So I am getting an interview with the Apple Store.

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
I saw that there was a current opening at the Apple store near me and I quickly jumped on the opportunity to apply. I called to make sure it was still open and the operator told me to email the manager and I did. I got an email that says:







Does anyone here have any experience working with Apple? I pretty much know what to do and say and dress. How long does it usually take for a manager to contact you for an interview?



Any help would be appreciated.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    utisnum1utisnum1 Posts: 138member
    Well I have an interview tomorrow at 3:30, wish me luck.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    taurontauron Posts: 911member
    The surefire way to get a job there:

    1. comb your hair and dress like a metrosexual boy

    2. talk in overpolite and fake manner

    3. pretend you know everything there is to know about macs when you know only that double clicking on an icon lauches said icon

    4. show willingness to annoy customers every 5 seconds asking them: "do you have any questions"
  • Reply 3 of 11
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tauron View Post


    The surefire way to get a job there:

    1. comb your hair and dress like a metrosexual boy

    2. talk in overpolite and fake manner

    3. pretend you know everything there is to know about macs when you know only that double clicking on an icon lauches said icon

    4. show willingness to annoy customers every 5 seconds asking them: "do you have any questions"



    Metrosexual boy
  • Reply 4 of 11
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Funny read:







    Things I Learned At The Apple Store



    By M.B.Darden



    I stopped by the mall the other day, mainly to pick up a pair of sneakers my wife had ordered. (That's another story, shopping -- even picking up things -- for the wife. It rarely ends well.) Anyway in the mall, I passed an Apple Store. It had recently been renovated, and I had never been there. (In fact, I'd never been in an Apple Store anywhere.)



    I went in. First, I'm not a techie or a remotely skilled computer user. I have no strong feelings about Apple. I went in without preconceptions. I went in really to avoid leaving the mall -- it was freezing out & snowing & I was hoping (dreaming) that a few minutes later it would be a lot warmer and not snowing.



    Here's what I think I learned or observed or concluded on my first trip to the Apple Store...



    1. Michael Dell & Other Consumer PC-Makers: It's Over. Apple Has Won

    It may not show up in the numbers, but it will. And the stock price? (Apple's lower than before but way higher than most.) How do I know it's won? I don't. But in my own twisted version of Buffet's maxim -- you learn most about a company through first-hand experience -- a few quick observations....



    * It was bitter cold, snowing. The mall was quiet. You could actually hear the water streaming from the marble fountain a floor away. But the Apple Store was packed with people--folks laughing, banging keyboards, sampling the rows of gleaming computers and gadgets, like they were in a high tech Disney World fun park. And there were no give-aways, no store discounts; just another (frigidly cold) day at the mall.



    * These people were not like me--i.e., lazy, biding their time before facing the cold. The lines at the cashier were 10-15 people deep the whole time. People were buying.



    * For God sakes, people were lining up -- waiting time, 22 minutes -- to get a seat in the Apple "lounge" at the back of the store. What was special there? Nothing. A chance to sit, read some magazines, drink coffee and sample some computer stuff.



    * At least 4 people told Apple Geniuses (i.e., sales people) they've used Dells over the years, hadn't considered Macs, but now wanted Macs. These were the 4 I heard, in a few minutes; how many more were there?



    * Three people -- moms -- approached Apple store managers to ask how their kids could become Geniuses. The managers laughed. Their answer: Get in line, there's an application list the size of Montana. The moms did get in line, and signed up their sons.



    * Think the store's only for teen geeks? (I did.) The people playing were of all ages. Some looked barely 14; others not younger than 70. You have a product or place that teens & geezers both want...you've got a f***ing business!



    2. Apple "Geniuses" Are Chick Magnets

    Nearly half of them were surrounded by babes almost out of central casting. Local high school or college girls (indie film arty, casual-chic, cool, smart) who couldn't seem to get close enough to them. And the Geniuses, many shy on the surface, were soaking it up. Favoring the girls-women, laughing charmingly and forcing the less hot women (and the guys) clamoring for help to wait.



