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The latest Apple ‘gate: Staingate involving MacBook Pros with Retina displays

…A group calling itself Staingate says that it has a database of more than 2,500 people affected by screen issues with MacBook Pros with Retina display.

According to 9to5Mac, more than 1,800 of them have joined a Facebook group, a petition has been created,  and lawyers Whitfield Bryson & Mason are collecting details of owners for potential legal action against Apple.

The Staingate group says the “horrific” stains can start as early as seven months after the purchase. There is no clear pattern as to how it starts: some experience it in small spots around the edge, on other screens it appears in the middle as large patches.

“Apple hasn’t responded accordingly to this problem and have told us that this is a ‘cosmetic damage and it is not covered by the warranty’,” says the Staingate site.

AJ Forsythe, founder and chief executive of the Silicon Valley-based screen repair firm iCracked told the BBC this isn’t an issue that’s come to his company’s attention in the 11 countries in which it operates.

“We generally see that when people buy a $2,000 computer or a £700 iPad they take really good care of it for the first couple of months and then it becomes an extension of their lives,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the user’s fault… but it’s incredibly hard to build a product that can withstand millions of real-world usages.

Last Friday while sitting in my friend’s living room, I was able to get a preview of the company’s new app-based feature, which allows users to consult with a doctor via their mobile phones or computers for medical marijuana assessments.

…While diagnosing a patient using an internet video call and delivering marijuana to your front door are not particularly new advents, Eaze is hoping that combining the two will break open the legal U.S. cannabis market that did $2.7 billion in sales last year as estimated by ArcView Market Research, a marijuana investment and advocacy firm.

…Though I don’t consider myself to be in Eaze’s target demographic, I can easily see how the company’s new service will lower the barrier of entry for anyone who does want a medical marijuana recommendation.

…After filling out a few web forms and uploading a photo of my driver’s license for verification, I waited briefly in an online queue before contacting a doctor through the company’s proprietary video chatting platform, which Eaze said is compliant with federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards.  

…He quickly glanced over my medical history, asked me some cursory questions about my wrist and noted in less than three minutes that he didn’t “see any reason why [I] shouldn’t try marijuana to help with the pain.”

…As the company competes with the likes of similar startups like Grassp and Meadow, McCarty knows that his company will not only have to retain current users by maintaining delivery times and product quality, but also find new patients by certifying more for medical marijuana use. While the recommendation that a patient receives through Eaze can be used anywhere, the company is betting that new users will stick to its own marketplace to find the medicinal products they need.

…Time has been favorable to the relaxation of pot regulation as shown with states like Washington and Colorado, where recreational marijuana use is now legal, and the Eaze CEO is betting that his company is well-positioned to take advantage of any law or technological change that happens in the near future.

…On the other hand, those against legalization will see huge red flags about a service willing to grant a prescription to anyone willing to have a 15 minute video chat with a doctor as long as there’s “no reason not to try medicinal marijuana” for their ailment.

…Sorry, I have been examined by doctors dozens of times regarding pain from sports injuries, car accidents, following reconstructive surgeries, and most recently after I cut off part of my thumb — but I’ve never had anybody “physically assess” the level of pain I was in.