I think Angela has been a great asset to the Apple team, specifically in Retail. There was a LOT of naysayers when she first came onboard, and I think she's proven them all wrong. I have to think it's no easy task taking something as successful as an Apple Retail Store and keeping it successful, especially when the bulk of retail is faltering badly. At least Apple is trying new, fresh ideas in retail. They're keeping the appearance of the stores current and not just keeping the original look. This I think is what gets a lot of retail in trouble and then when they realize it, it's too late and they don't have the capital to redo all of their stores.
Apple Stores are still a huge hit no matter how to put it. They're always full of people and they sell tons of product there. You can't say someone isn't doing a very good job with these kinds of results. Maybe you don't like the way things are going, but that doesn't mean she's not going a good job.
Stores today are so much different than they were when Apple Stores first came out. Apple is so much bigger today than it was back in 2001.
Well said, Mac. I agree. I think she's done a tremendous job. The stores look better and better each year. I know it's a relatively small thing, but I like the inclusion of the trees and plants inside the stores. (I know not in all stores). I think she brings a certain style and elegance to the brand.
Best.
I think not being a techie is an advantage. She thinks people, not gadgets – that is why the retail chain is a success.
Agreed, Rayz. I think we're looking at the next Apple CEO.
I certainly would have no objection to her becoming CEO. The only thing is that she's a bit older than Tim Cook, so I would imagine they'd both be thinking about retiring at about the same time.
Still, if Tim Cook is forced to step down (hopefully not), because of health reasons or something, then I think she's the idea choice to take over.
Her name though: why can't I remember how to spell it without looking it up every time, or waiting for the operating system to fill it in?
I don’t get why people need a lanyard to know who is an employee. Employees are wearing blue shirts with the white Apple logo. Not difficult to find. And at the front of the store most of them are holding an iPad and greet you when you walk in.
It's not just so customers know who's an employee. Anyone can get a plain blue t-shirt made with an Apple logo, and given the retail staff's flexible work patterns you may not know everyone who starts and finishes at the store (especially over the holiday period) between the team meetings. The lanyard is a simple security measure. Some retails chains have them, some don't, but mostly those that don't have any kind of uniform.
As you say, if I do need help, I'll just look for the chap at the front with with FBI earpiece and the iPad. If I don't, then I'll just say 'no, thanks, I'm good' and scoot straight past him.
I don't agree with what she has done to the Apple Stores and I don't agree with what Tim Cook has done to Apple. Both are on the same page focusing on investors, image and PR and should be in different positions. Both are non-techies but are good for the investors.
And the really interesting thing is that you and @StayPuftZombie, with all your venom against Apple’s present leadership team, have absolutely no place to go. There is NO alternative to Apple for you based on your own pontifications about how a tech company should be run. Where will you go? What will you buy? A Dell running Windows? I think not. No, you’ll bitch and complain and then stick to Apple products like you always have.
This is what I find absolutely fascinating about these folk: rather than adapting or moving on, they stay and use the most bizarre arguments to try to convince themselves that Apple is wrong and they'll see the light if they scream loudly enough. Here's a prime example: Cook and Ahrendts are only good for keeping investors happy.
Why are investors happy? Because Apple is selling stuff hand over fist. Why is Apple selling stuff hand over fist? Because they have customers. So if Cook and Ahrendts are only good for investors, then where are all these damned argument-busting customers coming from?
In order to survive, Apple constantly looks at how its core customers are changing. It works, but it means that if you're not a person who can progress with the times, then you'll eventually fall out of Apple's evolving customer base.
I've been doing development work for twenty years, give or take, and the reason I'm still doing it is because I can adapt to changes in the marketplace.
When she was first hired, I found her kind of inarticulate in interviews, and her poor grammar seemed like a bad sign. Nobody’s perfect, of course, and the guy she replaced was completely clueless, but it made me nervous.
I don’t get why people need a lanyard to know who is an employee. Employees are wearing blue shirts with the white Apple logo. Not difficult to find. And at the front of the store most of them are holding an iPad and greet you when you walk in.