    3. Apple Geniuses Are In Fact Geniuses

    Tech geniuses? I have no idea. Sales geniuses? Absolutely. Maybe that's 1 of Jobs' secrets. Get some geeky guys (most Geniuses are guys) who kind of look like the wind might blow them down (but who are in fact "animals"); set them in a store of largely ignorant but open & "monied" tech shoppers & let them "go." I saw a couple Geniuses sell hard core pro-level computers to a couple marks -- guys in rich leather jackets -- who came in looking for low budget notebooks. Another guy who came in just to look around, within minutes was reduced to a quivering near-desperate state-of-the-art desktop buyer. I don't know how they do it exactly -- they are selling stylish, hip-looking and extremely appealing products! -- but they're masters.



    4. Bridging The Generation Gap May Be Possible, After All

    Gen X, Y, Z, O, whatever. Middle aged geezers were yukking it up with their Geniuses. Hitting keyboards like Herbie Hancock, discovering with joyful amazement invisible cameras embedded in the monitors--slapping backs, laughing. Even the too cool Geniuses seemed to be having some fun. A few cross-generational pairs were fathers and sons. Teens actually showing their dads how to use stuff, acting impatient, sometimes in disbelief at their fathers' stupidity; but also getting a kick out of it all, actually communicating. Apple as a long-needed parenting tool? Probably not. But showing the "art" of the possible in communication? Maybe...



    5. Starbucks, Don't Get Too Cocky

    Starbucks is retrenching, closing stores in the U.S. (Dell, of course, is closing all its stores.) But that line in the back of the Apple store, for a seat and coffee and magazines? It reminded me of Starbucks a decade or 2 ago. I went back there. I confess: I waited in line. The coffee was great. The chairs were comfortable. The people were relaxed, having fun. Add some muffins and a few other items and, who knows, Apple could sell coffee and style too. (What does Starbucks know about music and books? Nothing, a few years ago. Now they're selling merchandise like the neighborhood Barnes & Noble.)



    6. New Best Place To Furnish Your Home

    It sounds ridiculous (OK, I'm only 1/4-serious). But, step aside Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Ikea. The chairs in the back of the Apple Store were among the most comfortable I've sat in. No wonder no one wanted to leave, and the wait when I left had grown to 45 minutes. Want a new living room? Go to Apple, check out the sofa manufacturers and you're done. If you buy a new Mac, who knows, maybe Apple will throw in its corporate furniture discount.



    7.Black (In fashion) Is Back

    Actually, not entirely. Black as cool went out in the 90s. But thanks to Steve Jobs' evident unwavering commitment to black -- there was a photo of him in the store, wearing the black turtle-neck thing you often see him in -- it may make a more formal fashion comeback. All the store managers were in black and some of the Geniuses. They looked silly - the Jobs uniforms; like, what the f***, anyone tell you the 90s are over, you can dress in colors, even white? But by the time I left I was thinking, you know what, I liked my black turtlenecks back then, I'd probably like them now. They were simple, they went with everything; and, most important, when they got dirty, no one could tell.



    8. I'm A Lot Less Savvy And Smart Than I Thought

    OK, I'm an idiot, a near retard with no self-control. You know that guy I mentioned above, who went in with no intent to buy anything but just to chill? I was that guy too. But after relaxing in the lounge, I approached one of the Geniuses, just to ask a few questions. I told him I'd been buying Dells for the past 12 years. He laughed. (Not a cheerful laugh, a disdainful laugh.) He showed me this "basic" desktop system with a 24-inch monitor whose images looked more vivid than my new Sony HDTV flat screen TV. I told him I just bought a new desk top 6 months ago and it did everything I needed it to do. He said, what do you need it to do? I said, basically, Word, Excel, surf the net, etc. He said, you have no idea how much you could be doing. (He said this with a straight face and, while part of me wanted to smash that face for its pretentiousness, another part was intrigued, eager...Of course I wanted to do more, who doesn't?)



    He said, "this" system--iMac 2.8GHz--was the least I should be using &, unlike my current system, it would last at least 2-3 years (a lifetime today). And it only cost $2300, he said.



