Someone else was talking to me about AppleCare, and how service technicians have access to Apple Service Diagnostics (ASD) discs. Now, I have a few of these, but not all of them. They’re great for maintaining my practical developer lab in-house, and making sure none of the hardware is broken.

What I don’t understand, is why Apple Developers don’t have access to these as a digital download. AppleCare technicians do, but you have to pony up for AppleCare certification to get that.

These two offerings are non-rival, but similar. Developers usually know how to fix their sick computers. Technicians generally know their way around software. They often give feedback to one-another. But a developer isn’t going to take a second job fixing Macs, nor is an AppleCare tech likely going to craft massive Obj-C projects on the side. However, both can benefit from having ASD more than the typical user.

This is just one of many things that Apple could offer to digital download to strengthen ADC. In a perfect world, Apple would offer ASD discs to the public for digital download, instead of that yawn-inspiring suite known as TechTool Deluxe. TechTool Deluxe has its purpose, but offer users the choice.