Right. And long before Angela there were “point people” at the front of the store and for the Genius Bar. How many years has it been where one would have to check in with the point person and then wait for their technician? It’s been this way for a long time and I don’t know how else it would work.
Are we expecting to just walk in at random and expect every available person should be able to offer the help we need? If so, where else does that happen? I don’t go to a car dealership and expect the salespeople to perform the maintenance. I don’t go to the perfume counter at Saks when I’m trying to find a new blouse for my wife.
Comparing an Apple Store experience to a DMV experience just comes across like not having spent time in either.
My my last time at the Genius Bar was in February. I was on vacation and accidentally took my iPhone into the pool. I made a walk-in appointment at the closest Apple Store. They told me the wait would be 45 minutes. 20 minutes later I was working with “my” technician and left the store with a replacement phone in under the 45 minutes I was initially told. I’m not sure how that qualifies as bad.
The concierge system works very well, especially for the few weeks following a product launch.
Before Ahrendts came on board, I remember seeing shops that were full, but still had groups of retail staff milling around chatting in small groups that you had to break up to get help. That doesn't happen anymore.
Posting this because I think it might be relevant to understanding how Ahrendts thinks. (If anyone thinks that Apple is going to return to licensing, I suspect not).
We also began to shift our marketing efforts from targeting everyone, everywhere, to focusing on the luxury customers of the future: millennials. We believed that these customers were being ignored by our competitors. This was our white space.
Is this relevant to what she's doing at Apple today? Quite possibly, though I only posted it because I like watching the stuck-in-their-ways brigade lose their sh*t.
I think the results of the Apple Store speak for themselves. The most profitable store-feet in the entire industry, millions of visitors, extremely high customer satisfaction. TrollPuftZombie has issues with reality, not Ahrendts.
I agree with the comment about her non-techniness being an asset, because it means you focus on people. Her smartest move was that she didn't try and put her ego all over the place; she looked at what was working and left it alone, and made changes to make the place more of a gathering place with low sales pressure, which customers really respond to. Sure, you definitely get greeted when you go into one, but I've always found friendly employees with candid advice and the freedom (where available) to just hang out in the lounge area or play with the machines by myself when I wanted.
So far I've really liked the changes, including the improved shelving, the massive video display, the carefully-but-subtly organised sections of the store, the easier check-out, the always-willing-to-answer-a-question attitude, the increased "green" reminders -- and in stores that have them, the lounge areas and auditoriums where you can just chill if you like. I've visited stores in many, many US and Canadian cities over the years, and my main complaint is that you never see a sale price at an Apple Store, even on third-party stuff. The bargain-hunter in me doesn't like that, but that's what B&H is for, people.
Wow, another Skully era post. Since sales went up with Skully at the helm, clearly all his decisions that lead to a horrible version of apple that almost went bankrupt until Steve came back, well they were great. Because sales mean it's all right. It's all right that the Mac Pro hasnt been updated in 5 years. Sales are up. It's all right that the mac mini hasnt been upgraded. Sales are up. Hey, when they didnt listen and kept screens small, sales were really good, so all that was all right.
And you know, people experiencing (at least in NYC) that the apple stores are the new DMV, no need to listen to that. Sales are up. Skully was totally right after all. Thanks Chasm for clarifying the that historically relevant metric.
Okay, so I was right. Read the commenting guidelines, and do it now. You're getting a lot closer to that line. Disagreement, even spirited, is fine. But, if you're planning on escalating and are going to be an ass, you're out.
Anyway, you might want to re-read the history of Apple's decline, and what led to it, in the '90s. It isn't as cut and dried as you think, and there's no one villain to point to. Sculley wasn't really the issue and made a few decisions in a changing market that led to the some problems, yes.
Spindler and Amelio were the *really* bad decision makers, and were reactionary to the market instead of predictive. The entire industry is way, way different now than it even was in 2010. Apple, since Jobs' return and now with Cook is not just skating to where the puck is going, they make the shot in the first place -- so your comparison and expectation of imminent doom is a little strange.
