“Apple’s Enterprise Sales Group has been quietly installing thousands of iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Pros, and Xserves in hotels and cruise ships in a new push to bring the media rich experience of Apple’s retail stores to the hospitality industry, where hoteliers are seeking to deliver personalized, unique experiences that will impress guests and bring them back for more,” Prince McLean reports for AppleInsider.
“In June, Fontainebleau Resorts announced plans to install 22″ [sic] iMacs in all 1,400 rooms of its Miami Beach property now undergoing a $500 million renovation, as well as the 3,889 rooms of its new $2.9 billion, 63-story luxury resort in Las Vegas opening next year. The UK City Inn Group unveiled similar services for its hotels in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, and London, noting on its website, ‘you get what you should always expect: iMac computers, free wi-fi and Sky in every bedroom,'” McLean reports.
“Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines began installing Mac minis in its floating hotels three years ago, starting with two of its 3,600 passenger ‘Freedom Class’ ships. That includes the ‘Freedom of the Seas,’ the world’s largest passenger ship ever built. Royal Caribbean is also building an IT infrastructure from Apple’s hardware on its Solstice Class ships for Celebrity Cruises, as well as two of its own new $1.24 billion Oasis Class ships, which will accommodate at least 5,400 passengers each and assume the title of the world’s largest passenger ships when completed a year from now,” McLean reports.
“Those massive infrastructure deployments, involving up to 16,150 Ethernet drops per ship, a 10 gigabit network backbone, thousands of client Macs and racks of Xserves, are adopting Apple’s hardware for the same reasons the luxury hotels on land are: Mac hardware and software offers a differentiating end user polish while being easy to manage,” McLean reports.
Full article here.
Wow they are beating out MS and their BIG-ASS Table on this. Isn’t that what the BIG-ASS table was suppose to be? Providing a rich BIG-ASS experience for visitors when playing with their BIG-ASS table?
Smart biz! And once those vacationing folks experiencing the Mac they’ll want the same wonderful experience back home. Recycling centers should see dumploads of PCs soon.
“”Apple’s Enterprise Sales Group has been quietly installing thousands of iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Pros, and Xserves in hotels and cruise ships…”
I love how people use the word “quietly” in regards to Apple, as if they have this team of masked ninjas running around in the night performing things like installing macs, making modest product line upgrades etc..
If Apple trumpeted everything they were doing people would be completely sick of hearing about everything Apple.
This sounds like great news, having a constant rotation of potential new costumers trying the Mac platform for the first time. But you have to wonder how many people will bring their own laptop along and never even use the Macs.
“In June, Fontainebleau Resorts announced plans to install 22″ iMacs in all 1,400 rooms…”
22″ iMacs? Perfect size for my room!
If there is a twenty(four)-inch desktop computer in your room, why on earth would you want to use your own 15-inch laptop?
With the exception of those few business users who have personal stuff, corporate VPN client and similar on that laptop, large screen and generally faster computer should make majority want to use these Macs.
And I’m sure, ordinary Dell user would be intrigued by a Mac and would at least want to give it a shot, even if he does have his crappy Dell with him.
Where are they getting 22″ iMacs?
“I love how people use the word “quietly” in regards to Apple, as if they have this team of masked ninjas running around in the night performing things like installing macs, making modest product line upgrades etc..”
so i guess you haven’t seen the mobile installer version of genius bar training, hmmm?
you think they are taught 15 ways to kill with a thumb drive just for fun?
Does Artist really think someone with a Dell laptop is going to let an iMac sit in their room and wink at them without turning it on??? Even a Mac mini is going to be tried out…and the Dell user will have his glass of iced water.
I’d bring my own laptop, put it in target disk mode, and boot the iMac from it.
-jcr
“Where are they getting 22” iMacs?
They’re trimming 24″ iMacs down using chainsaws that shape ice sculptures.
Viva La Differentiating End User
Polished – easy to manage
Of course
But, wait till they discover Snappy™
Now, is simple why the Cruise Ships, at least, HAD to pick Mac
Think Windows makes you sick at home or the office ?
Try using it on a moving deck
urp
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BC
Freedom Class ships are made in Finland
Link here http://www.akeryards.com/?page=40
Artist may have a good point, but I am having difficulty envisaging a whole lot of costumers at sea using Macs.
Perhaps they are dressing for dinner at last.
