The building at Kurfürstendamm 26 in Berlin, Germany was originally designed as a cinema. It opened in 1913 under the name Union Palace and was one of the first true movie theaters in the city.
In April 2000, the cinema was closed due to lack of visitors and the space saw only sporadic rental use since then. In September 2007, the “Microsoft Showroom” occupied the space to present “digital lifestyle” products. In other words, among Windows Media Center PCs, computer speakers and mice, Microsoft “showcased” pretend iPods that nobody wanted; something Microsoft called “Zune.” No, we never saw one in the wild, either.
Now, German-language site macnews.de, citing reliable sources, reports that Apple’s largest Apple Store in Germany will open within the historic walls this year. Up to 5,000 square meters of retail space are available.
Read more (via Yahoo! Babel Fish translation) in the full article, which includes photos of the building’s exterior, interior, and of the former “Microsoft Showroom,” here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nowadays, even retail spaces are upgrading from Windows to Macs.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Guido R.” for the heads up.]
Apple, Inc. wins again. Sweet!
This works only if Apple is sure to not mention the war.
I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.
It’s always good to know there are “Fawlty Towers” fans around.
OMG! Basil Fawlty! Thanks for the laugh!
It’d be quicker to train a monkey!
I think this says it all really:
The further one runs from the citizens of Berlin broad divorce place and all its excitement toward Olivaer place, the business becomes the more luxuriöser. If one crossed first times the pheasant road, one flaniert past at the schickeren addresses. On the height of the Ku’damms with the house number 26 is a building of splendour, in former times was it a cinema. Here an Apple Store is to open shortly – macnews.de look already times.”
What, that’s not clear enough for you? Man, I wish I could write like that.
Write like what, Yoda?
Germany is one of Apple’s biggest European markets so it makes sense to build a flagship store in Berlin. I think the Europeans are savvying up to the fact that a rat infested Microsoft operating system does more harm than good and does not point the way to the future.
This should reinforce Apple’s drive to push Mac adoption rates in Germany through the roof as it’s seen to be cool and easy to use.
Apple needs to lose its US-centricness and drive international sales up.
“Apple needs to lose its US-centricness (…)”
I don’t perceive Apple as particularly US-centric compared to other American corporations. Mac OS X works in all the main languages of the world and our flagship Boutique Apple in Montréal operates in French.
I have seen a Zune once in the wild: Polish construction crew that seemed to use one word in abundance: kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva, kurva…
yep, they had a Zune. Brown.
LOL
I know for certain I`m spelling it wrong, but you can`t forget adding “yeji” to kurva to get “yeji kurva” An old favourite that I`ve heard a million times.
I`m sure a Polish reader can correct me on this.
kurcha jego mate!!!
well, both of you guys are wrong – it’s “kurwa” and there is no any “yeji” before or after “kurwa. sometimes we say “kurwa jego mac” 🙂
Thanks for rectrifying my Polish orthography! However—to my defense—I was reporting on the ethnographically significant spoken word, the utterance, in the backdrop of the brown Zune in the wild. ‘Kurwa’ was unmistakably pronounced with a _V_!
see (also):
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kurwa
There is a correlation between what’s being said in this article and the latest Microsoft commercial running on television entitled, Windows in the House.
The commercial depicts Microsoft building a store within the couple’s home. Understand? Neither do I. But Microsoft turns the woman’s home into a Microsoft store, to sell one damn computer. WTF does that mean?!!!
The woman who is skeptical about buying another Windows PC, relents after seeing the many choices at her disposal.
Like the store in Germany, Microsoft builds a whole store just to sell a couple of computers.
Microsoft’s business strategy? Over the top salesmanship and hope you sell a few.
If people won’t come to the store, bring the store to them!
Google Translate seems to work much better. Check it out here – http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=de&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.macnews.de/newsticker/apple-store-berlin-am-kudamm-in-berlin-werden-sie-ausflippen-175473&usg=ALkJrhhpCev8gjdsOd3EuIn82olt2xSqrQ
Nice….just plain old NICE!
Yes, an Apple Store in Nice would be nice.
That’s going to take some serious fumigation to occupy premises after M$!
Release a new ZUNE with 500 features… thats how Ballmer and company will win back perception of being an innovative company.