Other than you deeming me to be an ass, i dont see how I'm "escalating" other than disagreeing with someone. Someone you had NO ISSUE with Chasm calling me to be a troll. Or that Clair called me and others morons. Clearly they were engaging in substantive debate with their posts, all within the guidelines, natch. I'm sure you'll pay equal attention to them and give them stern talking too's too, right? It's like wacko scene out of "anger management" where youre just making conclusions for the outcome you want.
Puhleeze spare me your patronizing. I know my history and what lead to what, and there is a fair chance I will have forgotten more about it than you will know in this lifetime.
Noting that Spindler and Amelio were stewards towards the crash diminishes the rotten trajectory Skully sent apple on. Steve's own words on it: "what can I say, I hired the wrong guy... He destroyed everything Id spent 10 years working for." See at the 3:44 marker
I understand you’ve probably been an Apple fan/user for 20+ years like myself. Had a color classic, Newton then left Apple until the new iMac and then Ti Book PowerBook & have been back since.
That being said- yes cordial and polite dissent had a place and as Mike alluded too, challenging of ideas shows either their strength or that they need refinement. Doing so in a hostile way with what reads as a visceral vitriol tone may work in very limited settings and paradigms.
To attempt to engage in dialoguee, let’s concede the new check in system, referral to a waiting area (where you can sit, relax, Back up, up date, etc) is flawed. The iOS specialists have to service two customers just to keep up and the waiting area checkin has been show to recitfy a fair % of issues. Have your updated, backed up (in case we need to replace), restored, etc? If nothing else it was shown to reduce the later appoint by 1/2.
Think of it like front line triage or a nurse. Geniuses are relegated to Macs now, but the iOS tech specialists have to handle two customers at once and that’s with what is weeded out by the triage type system. So what do you propose is a better solution in a small busy store with limited resources? With a BILLION active devices needing potential support, the traditional genius bars we fondly remember would need to occupy an entire store.
Eagerly awaiting your reply- and remember as a wise man once said easier to tear down and criticize than to construct and counsel.
The only complaint I have about the Apple Store is the noise level. Every single one I've been in is very loud like a nightclub. This may be seen as a positive "high energy" thing by some folks, and it certainly helps to keep people moving towards wrapping up transactions quickly, but for some people it is simply distracting. On the other hand, it's also mildly entertaining because when you're waiting on a genius (an over embellishment if you ask me) you get to hear everyone else's sob stories about how their dog ate their iPhone, why they'll never buy another Apple product after the authorized repair broke their unauthorized repair, why all 4 of their privileged kids cracked the screen on their iPhone X phones, or the why guy on the way to the airport to fly to India can't get Apple to replace the smart keyboard on his iPad Pro. You hear it all - because you're all crammed together within easy earshot and in high noise environments people are always compelled to increase the signal level to compensate for poor signal-to-noise, not recognizing that a cacophony of signals becomes noise. Oh, and six feet away there's some old dudes getting educated on how to setup and run the new computers they just bought. It's not as bad as an overcrowded emergency room with rash talking and loose bowel conversations, but it's pretty damn close at times.
Apple should think about ways to create quieter and more intimate spaces for people who are overwhelmed by the noise and crowds that are typical of of an Apple Store. Keep the nightclub atmosphere for the main space, but perhaps have some alternatives off to the side or in the back for one on one engagement.
When she was first hired, I found her kind of inarticulate in interviews, and her poor grammar seemed like a bad sign. Nobody’s perfect, of course, and the guy she replaced was completely clueless, but it made me nervous.
Odd that you find her "kind of inarticulate".
I've heard three (maybe four) interviews with her and her vision and ideas seem pretty well articulated to me.
I don’t get why people need a lanyard to know who is an employee. Employees are wearing blue shirts with the white Apple logo. Not difficult to find. And at the front of the store most of them are holding an iPad and greet you when you walk in.
Right. And long before Angela there were “point people” at the front of the store and for the Genius Bar. How many years has it been where one would have to check in with the point person and then wait for their technician? It’s been this way for a long time and I don’t know how else it would work.
