Customers line up for grand opening of Apple's Grand Central store - Page 2

That is queer, isn't it?

A lot of you guys are just suckers.

Conrad Joe - I'd toss you outta this forum in a heartbeat if it was my show but, at the same time, I have to hand it to you for your ability to disrupt and hijack a thread with just one comment.

You are the master of disruption... and there is no sarcasm in that statement.

... and the store looks awesome and the crowds coming to see the store should give pause to anyone who thinks Apple's future is in doubt.

"Just one comment" cannot do anything to a thread. Not by itself.

The threads get disrupted by packs of jackals. Not by me.

Indeed, I usually just ignore them after my point is made.

Yep, I confess to being a sucker, and I confess to trying to get him thrown out.

Again.

Update: Above, the coyote now portrays himself as a baby zebra, nipped at by jackals like me.

The situation: Here we have a good story, maybe a little too good and uncontroversial, about an amazing development, an Apple store in Grand Central Station. There couldn't be a more dramatic example of Apple's retail confidence and boldness, and a bunch of happy and nice-looking people are spending the night to be there. And CJ drops a stink bomb in the thread first thing and says he sees "weirdos" in the line. His disruptive purpose couldn't be clearer. Not acceptable. I am a jackal who would . . . well, never mind.

See... he's doing it again. (I can't see him because he's on ignore)

Back to the thread...

One of the great things about the GCS store is that people won't have to wait out in the cold when a new product is being introduced. It'll be interesting to see how GCS management handles the lineups and crowds.

Great New Yorkish point. Here in So. Cal., many stores are in boring indoor malls, and the outdoors aren't that bad anyway. GCT would be a great place to hang out while waiting in line. Unless you're stuck in that hallway with a bunch of other weirdos, then maybe not.

As we speak, Tom Ashbrook is doing an NPR/On Point show on talking to your phone, as in SIRI and some Android app.

LOL...yep. A miserable person never sees happiness.

You are blaming the victim.

Norman Rockwell celebrated American life, not rampant consumerism.

For all the folks hassling ConradJoe, I think you might be;

(a) taking him a little too literally
(b) lacking a sarcasm detector
(c) choosing to filter his comments through the ol' tried and tested 'reality distortion field'

Before I get flamed in a similar manner or called a 'Microsoft troll', 'hateful' or, god forbid, a 'commie' I should point out that I've been a loyal and enthusiastic Apple user for over 20 years now so I would consider myself a somewhat 'qualified' fan.

While those queuing up might not 'look' weird, the act of waiting in such large lines at a busy train station for the opening of a retail store which is offering no new, previously unreleased or exclusive products is to me personally quite 'weird' and I totally 'get' what ConradJoe was trying to say.

Having said that, each to their own, if lining up for hours at a shop for the chance to get a free t-shirt and become a non-paid, walking corporate ad is how you get your kicks, or is your idea of a good time then good for you, just don't be too surprised when those who don't share the same enthusiasm (yet still love Apple products) find your actions a little odd.

I personally find modern Apple fandom to be a tad on the creepy side and if this is what it takes to be be a fan nowadays, then I'm considering changing my fan status and membership to an 'in the closet' status.
Then again, I never understood why Apple gave me a 'logo' sticker with each computer I purchased, did they seriously want me to put it on my car or display it somewhere with pride?

Just to be clear, while I strive to be entertaining, there is almost always a serious point to my comments. I usually respond in a serious manner to those who see the point and wish to discuss it, even if they have flung insults in the past. Soli, among others, knows that to be true.

However, I try to just ignore those who respond in a bigoted manner.

Well, I find it odd that people find Apple fans odd yet have absolutely no problem wearing a jersey for their favourite sports team or a t-shirt emblazoned with their favourite band (or better yet, a tattoo) or...

To each his own...

"ConradJoe has not made any friends yet" (OK, miserable post, he is not the only one in this case, and we do not post on the forum to make friends, do we ? rather a good way to make enemies, uh ?)

What is more American than a line-up at an Apple store...

(other than, maybe, a line-up at a Walmart store)

That was offensive and unnecessary.

My American life involves sitting around w/friends playing computer games, playing Dungeons and Dragons (my kids love rolling for me), watching movies and generally being a geek. Sometimes there is camping out for tickets for something. It's a part of life. Not everyone participates in the same way, but a modern Rockwell would likely have people in his paintings gathered around a computer together or folks talking on their phones.

How's this:

See? I'm a person who can be abused with impunity. So I deserve it.


Sorry if I caused any offense. I intended to make my point in strong terms, but not to offend anybody.

