A new report released today by John B. Horrigan, formerly of Pew Internet and now at the Federal Communications Commission, finds that 78% of adults in the U.S. are internet users and 65% of adults have home broadband access.
Adults who do not have broadband at home fall into four categories:
Digitally Distant: 10% of the general population. Median age is 63. Half say that the internet is not relevant to their lives or they lack the digital literacy to adopt broadband.
Digital Hopefuls: 8% of the general population. Low-income, heavily Hispanic and African American. Likely to say they want to go online, but lack the resources.
Digitally Uncomfortable: 7% of the general population. Likely to own a computer, but lack skills and interest in taking advantage of all the internet has to offer.
Near Converts: 10% of the general population. Median age is 45. Cost is the biggest barrier to having broadband at home.
Once again, Apple is skating to where the puck is going.
Online, digital, downloadable and stream-able products like books, magazines, news, music, movies & TV shows, software, etc. will ultimately result in changing a large amount of retail space (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Best Buy, etc.) to other uses.
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
Also, a printer? Really? Printing is increasingly becoming a niche market. When you can carry anything you would need to read or show another person on a handheld device like an iPad or iPhone, printing isn't necessary.
That's like saying: "Not everyone has electricity in their home". Computers are now internet devices. People need to keep up with basic requirements or risk being left behind.
Since the rise in availability of broadband internet, I've wondered why software continued to be distributed on discs. This is Apple once again being ahead of the curve.
No it isn't
In fact, I don't have internet at my home, and I know about a hand full of people who don't either. You say you've wondered as if the answer isn't obvious: Not everyone has internet.
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
Also, a printer? Really? Printing is increasingly becoming a niche market. When you can carry anything you would need to read or show another person on a handheld device like an iPad or iPhone, printing isn't necessary.
Again I laugh
You seem to be living in the future or something. Whenever I give a presentation here at work, I print out that presentation for everyone to follow along with. If I emailed everyone the presentation (which I do sometimes) most of the people in the meeting would still print it out, with a few bringing their laptops in.
It'll will definitely get to where you think things currently are, with broadband being in every home, and printers being largely unneeded, but until then, bring yourself back to 2011 with us
personalized setup it's a great value add on paper, but i haven't seen it justify is space premium.
I went into the apple store westfarms, ct yesterday. it was packed like a night club on saturday night. there were easily 50 employees working and more than 200 patrons in the store. PACKED. everytime i walk into that store on a weekend i leave thinking "man i gotta buy more AAPL stock".
the ONLY area that wasn't full of people was the personal setup area. there were four employees sitting there and NOBODY using the service. in fact those 6 stations were the only ones without people crowded around apple product or talking to sales reps - because the reps were not allowed to help "ordinary" customers.
In fact, I don't have internet at my home, and I know about a hand full of people who don't either. You say you've wondered as if the answer isn't obvious: Not everyone has internet.
{Apple plans to cut some products from its stores}
The store in my hometown (Charlotte, NC) is mostly parsons tables and air. They need more product not less. Lots and lots of people talking very loudly in a fairly small retail space. Lots of staff looking like holdovers from the Heaven's Gate cult. I'm back to ordering from CDW and MacMall. Apple Stores are creepy.
I think they really need to go for larger stores rather than reduced selection. The accessories have great margin and that is what makes people feel like they are getting a full experience. Goofy things like HDD's, cases, printers, iPod speakers... it all makes the end user happy. The customization might be nice for some people, and a less stressed shopping experience is nice... but getting rid of some of the little things is a mistake.
Printers are virtually ubiquitous. Go to any Best Buy-like store, computer store, electronics store, WalMart, etc. etc. etc. Same for hard drives.
Apple is maximising the return on per square foot sales which is already the best in the business.
Yes. And my guess is that Apple knows what it's doing here. It knows what is and isn't selling in its own stores. I don't think anyone is saying printers and hard drives are going away any time soon...but Apple is making a calculated bet based on its own stores and data.
P.S. I would personally never buy a printer from Apple nor most accessories. These can usually be found cheaper elsewhere.
I went into the apple store westfarms, ct yesterday. it was packed like a night club on saturday night. there were easily 50 employees working and more than 200 patrons in the store. PACKED. everytime i walk into that store on a weekend i leave thinking "man i gotta buy more AAPL stock".
the ONLY area that wasn't full of people was the personal setup area. there were four employees sitting there and NOBODY using the service. in fact those 6 stations were the only ones without people crowded around apple product or talking to sales reps - because the reps were not allowed to help "ordinary" customers.
Same here in Winnipeg. Packed. Except for one thing. The personalised setup of four stations is always full and staff use some of the actual display computers to help people get set up if they do not need to use the customer's own newly bought computer. The Winnipeg store could use triple the customer setup area.