Are we expecting to just walk in at random and expect every available person should be able to offer the help we need? If so, where else does that happen? I don’t go to a car dealership and expect the salespeople to perform the maintenance. I don’t go to the perfume counter at Saks when I’m trying to find a new blouse for my wife.
Comparing an Apple Store experience to a DMV experience just comes across like not having spent time in either.
My my last time at the Genius Bar was in February. I was on vacation and accidentally took my iPhone into the pool. I made a walk-in appointment at the closest Apple Store. They told me the wait would be 45 minutes. 20 minutes later I was working with “my” technician and left the store with a replacement phone in under the 45 minutes I was initially told. I’m not sure how that qualifies as bad.
I’ve definitely had long wait times to see a support person and it’s near impossible to get walk ins but outside of building more stores what’s Apple supposed to do. The good old days people refer to Apple’s user base was so much smaller than it is now and a lot fewer products too.
When she was first hired, I found her kind of inarticulate in interviews, and her poor grammar seemed like a bad sign. Nobody’s perfect, of course, and the guy she replaced was completely clueless, but it made me nervous.
Odd that you find her "kind of inarticulate".
I've heard three (maybe four) interviews with her and her vision and ideas seem pretty well articulated to me.
Yeah I’ve never understood that line of criticism. Some might not like the direction she’s taken the stores but I think she’s articulated it well.
The only complaint I have about the Apple Store is the noise level. Every single one I've been in is very loud like a nightclub. This may be seen as a positive "high energy" thing by some folks, and it certainly helps to keep people moving towards wrapping up transactions quickly, but for some people it is simply distracting. On the other hand, it's also mildly entertaining because when you're waiting on a genius (an over embellishment if you ask me) you get to hear everyone else's sob stories about how their dog ate their iPhone, why they'll never buy another Apple product after the authorized repair broke their unauthorized repair, why all 4 of their privileged kids cracked the screen on their iPhone X phones, or the why guy on the way to the airport to fly to India can't get Apple to replace the smart keyboard on his iPad Pro. You hear it all - because you're all crammed together within easy earshot and in high noise environments people are always compelled to increase the signal level to compensate for poor signal-to-noise, not recognizing that a cacophony of signals becomes noise. Oh, and six feet away there's some old dudes getting educated on how to setup and run the new computers they just bought. It's not as bad as an overcrowded emergency room with rash talking and loose bowel conversations, but it's pretty damn close at times.
Apple should think about ways to create quieter and more intimate spaces for people who are overwhelmed by the noise and crowds that are typical of of an Apple Store. Keep the nightclub atmosphere for the main space, but perhaps have some alternatives off to the side or in the back for one on one engagement.
The squared off interiors and lack of sound baffles contributes to the noise levels in the stores. They could really stand to do some sound level analysis on their own retail environments and come up with some clever solutions.
I understand you’ve probably been an Apple fan/user for 20+ years like myself. Had a color classic, Newton then left Apple until the new iMac and then Ti Book PowerBook & have been back since.
That being said- yes cordial and polite dissent had a place and as Mike alluded too, challenging of ideas shows either their strength or that they need refinement. Doing so in a hostile way with what reads as a visceral vitriol tone may work in very limited settings and paradigms.
To attempt to engage in dialoguee, let’s concede the new check in system, referral to a waiting area (where you can sit, relax, Back up, up date, etc) is flawed. The iOS specialists have to service two customers just to keep up and the waiting area checkin has been show to recitfy a fair % of issues. Have your updated, backed up (in case we need to replace), restored, etc? If nothing else it was shown to reduce the later appoint by 1/2.
Think of it like front line triage or a nurse. Geniuses are relegated to Macs now, but the iOS tech specialists have to handle two customers at once and that’s with what is weeded out by the triage type system. So what do you propose is a better solution in a small busy store with limited resources? With a BILLION active devices needing potential support, the traditional genius bars we fondly remember would need to occupy an entire store.
Eagerly awaiting your reply- and remember as a wise man once said easier to tear down and criticize than to construct and counsel.
