I really hope they manage to do it with minimal additional hardware. Likewise, I hope they end up selling their POS package. This arena is so clunky and proprietary now, a slightly more open and end-user modifiable system would be cool.
One advantage of the Windows Mobile devices in the Apple Store is that it gave Apple the opportunity to show that they weren't as afraid of Microsoft as Microsoft is of Apple. Very confident and professional! And by contrast and implication, it also made Microsoft look like the computer version of a used-car sales lot--an image Steve Ballmer strives for so effectively. When it didn't work, It worked out to a demonstration that the only Microsoft technology in the store didn't work. Every Windows Mobile PDA in an Apple Store was an ad for Apple!
Of course, Apple does things right, and that means things take time. Now it will be easier to check out, but I'll have less fun laughing at Microsoft with the store employee.
Apple makes software for Windows and MS makes software for OS X, so I don't' see that as a big deal.
I do like your idea about the Windows-based POS devices in Apple Stores as an ad, but I think MS should have done that. "Apple may sell fun toys, but when it comes to serious work they use Windows. Even their handheld point of sales devices are Windows based. Need we say more?" ...or something along those lines.
It appears that the CC number has to be keyed in manually. I hope that a true card swipe device is incorporated, not only to speed things up but also to minimize keystroke error. Some cards have so much distracting artwork on them it's tough to read the numbers on a good day, and let's not discount operator error as well.
But now that this is getting tested by Apple itself it's a safe bet that the entire package will find takers at other stores as well. Perhaps the tide will turn and the next Microsoft ad will find their precious $400 laptop getting rung up on an iPod Touch...
A hand keyed card number is much more open to chargebacks. Swiping the card proves the physical presence of the card. I am certain they'll use a card reader, I can't imagine how their cc processor would allow all those hand keyed transactions.
Slightly OT, but does the camera-in-the-Touch talk make anybody else think they are trying to shift revenue away from the subscription iPhone?
Not at all, and with Touch sales, surpisingly to me, are significantly lower than iPhone sales I don't think there is any risk of Apple losing cusotmers at that point to the Touch.
When I bought my MBP a couple years ago, they used one of those "handheld devices." The guy stated that it froze up the first time he swiped, so he swiped again after rebooting it. The damn thing charged me twice, and I didn't know it until I got home. Called up Apple Support, they apologized, gave me an extra 10% off since it maxed out my credit card for a couple of hours.
So, in a way, I hope they keep the crappy devices, at least until my next big purchase.
The cam would be too problematic. I'm sure it will be an add-on device with a barcode scanner, card reader, and a mondo 5000 mAh battery or something crazy like that. A cool "gee-whiz" feature to show off the Bluetooth-Bonjour sharing would be to beam your receipt to you directly if you have an iPhone/Touch on you.
I've never dealt with an Apple employee that used a barcode.
When I hand what I'm buying to them, they've just entered the first couple digits of the product id and selected it.
If I'm just going in to buy something specific, I tell whoever welcomes me what I want, and they have it rung up and ready to swipe my card by the time we walk over to it.
That makes me wonder if they would even care about including a way to read barcodes.
One time in my local Apple Store while purchasing something from a girl that looked like she was straight out of the Mickey Mouse Club, I said to her, "Running Windows Mobile on that?". I was just kidding, but she turned beet red, her lip started quivering, and I swear I thought she was going to cry.
That's kinda mean dude. Granted, you were kidding, but she might have just mistaken you for someone more mean spirited (which I'm sure there are plenty). Still, she was just a kid doing a job.
The September time frame is what I had predicted. I think that Apple will also be getting them for free or at a very low price as they will surely be detailed and therefore getting great marketing for the 2000 or so that are used in Apple stores.
Will they just be CC readers, or will they have IR scanners, and/or an additional battery for longer duration, and/or other capabilities?
I expect, as we now have batteries that plug into the connector, with one fitting over the back, that they could have something like that. A feed through connector would allow it to plug into the card reader, if required, or it could transmit the transaction in the store wirelessly. Of course, a card reader would be required for the unit itself anyway, so this could all be built into one plug-in attachment.
There's no reason why a laser scanner couldn't be built into the device as well. I have a small Hp model I used to use years ago. The tech has improved much since then, and could fit inside the thin shell of the attachment.
I do wonder how much data is actually on the device itself - or how well the remote wipe works - just thinking that should one of the devices go missing that is a potentially large security risk - unless it is tied to some back office app where all the data lives and it is just acting as a front end portal.
Remote wipe works great on iPhone, but then why would they need that? These devices are portals & they are only able to connect to POS (point of sales) systems via internal network. Device gets stolen you simply ban it from your network, plus Apple could track the use of the device outside their network & help lead the police to the perp.
I never got this as ironic since Apple isn't in that business.
