so i went to the apple store the other day

[oman]

the apple store. that place is crazy. they are extremely good at selling things. they've perfected it.

seriously. they're selling a lifestyle in there. the second you walk in, you're bombarded by the crowd, and the ipods strewn everywhere. there's music blaring from speakers all over the place, and there's giant monitors by every wall. and then they have the laptops scattered all over the place, too. it's showy

and then you have the people. bunch of ******* losers trying to be hip. the thing is, they're the only ones IN the store to impress, so "stylish" has an entirely different meaning in there. it is bizarre.

but they ARE definitely good at selling things.

on another note, i'm the proud new owner of a macbook

 

[imageWIS]

Tokyo is going to slap you.

Jon.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Owning a mac is punishment enough. I don't need to slap anyone.

 

[SGladwell]

On a related note, my poor mother was saddled by her department head with an Dull Axe (or something like that) PDA last week for reasons I can't explain. This little piece of overpriced plastic crap runs some clueless pathetic hack of an OS whose name we all know. The ******* thing required three hard resets in the one day she rooked me into trying to fix it - the previous day, it froze on her twice, as well - and will presumably be exchanged Monday in favor of a more usable option running the more Mac-like - which is to say, designed rather than merely kludged together with the binary equivalent of moldy duct tape - PalmOS. Too bad Apple didn't continue modernizing the Newton, because that would likely be the best PDA on the market if they had. For the record, that is infinitely more often than my MacBook Pro, my old TiBook, the Intel Mac mini in my home theater, the G5 tower in my office, or my mother's G5 iMac have crashed since the release of OSX Jaguar ca. 2002 combined. And 5x more often (including the times it crashed on her) than the above + my old Blackberry crashed. Oman, nice choice. Honestly I don't see any reason to spend the extra grand for the MBP, and wish I had either waited or spent about the same on a 17" iMac (with more and faster HD) and a MacBook as the MBP cost me. I actually ordered a MacBook over the weekend, too. Not for me but for an uncle who's visiting from Durbin in mid-July and wants to take back with him a laptop that isn't a worthless, buggy, ugly, heavy *************. I'm going to be gone next week, but I'm looking forward to playing with it (including, unfortunately, including installing Boot Camp and the other requirements so he can run some propriety **** on the poor thing in cripple mode) next week.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

You notice that nobodys going to get all bitchy over SGladwell's off topic and unsolicited bashing of Windows and Dell? He probably works for Apple. This is the propaganda machine at work people. Recognize. Going back to the original post, the "lifestyle" that Apple sells is what pisses me off more than anything else. (except maybe the illusion of a corporate identity they created for themselves) The last two groups of people I want to be associated with are the granola eating ex-hippies and trendy hipster graphic designer wannabes. I've seen the clouds of smug billowing out of those damn stores. To be honest, I'd rather commit seppukku than purchase anything from that heinous company. Congrats though, don't let me rain on your parade you commie.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

Congrats though, don't let me rain on your parade you commie.

This is new age capitalism commie, Apple doesn't come cheap.

All the Apple bashing aside, I admire the little white notebook everytime I see it. My IBM Thinkpad T43 makes me feel like a corporate stiff. Ain't it ironic, what used to be part of the great building block of American capitalism is now owned by a bunch of commies.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

This is new age capitalism commie, Apple doesn't come cheap.

My IBM Thinkpad T43 makes me feel like a corporate stiff.

True... commies with disposable income are the most dangerous type of commie.

You can send me your T43. I'd be more than happy to have it.

 

[BayArea]

apple has only like 5% of the market share so i dunno why you guys are all angry about apple getting a sale.

 

[Brian SD]

Going back to the original post, the "lifestyle" that Apple sells is what pisses me off more than anything else. (except maybe the illusion of a corporate identity they created for themselves) The last two groups of people I want to be associated with are the granola eating ex-hippies and trendy hipster graphic designer wannabes.

TBH I'd rather pick the latter brand of people to be associated with (basically, Whole Foods shoppers, indie yuppies, whatever you want to call them, people who love the Killers and Postal Service), simply because the other option (insomniac pimply frozen-food-eating computer-gaming nerd) turns me off so much. Be fair, my sweeping generalization is just as accurate as yours is.

I don't see how Apple's "lifestyle" is any different from any other brand's (Dell - newly shipped-off college student, Gateway - 40-something family man). I guess I should be, since I'm somewhat part of the crowd from which they gather the inspiration for their marketing, being that I'm 22, a music, art, etc. enthusiast. I get a good chuckle out of the feigned hipness from Apple, and especially the not-so-aptly-named "Genius Bar," but it doesn't disgust me in the way that Microsoft's counterintuitive OS does... and OS is what it comes down to for me, not the marketing.

It's just a chuckle. I especially love the semi-overweight workers with the spikey dyed-red hair, the thick-framed glasses with the iPods strapped all over them and the shirt worn too tight. Really, it's so obvious that I love it. However, I don't think I really subscribe to this crowd just by supporting and buying Apple. I love the OS and I love the product design.

 

[StevenRocks]

You could say the Fifth Avenue 24/7 Apple Store has already picked up its own culture. There’s the requisite cadre of geeks and tourists, but the sheer novelty of the place is drawing in some beautiful people. The coolest part about it is that if you did pick up somebody there, the store is so bright, there’s little chance of the frightful morning after scene that the dim lighting in clubs is famous for creating

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Originally Posted by StevenRocks

You could say the Fifth Avenue 24/7 Apple Store has already picked up its own culture. There’s the requisite cadre of geeks and tourists, but the sheer novelty of the place is drawing in some beautiful people. The coolest part about it is that if you did pick up somebody there, the store is so bright, there’s little chance of the frightful morning after scene that the dim lighting in clubs is famous for creating
Plus you can get stuck in the fancy glass elevator and nobody will be able to figure how to get you out for HOURS!

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

Plus you can get stuck in the fancy glass elevator and nobody will be able to figure how to get you out for HOURS!

Easy, use a hammer. I would've karate kick the **** out of it.

 

[Kent Wang]

Like a eggshell, it's difficult to break from the outside but very easy from the inside.

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

You notice that nobodys going to get all bitchy over SGladwell's off topic and unsolicited bashing of Windows and Dell? He probably works for Apple. This is the propaganda machine at work people. Recognize.

Going back to the original post, the "lifestyle" that Apple sells is what pisses me off more than anything else. (except maybe the illusion of a corporate identity they created for themselves) The last two groups of people I want to be associated with are the granola eating ex-hippies and trendy hipster graphic designer wannabes.

I've seen the clouds of smug billowing out of those damn stores. To be honest, I'd rather commit seppukku than purchase anything from that heinous company.

Congrats though, don't let me rain on your parade you commie.

So true

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

Plus you can get stuck in the fancy glass elevator and nobody will be able to figure how to get you out for HOURS!

Why, you just press the red button and up, up and away you go!

Jon.