    I had gone to the mall to pick up my wife's sneakers. I had no need for a new computer -- I thought. It would be crazy to buy this thing. But the Genius, seemingly already abandoning me, was playing with some images and videos on the screen, simultaneously interweaving them, then dragging stuff from one section to another...and it was so...cool, beautiful. It looked so...fun.



    When I got home, and I hauled the boxes into the den, my wife simply shook her head. Then she made a few critical comments -- of course, she didn't understand. Then she asked where I put her sneakers, I probably left them in the car.



    I said no, I didn't; I reacted indignantly. I hadn't left them in the car. I hadn't picked them up at all. Sneakers? Who gives a crap about sneakers when you can get a computer system that has everything built into a massive -- yet light -- monitor that displays images more brilliant than I'd ever seen and which, I was almost certain, my friend Jack's son (14, going on 25) would be in awe over. And, I thought, if I play my cards right, I could probably get the brat to come over and actually download some of those games he and his friends are obsessed with and, you know what, are going to look damn good on my new computer.



    I went back to the mall a few hours later; I got the sneakers. And, definitely Jack's kid was psyched to come over. The challenge, Jack said, was going to be to get him to leave. As for my next trip to the Apple Store? I'll give it some time. Although now that I think about it, my notebook is pretty heavy, and the ones at the store looked awfully light and easy to carry. And I know there's been a lot of criticism of the new feather-weight MacBook Air, but it is really light and it's unbelievably thin and it looks pretty cool, and...did I say that it looks really light?...
  • Reply 5 of 11
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tauron View Post


    The surefire way to get a job there:

    1. comb your hair and dress like a metrosexual boy

    2. talk in overpolite and fake manner

    3. pretend you know everything there is to know about macs when you know only that double clicking on an icon lauches said icon

    4. show willingness to annoy customers every 5 seconds asking them: "do you have any questions"



    I've read a LOT of your posts and come to the conclusion that you are a real curmudgeon, a regular Oscar Levant...





    "There's absolutely nothing wrong with Oscar Levant that a miracle can't fix..."
  • Reply 6 of 11
    taurontauron Posts: 911member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by imacmadman22 View Post


    I've read a LOT of your posts and come to the conclusion that you are a real curmudgeon, a regular Oscar Levant...





    "There's absolutely nothing wrong with Oscar Levant that a miracle can't fix..."



    Funny, I also read some of your posts and come to the conclusion that you are a regular Pee Wee Herman.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    taurontauron Posts: 911member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    Funny read:







    Things I Learned At The Apple Store



    By M.B.Darden



    I stopped by the mall the other day, mainly to pick up a pair of sneakers my wife had ordered. (That's another story, shopping -- even picking up things -- for the wife. It rarely ends well.) Anyway in the mall, I passed an Apple Store. It had recently been renovated, and I had never been there. (In fact, I'd never been in an Apple Store anywhere.)



    I went in. First, I'm not a techie or a remotely skilled computer user. I have no strong feelings about Apple. I went in without preconceptions. I went in really to avoid leaving the mall -- it was freezing out & snowing & I was hoping (dreaming) that a few minutes later it would be a lot warmer and not snowing.



    Here's what I think I learned or observed or concluded on my first trip to the Apple Store...



    1. Michael Dell & Other Consumer PC-Makers: It's Over. Apple Has Won

    It may not show up in the numbers, but it will. And the stock price? (Apple's lower than before but way higher than most.) How do I know it's won? I don't. But in my own twisted version of Buffet's maxim -- you learn most about a company through first-hand experience -- a few quick observations....



    * It was bitter cold, snowing. The mall was quiet. You could actually hear the water streaming from the marble fountain a floor away. But the Apple Store was packed with people--folks laughing, banging keyboards, sampling the rows of gleaming computers and gadgets, like they were in a high tech Disney World fun park. And there were no give-aways, no store discounts; just another (frigidly cold) day at the mall.



