Wal-Mart's new Apple section seen as precursor to Mac sales - Page 4

I just want to point out that you did state it as your needs, which is a legitimate reason, and that you are not stating a netbook can do everything a MacBook can do.


They run from about $250 to over $1000. I would imagine an Apple netbook would be around $800, maybe $500-$600 if subsidized with a $60/month data plan.

Correct, the MacBook with its dual core processor is faster and more suitable than a netbook for those who use a portable as their only computer.

Not intending to get off topic, I couldn't help responding to the notion that "netbooks are crap." Obviously, some are better than others, and for some people they are not powerful enough. Comparing a netbook with a real keyboard and 10" screen to an iPhone is like comparing a car to a motorcycle, or something like that.

If Apple ever offers something similar to current 10" netbooks, I agree with you, it'll probably be priced around $800 and I'd hope it'll be sold at Wal-Mart. It'll probably be comparable to Windows netbooks that cost around $500 and will probably look a little prettier.

FYI: I'm a Mac user since 1989. My Samsung netbook is my first ever Windows computer and I now use it more than I use my Macs. When it comes to casual surfing and email, it's the device I go to first; not my desktop Mac, not my MacBook and certainly not my iPod touch.

Apple? Walm'art? Wally world? Really?

LOL. Well that about blows any "cheap" or ""apples above" that fanboy 10% is the bestest place you can be theory out if the water now. LOL.

Well, yeah I mean look at the past month if apple ads, windows bashing, palm pre, "Apple don't do cheap" "crap" statements coming from all the Jobs can do no wrong crowd, I mean, wow, talk about a major meltdown.

Of course maybe Apple can make cheap cool. Or, they're getting ready for subsidized netbooks ?

Well everyone needs a job so try not to bash the employees.

That said it's about service and mac so called specialists don't make that much so it wouldn't hurt them to have employees from Apple thing is, have you ever been in a Walmart? They can be dead in there. I can picture it now, the iMac will be looping the mac vs pc commercial while the retro music from the progressive car commercial plays in the background, meanwhile, price check on isle 18 please, comes over the loud speaker and the iMac display, not über lined up like in the Apple store like some OCD, lies all crooked and cracked. No customers near it. That's a sad sight but almost certain to be true. All the prices will be in English/Spanish/Korean. Almost instantly, the branding could be tarnished. All depends in service and if a new product comes out.

Whoa. Dude. Words. In order. Punctuation. Something.

Aww man, the irony is I went online to delete this post - who cares where the mac's are sold.

Stupid iPhone though, that last post was on the iPhone. Everytime you post something on a forum, the keyboard takes up half the bottom, I type "fir" more often than "for" and the auto correct replaces some of my words that I don't catch until I read the post much later.

Unlike some, if I post a reply, I will go back to the where I left off, whereas now I may have a few windows open (24" display). Anyway, should be interesting to see what happens, I just wonder if there will be decent customer service or will it be a ghost town with retro music playing in the background.

Progressive music, price check isle 18, crooked display, missing buttons, hee he he. ..
It's so sad it's funny, not that they are selling at Wally World but watching everyone's reaction to this news. ..:

Time for bed.

Peace all...

EDIT: Actually, the sentence, without the punctuation, sounds and reads as intended. ..
lol:

Wow. Best statement I've read here in a long time.

You know, if you have a good background with PCs I'd Macs, you can go over the head if most mac specialists. Most of them do not know much more than the scope if their products. Most could not tell you what FSB does or how DDR 2 differs from DDR3.

If Apple played their cards right, there's no reason that they can't hire all computer gurus. All towns have them and most would match if not exceed the, the so called "specialist" at Apple.

I'm an artist/composer. I have made big money to eating top ramin so you're welcome in my book any day.

Bill Murray? Rodney Dangerfield? Caddyshack?
LOL

Indeed. I'm actually inspired. This was truly a really good post.

Dude. Didn't you read what the other poster said about apple genius bar? It's true. I have a friend who works there now and most if what they do know is "scripted" and their technical knowledge is limited at best. The send out for most of the repairs. Ironically, I also have an undercover narc detective friend and when he pointed it out, I was amazed. Most Apple employees smoke pot, some do meth, and one time he told me about two seperate incidents at the same Apple store, credit card and check fraud by the employees. Sort of puts things in perspective.

