My trip to the Palo Alto store (or, my impressions of Apple products up close)
So, I went to the Palo Alto Apple Store today, to check some things out.
First off, the eMac is ass. Absolute ass. It really is an ugly mosnstrosity. The huge drive door and big silver speakers and the untextured body and silver Apple logo make it really gaudy in person. I used to think if I were in a desktop mood, I get the eMac over the iMac, but now I'm not sure I'd get either. Any statements I've made to the desirability of the eMac I retract.
The iMac is still pretty, but I'd never pay the premium for the LCD without having the choice of which LCD to buy.
The 14" iBook is also ass. It just looks weird next to the 12-incher. The wasted space and bulkiness completely cancels out the minimalist aesthetic of the small iBook. Ick. Not that I was ever considering a 14-incher but it is DEFINITELY out.
THe TiBook - Gorgeous. But it really is wide. A little too wide. It's very light though, so only its bulkiness is bothersome, not it's weight.
The 12" iBook. It's nice. My only quibble is the GIANTNESS of the button on the touch pad. It looks weird. Also, there is a snappiness issue. I messed around with Appleworks and MS Word, and I thought it didn't respond quite like I've become accustomed to. The lags were noticible, but I don't think they quite made it to annoying. I should have asked how much RAM was in the demo unit.
I don't have much to say about the Powermac. Perfectly good looking for a minitower. The studio displays are awesome. I'd gladly buy one, if I needed an LCD (too bad about that damn ADC).
Finally, the iPod. It really is a slick little machine. I'm gonna definitely pick one of them up, and soon. If I have to use XPlay, I will. The iPod is so obviously well-designed it's frightening to think about how poorly most gadgets are designed.
ting5
First off, the eMac is ass. Absolute ass. It really is an ugly mosnstrosity. The huge drive door and big silver speakers and the untextured body and silver Apple logo make it really gaudy in person. I used to think if I were in a desktop mood, I get the eMac over the iMac, but now I'm not sure I'd get either. Any statements I've made to the desirability of the eMac I retract.
The iMac is still pretty, but I'd never pay the premium for the LCD without having the choice of which LCD to buy.
The 14" iBook is also ass. It just looks weird next to the 12-incher. The wasted space and bulkiness completely cancels out the minimalist aesthetic of the small iBook. Ick. Not that I was ever considering a 14-incher but it is DEFINITELY out.
THe TiBook - Gorgeous. But it really is wide. A little too wide. It's very light though, so only its bulkiness is bothersome, not it's weight.
The 12" iBook. It's nice. My only quibble is the GIANTNESS of the button on the touch pad. It looks weird. Also, there is a snappiness issue. I messed around with Appleworks and MS Word, and I thought it didn't respond quite like I've become accustomed to. The lags were noticible, but I don't think they quite made it to annoying. I should have asked how much RAM was in the demo unit.
I don't have much to say about the Powermac. Perfectly good looking for a minitower. The studio displays are awesome. I'd gladly buy one, if I needed an LCD (too bad about that damn ADC).
Finally, the iPod. It really is a slick little machine. I'm gonna definitely pick one of them up, and soon. If I have to use XPlay, I will. The iPod is so obviously well-designed it's frightening to think about how poorly most gadgets are designed.
ting5
Comments
gotta hit the cambridge store in Palo Alto this week. need cheap speakers
ting5
Or, maybe he's there now.
What is it like? Is it cool. Is it a good University?
Only 1.8 miles from an Apple Store.
How far is it from San Francisco? Are there good places to party at San Francisco?
Is the Stanford campus nice? Do they have macs? Is the workload too much?
Sorry for all the questions, I may go to study there after all.
[ 07-02-2002: Message edited by: soulcrusher ]</p>
<strong>Did someone just say Stanford?
What is it like? Is it cool. Is it a good University?
Only 1.8 miles from an Apple Store.
How far is it from San Francisco? Are there good places to party at San Francisco?
Is the Stanford campus nice? Do they have macs? Is the workload too much?
Sorry for all the questions, I may go to study there after all.