    * These people were not like me--i.e., lazy, biding their time before facing the cold. The lines at the cashier were 10-15 people deep the whole time. People were buying.



    * For God sakes, people were lining up -- waiting time, 22 minutes -- to get a seat in the Apple "lounge" at the back of the store. What was special there? Nothing. A chance to sit, read some magazines, drink coffee and sample some computer stuff.



    * At least 4 people told Apple Geniuses (i.e., sales people) they've used Dells over the years, hadn't considered Macs, but now wanted Macs. These were the 4 I heard, in a few minutes; how many more were there?



    * Three people -- moms -- approached Apple store managers to ask how their kids could become Geniuses. The managers laughed. Their answer: Get in line, there's an application list the size of Montana. The moms did get in line, and signed up their sons.



    * Think the store's only for teen geeks? (I did.) The people playing were of all ages. Some looked barely 14; others not younger than 70. You have a product or place that teens & geezers both want...you've got a f***ing business!



    2. Apple "Geniuses" Are Chick Magnets

    Nearly half of them were surrounded by babes almost out of central casting. Local high school or college girls (indie film arty, casual-chic, cool, smart) who couldn't seem to get close enough to them. And the Geniuses, many shy on the surface, were soaking it up. Favoring the girls-women, laughing charmingly and forcing the less hot women (and the guys) clamoring for help to wait.



    3. Apple Geniuses Are In Fact Geniuses

    Tech geniuses? I have no idea. Sales geniuses? Absolutely. Maybe that's 1 of Jobs' secrets. Get some geeky guys (most Geniuses are guys) who kind of look like the wind might blow them down (but who are in fact "animals"); set them in a store of largely ignorant but open & "monied" tech shoppers & let them "go." I saw a couple Geniuses sell hard core pro-level computers to a couple marks -- guys in rich leather jackets -- who came in looking for low budget notebooks. Another guy who came in just to look around, within minutes was reduced to a quivering near-desperate state-of-the-art desktop buyer. I don't know how they do it exactly -- they are selling stylish, hip-looking and extremely appealing products! -- but they're masters.



    4. Bridging The Generation Gap May Be Possible, After All

    Gen X, Y, Z, O, whatever. Middle aged geezers were yukking it up with their Geniuses. Hitting keyboards like Herbie Hancock, discovering with joyful amazement invisible cameras embedded in the monitors--slapping backs, laughing. Even the too cool Geniuses seemed to be having some fun. A few cross-generational pairs were fathers and sons. Teens actually showing their dads how to use stuff, acting impatient, sometimes in disbelief at their fathers' stupidity; but also getting a kick out of it all, actually communicating. Apple as a long-needed parenting tool? Probably not. But showing the "art" of the possible in communication? Maybe...



    5. Starbucks, Don't Get Too Cocky

    Starbucks is retrenching, closing stores in the U.S. (Dell, of course, is closing all its stores.) But that line in the back of the Apple store, for a seat and coffee and magazines? It reminded me of Starbucks a decade or 2 ago. I went back there. I confess: I waited in line. The coffee was great. The chairs were comfortable. The people were relaxed, having fun. Add some muffins and a few other items and, who knows, Apple could sell coffee and style too. (What does Starbucks know about music and books? Nothing, a few years ago. Now they're selling merchandise like the neighborhood Barnes & Noble.)



    6. New Best Place To Furnish Your Home

    It sounds ridiculous (OK, I'm only 1/4-serious). But, step aside Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Ikea. The chairs in the back of the Apple Store were among the most comfortable I've sat in. No wonder no one wanted to leave, and the wait when I left had grown to 45 minutes. Want a new living room? Go to Apple, check out the sofa manufacturers and you're done. If you buy a new Mac, who knows, maybe Apple will throw in its corporate furniture discount.



    7.Black (In fashion) Is Back

    Actually, not entirely. Black as cool went out in the 90s. But thanks to Steve Jobs' evident unwavering commitment to black -- there was a photo of him in the store, wearing the black turtle-neck thing you often see him in -- it may make a more formal fashion comeback. All the store managers were in black and some of the Geniuses. They looked silly - the Jobs uniforms; like, what the f***, anyone tell you the 90s are over, you can dress in colors, even white? But by the time I left I was thinking, you know what, I liked my black turtlenecks back then, I'd probably like them now. They were simple, they went with everything; and, most important, when they got dirty, no one could tell.