While some of this may be true, take what yet another poster said, take 80% of those ion Apple stores and place in walm'art. Perceived as poor. Half probaby fall into lower tax brackets but that does make them less of a person. We all have dreams. Every single one of us.

I do the same thing, which is why if I go away for a couple of days, I don't usually come back to the thread, because so many post are up that I don't have the time to read them.

It's annoying when people proudly state that they won't read older posts, and then proceed to make comments that have long before been dealt with.

I find that to be true of many Pc "experts" as well. Particularly at PC stores, even specialty shops.

I actually had the service guy of a PC shop ask me why I was buying back-up tapes when my machines had CD PLAYERS!

Believe me, the level of both PC users and their advisory personnel are no more technically knowledgeable that those in the Mac end.

Very well stated, and not just because I agree, but because you said it better than I did.

The plan at Wal-Mart seems to be to go after the consumer electronics market vacancy opened up by the Circuit City bankruptcy. What has not been said yet is that duplicating a Circuit City-like shopping experience is an awfully low bar. This happens to be another retailer that displayed Apple products very poorly when they carried them. Another point that I think deserves to be repeated is that Wal-Mart has developed an extremely successful retail formula. It certainly remains to be seen whether they're open to altering it one iota to suit Apple's very different approach.

You can't touch them at Costco either. Unfortunately the world is full of thieves and since the boxes are so small, they cannot be left out for anyone to pick up. Best Buy has them out on display, locked to a podium like the digital cameras. Most Apple Stores have them locked up too and an associate needs to get one for you.

That's true of most places. Staples and a lot of other retailers, keep numerous items in locked cabinets.

Apparently you didn't read. The one they had on display was the #1, highest rated Netbook sold and reviewed. It was the Asus Eee PC, and it was a cheap piece of shit. So if the number 1 rated Netbook was made with cheap plastics and a lousy keyboard, then yes, I don't need to see any others.

Thank you. When most of these selfish little brats concerned with nothing more than "image" lose their jobs (and you won't know you are getting laid off until the deed is done!), Wal Mart (and Target) will become their most favorite store in the world. It has kept me alive during unemployment and I am no longer doing regular shopping at a supermarket because I am done paying high prices and getting ripped off. Now if only their BluRay titles were discounted like their other products. That waiting list is on hold until I get a new job.

Now that is funny. The Apple Experience. Have you ever talked to an Apple Genius? They are complete idiots. One tried to push AppleCare on a Nano telling the customer the hard drive inside could fail.

A friend of mine took his iBook G4 (2005 model, still supported by Apple Service) in for repair because it would not receive power from AC or charge. The Genius, clueless about known issues with the iBook, told him it was not repairable and he should buy a MacBook for $1200. He wouldn't even diagnose the iBook. I googled "iBook no power" and found plenty of articles regarding the iBook and failed solder joints on the DC Board. The DC Board is a $49 part, and it is the actual Apple part. I repaired his iBook in about an hour.

Since you have never stepped foot in a WalMart, you have no idea what you are talking about. They don't carry low-end merchandise. They sell the same electronics that Best Buy does. Wii, XBox 360, PS3, plenty of digital cameras, camcorders, HDTV's, etc. They are not branded "WalMart." So you are honestly going to spend more money at Best Buy when you can save a few bucks at WalMart?

I bet most of you don't buy a Mac from Apple or an Apple Store. Are you so concerned about image that you will pay top dollar with sales tax just so you can claim how cool you are because you bought it from Apple? I bet most of you buy your Macs from Amazon.com (or other online retailer) to save a few bucks on the purchase price and save a few hundred more on sales tax.

Yes, but many of their small electronic items, such as cameras, are on secured displays. The "no touch" approach may work for warehouse stores, where customers have been conditioned to not expect to see a product before they buy it, so they have probably done their comparison shopping somewhere else. Even Apple can do well in these environments with products that have been effectively pre-sold to consumers, such as iPods. But I think experience tells us that the Mac has still to be sold in a more active retail environment, because the default purchase in the minds of most consumers is still Windows.

Wal-Mart, at least as they do things now, is kind of worst case scenario for Apple. Any time I've been in a Wal-Mart store, their computer offerings consisted almost entirely of the lowest of low-end Windows machines, often sold in bundle boxes.

No different than Best Buy. Most of their offerings are the low-end for the low price.