First, I love that youre cautioning me about my tone yet not cautioning Chasm for calling me a troll, or Clair for calling me a moron. Apparently you only pay attention to some alluded to yet not pointed out tone on my part, yet completely ignore the hyperbole. So you already are evincing bias against what I say, to put it mildly. Next, that I have to somehow prove something to you or anyone else despite my actually providing support for my points by way of articles, first hand experience in over half a dozen apple stores I visit semi regularly, and out right video, tells me it doesn't matter what I proffer, folks here want to live in denial as stewardesses on the 'anger management' plane.
Ok, so you concede the obvious, human pinball is worse than the genius bar logistically. It's also worse in branding. The genius bar was a signature feature from Jobs. It had cache, they threw it out, which isn't necessarily bad, but they threw it out for the DMV human pinball system.
That the stores need to deal with more people is a fair point, that I think youre getting at. But that doesnt mean the current solution is a good one. Other solutions are, bigger genius bar. Triage at/to the genius bar with waiting desks adjacent to the genius bar. There are many other solutions that are not the logistical chaos system angela adopted. The genius bar occupying the entire store is obviously a false narrative. If the number of people are that many, well then, the current system apparently is using the entire store. Or, it in fact does NOT require the full store, and other solutions, like the one I noted off the cuff, would be better.
Anyway, since you conceded on that the system is subpar, we can move on to that she has added trees, removed lanyards making it more difficult to spot employees. Those talking about how 'young' they are and how well they can spot employees, first, if we are saying the mix of people is so broad now, who cares, and secondly, in places with real volume, like NY, NJ, there are so many people with colorful tshirts, that you are going to get some false positives in your search. The lanyards were an easy identifier that has made logistics worse.
The plants are meh, I like plants, but im not sure you get a hundred million for that. The 'town hall' stuff was in place for a long time, she just gave the training sessions a new name, and then axed the "store" from the store names, which is not good trademark building, as she axed an iconic name. But the reality is no one paid attention to here genius 'unbranding' of the 'store' and everyone still calls it the apple store.
So, she has really accomplished a sum total of negative add. I say that despite liking her on a more personable level and thinking she was very good at her former job.
Delving back a bit, the ACSI index on Apple's customer satisfaction at retail has varied between 88 and 82 (the low, in 2010) since the Tyson's store opened.
There will be good experiences, and there will be bad. The stores are indeed getting more crowded and smaller stores like Pentagon City before the remodel are being replaced with much larger stores.
Holyoke Mall (I remember when it was being built, and worked at EB when I was a teen) as cited in the PED report is always busy, as are my locals, all of the time. There is, however, no evidence at all to suggest that the experience is slipping for the average consumer.
Mike, I disagree with your premise that revenue and traffic prove Apple Stores are successful. I suspect that their success rides on the products they are providing rather than their own inherent excellence. That is: if you replaced the iOS devices and Mac devices with Androids and Windows machines, the stores would flop.
My own feelings and experience with them is: 1) They are excellent at the marketing game. From that perspective they are excellent.
2) From the service aspect they are mediocre. When I go to my Apple store and ask a question, every person I speak with provides a different answer -- and often they are totally contradictory. I have come to use them increasingly for buying things and use Apple's online support for questions and problems whenever possible. Basically, while they have a lot of very sharp people there, they are not well trained (except in explicit Apple procedures).
For me, the stores are good. But not Apple Level Quality. I look forward to Ahrendts moving on and being replaced with a more technically oriented manager.
I don't agree with what she has done to the Apple Stores and I don't agree with what Tim Cook has done to Apple. Both are on the same page focusing on investors, image and PR and should be in different positions. Both are non-techies but are good for the investors.
And the really interesting thing is that you and @StayPuftZombie, with all your venom against Apple’s present leadership team, have absolutely no place to go. There is NO alternative to Apple for you based on your own pontifications about how a tech company should be run. Where will you go? What will you buy? A Dell running Windows? I think not. No, you’ll bitch and complain and then stick to Apple products like you always have.