    8. I'm A Lot Less Savvy And Smart Than I Thought

    OK, I'm an idiot, a near retard with no self-control. You know that guy I mentioned above, who went in with no intent to buy anything but just to chill? I was that guy too. But after relaxing in the lounge, I approached one of the Geniuses, just to ask a few questions. I told him I'd been buying Dells for the past 12 years. He laughed. (Not a cheerful laugh, a disdainful laugh.) He showed me this "basic" desktop system with a 24-inch monitor whose images looked more vivid than my new Sony HDTV flat screen TV. I told him I just bought a new desk top 6 months ago and it did everything I needed it to do. He said, what do you need it to do? I said, basically, Word, Excel, surf the net, etc. He said, you have no idea how much you could be doing. (He said this with a straight face and, while part of me wanted to smash that face for its pretentiousness, another part was intrigued, eager...Of course I wanted to do more, who doesn't?)



    He said, "this" system--iMac 2.8GHz--was the least I should be using &, unlike my current system, it would last at least 2-3 years (a lifetime today). And it only cost $2300, he said.



    I had gone to the mall to pick up my wife's sneakers. I had no need for a new computer -- I thought. It would be crazy to buy this thing. But the Genius, seemingly already abandoning me, was playing with some images and videos on the screen, simultaneously interweaving them, then dragging stuff from one section to another...and it was so...cool, beautiful. It looked so...fun.



    When I got home, and I hauled the boxes into the den, my wife simply shook her head. Then she made a few critical comments -- of course, she didn't understand. Then she asked where I put her sneakers, I probably left them in the car.



    I said no, I didn't; I reacted indignantly. I hadn't left them in the car. I hadn't picked them up at all. Sneakers? Who gives a crap about sneakers when you can get a computer system that has everything built into a massive -- yet light -- monitor that displays images more brilliant than I'd ever seen and which, I was almost certain, my friend Jack's son (14, going on 25) would be in awe over. And, I thought, if I play my cards right, I could probably get the brat to come over and actually download some of those games he and his friends are obsessed with and, you know what, are going to look damn good on my new computer.



    I went back to the mall a few hours later; I got the sneakers. And, definitely Jack's kid was psyched to come over. The challenge, Jack said, was going to be to get him to leave. As for my next trip to the Apple Store? I'll give it some time. Although now that I think about it, my notebook is pretty heavy, and the ones at the store looked awfully light and easy to carry. And I know there's been a lot of criticism of the new feather-weight MacBook Air, but it is really light and it's unbelievably thin and it looks pretty cool, and...did I say that it looks really light?...



    Beautiful!
  • Reply 8 of 11
    A couple of weeks ago, I was still looking for a job. Sears seemed to be (and still is) a good possibility. Soon after I scheduled an interview at Sears, I received a call from the freaking Apple Store here! I was a bit surprised to say the least. I was asked to attend the hiring event they had about a week ago.



    So at this hiring event, instead of being like a typical job interview thing, we did a really interesting little commercial making thing where we were given like an hour or so to create a commercial using cameras, etc and the iLife stuff. Neat, huh? I'm sure some of you have visited apple stores and done this so you just shush



    So our time passes and we all have to turn in our work. Everyone's commercial seems to be far superior to ours, which makes me a bit worried. Once the commercials are shown, we're told that if they like us, we'll get a call.



    A couple days pass and my friends and I are in the mall when I receive a call from a number I'm not familiar with. Then I recognize it slightly and freeze. I missed the call by seconds and completely freak out in joy in the middle of the mall. I had a second interview!



    So it's coming up soon and I'm really excited but also a little nervous. Getting this job would make me quite happy and for the first time, I'd enjoy my job! I know a few people at that store and they're all really nice guys.



