Don't smoke near your Mac

In 2008, Apple voided the Applecare warranties on at least two peoples' laptops because of the risk of second-hand smoke exposure it posed to their technicians (the computers were used in smokers' homes). An excerpt from a letter from Derek in Iowa:

"I took my mid 2007 apple macbook (black) into the Jordan Creek Apple Store in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, April 25th, because I had been experiencing some issues with it overheating, and figured the fan was bad. After some initial testing, they took the computer in for work under my Applecare plan, which has over a year remaining on it.

Today, April, 28, 2008, the Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to "health risks of second hand smoke."

A few months later, a woman named Ruth cited a similar situation, claiming that Apple refused to service her computer after labeling it a "biohazard."

Last time I checked, you can't be harmed touching a nicotine-stained surface (which I can hardly believe was the case with the interior of these laptops unless there were thousands upon thousands of cigarettes being smoked in these homes on a daily basis), so unless there were still-smoldering butts jammed into the disc drive while the computer was being serviced, I can't imagine a single reason for this. Shocked.