
Google’s stores are a lame challenge to Apple’s - hepha1979
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/11/21/googles-stores-are-a-lame-challenge-to-the-magic-of-apples-retail-stores/?wprss=rss_technology
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ruswick
In my opinion, Apple receives way too much credit for their retail experience.

Going to the Apple Store is almost always an unpleasant experience. First, the
small number of locations means that getting to an Apple Store can be onerous.
Moreover, the majority of stores are massively overcrowded. On weekends, I
literally can't get into my local Apple Store because of overcrowding. There
are simply too many people to physically navigate the store. Imagine riding a
crowded public bus. That is the level of crowding.

Moreover, the setup of the Apple Store encourages people to linger and
leisurely use the devices. In practice, this means that people (particularly
little kids) will spend upwards of thirty minutes playing some asinine game on
the display devices. There are no limits enforced, and the chronic
overcrowding means that even getting to look at a device is difficult.

If you happen to go during a weekday when there isn't overcrowding, you get
overwhelmed by Apple staff. Effectively every time I enter an Apple Store I
get accosted by no less than three employees, not to mention the "concierge"
that guards the entryway to the store. When shopping, I don't want to be
berated by staff. It's very reminiscent of the episode of The Office where
Dwight gets fired and takes up a position at Staples. When a woman comes into
his department to shop, Dwight stands five feet away from her and just glares
at her the entire time.

Deciding whether or not to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a device
is already mentally taxing; having Apple staff constantly interject does not
make the experience any easier. I don't think I've ever heard anyone I know
speak positively of an experience at the Apple Store, particularly because
they feel absolutely overwhelmed by the way the staff treat them.

I'm not sure if these problems are pervasive or specific only to my local
store, but in my experience, the notion that the service at the Apple Store is
"magical" is downright laughable.

~~~
Gorbzel
Typical hate from the HN crowd: Assume that everyone is as technically
competent as you are and that your outlook on a product or experience is the
only one that matters.

Receiving too much credit? Are you asinine? Perhaps you don't remember the
days before the Apple Store. Purchasing a computer involved going to retail
outlets like CompUSA or Circuit City that cared more about their bottom line
then paying attention to the dilapidated surroundings. If you did choose to go
to a slightly nicer place like Best Buy, good luck buying a computer that
didn't come with tons of manufacturer adware that the "GEEKS" felt the need to
either clean for a ridiculous fee or install more on top of. Or my favorite,
you could go to Gateway Country, and get the worst of retail annoyances and
overpricing with the annoyance of waiting provided by online shopping!

In fact, the misguided nature of your post is pretty well evident if you
simply replace all instances of [Apple Store] with [holiday shopping]. It's
difficult to get into most any shopping center retailer, especially those that
have a single location in a major metro area.

Oh, and how dare any retail store allow potential customers to spend time
getting familiar with the devices they're about to drop hundreds of dollars
on. Nope, some self-entitled guy on HN thinks your game is asinine, yet lacks
the basic social cues to politely ask to see a device or god-forbid queue for
it, so curse Apple for not enforcing limits. (For the record, they do enforce
limits in highly specific circumstances where people are actually abusing the
privilege, but I'd like to see you try to deal with angry shoppers during the
holidays).

And yet, when Apple staffers do approach you, to ya know, maybe inquire if
you'd like to check out a device yourself, they're berating you.

Which is the whole point: Apple gets credit in retail because they do the best
job of providing a great buying experience to customers in an industry that is
inherently difficult, whereas MS, Samsung, Google and others just seem to copy
poorly. Since your own insecurities seem to be the problem, just neckbeard it
up for some online shopping at home, which is the most pleasant experience
anyway.

------
drzaiusapelord
Magic? I work in downtown Chicago very near the Apple store on Michigan ave. I
step in, its a mob scene of people dicking around with the apple equipment,
highly priced accessories, and this "70's basement" stained wood look
everywhere. Its kinda boring. Its like buying a Model T. Here's this mass
produced item, they all look kinda the same, and you buy the exact same thing
your friends have and off you go.

Err, its nice I guess, in a "we're kinda different" way, but no where am I
thinking its magical or a positive shopping experience. Staff there tend to be
borderline short with me, obviously because they're busy with other customers.
Staff at the genius bar look depressed and over-worked. One genius borderline
yelled at me when I told him I'll need my ac cable back from my imac after
service. He snottily said "well I can't prove you didn't bring one" and
practically threw one at me.

Retail has moved to this aesthetic, which is also interesting in a way, but at
the end of the day I'm exchanging money for product. Who has mastered the art
of making the prettiest store and who is merely just "good" at it really
doesn't make much difference to me, and I imagine, to many others. Value for
my money and decent return policies are all I really care about.

Anyway, its all incredibly inferior to ordering online. That's the dirty
little secret that scares the retail industry.