No, actually, I think it is different from Best Buy. From what I've seen, Walmart's computer offerings definitely skew much cheaper than Best Buy, which actually has a pretty fair range.

Not a lot of premium stuff, mind you, but not nothing but the cheapest to be had.

I also notice though that many of those cameras either don't work, or aren't there. The display is empty.

I've always thought that a poorly maintained display item is worse than no item at all.

How often have you seen, say, a music player kiosk or table that ostensibly gives you a broad range of product to sample, only to discover that fully half of the items on display are missing (leaving behind that sad little tether), malfunctioning or just dead? Not to mention that such displays are typically kind of ratty looking in general, having been throughly worked over by the lovely and tender buying public, who, judging from appearances, evaluate electronic items by chewing on them to see if they taste good.

Certainly doesn't put me in the mood to whip out my wallet.

I wouldn't say that Best Buy is a great or even good retail environment for Apple either. I don't know how it's great for anyone, really.

I agree. I see this all the time. What happens, from what I've been told, is that people try to break off the products. Sometimes an alarm goes off. but by then it might be broken, so they remove it. Or they just break from handling. I've seen people pull a camera up, but the spring force on the cord was too strong, and it popped out of their hands, and smacked into the display, hitting the camera next to it.

Not good!

It must be good for someone since they are the nations biggest electronic retailer. Apple is supposedly very happy with sales at BB.

The Apple area set up in the Best Buy in Valencia CA is very nice. Now I can get more Apple products/accessories in a 5 minute drive instead of a 30 minute drive. All iMacs/MacBooks were fully operational, the demo is easy to quit to test drive the computer, and all of them are on the internet. They even mark down the customer return items too. Would I buy a Mac from them? No, I would stick with Amazon.com for the extra savings (no tax). Accessories and other lower cost items? You bet! It looks like a very tiny Apple Store.

I'm sure it must be. Personally, the stores give me the creeps. The last time I was in one, at least the Macs were plugged in and working. That's a lot better treatment than they've had at so many other mass market retailers we could mention.

One thing to keep in mind about consumer electronics retailers -- the casualty rate is extremely high. Best Buy may be on the top of the heap now, but then probably so was Circuit City at one time. So were Silo, Federated, CompUSA, and whole bunch of others which are now history.

Seems the discussion is going away from Macs for the moment, so I'll just add that Best Buy employees tend to have a clue regarding the products they sell. Also, since they deal with mostly expensive electronics, they realize the importance of theft, vandalism, the errant child messing with the shiny things. In summary, they do a better job with their displays than Wal-mart.

Regarding 'lower-end electronics' being sold at Wal-mart: I think there is truth to it. Wal-mart has the sheer size to demand manufacturers sell an item at a set price. All the manufacturer can do is cut corners to make the price while also making a profit. Cheaper plastics, cheaper components, etc. Hell, I'd imagine entire product lines are developed specifically for Wal-mart distributiion. I doubt the same televisions sold in Wal-mart are being sold in Hi-Fi Buys. When people inquire about buying an HP/Sony/Vizio/etc. at Wal-mart, I just say 'you'll get what you pay for.'

Here's a fun game to play: when you go into a Best Buy, take just a few minutes to walk the boom box, TV and home stereo aisles, and just turn everything down.

One person in about 5 minutes can radically alter the "environment" of a Best Buy, which from my experience is largely a function of having many, many sound producing items turned up to 11.

Honestly, I've cut the ambient cacophony by 75% or more, and while the noise level will of course start to creep back up over time, I've found that I can create a much more relaxing store for whatever time it takes me to do whatever it is I need to do.

Of course, sometimes there's another kind of shopper (or staff person!) who will register the relative quiet as "wrong", and start to go around turning things up, because, sadly, a lot of people now regard a booming, thudding, squealing roar as normal, comfortable background noise and get anxious if you take it away.

Such people are monsters, and should be killed with fire.

You do that too? Nice to know I'm not the only one. Though I do sometimes feel like a borderline criminal when I do this, since the salespeople tend to be lurking around and almost always turn the volume right back up, and you usually get a dirty look if they catch you. The cacophony is mandatory!

I don't know if it still works, but I used to carry a TV silencer on my keychain. It sends all of the "off" codes used by TV remotes. Worked great in electronic stores, airports, restaurants.

No no no, thank you.