That is crushingly accurate. The 2nd choices are just craptacular. While Surface hardware has gotten really good/interesting (the surfacebook), the software is still a pain-smoothie.
But to recount a little history, when things got bad enough on the Mac back in the late 80s early 90s, I was forced and did go to NeXT (which was not only a god send and step up, I still miss parts of it as still being better than OSX in many ways to this day) and NT (god helped me).
Today, I'd probably realistically amble along with a hackintosh for a few years (assuming they mess up the new mac pro and make it an unupgradable blight like the iMac Pro and macbook pros) to figure out what to do. Maybe some linux variant. Some that mimic NeXTstep like GNUSTEP (and can even run some mac apps) and some that mimic the mac. But to your point, 2nd place is far away.
That said, just because the alternatives are garbage doesnt mean you laud apple for their bad decisions and moves. Precisely because I want them to do well. And again, the 90s were evidence that when things do get bad enough, people, even long time fans, did abandon apple.
They are only garbage in your personal opinion, not everyone’s, not even most, not even many. I got over my own anger at what Apple does or doesn’t do over twenty years ago. I was an Apple II guy that stuck to the II even after the Macintosh debuted. I went so far as to buy an Apple IIGS instead of a Mac in my stubborn loyalty to the II line. When Jobs finally killed the Apple II I was livid. Of course I eventually switched to the Mac. Next came the PowerPC to Intel migration. I had bought into the CISC/RISC narrative that less megahertz didn’t mean less performance. I was so pissed off that many of my posts in the Apple forums got deleted. I had bought a water cooled Power Mac G5 before that happened. I have long since come to the conclusion that it’s not worth the anger and stress, the negativity, the nonsense of hoping against hope that the old, failed Apple will return. And so should you. The upgradeable desktop era is coming to a close in my own opinion. Apple’s success is now tied to mobile and that’s that.
She looks like she could almost be Tim Cook's sister to me.
I think on her very first project, which was marketing the Apple Watch, she messed up trying to selling it exclusively in fashion magazines etc. I know computer nerds aren't cool but we are early adopters and Apple should be glad to have a cadre of early adopters in their customer base not embarrased. But since then she's done a good job.
One thing I have liked recently is the switch using humerous ads. The old ad style was getting a bit stale, not due to anything Apple did, but just because so many other companies copy it now. But by adding humor they have freshened things up a bit.
They are only garbage in your personal opinion, not everyone’s, not even most, not even many. I got over my own anger at what Apple does or doesn’t do over twenty years ago. I was an Apple II guy that stuck to the II even after the Macintosh debuted. I went so far as to buy an Apple IIGS instead of a Mac in my stubborn loyalty to the II line. When Jobs finally killed the Apple II I was livid. Of course I eventually switched to the Mac. Next came the PowerPC to Intel migration. I had bought into the CISC/RISC narrative that less megahertz didn’t mean less performance. I was so pissed off that many of my posts in the Apple forums got deleted. I had bought a water cooled Power Mac G5 before that happened. I have long since come to the conclusion that it’s not worth the anger and stress, the negativity, the nonsense of hoping against hope that the old, failed Apple will return. And so should you. The upgradeable desktop era is coming to a close in my own opinion. Apple’s success is now tied to mobile and that’s that.
Um yes and no. Obviously in my opinion, thanks for observing the obvious. Also thanks for noting that many or the majority of users use other operating systems. Of course you just assert and assume that most like it, that's your opinion. Further, there are objective problems with each of those operating systems. Linux, library dependancies, drivers still not great, UIs are rough and many apps do not support them (partly because of fracturing). Windows 10 has UI issues, there are still remnants/icons from the Windows 3 days in there. Still DL/virus issues.
As for you being so advanced that you're 'got over' it, congrats. And congrats on your long history. I dont care about it. Thats not the topic. The topic is Angela and if shes doing good or not.
She looks like she could almost be Tim Cook's sister to me.