    So I'm also a bit worried because this whole process may have shut me down for other job opportunities. If I don't get this job, I really hope I do, heh, I don't know if I have any of the jobs I had offers for anymore. My entire financial well-being is kind of based on apple right now, heh.



    But meh! I really wanted to work here from the beginning! I have confidence, but I'm also being humble and down to earth about this. Does anyone have any good tips for interviews such as this? Let me know of your experiences!
  • Reply 9 of 11
    taurontauron Posts: 911member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lingerie Alley View Post


    A couple of weeks ago, I was still looking for a job. Sears seemed to be (and still is) a good possibility. Soon after I scheduled an interview at Sears, I received a call from the freaking Apple Store here! I was a bit surprised to say the least. I was asked to attend the hiring event they had about a week ago.



    So at this hiring event, instead of being like a typical job interview thing, we did a really interesting little commercial making thing where we were given like an hour or so to create a commercial using cameras, etc and the iLife stuff. Neat, huh? I'm sure some of you have visited apple stores and done this so you just shush



    So our time passes and we all have to turn in our work. Everyone's commercial seems to be far superior to ours, which makes me a bit worried. Once the commercials are shown, we're told that if they like us, we'll get a call.



    A couple days pass and my friends and I are in the mall when I receive a call from a number I'm not familiar with. Then I recognize it slightly and freeze. I missed the call by seconds and completely freak out in joy in the middle of the mall. I had a second interview!



    So it's coming up soon and I'm really excited but also a little nervous. Getting this job would make me quite happy and for the first time, I'd enjoy my job! I know a few people at that store and they're all really nice guys.



    So I'm also a bit worried because this whole process may have shut me down for other job opportunities. If I don't get this job, I really hope I do, heh, I don't know if I have any of the jobs I had offers for anymore. My entire financial well-being is kind of based on apple right now, heh.



    But meh! I really wanted to work here from the beginning! I have confidence, but I'm also being humble and down to earth about this. Does anyone have any good tips for interviews such as this? Let me know of your experiences!



    Are you required to turn gay when you work at Apple?
  • Reply 10 of 11
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tauron View Post


    Funny, I also read some of your posts and come to the conclusion that you are a regular Pee Wee Herman.



    My previous post was intended as a tongue-in-cheek remark, Apparently, the humorous aspect was missed. I've always wondered why some people needlessly insult others, perhaps it is a way to help them feel better about their own situation in life...
  • Reply 11 of 11
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    Funny read:







    Things I Learned At The Apple Store



    By M.B.Darden



    I stopped by the mall the other day, mainly to pick up a pair of sneakers my wife had ordered. (That's another story, shopping -- even picking up things -- for the wife. It rarely ends well.) Anyway in the mall, I passed an Apple Store. It had recently been renovated, and I had never been there. (In fact, I'd never been in an Apple Store anywhere.)



    I went in. First, I'm not a techie or a remotely skilled computer user. I have no strong feelings about Apple. I went in without preconceptions. I went in really to avoid leaving the mall -- it was freezing out & snowing & I was hoping (dreaming) that a few minutes later it would be a lot warmer and not snowing.



    Here's what I think I learned or observed or concluded on my first trip to the Apple Store...



    1. Michael Dell & Other Consumer PC-Makers: It's Over. Apple Has Won

    It may not show up in the numbers, but it will. And the stock price? (Apple's lower than before but way higher than most.) How do I know it's won? I don't. But in my own twisted version of Buffet's maxim -- you learn most about a company through first-hand experience -- a few quick observations....



    * It was bitter cold, snowing. The mall was quiet. You could actually hear the water streaming from the marble fountain a floor away. But the Apple Store was packed with people--folks laughing, banging keyboards, sampling the rows of gleaming computers and gadgets, like they were in a high tech Disney World fun park. And there were no give-aways, no store discounts; just another (frigidly cold) day at the mall.



    * These people were not like me--i.e., lazy, biding their time before facing the cold. The lines at the cashier were 10-15 people deep the whole time. People were buying.