The lady who was processing our three phones kept apologizing because the unit was dropping our information. It got so out of hand, that we couldn't use my AmEx, because it put the number in, but lost the phone serial number. When she tried to fix that, it kept stating that the transaction was finished, though it wasn't associated with a phone. She couldn't cancel it, though the device had a command for that. Because of that, I guess, it wouldn't do any of the phones.
We had to start over using my wife's AmEx. Finally, it worked. It took a LONG time. I've heard of other problems.
Only then, after disappearing for five minutes, and having the manager of the store do something at the terminal, were we able to get that first transaction nullified.
It seems to work well enough with basic purchases, but this seemingly overwhelms it.
The lady who was processing our three phones kept apologizing because the unit was dropping our information. It got so out of hand, that we couldn't use my AmEx, because it put the number in, but lost the phone serial number. When she tried to fix that, it kept stating that the transaction was finished, though it wasn't associated with a phone. She couldn't cancel it, though the device had a command for that. Because of that, I guess, it wouldn't do any of the phones.
We had to start over using my wife's AmEx. Finally, it worked. It took a LONG time. I've heard of other problems.
Only then, after disappearing for five minutes, and having the manager of the store do something at the terminal, were we able to get that first transaction nullified.
It seems to work well enough with basic purchases, but this seemingly overwhelms it.
I'm sure there are issues, but I've been pretty lucky with my purchases. I do think that Motorola and other handheld POS manufacturers are probably none to happy about Apple opening up the 30-pin connector. I bet that many of these companies didn't even realize that their business model would be in trouble until it was spelled out what Apple's device will be able to do. Maybe some still have no clue until they get a look at this article or others showing what will be occurring.
I hope that at least a couple of these companies will be the ones making the the attachments, but this looks like a prime time for a small upstart to make some serious coin. In other words, these Motorola Symbol POS handhelds look to cost around $2000 retail, while an iPod Touch costs only $229 + the cost of the attachment, the software, and maybe a docking station. I think that with Apple's SDk that $500-$1000 for the whole POS part would be still be very profitable and still be much less than the ones I'm seeing on Google Shopping. Though honestly, I can see it had for considerably less than the numbers I state.
Comments
Now what am I going to joke with the Apple Store employees about????
Ask them if they've seen "Lauren" lately. I'm sure she'll be in to have her
laptop data transferred to a new MacBook, if she ever realizes how cool
she really is.
One advantage of the Windows Mobile devices in the Apple Store is that it gave Apple the opportunity to show that they weren't as afraid of Microsoft as Microsoft is of Apple. Very confident and professional! And by contrast and implication, it also made Microsoft look like the computer version of a used-car sales lot--an image Steve Ballmer strives for so effectively. When it didn't work, It worked out to a demonstration that the only Microsoft technology in the store didn't work. Every Windows Mobile PDA in an Apple Store was an ad for Apple!
Of course, Apple does things right, and that means things take time. Now it will be easier to check out, but I'll have less fun laughing at Microsoft with the store employee.
Apple makes software for Windows and MS makes software for OS X, so I don't' see that as a big deal.
I do like your idea about the Windows-based POS devices in Apple Stores as an ad, but I think MS should have done that. "Apple may sell fun toys, but when it comes to serious work they use Windows. Even their handheld point of sales devices are Windows based. Need we say more?" ...or something along those lines.
Slightly OT, but does the camera-in-the-Touch talk make anybody else think they are trying to shift revenue away from the subscription iPhone?
I think that the more features the Touch has, the more Apps Touchers can choose from.
It appears that the CC number has to be keyed in manually. I hope that a true card swipe device is incorporated, not only to speed things up but also to minimize keystroke error. Some cards have so much distracting artwork on them it's tough to read the numbers on a good day, and let's not discount operator error as well.
But now that this is getting tested by Apple itself it's a safe bet that the entire package will find takers at other stores as well. Perhaps the tide will turn and the next Microsoft ad will find their precious $400 laptop getting rung up on an iPod Touch...
A hand keyed card number is much more open to chargebacks. Swiping the card proves the physical presence of the card. I am certain they'll use a card reader, I can't imagine how their cc processor would allow all those hand keyed transactions.
Slightly OT, but does the camera-in-the-Touch talk make anybody else think they are trying to shift revenue away from the subscription iPhone?
Not at all, and with Touch sales, surpisingly to me, are significantly lower than iPhone sales I don't think there is any risk of Apple losing cusotmers at that point to the Touch.
So, in a way, I hope they keep the crappy devices, at least until my next big purchase.
Now what am I going to joke with the Apple Store employees about????
The GIANT Iphone display is actually running Windows.
The GIANT Iphone display is actually running Windows.
AT&T used a PC to drive their displays, at one point, presumably because their stores were already PC centric. The Apple Store never did.
Really, I mean, think about it: why would Apple need a PC to run an animation on an external display?
