I may take some flack for this, but in spite of their overwhelming success and popularity, I don't consider most of the Apple stores (especially the mall stores) to be all that special. So they're brightly lit, have parsons tables and lighted displays on the walls....big deal. And they charge list price for everything. Why would I buy a third-party accessory in an Apple store when I could get it for less elsewhere?
The real benefit of Apple stores is that they have lots of working equipment with loaded software. Most other retailers actually lock you out of the machines or have no software loaded on them or don't have them connected to a network, so you can't do anything with them.
The perceived benefit of Apple stores is seeing this really nice environment (especially the flagship stores), filled with people swarming around the Apple products. I know New York is the "city that never sleeps", but I still find it amazing that when you walk into the Fifth Avenue store at 2am, it's mobbed with people. It drives home the message that Apple must be the product you want to own because it seems like everyone else wants to own it.
Apple needed to get into retail because before the advent of the Apple stores, most third party retail did a really lousy job of presenting Apple products. And in retrospect, especially with the closing of CompUSA and Circuit City, it was a genius move, because imagine where Apple might be today if they didn't open their own retail and didn't have these chains to rely upon, as bad as they were.
However, having said all that, if Microsoft is perceived as copying Apple, even if Microsoft's retail endeavor has a different strategy and purpose, Microsoft's stores can do more harm than good for Microsoft. And considering how most CE retail already supports Wintel, did Microsoft really need to open retail stores?
And is the Microsoft store going to feature Microsoft's Mac software products?
I can't wait until people start walking into the Microsoft Store, going to their version of the Genius Bar, throwing their barely working laptop at them and screaming, "get this piece of crap working!" If Microsoft pulls a "well you have to take off all the third party software" line on people, there will be riots. And if they tell people they can fix it by wiping the hard disk and re-installing the OS, that's not going to go over too well either. It's going to be really interesting to see how this all works out. In the locations where there's both a Microsoft and an Apple store, I'd love to see research that shows how many people walk from the Microsoft store to the Apple store and vice-versa.
One difference between Apple and Wintel is that since most offices are still primarily Wintel based, there's plenty of decent paying jobs in IT for Wintel support techs. They don't have to work in retail, which generally pays a lot less. So it will be interesting to see who the Microsoft stores are able to hire as "geniuses", especially if they start rolling out a lot more stores.
But I have to admit, for a decent chocolate chip cookie, if there were no lines, I'd walk in there.
Am I the only one to see this as a high noon face-off? I won't be surprised if all the blogging media (i.e. Gizmo, Engadget, C-net, Wired and others) descend on this mall to check out who will attract longer lines. There was never an event such as this, where MS went head-to-head with Apple at something for which Apple had become famous.
I don't think we should start mobilising people to show up for Apple, since I'm sure San Diego has plenty of early adopters more than anxious to be first to get the iPhone 4, but MS astroturfers are already making this into an all-or-nothing MS vs. Apple contest, trying to get folks to come in as high numbers as possible.
This will be funny to watch (and read about). I don't doubt there will be tons of side-by-side pictures, claiming victory for MS (Photoshop on overclocked machines will be needed)...
My design instructor used to say "After fire and the wheel, there are no original ideas."
There are 3 types of companies, Inventors, innovators and imitators.
Apple isn't an inventor, they are an innovator. With few exceptions they are usually late to the party. But man does the party perk up when they arrive. They will watch a market develop and determine what they feel are the shortcomings of that market and how to eliminate those short comings.
Where Microsoft is more of an innovator is in the enterprise field. Sadly most consumers are unexposed to this area. In the consumer market Microsoft seems content to be imitators. The company has some very good products, most people have never seen them because there created to be invisible to the general user.
I think you could draw some similarities between Apple's enterprise efforts and Microsoft's consumer efforts. Both seem to be operating in areas that they don't seem to fully grasp.
They all copy from each other. Some more than others, but hopefully you don't believe that Apple always creates things first. I would say it's fact that Apple takes existing technology and just implements it better. They still copy the initial idea from somewhere.
One of the nuances of the English language is that in the sense used 'copy' infers that the copy is worse than the original. Apple, as you said, improves on the original, MS makes a poor copy.
Apple needed to get into retail because before the advent of the Apple stores, most third party retail did a really lousy job of presenting Apple products. And in retrospect, especially with the closing of CompUSA and Circuit City, it was a genius move, because imagine where Apple might be today if they didn't open their own retail and didn't have these chains to rely upon, as bad as they were.