    * For God sakes, people were lining up -- waiting time, 22 minutes -- to get a seat in the Apple "lounge" at the back of the store. What was special there? Nothing. A chance to sit, read some magazines, drink coffee and sample some computer stuff.



    * At least 4 people told Apple Geniuses (i.e., sales people) they've used Dells over the years, hadn't considered Macs, but now wanted Macs. These were the 4 I heard, in a few minutes; how many more were there?



    * Three people -- moms -- approached Apple store managers to ask how their kids could become Geniuses. The managers laughed. Their answer: Get in line, there's an application list the size of Montana. The moms did get in line, and signed up their sons.



    * Think the store's only for teen geeks? (I did.) The people playing were of all ages. Some looked barely 14; others not younger than 70. You have a product or place that teens & geezers both want...you've got a f***ing business!



    2. Apple "Geniuses" Are Chick Magnets

    Nearly half of them were surrounded by babes almost out of central casting. Local high school or college girls (indie film arty, casual-chic, cool, smart) who couldn't seem to get close enough to them. And the Geniuses, many shy on the surface, were soaking it up. Favoring the girls-women, laughing charmingly and forcing the less hot women (and the guys) clamoring for help to wait.



    3. Apple Geniuses Are In Fact Geniuses

    Tech geniuses? I have no idea. Sales geniuses? Absolutely. Maybe that's 1 of Jobs' secrets. Get some geeky guys (most Geniuses are guys) who kind of look like the wind might blow them down (but who are in fact "animals"); set them in a store of largely ignorant but open & "monied" tech shoppers & let them "go." I saw a couple Geniuses sell hard core pro-level computers to a couple marks -- guys in rich leather jackets -- who came in looking for low budget notebooks. Another guy who came in just to look around, within minutes was reduced to a quivering near-desperate state-of-the-art desktop buyer. I don't know how they do it exactly -- they are selling stylish, hip-looking and extremely appealing products! -- but they're masters.



    4. Bridging The Generation Gap May Be Possible, After All

    Gen X, Y, Z, O, whatever. Middle aged geezers were yukking it up with their Geniuses. Hitting keyboards like Herbie Hancock, discovering with joyful amazement invisible cameras embedded in the monitors--slapping backs, laughing. Even the too cool Geniuses seemed to be having some fun. A few cross-generational pairs were fathers and sons. Teens actually showing their dads how to use stuff, acting impatient, sometimes in disbelief at their fathers' stupidity; but also getting a kick out of it all, actually communicating. Apple as a long-needed parenting tool? Probably not. But showing the "art" of the possible in communication? Maybe...



    5. Starbucks, Don't Get Too Cocky

    Starbucks is retrenching, closing stores in the U.S. (Dell, of course, is closing all its stores.) But that line in the back of the Apple store, for a seat and coffee and magazines? It reminded me of Starbucks a decade or 2 ago. I went back there. I confess: I waited in line. The coffee was great. The chairs were comfortable. The people were relaxed, having fun. Add some muffins and a few other items and, who knows, Apple could sell coffee and style too. (What does Starbucks know about music and books? Nothing, a few years ago. Now they're selling merchandise like the neighborhood Barnes & Noble.)



    6. New Best Place To Furnish Your Home

    It sounds ridiculous (OK, I'm only 1/4-serious). But, step aside Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Ikea. The chairs in the back of the Apple Store were among the most comfortable I've sat in. No wonder no one wanted to leave, and the wait when I left had grown to 45 minutes. Want a new living room? Go to Apple, check out the sofa manufacturers and you're done. If you buy a new Mac, who knows, maybe Apple will throw in its corporate furniture discount.



    7.Black (In fashion) Is Back

    Actually, not entirely. Black as cool went out in the 90s. But thanks to Steve Jobs' evident unwavering commitment to black -- there was a photo of him in the store, wearing the black turtle-neck thing you often see him in -- it may make a more formal fashion comeback. All the store managers were in black and some of the Geniuses. They looked silly - the Jobs uniforms; like, what the f***, anyone tell you the 90s are over, you can dress in colors, even white? But by the time I left I was thinking, you know what, I liked my black turtlenecks back then, I'd probably like them now. They were simple, they went with everything; and, most important, when they got dirty, no one could tell.



