Seinberg and Son
Computers run in the family



ALTAMONT — Michael Seinberg is making a name for the third generation of computer men in his family with Seinberg and Son Macintosh Consultants, LLC.

He created the business in 1996, and merged it with another computer consulting company in 2005, he said.
"As they say, I don’t play well with others, in a corporate environment," he said of re-founding the business again this spring so that he could be on his own.

When he first started the business, he was working for a printing company and helping people with their computers on the side, then he realized that he could be working on computers full time, he said.
"I ended up in the business because I learned so much over the years," he said.

Raised by a father who worked for IBM, Seinberg got his first computer in 1977; the local paper in Binghamton did a story on the family and their new gadget, he remembered.
Seinberg is hoping that his own son, Tucker, will be an artist, he said. "Tucker’s interest in computers right now is limited to playing games and using them for school," he said of his young son.
It’s a stressful job, Seinberg said of helping people in their hour of computer need, as six months of their work disappears before their eyes. "I spend half my time talking people off ledges," he joked.
Most of his clients "have a business orientation," he said; they include graphic artists, photographers, state agencies, and private companies. Seinberg charges $50 per hour for his Apple computer services. "I know my way around PCs, but it’s not an area I’d be comfortable saying I’m an expert in," he said, adding that a friend of his works on PCs and the two often refer customers to each other.
"You can’t be all things to all people," he said with a shrug.