Good afternoon,
John Paul Mac Isaac has closed his now-famous computer repair shop.
A voice mail message stated the business would be closed “for the foreseeable future,” and other inquiries will be answered at a later date. Customers with computers at the shop are asked to leave a message.
One day, I’m guessing a drive-by of the Trolly Square shop will be part of a Joe Biden bus tour that could run from the riverfront to the Hotel DuPont and Janssens Market in Greenville with an intermediate stop and carryout lunch at Capriotti’s on Union Street.
A 2,700 word USA Today/Delaware Online story mentioned the closing the Mac Shop and Mac Isaac’s possible departure from the city, along with some thoughts from his lawyer.
An earlier CBS News piece, which also covered the situation, offers a more concise version.
It takes a ton of words to chronicle the bizarre saga that involved a laptop supposedly brought to the shop by Hunter Biden, son of the president-elect.
The alleged contents of the computer were the topic of a New York Post story. A Senate committee is investigating the accompanying allegations with Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson mentioned as a key figure.
The story failed to gain traction in the waning days of the campaign, despite the New York tabloid paper hyping the piece with headlines like “smoking gun” in describing alleged ties by the Bidens to shady Ukraine dealings.
A prominent figure in the tale is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, among other things, drove to Delaware and handed off a hard drive at the New Castle County Police headquarters. The contents are said to have been handed over to the FBI on advice from the state Department of Justice.
Giuliani heard Trump’s effort to contest the election results, including a press conference at Four Seasons Landscaping in Philadelphia and another presser that became best known for the hair dye running down hizzoner’s face.
I could have been part of the reporting on the case after getting a phone call from an editor asking that I spend a few hours checking something out. I turned him down due to deadlines for this newsletter and an understandable lack of specifics.
It turned out that the Daily Beast site needed someone to cover an impromptu press conference with John Paul. It was a strange event that raised more questions than it answered. The above link to the Daily Beast story has audio of the goings-on.
Up until the time of the story, John Paul was a go-to guy for many Macintosh users including yours truly.
Over the past nine years, he replaced a few keyboards and batteries. On at least one occasion, I saw John Paul fix a simple problem from a drop-in customer at no charge.
The service was first-rate, and there was no attempt to upsell. His advice for a Mac with a failing battery – don’t worry about it unless you have to need to use it for eight hours without a charger.
For the foreseeable future, the next busted keyboard or dead battery will have to go elsewhere.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving. The newsletter returns on Monday. Breaking news updates will be sent if warranted. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
