Thousands show up for the opening of the first Apple Store in Latin America
A crowd of more than 1,700 people descended on the Village Mall in Rio de Janeiro's famous Barra de Tijuca neighborhood on Saturday for the opening of the first official Apple Store in Latin America.
Customers began queuing outside the shop on Friday with some 163 people staying overnight for a chance to be among the first in the door on Saturday morning, according to Brazilian newspaper the Globe. Apple had anticipated as many as 1,500 people would attend, the paper said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted the company's appreciation to those who visited, the first time the executive has done so for a new store opening.
Latin America in general, and Brazil specifically, is becoming increasingly important for Apple as the company looks to expand adoption beyond traditional strongholds in the U.S. and Western Europe. Much like China --?also an exceptionally important market for Apple -- Brazil is home to a huge population with a quickly-developing economy and an expanding middle class.
Even with the fervor surrounding Saturday's opening, Apple still faces an uphill battle in Brazil. Thanks to the country's notoriously high import taxes, Apple products in Brazil cost nearly twice as much as they do in the U.S. --?a 16-gigabyte, contract-free iPhone 5s retails for the equivalent of just under $1,200 in Brazil compared to $649 in America, for example. Apple recently began manufacturing some iOS devices in Brazil, perhaps as a way to make those devices more affordable in light of the country's tax policy.
The Rio de Janeiro location comes five years after Apple opened the doors of its online store to Brazilian customers and just head of a two-year stretch in which Brazil's most famous city will play host to the World Cup and the Summer Olympics.
Customers began queuing outside the shop on Friday with some 163 people staying overnight for a chance to be among the first in the door on Saturday morning, according to Brazilian newspaper the Globe. Apple had anticipated as many as 1,500 people would attend, the paper said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted the company's appreciation to those who visited, the first time the executive has done so for a new store opening.
'Obrigado' to everyone who visited our new store in Rio de Janeiro today and to our terrific customers across Brazil! pic.twitter.com/3nFPxN4m3Y
-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) Latin America in general, and Brazil specifically, is becoming increasingly important for Apple as the company looks to expand adoption beyond traditional strongholds in the U.S. and Western Europe. Much like China --?also an exceptionally important market for Apple -- Brazil is home to a huge population with a quickly-developing economy and an expanding middle class.
Even with the fervor surrounding Saturday's opening, Apple still faces an uphill battle in Brazil. Thanks to the country's notoriously high import taxes, Apple products in Brazil cost nearly twice as much as they do in the U.S. --?a 16-gigabyte, contract-free iPhone 5s retails for the equivalent of just under $1,200 in Brazil compared to $649 in America, for example. Apple recently began manufacturing some iOS devices in Brazil, perhaps as a way to make those devices more affordable in light of the country's tax policy.
The Rio de Janeiro location comes five years after Apple opened the doors of its online store to Brazilian customers and just head of a two-year stretch in which Brazil's most famous city will play host to the World Cup and the Summer Olympics.
Comments
Then again, it's also true that Auburn, AL--Tim Cook's own college town--is also without an Apple store. I live there and the closest stores are some two hours away in either Birmingham or Atlanta. Note these facts, many driven by the high-tech companies moving here.
* In 2013 Lumosity placed it on a list of fifty of the "Smartest Cities" in the country.
* That same year Forbes voted it the #10 Best Small City for Jobs in the U.S. and the #18 Best Place for Business and Careers.
* U.S. News, with its usual list-mania, has rated it one of the "Top 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S."
* Finally, this year Forbes voted it one of the "Top 25 Best Places to Retire."
In short, there's something for all ages and all aspirations (except surfing). About the only thing Auburn lacks is an Apple Store.
--Mike Perry
Wouldn't "thousands" mean 2,000+, whereas 1,700 is "over a thousand"?
Even thought it's not the best choice for clear communication I'd say anything over 1000 (even 1000.00000000000001) can be seen as 1000 plus a fraction of another thousand and therefore can technically be used in the plural. I certainly wouldn't use it that way nor would I knock someone for using it unless 1) I felt they were purposely misleading their audience, or 2) it was for a scientific paper in which clarify was key.