And there are a dozen stores within a quarter mile where you can buy virtually any peripheral you want, including Apple branded items.
The store in my hometown (Charlotte, NC) is mostly parsons tables and air. They need more product not less. Lots and lots of people talking very loudly in a fairly small retail space. Lots of staff looking like holdovers from the Heaven's Gate cult. I'm back to ordering from CDW and MacMall. Apple Stores are creepy.
Yeah, most of the NC stores are like that, the Greensboro store is a little better. I buy most of my stuff online anyways, better prices.
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
When the Laserwriter came out it was the only Postscript printer available which contributed greatly to the DTP success of the Mac. Subsequently they came out with ink jets, scanners, the Performa line, a camera, and other marginal quality consumer accessories. That is when it all went south for them.
It wasn't so much that they had a lot of SKUs that hurt them, it was the rise of corporate IT departments based on Windows that prevented Apple from leveraging their previous success in DTP into the main stream corporate and consumer markets. They lost that battle and had to cut the number of SKUs they sold in order to just survive, but the number of SKU was only a small contributor to Apple's failure to make inroads into corporate and consumer markets. It was in large part, the big shift to Windows 95 and Office as the de facto standard for home and business computing that ultimately tipped the balance in Microsoft's favor.
You seem to be living in the future or something. Whenever I give a presentation here at work, I print out that presentation for everyone to follow along with. If I emailed everyone the presentation (which I do sometimes) most of the people in the meeting would still print it out, with a few bringing their laptops in.
It'll will definitely get to where you think things currently are, with broadband being in every home, and printers being largely unneeded, but until then, bring yourself back to 2011 with us
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet.
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet.
Let me correct that for you:
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet that can read all versions of Microsoft Office documents, PC and Mac, flawlessly.
In my experience, my coworkers can easily create a PowerPoint presentation that can't load at all in Keynote, or Keynote just puts every animation on top of the last keyframe, making a half dozen copies of the same object/slide. It's a very messy import that rarely works flawlessly in the presentations we have.
And then there's Pages/Word, or Numbers/Excel which isn't even a close comparison.
Comments
Not everyone is connected to the internet though
Perhaps not everyone. But from one year go:
A new report released today by John B. Horrigan, formerly of Pew Internet and now at the Federal Communications Commission, finds that 78% of adults in the U.S. are internet users and 65% of adults have home broadband access.
Adults who do not have broadband at home fall into four categories:
Digitally Distant: 10% of the general population. Median age is 63. Half say that the internet is not relevant to their lives or they lack the digital literacy to adopt broadband.
Digital Hopefuls: 8% of the general population. Low-income, heavily Hispanic and African American. Likely to say they want to go online, but lack the resources.
Digitally Uncomfortable: 7% of the general population. Likely to own a computer, but lack skills and interest in taking advantage of all the internet has to offer.
Near Converts: 10% of the general population. Median age is 45. Cost is the biggest barrier to having broadband at home.
And apparently about 90% of households have access to broadband: http://hothardware.com/News/US-House...-A-Goal-Of-98/
Once again, Apple is skating to where the puck is going.
Online, digital, downloadable and stream-able products like books, magazines, news, music, movies & TV shows, software, etc. will ultimately result in changing a large amount of retail space (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Best Buy, etc.) to other uses.
Apple should design and sell its own printers.
They did, they should stay out of that business.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apple_printers
Apple should design and sell its own printers.
You must be new here
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
Also, a printer? Really? Printing is increasingly becoming a niche market. When you can carry anything you would need to read or show another person on a handheld device like an iPad or iPhone, printing isn't necessary.
That's like saying: "Not everyone has electricity in their home". Computers are now internet devices. People need to keep up with basic requirements or risk being left behind.
Since the rise in availability of broadband internet, I've wondered why software continued to be distributed on discs. This is Apple once again being ahead of the curve.
No it isn't
In fact, I don't have internet at my home, and I know about a hand full of people who don't either. You say you've wondered as if the answer isn't obvious: Not everyone has internet.
Not everyone is connected to the internet though
uh, who's buying a $1000+ computer with no internet at home?
You must be new here
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
Also, a printer? Really? Printing is increasingly becoming a niche market. When you can carry anything you would need to read or show another person on a handheld device like an iPad or iPhone, printing isn't necessary.
Again I laugh
You seem to be living in the future or something. Whenever I give a presentation here at work, I print out that presentation for everyone to follow along with. If I emailed everyone the presentation (which I do sometimes) most of the people in the meeting would still print it out, with a few bringing their laptops in.