~~~
Isamu
> Its like buying a Model T. Here's this mass produced item

Is there some great source of bespoke computers that you buy from?

I think it was in William Gibson's Idoru that the main character had some
mobile computer with a handmade jeweled case made by some small co-op or
other. I've been waiting for the rise of these groups.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
No. I just don't consider consumer crap like phones and computers magical.
They're tools and fairly boring ones at that. This worship of consumer
electronics and deifying the CEOs and executives involved is asinine.

------
potatolicious
Meh, the stores aren't the problem, they're fine as far as I can tell. The
problem is that you can't build a hip, happening, retail establishment without
hip, happening products.

I think the author's criticisms are off base. It doesn't really matter if the
store is hosted below the High Line or in a slick loft in Chelsea, or in
Bryant Park as it is currently, because the Cool Factor would be borrowed.
People are extremely good at spotting inauthenticity, trying to borrow that
Cool Factor is just going to look lame and desperate (see: Microsoft store in
Times Square).

Most Apple Stores are in extremely normal, even boring, places. Their
attractiveness to shoppers isn't borrowed from their location, it's inherent
in the products stocked within.

In other words, before you can have that slick, zen-like, all-glass Apple
Store, you first need to invent the iPod. The headline-grabbing, head-turning
products need to come _first_ , before you build a store to house it in. As
much as I like the Nexus products, they're not it.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
>People are extremely good at spotting inauthenticity, trying to borrow that
Cool Factor

What's so cool about some mass produced disposable widget that gets sold to
grandmas at Walmart? This isn't the Apple of 2002. Cool is about exclusivity
and membership into something grandma can't be a member of. Marketing telling
you something is cool is actually uncool.

>As much as I like the Nexus products, they're not it.

I'm glad it lacks the pretensions you describe. Its a phone, not a religion.

~~~
resu_nimda
You're saying the iPod in 2002 _wasn 't_ a mass produced disposable widget?
The iPod was never about exclusivity or membership, it was always "for
everyone."

In fact I think the primary factor for its enduring success (and that of the
new Apple era as a whole) is that they managed to be "cool" and popular at the
same time. They had the marketing that told you it was cool (dancing
silhouettes, etc), and everyone from hip indie kids to grandmas said "yeah,
that is cool."

------
mariusz79
Magic?? There is no hope for the future generations if we keep calling stores
and products that are sold in them magical and revolutionary.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Magic?? There is no hope for the future generations if we keep calling
> stores and products that are sold in them magical and revolutionary.

Magic always comes with a price.

Revolutions, too.

------
wil421
I always thought the windows stores were copying apple also. They all have big
open spaces with wood floors or stands with minimal furniture/shelves and
accessories on the walls.

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sidcool
Highly editorialized title (of the original article). The content is a bit
lame.

------
pit
Here's a better view of the Winter Wonderlab in NYC:

[http://winterwonderlab.withgoogle.com/finder](http://winterwonderlab.withgoogle.com/finder)

Strangely, it was near the bottom of the second page of (Google) results for
"Google Winter Wonderlab".

------
skrowl
So so many Apple zealots here on [Y]. You lost, get over it.

