“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.
Nobody goes there anymore… it’s too crowded.
This weekend was a perfect example. I lost my shuffle and needed it replaced ASAP. I can’t workout without it! Normally this would be an excuse to run to the Apple store, especially since I didn’t want to wait for it to ship. Instead a feeling of dread came over me and I ordered it through the Apple store online with NextDay shipping.
My iPhone, my latest iPods, all items I would’ve normally ran to the Apple with glee to buy have been purchased online. The Apple store is no different today than Best Buy or Circuit City.
BUT, I think maybe that special feeling could be regained if they’d build more quicker and spread all of these new customers out instead of packing them into one or two stores. It was cool before Apple became a consumer electronics company.
Might the fact that this is the holiday shopping season account for at least some of the crowding? I was at the Tysons Corner center in Falls Church, where the first Apple Store in the DC area is located. It *was* crowded, as was much of the center, but there were plenty of people offering help.
Couldn’t get hands on an MBP – all in use – but did check out the “glossy-ness” of the iMac. It *is* more reflective that I’d like, but I could say the same thing about my Pioneer Plasma. And I live with that just fine.
If you want that “old time” experience, without the crowds, pick a less hectic time.
I live in the DC area and the Washington Post is my local paper. The writer is right. DC area Apple stores are jammed. The original Apple Store, at Tyson’s Corner, is at the heart of Northern Virginia gridlock, and when you finally arrive, it’s very deflating to see the place so crowded. If I need to go there, I try to get there first thing in the morning or right before closing. The genius appointments always run significantly and understandably late. A friend of mine, under deadline pressure at work, had to go to the Apple Store because his iPhone was a dud. It had a happy ending, but even though he had an appointment, he got stuck there an hour longer than he’d planned because the store was so crowded.
The problem is that Apple can’t build the stores fast enough. Apple needs more stores in Northern Virginia to take the pressure off Tyson’s, Clarendon, and the Pentagon, all of which are close in. I’d put one in Springfield Mall (not the Simpsons’ mall!) and Fair Oaks Mall–but I’m have no experience siting stores. There need to be more in the Maryland suburbs, too. However, Apple is a global company, not a DC company; it has to be concerned with all of its locations, not just us.
When a company is as wildly successful as Apple is, it is hard to keep up with the customer demand. Even if they are oozing money (which they are) there are real-world limitations on how fast they can hire and train employees, sign leases, build stores, and manufacture and distribute products. I’m sure they are expanding as fast as they can, but until demand reaches a plateau, they wont’ be able to catch up.
All this means is that Apple should build a few more stores to handle the crowds. If the crowds persist after the holidays, it’s time for SJ to review the retail expansion schedule and accelerate it.
But the most pathetic whine on this thread has to belong to R2:
“I hate people, with their sweaters and their Oxfords and shampoo. Who do they think they are?”
Jeeez, shampoo offends you?!? At least that confirms the image I have of you–blech!
besides making up new compound words, coming across as a royal A-hole,
Don’t just make up a compound word after complaining about making up compound words. The word is “asshole.”
To paraphrase Yogi Berra:
“Nobody goes to Apple Stores anymore. They are too crowded.”
Addendum:
To cover Northern Virginia completely, they’d also need a store in Reston, where they have an office by the way.
I don’t know what Tyson’s is like during the Winter Festival of Retail Spending; my experience of crowds is on normal days.
” . . . there are real-world limitations on how fast they can hire and train employees . . .”
I think you may have hit on the Macworld keynote, “One more thing”, surprise announcement.
Apple Store iRobots with A.I. and credit card validation. They could all be tied into a vast, global network monitored by satellites.
What’s this article trying to say? What’s the point of the MDN take? What’s going on here?
“What’s going on here?”
The article in a nutshell:
Did I leave my lights on? What’s for lunch? What do you mean I already ate? Will you bring me my pills? Did I leave my lights on? Why is it so cold in here? Will someone please tell me what’s going on? Can we eat now? Are you sure I didn’t leave my lights on? Don’t bother. I’ll get it myself.
That article was completely pointless…and long. Really long. How did he write so much about so little? You could have summed up the whole article in a paragraph or less.
MDN: … 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.
somebody’s got a case of the mondays …
Grigori,
The article’s saying that Apple stores have lost their sense of intimacy after the newfound growth from the iPod halo effect. MDN took it as an attack on Apple and struck back in its take while many of us agree with the author’s message if not so much with the way he delivered it.
Yesterday, shopping at the Norfolk, VA General McArthur Mall, I watched at least a dozen people carrying iMac boxes through the mall (away from the Apple Store). Lots of people buying them. I didn’t go in, but walking past the Apple Store, I noticed it was very packed. I’m sure that Apple views this as being a good thing. Stores aren’t there to look pretty and be empty.
I order my Mac stuff online. The mall is like that in every store just about.
I’d take a lagging server over a christmas mob anyday.
“Stores aren’t there to look pretty and be empty.”
“Oops.”
– Michael Dell
“Dammit.”
– Roman Ross
“Yeah. I thought something was wrong.”
– Ted Waitt
“Huh?”
– Victor Alhadef
When I was a noobie I visited a very nice Gateway store. It was large, spacious, and beautifully de-cored. It was well-staffed, in that the four salespeople outnumbered both customers. As a customer service professional I recognized the staff had a distinct disadvantage in their jobs, being that they didn’t really believe in their product.
The store has gone through several evolutions since then. . . . I think they sell computer games there now.
It reminds me of the famous line attributed to Yogi Berra.
When asked about a restaurant in NYC, he’s said to have replied: “Nobody goes there anymore … it’s too crowded.”
“Apple shoppers are more than people, more than customers — they are seekers.”
Wow, didn’t know Harry Potter switched to Mac. Or is he using an iBroom for Quidditch?
The stores are more crowded. The “club” is growing. That feeling of the “cult of Mac” is shrinking.
So friggin’ what?
This writer is correct, but for the wrong reasons. Market share is exploding. Many others that would never give a Mac a look a couple of years ago are buying now. There’s a reason why the stores are crowded – The Mac is just better, period, and people are getting it.
Yeah this guy IS a royal asshole.
Another Yogi quote…If you don’t set goals, you can’t regret not reaching them.
Apple’s goals was to fill their stores do I do NOT think they have regrets about lack of the ‘Experience’. So what if there are more bodies in them? An empty store is a good thing? This guy is a total waste of DNA.
@calpundit
See my post about a dozen up from yours.
Okay, peep this:
I still haven’t gotten my iPhone rebate yet. Why is this? Well, I’m not sure.
After dutifully printing out the coupon, I first tried to use it to order Leopard at the online store. I was told by the machine that my rebate didn’t have any credit on it, and I was to call Apple for help.
I did this. I was told by a woman who only seemed to speak Portuguese that I had to take the coupon into an Apple retail store and they would issue a gift card. This had been part of the process all along, I was assured. Okay, I don’t remember reading that, but I can stop by there. No problem.
Now, at the University Village Apple store in Seattle, I talked to Amy (and some guy who’s name escapes me) about my problem. Amy was very helpful, and the manager guy told her to put my name, phone number, and other info into an email and send it to someone at the mother ship. She told me that they would contact me (through email, I presume?) about my rebate within a few days. I knew, at that moment, that I would never ever see my 100 dollars.
That was 3 weeks ago. I have heard nothing at all. Another call to Apple got me a “go to the retail store” suggestion.
Thanks Apple! Maybe you can just take 100 bucks off my next Mac or something. Because you kinda screwed me on this deal.
-c
I don’t know… Sometimes I miss the old days.