I think on her very first project, which was marketing the Apple Watch, she messed up trying to selling it exclusively in fashion magazines etc. I know computer nerds aren't cool but we are early adopters and Apple should be glad to have a cadre of early adopters in their customer base not embarrased
She sold it the idea to fashion magazines and got it seen and worn by the kind of people who don't usually endorse technology. This had the effect of making the watch appealing to well-off ordinary people, rather than dooming it to a relatively small number of geeks.
So what you're basically saying is she messed up because you're not her target audience.
Sorry, she was aiming for the mainstream. No one in the real world cares what programmers think.
She looks like she could almost be Tim Cook's sister to me.
I think on her very first project, which was marketing the Apple Watch, she messed up trying to selling it exclusively in fashion magazines etc. I know computer nerds aren't cool but we are early adopters and Apple should be glad to have a cadre of early adopters in their customer base not embarrased
She sold it the idea to fashion magazines and got it seen and worn by the kind of people who don't usually endorse technology. This had the effect of making the watch appealing to well-off ordinary people, rather than dooming it to a relatively small number of geeks.
So what you're basically saying is she messed up because you're not her target audience.
Sorry, she was aiming for the mainstream. No one in the real world cares what programmers think.
I think she first tried to make it socially acceptable by denying that it was a technology product and trying to make it look like a fashion product. That didn't work so they switched to making it look like a fitness product which did work. So I stand by my claim that her first idea failed, but equally I stand by my claim that she has done a good job since then.
She looks like she could almost be Tim Cook's sister to me.
I think on her very first project, which was marketing the Apple Watch, she messed up trying to selling it exclusively in fashion magazines etc. I know computer nerds aren't cool but we are early adopters and Apple should be glad to have a cadre of early adopters in their customer base not embarrased
She sold it the idea to fashion magazines and got it seen and worn by the kind of people who don't usually endorse technology. This had the effect of making the watch appealing to well-off ordinary people, rather than dooming it to a relatively small number of geeks.
So what you're basically saying is she messed up because you're not her target audience.
Sorry, she was aiming for the mainstream. No one in the real world cares what programmers think.
That's all true.
But its also icing on the cake rather than the cake itself.
Apple's success is not based on flash and glitter and neither will its future be bright if it tries to rely on that.
Apple is rooted in producing quality stuff -- hardware, software and services -- and then selling the concept, the belief and the feeling of how they make you life better. But the foundation is quality in everything it does. Without that, Apple is just another flashy pan.
Everything Ahrendts does is built on that foundation. In the end, she's just another salesman. A good salesman can get anybody to buy almost anything -- one time.
Comments
I certainly would have no objection to her becoming CEO. The only thing is that she's a bit older than Tim Cook, so I would imagine they'd both be thinking about retiring at about the same time.
Still, if Tim Cook is forced to step down (hopefully not), because of health reasons or something, then I think she's the idea choice to take over.
Her name though: why can't I remember how to spell it without looking it up every time, or waiting for the operating system to fill it in?
It's not just so customers know who's an employee. Anyone can get a plain blue t-shirt made with an Apple logo, and given the retail staff's flexible work patterns you may not know everyone who starts and finishes at the store (especially over the holiday period) between the team meetings. The lanyard is a simple security measure. Some retails chains have them, some don't, but mostly those that don't have any kind of uniform.
As you say, if I do need help, I'll just look for the chap at the front with with FBI earpiece and the iPad. If I don't, then I'll just say 'no, thanks, I'm good' and scoot straight past him.
This is what I find absolutely fascinating about these folk: rather than adapting or moving on, they stay and use the most bizarre arguments to try to convince themselves that Apple is wrong and they'll see the light if they scream loudly enough. Here's a prime example: Cook and Ahrendts are only good for keeping investors happy.
Why are investors happy? Because Apple is selling stuff hand over fist. Why is Apple selling stuff hand over fist? Because they have customers. So if Cook and Ahrendts are only good for investors, then where are all these damned argument-busting customers coming from?
In order to survive, Apple constantly looks at how its core customers are changing. It works, but it means that if you're not a person who can progress with the times, then you'll eventually fall out of Apple's evolving customer base.
I've been doing development work for twenty years, give or take, and the reason I'm still doing it is because I can adapt to changes in the marketplace.