But would he have people in his paintings paying homage to multinational corporations?

From a world perspective, there's very little difference. Picture the Thanksgiving dinner.

To CJ above, the U.S. was the multinational corporation of Rockwell's day. See Marshall McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride.

I too find all those things odd, then again I stopped wearing band t-shirts at around 17, have never had a tattoo and haven't worn a team jersey since going to a game with my dad when I was around 8 and wanted to look like him.
Having said all that, I'd more likely wear a band t-shirt, or a team jersey than wear a t-shirt from a consumer electronics/computer company advertising a store location.
The tattoo though, not a chance, that's for life and I'm old enough to know that what I think is cool now probably won't be so much in a few years time.

From that perspective the Last Supper is about consumerism and the kind of crap you'd find in thrift stores.

Wow. You piqued my interest.

While I generally consider McLuhan to be full of shit, I'll take a look.

Thanks.


BTW, has anybody here re-read Atlas Shrugged lately? It has been mentioned here several times in the past few weeks. I was thinking of picking it up again.

C'mon, have some confidence in your decisions.

I thought my Wife was great and cool in the 50s... guess what...

I thought the Beatles were great and cool in the 60s... guess what...

I thought Led Zeppelin was great and cool in the 70s.. guess what...

I thought Apple was great and cool in the 80s... guess what...

... but, then again... I've always had great taste.

Hadn't though of that way. I guess in February as the largest store and with the most indoor space GCT will be the place to hang out and wait for the new iPad. That place is gonna be a made house. I see some pros and cons for those traveling and shopping at other retail spaces there.

Ah, yes... GCT not GCS... my mistake.

A made house? I can see all these Mafia types hanging out in the shadows.

You've convinced me, I'm off to get my 'finalCut Pro X rocks' tattoo right now!!
Yeah I know, but I'm an optimist

First, it is you who is taking CJ seriously. If he were an ordinary psychologically disturbed troll who is here to stick a thumb in everybody's eye, that would be sad, but ignorable and tolerable. But he's not, he's a paid disrupter, by his own admission. Not that I take the details of his admission seriously, just the overall scenario.

On your second point, I halfway agree with you. No word of any kind is on any t-shirt I own, and there ain't no stickers on my car. But consider the function that Apple serves these days as a crowd phenomenon or zeitgeist emblem. It's a little short on the frenzy, but it's very like what it was around the Beatles in the 60s, or maybe a combination of them and Dylan at the time. Waiting for Sgt. Pepper was similar to iPad anticipation. If we'd had fMRI at the time, and you could run someone through the machine today around the next Apple life-changer on the horizon, I betcha you'd see the same areas light up.

Steve and Woz, and Raskin, Atkinson, Hertzfeld, Ive and let's not forget Smith really did establish a New Thing worth being in a crowd for. Now it's -- oh dear! -- a "multinational corporation" making "consumerist" devices. Just like the Beatles and the record biz, more popular than Jesus at the time, according to John Lennon. But, you say, the Beatles were at least about art. Well guess who else is about art, the art of technology, which is why they deserve to draw a crowd.

But I understand what you mean. The friend I went to Woodstock with left the first day and hitched back to the city. Couldn't dig the crowd scene.

Meanwhile, notice that ConradJoe is not defending his calling those nice, clean-cut people "weirdos."

Edit: Nicely anticipated by island hermit above.

You go, boy!

Thumbs up!

Maybe he took the brown acid, maybe I should take the brown acid!

You should totally show your wife your last post, placing her up there with the greatness of The Beatles and Zepplin is sure to keep you in the good books, maybe just leave out the Apple comparison, she might find that one a little 'weird'

Pretty sure it was the cold and the mud and all those crazy people still seeming to have a good time, against all reason. He's still a voice of reason to this day. Maybe wouldn't be now if he'd gotten hold of some of that. There was a lot of good blotter going around . . . sigh . . .

Have managed well for half a century without queueing - with 2 forced exceptions:

1) School - where I was to become an educated sheep
2) Army - where I was to become a killer sheep

But to do it of your own free will? Have they no shame or pride, or do they get paid?

I agree with you on this.

Lay off the hypersensitivity, people.

Go ahead.

We'll miss you.

He is offensive and unnecessary. (The management likes people like him because he brings eyeballs.)

I'm slowly coming around to this depressing POV. Why? He's still here.

Leave out the Apple comparison to the woman who has an iMac, iPad, iPod and iPhone. Who are the Beatles and Led Zeppelin again...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...599679280.html