I have worked at standard union rate of $200.00 an hour, making $10,000 grand a week, then managed a coffee shop at $15.00 an hour, I have also worked with very famous ent. clients and due to note doing "coke" with them, had them become nervous and not trust me, a moral call, and then lose work, I have had my roommate a band member of Poison and going to one of their multimillion dollar homes, I have seen things come full circle, seen the seedy side of the business which I think has jaded me. Now I am a humble person who from time to time, may bash windows then mac, but never a persons status on where they are in life.

Know one grows up saying, I want to be poor and work at Walmart or similar. I could set up some girls and do a porn site and make a lot of money and be good at it, but that;s not me, it goes against my moral compass, so I deal with the cards I have been dealt with hopes of success being a nice guy, (harder than being the bad guy, as I have been that a little, but got on the right road before it was too late) and hope that it all works out.

Your message was very inspiring, especially for those that have seen both the richness and poor of their life and when I think about the post of taking 80% of Apple shoppers and putting them in Walmart, I can't help but snicker as you are right, everyone likes to feel rich and walking into an Apple store with some girl on your side, makes some feel that way, when I was a kid, I was renting SUITES in Hotels at $300 an night, that was in the late 80's, can't imagine the prices now, but I was a self absorbed punk.

I then married the right women, and because of her, am on a road that puts others first.

Again, thanks for the inspiration. ..

Oh dear God I would pay dearly for such a device. Do you have a link?

On a side note, I've done a fair amount of what I guess you would call "conceptual public art", and I once did a piece with some students wherein we burned a bunch of CDs and DVDs with individual sounds of the natural world-- you know, one CD with a particular bird song, one with another, a DVD with the sound of running water, or another with crickets, etc.

The DVDs had images of clouds, forest, etc.

About a dozen people showed up and started casually putting the DVDs and CDs into various players, at the same time turing down anything we couldn't control, like the demo HD feeds.

It happened very gradually, so that nobody really noticed for while, but the usual trapped inside a video game vibe steadily gave way to a fair approximation of a summer's day in the wilderness-- and in that the sound was coming from a lot of discrete point sources, it was actually very immersive.

At some threshold point you could see the dawning awareness amongst shoppers and staffers alike that something had been seriously hacked, there was kind of a shared moment of happy glee, and then staff people started industriously dealing with it.

Hack your local Best Buy! It's fun!

Sure do -- it's the TV-B-Gone. I see they're up to generation 3. I've probably got the original device, so chances are it doesn't work so well anymore.

I'm impressed by your guerilla art. Done this more than once?

Thanks!


Yeah. I do kind of a lot of it, although not so much lately. I had a long running piece at the local Ikea that involved replacing the descriptive tags on the top floor show room with perfect replicas (and I mean perfect, lot of Illustrator time and light tables involved) that only varied with a line or two, or sometimes just a word. Also some modified versions of the larger hanging signs, the little fabric samples, etc.

This was at an Ikea that sits pretty much on top of a destroyed Ohlone Indian midden, where Temescal Creek hits the SF bay, so the underlying idea was that a certain strangeness was sort of "haunting" the store, coming up from the buried water below. The original notion came from noticing how the jam-packed first floor warehouse level seemed like a weird echo of that long vanished midden, and because because one of the Ikea lines is called "Lack", which I found funny and a little poignant.

Since I only changed little bits and pieces, and because the replicas still functioned as originally intended, they usually didn't get noticed by the staff, much. But if you shopped at that Ikea and looked a lot of tags, you might have gotten the odd feeling that the store itself was having a bit of an existential crisis and muttering darkly to itself about the limits of consumption as an antidote for despair.

After a while I started tossing in invented objects "for sale" that played into the narrative idea I had (big knotted things, translucent scrims, just basic useless shapes that spoke to blocking and frustration) but those got spotted after a while and once they had they didn't last long when introduced.

I once did an entirely invented large informational sign (as opposed to strategic editing) and it was like I had put a feral animal in there. The staff immediately noticed, took it down, cleared the furniture away from the area, and just generally seemed to be completely weirded out, which was interesting.

Great stuff. A friend of mine sometimes goes into thrift stores and inscribes the used books. Such as, "To my good friend Ronald Reagan, best wishes, Gore Vidal." That certainly has to mess with people's realities and expectations (always a sound motivation for art), and probably moves a few extra books at the local Goodwill besides.

FYI, this is the "large informational sign" that caused such a stir: