots of research has gone into making reliable batteries with rolled construction - it is much harder to make a reliable thin battery.