Odd that you find her "kind of inarticulate".
The concierge system works very well, especially for the few weeks following a product launch.
Before Ahrendts came on board, I remember seeing shops that were full, but still had groups of retail staff milling around chatting in small groups that you had to break up to get help. That doesn't happen anymore.
https://hbr.org/2013/01/burberrys-ceo-on-turning-an-aging-british-icon-into-a-global-luxury-brand
Is this relevant to what she's doing at Apple today? Quite possibly, though I only posted it because I like watching the stuck-in-their-ways brigade lose their sh*t.
That being said- yes cordial and polite dissent had a place and as Mike alluded too, challenging of ideas shows either their strength or that they need refinement. Doing so in a hostile way with what reads as a visceral vitriol tone may work in very limited settings and paradigms.
To attempt to engage in dialoguee, let’s concede the new check in system, referral to a waiting area (where you can sit, relax, Back up, up date, etc) is flawed. The iOS specialists have to service two customers just to keep up and the waiting area checkin has been show to recitfy a fair % of issues. Have your updated, backed up (in case we need to replace), restored, etc? If nothing else it was shown to reduce the later appoint by 1/2.
Think of it like front line triage or a nurse. Geniuses are relegated to Macs now, but the iOS tech specialists have to handle two customers at once and that’s with what is weeded out by the triage type system. So what do you propose is a better solution in a small busy store with limited resources? With a BILLION active devices needing potential support, the traditional genius bars we fondly remember would need to occupy an entire store.
Eagerly awaiting your reply- and remember as a wise man once said easier to tear down and criticize than to construct and counsel.
Apple should think about ways to create quieter and more intimate spaces for people who are overwhelmed by the noise and crowds that are typical of of an Apple Store. Keep the nightclub atmosphere for the main space, but perhaps have some alternatives off to the side or in the back for one on one engagement.
Ok, so you concede the obvious, human pinball is worse than the genius bar logistically. It's also worse in branding. The genius bar was a signature feature from Jobs. It had cache, they threw it out, which isn't necessarily bad, but they threw it out for the DMV human pinball system.
That the stores need to deal with more people is a fair point, that I think youre getting at. But that doesnt mean the current solution is a good one. Other solutions are, bigger genius bar. Triage at/to the genius bar with waiting desks adjacent to the genius bar. There are many other solutions that are not the logistical chaos system angela adopted. The genius bar occupying the entire store is obviously a false narrative. If the number of people are that many, well then, the current system apparently is using the entire store. Or, it in fact does NOT require the full store, and other solutions, like the one I noted off the cuff, would be better.
Anyway, since you conceded on that the system is subpar, we can move on to that she has added trees, removed lanyards making it more difficult to spot employees. Those talking about how 'young' they are and how well they can spot employees, first, if we are saying the mix of people is so broad now, who cares, and secondly, in places with real volume, like NY, NJ, there are so many people with colorful tshirts, that you are going to get some false positives in your search. The lanyards were an easy identifier that has made logistics worse.
The plants are meh, I like plants, but im not sure you get a hundred million for that. The 'town hall' stuff was in place for a long time, she just gave the training sessions a new name, and then axed the "store" from the store names, which is not good trademark building, as she axed an iconic name. But the reality is no one paid attention to here genius 'unbranding' of the 'store' and everyone still calls it the apple store.
So, she has really accomplished a sum total of negative add. I say that despite liking her on a more personable level and thinking she was very good at her former job.
1) They are excellent at the marketing game. From that perspective they are excellent.
As for you being so advanced that you're 'got over' it, congrats. And congrats on your long history. I dont care about it. Thats not the topic. The topic is Angela and if shes doing good or not.
She sold it the idea to fashion magazines and got it seen and worn by the kind of people who don't usually endorse technology. This had the effect of making the watch appealing to well-off ordinary people, rather than dooming it to a relatively small number of geeks.
So what you're basically saying is she messed up because you're not her target audience.
Sorry, she was aiming for the mainstream. No one in the real world cares what programmers think.