Interesting, but are there any cities under 60,000 population, not suburbs, that have a store? And aren't college towns sometimes covered by Apple sections in the bookstore?
Wouldn't "thousands" mean 2,000+, whereas 1,700 is "over a thousand"?
Yes. They should have used - Over a thousand, Nearly two thousand, Close to two thousand but thousands would require at the very minimum two thousand or more. You can have similar debates over words like a couple, a few, many, and several. My general rule of thumb is a couple is 2, a few is 3 and rarely 4, several would mean at least three but not exceeding five, and many would be more than 6 those those certainly are up for debate. But when it comes to thousands the rule is very clear that it requires more than 2,000 since when you write out 1,7000 it is one thousand seven hundred and one is not plural.
Even thought it's not the best choice for clear communication I'd say anything over 1000 (even 1000.00000000000001) can be seen as 1000 plus a fraction of another thousand and therefore can technically be used in the plural. I certainly wouldn't use it that way nor would I knock someone for using it unless 1) I felt they were purposely misleading their audience, or 2) it was for a scientific paper in which clarify was key.
The collins Dictionary is pretty specific :-)
.... the numbers 2000--9999
Here is a quick and dirty search looking for cities I know that are college towns, touristy, or that I've never heard as a potential indicator of having a small population.
I found a couple, like Palo Alto, that were just over over 60k.
The OAD3 is unfortunately less specific.
thousand |?THouz?nd|
cardinalnumber (pl. thousands |?THouzndz| or (with numeral or quantifying word) same) (a/one thousand)
• (thousands) the numbers from one thousand to 9,999: the cost of repairs could be in the thousands.
• (usu. thousands) informal an unspecified large number: you'll meet thousands of girls before you find the one you like | I have imagined it a thousand times.
Interesting, but are there any cities under 60,000 population, not suburbs, that have a store? And aren't college towns sometimes covered by Apple sections in the bookstore?
You are using the strict city limit population which can be very misleading. Often the city limit is a very tiny portion of the population. Auburn has probably closer to 150,000 if you include the suburbs. It is also very close to Columbus, GA which has a metro area of around 300,000. If you look at just the population of the city of Atlanta which is relatively small area it is only around 444,000 but in reality there are around 5 million living in Atlanta just not inside the city lines.
The collins Dictionary is pretty specific :-)
.... the numbers 2000--9999
And also patently obvious. Once you reach 10,000 you start using tens of thousands. Although if you choose to be less precise you could technically use thousands all the way up to a million I suppose. I prefer less ambiguity.
Ok, it's cool, but, in the end, it's just a computer company, a business.
Do people do that when Ferrari opens a new store?
Are you really debating on what 'thousands' means?
So you’re unfamiliar with the human concept of desire?
What does this tell you about Ferrari?
I never understood all this excitement over an opening, it's ridiculous.
Ok, it's cool, but, in the end, it's just a computer company, a business.
Do people do that when Ferrari opens a new store?
Are you really debating on what 'thousands' means?
If you don't "get it" any words of explanation would be wasted on you, Frenchman.
Apple store openings are a cultural phenomenon I really don't understand. I have plenty of desire for the products, but that's a quite different thing from queuing for a store opening.
Wouldn't "thousands" mean 2,000+, whereas 1,700 is "over a thousand"?
On the one hand I think you're correct. We can split hairs and go either way, cite different dictionaries to support one side or the other. But I'm with you, their wording is slightly on the inaccurate side and could easily be improved.
On the other hand, I think it's a minor flaw in today's headline. "Thousands" is almost OK. Sometimes, AI's headlines have words that aren't even close to OK and they seem like major flaws to me. I think I'll speak up the next time I see one of those.
Mark Twain gave instruction on how to write well: "Use the correct word, not its first cousin." So in this case I think "thousands" is the first cousin of the correct word, but sometimes we see headline words that aren't even related to the correct word!