“Whatever it is (Radio Shack for rich people? The Sharp-est Image?), the Apple Store isn’t what it used to be, even a year or so ago. The initial thrills, the feelings of i-comfort and i-belonging, still await you behind its translucent facade, especially now, in the gizmodic spree of the Christmas season. But somewhere along the way, the zendo quality of the Apple Store changed,” Hank Stuever writes for The Washington Post.
“The demi-privacy of it, the clubby feeling — I know that you know that I know that we know and love Macs like nobody else does — is fading away. Too much commotion. The ethereal, tranquil, spa vibe (the bath of white light, the polished concrete floors, the glint in the happy eyes of the geniuses at the Genius Bar) has been pierced by the sheer popularity of the place. The TV commercials worked. Mac Guy, even with his non-arrogant arrogance, is your real friend, and then he gathered too many friends, and suddenly he doesn’t have time for them all,” Stuever writes.
Stuever writes, “Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO and bodhisattva, got what he wanted: the people. (A hundred million customers were lured to its stores in fiscal 2006-07, according to Apple, adding up to more than $4 billion in revenue.)”
Stuever writes, “Apple shoppers are more than people, more than customers — they are seekers. Those Apple marketing guys said all along they were building not just stores but serene communities of true believers and new converts. And so they did, and here we are, just 6 1/2 years later.”
Stuever continues, on and on and on, in his overwritten, messy complaint-fest here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “RadDoc,” “citymark,” and “Whit” for the heads up.]
Because he writes like a freshman Lit student (most likely, California State University-Chico) without an editor, it’s tough to tell just what the heck the italics-lovin’ Stuever’s point is, besides making up new compound words, coming across as a royal A-hole, recounting a handful of anecdotes that are supposed to put Apple in a bad light, and bemoaning the fact that Apple Stores are welcoming in new Apple product users with open arms. Apple should bar non-Mac or new-to-Mac users at the doors to placate Hank Stuever-types, we suppose.
We know things are bad in the newspaper business, but sheesh! We’re embarrassed for The Washington Post.
again, bitter
+50% market share has to start somewhere-let it be via overcrowded stores
It’s like the saying:
“Be careful of what you wish for, because it just may come true.”
The author does make a point.. Our Mac “club” is getting bigger, and some of the new members are of a different class…
What is this article trying to say? I was at the Apple store in Orlando yesterday and it was as thrilling as ever. Place was jammed, plenty of courteous help available and everyone buying Apple stuff (I hope I’m not just reacting as a stockholder with my enthusiasm).
I don’t get his point….or is he just missing the Christmas spirit thing? You know the bustling activity, the shoppers frenzy and joy to the world…..
Well heck, I guess they’ll need to start charging a cover charge, and get some bouncers out front and turn people away at the doors.
Crowded stores during Christmas shopping season? Say it ain’t so!
Meh.. some people will find something to cry about and find a dark cloud in every rainbow.
While generally agreeing with the MDN take, I know what the Post means. I stuck my nose in the San Diego Apple store on Saturday. Unbelievable crowd. It was by far the busiest store at UTC. I LOVED it for my Apple shares, but was, at the same time, a little nostalgic for the old quiet days. Just a little. As far as I can see, the tipping point is behind us.
If Apple would ever want to thin the crowds a bit, I would suggest getting advice from M Dell.
he prob owns a bunch of dell, ms and palm stock
Clearly, this Stuever character wants to be the next David Pogue.
Yeah, Apple Stores are crowded… at least the Manhattan Stores are (I’ve not been to the 14th Street Store yet). I suppose that Manhattan isn’t the best gauge, since they’re in must-avoid tourist areas. Yeah, SoHo USED to be cool, but who ARE all those people?
But hey, why complain? There’s always mail order!
MDN,
r u insinyou8ing that meye skool iz a partee skool? Hiccup….
What a damn idiot!
The Apple Store has high quality products that more and more people want and demand.
How hard is that to figure out?
Apple Products: REAL Intelligent Design.®
Build more stores.
I know a few dozen, empty CompUSA stores that Apple could claim and refurbish.