SNIP
Exactly. Most people probably don't remember how sad the state of Apple's presence was in the computer retail industry. The amount of FUD spewed by the commission sales staff at almost every retail outlet was quite unbelievable. One key to success in a competitive retail environment is of course: shelf space (other than knowledgable staff of course). When you're up against 95% of Wintel manufacturers, you're facing an uphill battle.
The state of affairs was not much better at their authorised resellers, at least in my experience in Vancouver in the '90s. The staff was mostly ignorant, condecending to everybody but big accounts, and usually not particularly good at supporting their customers.
Apple did the right thing to secure shelf space by putting their own shelfs into their own stores and hiring mac expert staff to deal with their customers. It was wildly ridiculed at the time, but the execution of their retail strategy is now considered a text book case for doing it right.
Actually, we're all standing on the rubble of both giants AND dwarves! (As well as many normal-sized people. )
Remember: the next time you visit the ruins of Central & South America, China, Rome, Japan, England, Ireland, Colonial America, etc. -- they all blew it.
These ruins only remain because Nature either covered 'em over (and we dug 'em up) or didn't see fit to knock 'em over. (And, in some cases, we buried them, building anew on the detritus.)
People carried some of the "good stuff" out of the mess (as well as a lot of crap), so the losses haven't been total... But ya gotta wonder what the "ruins" of our society will look like 100, 500, or even 1,000 years from now.
It's not clear if Microsoft intentionally timed its retail store opening with the launch of iPhone 4, or if the two events were just coincidental. SNIP
I'm always up for a good conspiracy theory, but considering that apple JUST announced the launch day and store openings take a long time to plan, i think this is tinfoil hat material...
It was Feb 09 when it was announced that MS would open a couple of retail stores that would be similar to the Apple Stores.
It's now June 10 and they're finally opening their 4th outlet? How many stores around the world did Apple open in their first year and some months? Looks like a winning strategy for MS.
Looks like the next location will be the old Computer Plus digs in the strip mall on Mary & Fremont in Sunnyvale (Hi Dick & Mark & Lucy!)
@CIM 310: That picture is worth a thousand words! Priceless.
Microsoft has worked hard to replicate a close facsimile of Apple's retail stores, copying everything from the minimalist design, look and layout of product tables to Apple's Genius Bar concept, right down to employees' primary color uniforms and even their iconic lanyards.
Wait, what? Since when are lanyards iconic? I use one every day. It's called wearing an ID. Guess mine isn't cool and iconic though.
Comments
The real benefit of Apple stores is that they have lots of working equipment with loaded software. Most other retailers actually lock you out of the machines or have no software loaded on them or don't have them connected to a network, so you can't do anything with them.
The perceived benefit of Apple stores is seeing this really nice environment (especially the flagship stores), filled with people swarming around the Apple products. I know New York is the "city that never sleeps", but I still find it amazing that when you walk into the Fifth Avenue store at 2am, it's mobbed with people. It drives home the message that Apple must be the product you want to own because it seems like everyone else wants to own it.
Apple needed to get into retail because before the advent of the Apple stores, most third party retail did a really lousy job of presenting Apple products. And in retrospect, especially with the closing of CompUSA and Circuit City, it was a genius move, because imagine where Apple might be today if they didn't open their own retail and didn't have these chains to rely upon, as bad as they were.
However, having said all that, if Microsoft is perceived as copying Apple, even if Microsoft's retail endeavor has a different strategy and purpose, Microsoft's stores can do more harm than good for Microsoft. And considering how most CE retail already supports Wintel, did Microsoft really need to open retail stores?
And is the Microsoft store going to feature Microsoft's Mac software products?
I can't wait until people start walking into the Microsoft Store, going to their version of the Genius Bar, throwing their barely working laptop at them and screaming, "get this piece of crap working!" If Microsoft pulls a "well you have to take off all the third party software" line on people, there will be riots. And if they tell people they can fix it by wiping the hard disk and re-installing the OS, that's not going to go over too well either. It's going to be really interesting to see how this all works out. In the locations where there's both a Microsoft and an Apple store, I'd love to see research that shows how many people walk from the Microsoft store to the Apple store and vice-versa.
One difference between Apple and Wintel is that since most offices are still primarily Wintel based, there's plenty of decent paying jobs in IT for Wintel support techs. They don't have to work in retail, which generally pays a lot less. So it will be interesting to see who the Microsoft stores are able to hire as "geniuses", especially if they start rolling out a lot more stores.
But I have to admit, for a decent chocolate chip cookie, if there were no lines, I'd walk in there.