Noun: a person or company that makes or supplies theatrical or fancy-dress costumes.
Yeah, but when the BIG-ASS Ball arrives, Apple had better watch out….
Nothing can stop the BIG-ASS Ball – imagine as the ship rolls in a light swell out on the ocean, and the BIG-ASS ball rolls off the desk and comes crashing towards you as you sleep……aaaaaaaaargh!
Headlines: “Honeymoon couple killed by BIG-ASS Ball computer on Cruise ship”
“BIG-ASS Ball computer escapes and sinks cruise ship, thousands missing..”
No mystery as to why the Cruise lines chose the iMac….
I’ve edited video promo material for RCC for the last two years and worked on their annual awards show In Hampshire where we do a 2-camera HD shoot of the entire day and present the results at the awards dinner in the evening on a pair of Christie HD8K projectors. Our workflow is entirely Mac – maybe they got the message that Macs are the dog’s gonads.
=:~)
This is easy.
Vacation, time, need to relax. PCs would just frustrate the vacationers, Macs will help them have a soothing enjoyable vacation.
Macs are installed in every room in the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai. You now the one that looks like a sail.
I know Artists, and you Sir are no Artist!
Now, if Royal Caribbean would just deploy Macs for their internal IT uses. Their current mix of desktop computers goes back several OS generations and the hardware is still brown and uses SCSI hard drives.. My friend says they could cut their reservations staff by half with Macs.
Obviously Apple really needs to have the Enterprise group sit down and learn what “Enterprise” is all about. This is just about the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
First, I would be impressed if the Enterprise division were to hold Macs in the Enterprise seminars, discussion groups, etc. strictly for IT Directors. Show them how to bring Macs in, how Macs can fit in their networks, Directory Services, Backup Systems, Security, file compatibility, etc.
I would be impressed if Apple announced some kind of Enterprise storage product and support group that replaced the loss of the Xserve-RAID.
I would be impressed if Apple had an Enterprise section on their website that had sections on Large, Medimum, and Small Enterprise as well as SOHO.
I would be impressed if Apple went to BUSINESS SCHOOLS and INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY schools and provided equipment and training there. That would be Enterprise oriented.
Putting freaking Mac Minis on cruise ships is quite possibly the most mindless activity I’ve ever seen Apple undertake. Who gives a freaking hoot if some old white haired lady on a cruise ship sees a Mac?
Jeeze Apple.
Apple needs a whole off-shoot of their Enterprise division dedicated to just this sort of thing.
@Cubert It’s called the Apple Store. These stores are more than successful at presenting propaganda to the masses. If anything, maybe recreating the “Evangelist Group” like from the old Guy Kawasaki days to play on cruise ships and hotels.
As far as this being the activity of a so called “Enterprise Division,” this is embarrassing.
What Apple needs is a REAL Enterprise division. I’m sitting here now preparing for a meeting with my local SAP rep to see how best to bring SAP services into a medium sized Enterprise with 80% Macs.
Some Jackass in the company argued that it can’t be done and that they should switch to VISTA.
He’s full of it. There’s a full blown SAP client for OS X as well as the SAP netPortal but the fact that people don’t know this and don’t believe it seems to me a more important Enterprise issue to address than (I just can’t believe this) putting Mac Minis on cruise ships.
At least in this case I can point to Apple themselves and say even Apple uses SAP throughout their enterprise.
I wonder if the “22” iMacs are really the 24″ versions. I’ve got the first generation one, and people who see it are blown away. Putting those in people’s faces would definitely get them thinking. I’m guessing it’s the 20″ though.
Apple’s Enterprise Sales Group must do pretty much everything quietly. Posters here have been griping about their lack of visibility for some time. I spotted one of the Group’s members in the wild four years ago at an educational technology conference. Can’t say I’ve seen or heard from them since. Our district I.T. is, unfortunately, ruled by Microsoft tools. Apple doesn’t help the cause by being so very quiet.
Maybe this has something to do with the advanced age of your typical Mac user?
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Maybe this is just one of the WINS Apple has made? And not all THAT proud of?
Getting Macs in front of consumers – better yet, corporate types – is how Apple will continue to invade the market. “My home computer SUX, the one on that BOAT didn’t, what was different?” “Hey, I tweaked all my vacation pics on the computer in the hotel!”