You are in monthly Archives.
September 26, 2007
I love commercials
Screen shots from an actual commercial...
Ok, typical disclaimer at the bottom, then this:
Yep.. you read that right:
Veramyst: The way it works is not entirely understood.
I vote for either magic or astral-projection.
Thanks to Aimee for spotting this.
September 23, 2007
Links
The NY Times has made 150+ years of the archived stories free to the public.
Kottke has a nice roundup of some interesting finds. Also see some stories from the history of sound recording and the music industry.
Also, Thomas L. Friedman's (foreign-affairs columnist, author of World is Flat) archive... if you want to know what's going on in the world, read his column.
This is great - Ebert and Roeper (and Siskel) complete video archive.
This is for Cody
There are some people who walk into the Apple Store who I can tell just don't "get" why Macs might be good computers.
I don't want to make any sweeping generalizations but they tend to be less educated and have used very little computers in general. Of course, those who are less educated (or should I say, have had less educational opportunities) have generally had less access to computers to begin with. This puts them at even more of an economic and social disadvantage. The term for this is digital divide; I think if Bush could have done one redeeming thing it could have been to help close this gap. But back to the story...
Does that make Macs elitist? No, I don't think so. You just have to have enough experience with computers to know what kind of potential computers have. Which is to say, almost limitless. If you think a computer is just something that you use to browse "the internets," then all the cool stuff that comes with a Mac is pretty useless.
With education and experience using a computer comes the ability to have discriminating taste when deciding what computer to buy. It's like accepting McDonald's as a perfectly good meal when you've never eaten at a fancy shmancy restaurant. Yes, the fancy restaurant costs more, but your body generally doesn't hurt after eating there.
I think this is a good analogy because my brain hurts after using Windows (why do I have to restart after every little update?).
So, once in a while I had a person walk in to the store who I could immediately spot* as someone who a Mac would be *great* for, but they probably wouldn't appreciate why. The trick to being a good salesperson is to show them why. It's not always possible.
You show them how slim the iMac is, how iPhoto can email a picture with a click of a button, and show them exposé, but they just sit there asking where the "Start" button is. It's not really a matter of Macs being elitist, but the customer simply not knowing what they are looking at.
I'm not making any judgments about them as a person here... just some observations about why not everyone runs out to get a Mac. Heck, some people don't use computers at all, which might be fine for them right now, but more and more services are being offered online and some going exclusively online -- I don't have to tell you how important computer literacy will be in the coming years.
I was always honest with my customers, and if I thought they were better off with a PC, I'd say so. Not that they needed me to tell them that.
For example, before Apple switched to Intel chips and running Windows on a Mac required the too-slow-to-be-useful VirtualPC, if a customer had to run MS Access or wanted to play Half-Life 2, they were better off with Windows. I'd always tell them what a Mac would be great for (Internet, Photos, MS Office compatible, etc.), but I make it clear that a Mac wouldn't be able to do everything they needed. It might sound silly that that would need to be explained to people, but you'd be surprised how many people realize that OS X is completely different from Windows, and your Windows software won't run on it. I don't think I deserve a medal for being honest, but I couldn't do it any other way.
Sometimes honesty pays off: a guy came in looking to buy an iSight web cam (when Apple still made them). We were talking about the iSight and he was about to get one until I asked him if he had a digital video camera at home. He said yes. I explained that he can hook his camera into his firewire and it will work the same was as an iSight. He lit up and said thanked me for saving him $150. Of course, now an iSight goes for about $300 on eBay.
Back to Macs being elitist. I don't think it's elitist to say computer illiterate people might not be able to appreciate a Mac. Does that sound harsh? Maybe. But it's true. I think it's realistic that they look at the price of a $400 Windows laptop and a $1000+ Mac laptop and not be able to fathom why it costs more. And for some of those people, they simply might not ever get the extra $600 out of their computer, in which case I think Windows is fine for them. One thing I did try to tell these customers was that in the long run the time you save not having to deal with all the Windows virii, spyware, and crashes might be worth the extra money.
Everyone's money is the same color, but I don't think Apple is trying to take a 50% market share. A strong, smart, and loyal customer base is a good thing even if it's small. Anyone else is just icing on the cake.
Plus, even Windows users can use an iPod.**
* For better or worse, as a salesperson will put people into groups all the time. I could pretty much predict spot on who would pay with a check [rural middle-aged women], cash [kids, scruffy looking guys with tattoos] or credit cards [white collar workers and middle-upper class moms].
**This is only half true. Half of all Windows users bring their iPods in with some sort of problem. I blame Windows.
P.S. Yes, I'm going to keep talking about Apple stuff. I have 3 years of stuff that I have to unload.
September 20, 2007
More Apple talk
This guy doesn't like the Genius Bar.
To be able to properly criticize the Genius Bar you have to understand a couple things:
• The bar is not really considered a source of income for the store. Yes, it is the glue that holds it together, but I don't think it's where the money is. I have no real knowledge of how much is made through the bar, but it's probably small.
• Retail space is expensive. What you do with that space is important. Apple picks the highest-end malls for their stores, so they have to make very foot count. Because of this, there will never be enough Genii available. We opened our Jordan Creek store with three, and even though they did an awesome job, it was never, ever enough. Ok, maybe Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. it was enough. There will always be a wait. The ability to sign up for a time at home is totally innovative and saves a lot of headache. Apple probably needs to do a better job promoting this (but, if you've ever walked into an Apple Store, there is almost no "helpful" signage - who to make checks out to, how to sign up for an appointment, where to check out -- especially true on Apple brand hardware boxes. Almost zero helpful information on the box. The best you can hope for is a picture of everything that is included in the box, but even then that doesn't always happen [I'm looking at you, notebook power adapter and when we sold firewire power adapters they were simply labeled "Power Adapter" -- no mention of Firewire... and this is when some iPods wouldn't charge through Firewire] I could write a whole other entry on this alone... )
• Even if an Apple Store, especially one our size, could hire more Genii, there would be no place to put them.