It is patently manifest that the wordsmith’s thoroughgoing compeer is his thesaurus.
Or maybe he is just that much smarter than the proletariat.
I guess some Mac users are arrogant, smug a-holes. This guy and anyone who agrees with him proves it.
Just goes to show the quality of reporting in the left-leaning Post.
Umm, let me see – Christmas holiday shopping season and you go into an electronics store. Um, yeah – it’s going to be a little busy!
Apple stores are usually busy year-round, at least that is my experience in big cities. I wouldn’t personally set foot in one until at least January.
Where else would you go? CompUSA? Oh wait..they went out of business. What about Best Buy? Uhhh..gross. I’ll stick with a busy Apple Store.
“MDN Magic Word” = Speak; as in Speak the truth.
Think different, MAC lemmings. I spent a good 2 hours at the Dell kiosk at my local mall this weekend. It’s between the Sunglasses Hut and Dewey’s Hot Dog Experience. It was great. The kid in the denim shirt with the Dell logo listened politely as I lobbied to have the Ditty reinstated (a few more Ditty colors wouldn’t hurt). I’m a regular so they don’t ask me to finish or get rid of my Jamba Juice before touching the machines anymore. Do you get that kind of camaraderie at an Apple retail store? I doubt it.
And another thing, Dells are real computers for real computer users. Dell representatives wear collared shirts, not dopey t-shirts like I see the Apple toy store employees wearing. Hey Apple, if you want people to take you seriously you have to look the part. Dorks.
It was at a Dell kiosk in a mall that I first saw Vista and was mesmerized by the Aero interface. It was like magic, and I didn’t have to put up with the smug, snobby MAC sheep like I would at an Apple retail store.
Your potential. Our passion.™
As poorly written as this article is, I would have to agree a bit with the writer. The stores have become somewhat victims of their own success.
Granted, the atmosphere of the store will change this time of year from cool hip technocenter to mob ridden iPod dispensary just because of the Holidays, but even so, I think just the fact that the stores now stock more warm bodies masquerading as employees and fewer true believers who will bend over backwards to get you to switch, is enough to change the feeel of the stores from when they first opened.
I don’t get the “MDN take” attitude towards this article. Do they think of it as apple criticism? I don’t think so. It is quite a poetic and true description of what is going on. And I like what is going on: Apple is broadening it’s “niche” with a lot of success. Am I right?
‘been in two recently – Louisville, and LA.
Still fun. Still magical.
He’s basically saying that Apple can’t build the stores fast enough.
There’s a stark contrast in the Apple store experience, YEAR ROUND, between today and, I’d say, pre-iPod nano. It’s too crowded and noisy, it lost the sense of intimacy from all the new and potential customers Apple has gained. This is to be expected and of course I’m glad to see it but I prefer the quieter days when I could roam all through an Apple store with freedom. Now I avoid my local store.
They need more so they can spread these assholes out. I hate people, with their sweaters and their Oxfords and shampoo. Who do they think they are? Go back to Walmart you bastards.
I agree with this guy SO MUCH. Mac users arn’t this little group any more. We arn’t the outcasts any more, if so many people are becoming them too
Basically, it’s an article complaining about the lack of Apple zealots. Okayyyy….
um. i don’t get it, why is this reporter being attacked? he is right, especially in the DC area. used to be, you walked into the apple store and found open space, well tendered demo units and people to help you.
now you have to fight through all of the ipod and iphone buyers. maybe i am biased. i am a macintosh user. yes i have an ipod, but OSX first, ipod second. it upsets me to find myself a second class citezen in an apple store to someone purchasing speakers for an ipod they are going to sync with a windows machine.
the welcoming feeling of the store is gone. i see the crowd, and don’t want to go inside. and this is NOT just the holiday. this has been months. when i am there, i get in, get what i want and leave. if i can get it elsewhere, i probably will.
ever been to the store in Manhattan? try to get a seat there. they may look different, they may be run different, but the feeling of being different is gone. apple stores are just another store, they are just another shrine to consumerism.
magic word: average
ps. MDN better remember who also leans to the left.