[ 07-02-2002: Message edited by: soulcrusher ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
its a beautiful campus. one of the best universities in the world...
i might try fer medical school there if the vet thing falls through (funny how med school is my backup...).
<strong>stanford university is "part" of palo alto. i used to live there--its damn close. is the store in that ol outside mall?? damn, i loved that place...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Outside mall? It's across the street from Borders bookstore, which used to be a theater. If I remember correctly, a music store used to be in the Apple store location. It's on the corner where there's a stoplight in the middle of a block.
<strong>stanford university is "part" of palo alto. i used to live there--its damn close. is the store in that ol outside mall?? damn, i loved that place...</strong><hr></blockquote>
You mean the Town and Country Mall? I used to go there all the time because Gartner's Pro Bike Shop rocked. That's on Embarcadero. The Apple Store is on University Avenue about a quarter mile down from the El Camino Real intersection...
EDIT: Or did you mean the chic Stanford Shopping Center? (Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, etc.)
[ 07-03-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
I was in the Cinicinnati store... <hr></blockquote>
Really? I live about 2 hours max from there and I'm planning on going up there soon.
<strong>Did someone just say Stanford?
What is it like? Is it cool. Is it a good University?
Only 1.8 miles from an Apple Store.
How far is it from San Francisco? Are there good places to party at San Francisco?
Is the Stanford campus nice? Do they have macs? Is the workload too much?
Sorry for all the questions, I may go to study there after all.
[ 07-02-2002: Message edited by: soulcrusher ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
1.) it is amazing
2.) very cool
3.) one of the best
4.) yes, 1.8 miles away. at least from my dorm room
5.) about 50 minute train ride on the Caltrain for 4 bucks each way. 30 minutes by car I believe
6.) of course but it isn't as good as some other places
7.) Stanford Campus is gorgeous.
8.) the place is full of macs. they reccomend macs to all incoming students and pretty much all the computers in the libraries, clusters and even in the offices are iMacs.
9.) I'm only here for the summer (hopefully longer in the future) but the workload is tough now but it is easily bearable. still plenty of time for doing crazy college antics
<strong>So, I went to the Palo Alto Apple Store today, to check some things out.
First off, the eMac is ass. Absolute ass. It really is an ugly mosnstrosity. The huge drive door and big silver speakers and the untextured body and silver Apple logo make it really gaudy in person. I used to think if I were in a desktop mood, I get the eMac over the iMac, but now I'm not sure I'd get either. Any statements I've made to the desirability of the eMac I retract.
The iMac is still pretty, but I'd never pay the premium for the LCD without having the choice of which LCD to buy.
The 14" iBook is also ass. It just looks weird next to the 12-incher. The wasted space and bulkiness completely cancels out the minimalist aesthetic of the small iBook. Ick. Not that I was ever considering a 14-incher but it is DEFINITELY out.
THe TiBook - Gorgeous. But it really is wide. A little too wide. It's very light though, so only its bulkiness is bothersome, not it's weight.
The 12" iBook. It's nice. My only quibble is the GIANTNESS of the button on the touch pad. It looks weird. Also, there is a snappiness issue. I messed around with Appleworks and MS Word, and I thought it didn't respond quite like I've become accustomed to. The lags were noticible, but I don't think they quite made it to annoying. I should have asked how much RAM was in the demo unit.
I don't have much to say about the Powermac. Perfectly good looking for a minitower. The studio displays are awesome. I'd gladly buy one, if I needed an LCD (too bad about that damn ADC).
Finally, the iPod. It really is a slick little machine. I'm gonna definitely pick one of them up, and soon. If I have to use XPlay, I will. The iPod is so obviously well-designed it's frightening to think about how poorly most gadgets are designed.
ting5</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have to agree. That was my same impression on seeing the emac. Its like Apple's legendary industrial designers are on strike. The silver apple is too large and cheap. The proportions are clumsy. I also noticed that the screen looked terrible. To make it work with the taller CRT, they disorted the image relationship of elements like icons. It's like everything is streched taller. It doesn't look like a Mac screen.
I'm shorting Apple stock.