• This guy is complaining about an iPod with corrupt software. This is something you can EASILY fix yourself from home with a restore. So, he's complaining about something that he doesn't even need to be there for.
• It's not always the Genii's fault for the line going slowly. You do get customers that overstay their "free troubleshooting" welcome. There was a guy in the other day that was bombarding one of our Genii with question after question. The Genii actually had to sit down with him (another limitation of the store redesigns -- with four Macbook Pro's across the back of the bar, Genii can no longer "belly up" to help customers. They can try, but it is awkward.)
But he is right about one thing. The number of iPods coming to the bar is just going to keep going up and up. A couple years from now if they don't expand things even more I predict they will have to push back the 48 hour sign-ahead time.
September 19, 2007
Customer quotes part 2
What's the difference between Dell and Apple?
Why do Dell's cost less?
Do you ever have any sales?
What is Apple?
I thought Apple went out of business.
(On cell phone): I'm at the iPod store.
Can I use an iPod with a Mac?
Does Apple fix its iPod prices?
What's my user password?
I need some software.
Ok, what do you need?
I don't remember what it's called.
Do you remember who makes it?
No.
What does the software do?
I don't know.
My iPod broke down but I have the warranty.
That looks like a Best Buy warranty plan.
Yeah, I brought it over there but they told me to come here.
I need this computer fixed now.
It looks like there is about a 45 minute wait. Shall we get you signed in?
I can't wait. I drove all the way here, there's no way you can get me in now?
Sorry, it's first come first serve. We have people waiting ahead of you.
That's just ridiculous. I drove all the way here.
Sorry to hear that. Where are you from?
Ankeny. *(You can replace Ankeny with any other city 30 minutes away)
What color do your eight gig nanos come in?
Well, we have red and black. Part of the sale of the red ones goes to help fight AIDs in Africa.
Eh, I'll take the black one.
or
I'm looking for a pink nano case.
We have this one (pointing to a pink case that has a sticker about part of the proceeds going to help fight breast cancer)
Oh, no that's a breast cancer one I don't want that.
(Lady signs for her credit card with bad handwriting)
Geez looks like I've got palsy
Little girl: How much is this Barbie Game?
Me: Thirty dollars.
Little girl looks at small change in hand, puts game back
Kid on MySpace: I have 87 friends and you have like 10
September 18, 2007
Slow news day
CNN: :-) Turns 25
Is now :-/
September 16, 2007
Down to one job
I'm teaching full time at DMACC this year, for anyone that didn't know that, so I have quit my job at Apple so I don't go crazy. I'd like to go back someday. In the meantime, since I'm not an employee anymore, I am free to share some stories and quotes from customers over the years (it would have been three years in October).
Apple has a very strict policy against blogging about Apple products and services, otherwise I would have shared before. I have nothing but good things to say about the company and employees there, but, as with any retail job, there can be some funny stories. I'm not going to give away anything that you wouldn't otherwise overhear if you were standing next to me, so please don't sue me.
Some favorite quotes:
(from a German customer) "I would like one of your fancy iPod nanos."
Mac Specialist: "Can I get your email?"
Normal looking teenage girl: "Gothdiva1234 at hotmail.com"
Transferring a word doc and excel doc onto a CD, Customer: "Will they both fit?"
"My iPod locked up. I have the extended warranty plan. Can I have a new one?"
Guy on phone: "Why does iTunes need 350 megs free to install a 12 meg program?"
Specialist: "How much space do you have?"
Guy on phone: "About 100 meg, but I'm downloading a movie on Limewire, so probably less than that."
Woman on the phone: "My computer isn't working. Can I talk to one of your smart people?"
"How many gigadigits does this computer have?"
Customer on phone.. "my iPod battery doesn't work. I need you to send me a new one"
Customer, asked which computer they have: "I have a G5 and a G6"
September 13, 2007
The Peter Bergen I know
Ok, so I don't really know Peter Bergen (CNN terrorism analyst, author) but I did go to listen to him talk at DMACC last night.
His 45 minute talk was chalk full of information about Al Qaeda, bin Laden (in 1997, Bergen was the first to do an on-camera interview with bin Laden), and 9-11.
I was up to speed on much of what he said, but he brought up a couple interesting points. One was that Al Qaeda isn't very interested in hitting targets like shopping malls in the midwest because no one in the Middle East knows where Des Moines is. It isn't impressive to hit Des Moines. When you hit a passenger plane, you are hitting one of the (arguably) most difficult targets out there. Your success is impressive. Their goal isn't entirely to instill fear in Americans going about their daily life as to send a message to us and their people back home that they know what they are doing. If they wanted to spread random terror, they would have done it by now.
He also said pulling out of Iraq right now would be extremely dangerous. About as dangerous as invading to begin with. Yay!
During a 15 minute Q&A, he was asked what America could do to avoid future terrorist attacks, he replied (paraphrasing), "Well, not invading a Muslim country is a good start." Too late.
September 06, 2007
Chewy!
My Hoover Sounds Like Chewbacca From Star Wars
This shouldn't be as funny as it is.
September 05, 2007
For whom the phone rings
With a certain company's announcement of 99-cent ring tones, it has me wondering...
Can someone explain ring tones to me? Has anyone reading this ever bought a ring tone? What is the appeal? How did this become such a big business? $2.50? Really?
September 03, 2007
Bad acting
Quick update with some of my favorite bad acting/bad writing clips.
Steven Segal never phones it in
David Curuso *has* to be some kind of robot
Bad fight scene (I think I've posted this before)
any more?