It'll will definitely get to where you think things currently are, with broadband being in every home, and printers being largely unneeded, but until then, bring yourself back to 2011 with us
uh, who's buying a $1000+ computer with no internet at home?
Video editors, students, poor geeks with bad financial priorities?
Me? LOL
I went into the apple store westfarms, ct yesterday. it was packed like a night club on saturday night. there were easily 50 employees working and more than 200 patrons in the store. PACKED. everytime i walk into that store on a weekend i leave thinking "man i gotta buy more AAPL stock".
the ONLY area that wasn't full of people was the personal setup area. there were four employees sitting there and NOBODY using the service. in fact those 6 stations were the only ones without people crowded around apple product or talking to sales reps - because the reps were not allowed to help "ordinary" customers.
No it isn't
In fact, I don't have internet at my home, and I know about a hand full of people who don't either. You say you've wondered as if the answer isn't obvious: Not everyone has internet.
Yes, but it's a shrinking minority.
The store in my hometown (Charlotte, NC) is mostly parsons tables and air. They need more product not less. Lots and lots of people talking very loudly in a fairly small retail space. Lots of staff looking like holdovers from the Heaven's Gate cult. I'm back to ordering from CDW and MacMall. Apple Stores are creepy.
Apple is maximising the return on per square foot sales which is already the best in the business.
I vote for the vending machines.
Printers are virtually ubiquitous. Go to any Best Buy-like store, computer store, electronics store, WalMart, etc. etc. etc. Same for hard drives.
Apple is maximising the return on per square foot sales which is already the best in the business.
Yes. And my guess is that Apple knows what it's doing here. It knows what is and isn't selling in its own stores. I don't think anyone is saying printers and hard drives are going away any time soon...but Apple is making a calculated bet based on its own stores and data.
P.S. I would personally never buy a printer from Apple nor most accessories. These can usually be found cheaper elsewhere.
I went into the apple store westfarms, ct yesterday. it was packed like a night club on saturday night. there were easily 50 employees working and more than 200 patrons in the store. PACKED. everytime i walk into that store on a weekend i leave thinking "man i gotta buy more AAPL stock".
the ONLY area that wasn't full of people was the personal setup area. there were four employees sitting there and NOBODY using the service. in fact those 6 stations were the only ones without people crowded around apple product or talking to sales reps - because the reps were not allowed to help "ordinary" customers.
Same here in Winnipeg. Packed. Except for one thing. The personalised setup of four stations is always full and staff use some of the actual display computers to help people get set up if they do not need to use the customer's own newly bought computer. The Winnipeg store could use triple the customer setup area.
And there are a dozen stores within a quarter mile where you can buy virtually any peripheral you want, including Apple branded items.
The store in my hometown (Charlotte, NC) is mostly parsons tables and air. They need more product not less. Lots and lots of people talking very loudly in a fairly small retail space. Lots of staff looking like holdovers from the Heaven's Gate cult. I'm back to ordering from CDW and MacMall. Apple Stores are creepy.
Yeah, most of the NC stores are like that, the Greensboro store is a little better. I buy most of my stuff online anyways, better prices.
It was this kind of over reaching of SKUs that almost ended Apple.
When the Laserwriter came out it was the only Postscript printer available which contributed greatly to the DTP success of the Mac. Subsequently they came out with ink jets, scanners, the Performa line, a camera, and other marginal quality consumer accessories. That is when it all went south for them.
It wasn't so much that they had a lot of SKUs that hurt them, it was the rise of corporate IT departments based on Windows that prevented Apple from leveraging their previous success in DTP into the main stream corporate and consumer markets. They lost that battle and had to cut the number of SKUs they sold in order to just survive, but the number of SKU was only a small contributor to Apple's failure to make inroads into corporate and consumer markets. It was in large part, the big shift to Windows 95 and Office as the de facto standard for home and business computing that ultimately tipped the balance in Microsoft's favor.
Again I laugh
You seem to be living in the future or something. Whenever I give a presentation here at work, I print out that presentation for everyone to follow along with. If I emailed everyone the presentation (which I do sometimes) most of the people in the meeting would still print it out, with a few bringing their laptops in.
It'll will definitely get to where you think things currently are, with broadband being in every home, and printers being largely unneeded, but until then, bring yourself back to 2011 with us
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet.
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet.
Let me correct that for you:
Wouldn't have to do that if everyone has a tablet that can read all versions of Microsoft Office documents, PC and Mac, flawlessly.
In my experience, my coworkers can easily create a PowerPoint presentation that can't load at all in Keynote, or Keynote just puts every animation on top of the last keyframe, making a half dozen copies of the same object/slide. It's a very messy import that rarely works flawlessly in the presentations we have.
And then there's Pages/Word, or Numbers/Excel which isn't even a close comparison.