My second time ever in an Apple Store was yesterday. I'd once checked out the one in Toronto's Eaton Center...nothing special. Yesterday I went to the one on my street. It was complete pandemonium, and I totally understand why Apple has done so well.
The store itself was huge, two levels under a massive skylight. A long Genius Bar. A huge theatre where workshops were taking place. In honor of the Tribeca Film Festival that's going on now, there were lots of film production workshops. For example, Amy Poheler was speaking there lastnite.
The whole place is an experience. It's a community. It's pretty, open, and spacious. Forget about the product itself and its following. The physical store itself complements the product amazingly, such that that I am convinced it turns Apple's technology into an impulse buy. I'm convinced that for any normal consumer (from the first half of the innovation adoption curve, let's say; i.e. not late-majority or laggards), a major buy such as a computer or piece of expensive software, one that might normally be accompanied by significant research and time, is turned into an impulse buy thanks to the store. No aggressive dishwasher salesmen. This is not Eaton's in 1985. The experience of the place, the psychology of the community, and the value-add of the ecosystem (support, accessories, etc.) are driving sales.
Which is why there were constantly 20 people in line at the cash yesterday.
But Jobs has a solution for that, too. Associates running around with mobile devices*. Pulling people out of checkout lines that were paying with credit card.
A swipe of my card. Punching in my email and seconds later my blackberry is vibrating as the receipt from my purchase hits my inbox. A bag produced from his back pocket and in under 60 seconds, I'm on my way. Faster than McDonalds.
Bottom line: I am impressed.
* The only real big mistake I saw was that the mobile device was not an iPhone. Big surprise? Not really. We all know the iPhone sucks.
3 comments:
Dude..I was in the Mac store in TO a month or so ago, and was totally blown away. I have been jonesin for one of the new Macbook Pros, and stopped in to have a look at the product in person. I can totally see your point, just being in the store was enough to push me beyond any hesitation I may have had about buying. Fortunately, I had neither the time or my credit card to make the purchase.
Given my computer interests all relate to music production, graphics, and web design, I am ready to jump ship to a mac.
lepage
do you really hate the iPhone, or is it just your Canuck pride that makes you find your BB so superior? I also still rock the BB (and have been a mac user for well over a decade) but honestly it's more a network (Verizon v. AT&T) decision than a hardware one...now with push email and 3G coming to the iPhone (not to mention everything else the SDK will bring that we don't even know about), the BB's advantages are getting thin.
Lepage: Do it. I will next winter.
CCA: It may be my Canuck pride, kicking in, you're right.
But I really don't think, from my toying with an iPhone, that it has the data entry feature down yet. Even with push email and 3G net, that is a problem for me.
And as my friends at RIM point out...you cannot underestimate the customer preference for the tactile feel of an external kb.
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