The cam would be too problematic. I'm sure it will be an add-on device with a barcode scanner, card reader, and a mondo 5000 mAh battery or something crazy like that. A cool "gee-whiz" feature to show off the Bluetooth-Bonjour sharing would be to beam your receipt to you directly if you have an iPhone/Touch on you.
I've never dealt with an Apple employee that used a barcode.
When I hand what I'm buying to them, they've just entered the first couple digits of the product id and selected it.
If I'm just going in to buy something specific, I tell whoever welcomes me what I want, and they have it rung up and ready to swipe my card by the time we walk over to it.
That makes me wonder if they would even care about including a way to read barcodes.
One time in my local Apple Store while purchasing something from a girl that looked like she was straight out of the Mickey Mouse Club, I said to her, "Running Windows Mobile on that?". I was just kidding, but she turned beet red, her lip started quivering, and I swear I thought she was going to cry.
That's kinda mean dude. Granted, you were kidding, but she might have just mistaken you for someone more mean spirited (which I'm sure there are plenty). Still, she was just a kid doing a job.
The September time frame is what I had predicted. I think that Apple will also be getting them for free or at a very low price as they will surely be detailed and therefore getting great marketing for the 2000 or so that are used in Apple stores.
Will they just be CC readers, or will they have IR scanners, and/or an additional battery for longer duration, and/or other capabilities?
I expect, as we now have batteries that plug into the connector, with one fitting over the back, that they could have something like that. A feed through connector would allow it to plug into the card reader, if required, or it could transmit the transaction in the store wirelessly. Of course, a card reader would be required for the unit itself anyway, so this could all be built into one plug-in attachment.
There's no reason why a laser scanner couldn't be built into the device as well. I have a small Hp model I used to use years ago. The tech has improved much since then, and could fit inside the thin shell of the attachment.
I do wonder how much data is actually on the device itself - or how well the remote wipe works - just thinking that should one of the devices go missing that is a potentially large security risk - unless it is tied to some back office app where all the data lives and it is just acting as a front end portal.
Remote wipe works great on iPhone, but then why would they need that? These devices are portals & they are only able to connect to POS (point of sales) systems via internal network. Device gets stolen you simply ban it from your network, plus Apple could track the use of the device outside their network & help lead the police to the perp.
I never got this as ironic since Apple isn't in that business.
The lady who was processing our three phones kept apologizing because the unit was dropping our information. It got so out of hand, that we couldn't use my AmEx, because it put the number in, but lost the phone serial number. When she tried to fix that, it kept stating that the transaction was finished, though it wasn't associated with a phone. She couldn't cancel it, though the device had a command for that. Because of that, I guess, it wouldn't do any of the phones.
We had to start over using my wife's AmEx. Finally, it worked. It took a LONG time. I've heard of other problems.
Only then, after disappearing for five minutes, and having the manager of the store do something at the terminal, were we able to get that first transaction nullified.
It seems to work well enough with basic purchases, but this seemingly overwhelms it.
EasyPay has reliability problems? Do you have a source for that?
Or did you just make it up?
The GIANT Iphone display is actually running Windows.
Really? I'm pretty sure it's a MBP that is locked in a box on the floor.
The lady who was processing our three phones kept apologizing because the unit was dropping our information. It got so out of hand, that we couldn't use my AmEx, because it put the number in, but lost the phone serial number. When she tried to fix that, it kept stating that the transaction was finished, though it wasn't associated with a phone. She couldn't cancel it, though the device had a command for that. Because of that, I guess, it wouldn't do any of the phones.
We had to start over using my wife's AmEx. Finally, it worked. It took a LONG time. I've heard of other problems.
Only then, after disappearing for five minutes, and having the manager of the store do something at the terminal, were we able to get that first transaction nullified.
It seems to work well enough with basic purchases, but this seemingly overwhelms it.
I'm sure there are issues, but I've been pretty lucky with my purchases. I do think that Motorola and other handheld POS manufacturers are probably none to happy about Apple opening up the 30-pin connector. I bet that many of these companies didn't even realize that their business model would be in trouble until it was spelled out what Apple's device will be able to do. Maybe some still have no clue until they get a look at this article or others showing what will be occurring.
I hope that at least a couple of these companies will be the ones making the the attachments, but this looks like a prime time for a small upstart to make some serious coin. In other words, these Motorola Symbol POS handhelds look to cost around $2000 retail, while an iPod Touch costs only $229 + the cost of the attachment, the software, and maybe a docking station. I think that with Apple's SDk that $500-$1000 for the whole POS part would be still be very profitable and still be much less than the ones I'm seeing on Google Shopping. Though honestly, I can see it had for considerably less than the numbers I state.
Really? I'm pretty sure it's a MBP that is locked in a box on the floor.
Like I mentioned above, it's the AT&T stores that use PCs (or did, this may have changed).
The Apple Store has always used Macs.