I don't think we should start mobilising people to show up for Apple, since I'm sure San Diego has plenty of early adopters more than anxious to be first to get the iPhone 4, but MS astroturfers are already making this into an all-or-nothing MS vs. Apple contest, trying to get folks to come in as high numbers as possible.
This will be funny to watch (and read about). I don't doubt there will be tons of side-by-side pictures, claiming victory for MS (Photoshop on overclocked machines will be needed)...
There are 3 types of companies, Inventors, innovators and imitators.
Apple isn't an inventor, they are an innovator. With few exceptions they are usually late to the party. But man does the party perk up when they arrive. They will watch a market develop and determine what they feel are the shortcomings of that market and how to eliminate those short comings.
Where Microsoft is more of an innovator is in the enterprise field. Sadly most consumers are unexposed to this area. In the consumer market Microsoft seems content to be imitators. The company has some very good products, most people have never seen them because there created to be invisible to the general user.
I think you could draw some similarities between Apple's enterprise efforts and Microsoft's consumer efforts. Both seem to be operating in areas that they don't seem to fully grasp.
I think they're hoping a few poor souls will get lost on their way to the Apple Store and...
Then clearly realize that they're NOT in the Apple Store.
A moment of confusion, followed by embarrassment, and finished with mumbled excuses and apologies (as well as a few profanities muttered) upon exit.
Microsoft store on opening day.
They all copy from each other. Some more than others, but hopefully you don't believe that Apple always creates things first. I would say it's fact that Apple takes existing technology and just implements it better. They still copy the initial idea from somewhere.
One of the nuances of the English language is that in the sense used 'copy' infers that the copy is worse than the original. Apple, as you said, improves on the original, MS makes a poor copy.
We are all standing on the shoulders of giants.
Another scene had photos of planets, but in typical Microsoft fashion, they were rotating backwards.
You forget that MS's view of the universe is looking up from the south so these planets are rotating perfectly in the world of MS.
SNIP
Apple needed to get into retail because before the advent of the Apple stores, most third party retail did a really lousy job of presenting Apple products. And in retrospect, especially with the closing of CompUSA and Circuit City, it was a genius move, because imagine where Apple might be today if they didn't open their own retail and didn't have these chains to rely upon, as bad as they were.
SNIP
Exactly. Most people probably don't remember how sad the state of Apple's presence was in the computer retail industry. The amount of FUD spewed by the commission sales staff at almost every retail outlet was quite unbelievable. One key to success in a competitive retail environment is of course: shelf space (other than knowledgable staff of course). When you're up against 95% of Wintel manufacturers, you're facing an uphill battle.
The state of affairs was not much better at their authorised resellers, at least in my experience in Vancouver in the '90s. The staff was mostly ignorant, condecending to everybody but big accounts, and usually not particularly good at supporting their customers.
Apple did the right thing to secure shelf space by putting their own shelfs into their own stores and hiring mac expert staff to deal with their customers. It was wildly ridiculed at the time, but the execution of their retail strategy is now considered a text book case for doing it right.
We are all standing on the shoulders of giants.
Actually, we're all standing on the rubble of both giants AND dwarves! (As well as many normal-sized people.
Remember: the next time you visit the ruins of Central & South America, China, Rome, Japan, England, Ireland, Colonial America, etc. -- they all blew it.
These ruins only remain because Nature either covered 'em over (and we dug 'em up) or didn't see fit to knock 'em over. (And, in some cases, we buried them, building anew on the detritus.)
People carried some of the "good stuff" out of the mess (as well as a lot of crap), so the losses haven't been total... But ya gotta wonder what the "ruins" of our society will look like 100, 500, or even 1,000 years from now.
SNIP
It's not clear if Microsoft intentionally timed its retail store opening with the launch of iPhone 4, or if the two events were just coincidental. SNIP
I'm always up for a good conspiracy theory, but considering that apple JUST announced the launch day and store openings take a long time to plan, i think this is tinfoil hat material...
It's now June 10 and they're finally opening their 4th outlet? How many stores around the world did Apple open in their first year and some months? Looks like a winning strategy for MS.
Looks like the next location will be the old Computer Plus digs in the strip mall on Mary & Fremont in Sunnyvale (Hi Dick & Mark & Lucy!)
@CIM 310: That picture is worth a thousand words! Priceless.
... both giants AND dwarves!
"dwarfs"
Microsoft has worked hard to replicate a close facsimile of Apple's retail stores, copying everything from the minimalist design, look and layout of product tables to Apple's Genius Bar concept, right down to employees' primary color uniforms and even their iconic lanyards.
Wait, what? Since when are lanyards iconic? I use one every day. It's called wearing an ID. Guess mine isn't cool and iconic though.