    8. I'm A Lot Less Savvy And Smart Than I Thought

    OK, I'm an idiot, a near retard with no self-control. You know that guy I mentioned above, who went in with no intent to buy anything but just to chill? I was that guy too. But after relaxing in the lounge, I approached one of the Geniuses, just to ask a few questions. I told him I'd been buying Dells for the past 12 years. He laughed. (Not a cheerful laugh, a disdainful laugh.) He showed me this "basic" desktop system with a 24-inch monitor whose images looked more vivid than my new Sony HDTV flat screen TV. I told him I just bought a new desk top 6 months ago and it did everything I needed it to do. He said, what do you need it to do? I said, basically, Word, Excel, surf the net, etc. He said, you have no idea how much you could be doing. (He said this with a straight face and, while part of me wanted to smash that face for its pretentiousness, another part was intrigued, eager...Of course I wanted to do more, who doesn't?)



    He said, "this" system--iMac 2.8GHz--was the least I should be using &, unlike my current system, it would last at least 2-3 years (a lifetime today). And it only cost $2300, he said.



    I had gone to the mall to pick up my wife's sneakers. I had no need for a new computer -- I thought. It would be crazy to buy this thing. But the Genius, seemingly already abandoning me, was playing with some images and videos on the screen, simultaneously interweaving them, then dragging stuff from one section to another...and it was so...cool, beautiful. It looked so...fun.



    When I got home, and I hauled the boxes into the den, my wife simply shook her head. Then she made a few critical comments -- of course, she didn't understand. Then she asked where I put her sneakers, I probably left them in the car.



    I said no, I didn't; I reacted indignantly. I hadn't left them in the car. I hadn't picked them up at all. Sneakers? Who gives a crap about sneakers when you can get a computer system that has everything built into a massive -- yet light -- monitor that displays images more brilliant than I'd ever seen and which, I was almost certain, my friend Jack's son (14, going on 25) would be in awe over. And, I thought, if I play my cards right, I could probably get the brat to come over and actually download some of those games he and his friends are obsessed with and, you know what, are going to look damn good on my new computer.



    I went back to the mall a few hours later; I got the sneakers. And, definitely Jack's kid was psyched to come over. The challenge, Jack said, was going to be to get him to leave. As for my next trip to the Apple Store? I'll give it some time. Although now that I think about it, my notebook is pretty heavy, and the ones at the store looked awfully light and easy to carry. And I know there's been a lot of criticism of the new feather-weight MacBook Air, but it is really light and it's unbelievably thin and it looks pretty cool, and...did I say that it looks really light?...



    A beautiful heart felt story. I wanna go hug apple genius right now.

    I too was sucked into the vortex of appledom . And ya know I go there in staten island mall with my 8 and 6 yrs old . WE all fiddle around . Sometimes we put up cows with guns video on every mac screen there all at once. I got very sick for while and with chemo and radition I looked like yellow deathshit bug . My hair was gone. My tongue was so swollen that words felt like slabs of cold spam trying to slide out.



    YET not one time did the apple crew treat me badly or better. They treated me like they always did .. With respect. Now that i am better the whole crew surrounded oneday me and got very close . hey Bruce the girl squeaks out

    Hey Bruce hey Bruce they all say in a low but loud whisper. You look much better. I burst out crying .

    One of those apples brought me over a halo3 for mac game folder/box . Hey Bruce this got returned , I had looked for so long for halo .



    Later that night after hours of intel fixed halo on my mac fun. I realized the box ws 6 yrs old or more.

    They had gone out and found a used copy with upgrade patch for me .



    Before there was an apple store I was huge fan . But now I feel like I am part of something. When I buy my next MBP15" 2 chip I will go to the store an order it special upgrade online right there. The store gets the credit and the people will check out the mac for me and maybe even a migration.



    Sorry to go like this but the story above rings so true .



    peace



    Halo awaits me
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