Apple Stores may end 'One to One' training sessions in near future, report claims

Posted:
in General Discussion edited August 2015
Apple is on the verge of phasing out its "One to One" training sessions for Apple Store customers, aiming to direct people into free, open workshops instead, a report said on Monday.




The company will honor any current One to One memberships until they run out, but no new ones will be sold, a source informed MacRumors. One to One costs $99 per year and offers basic training on Apple products via a mix of personal and group sessions.

Apple already runs a variety of free workshops at its stores, but the company is allegedly looking to reorganize them around themes like "Discover" and "Create." Workshops should also be easier to find on Apple's main website, instead of being buried in subsections for individual stores.

The motivation for the change is unclear, but Apple has largely ignored One to One during the past few years in terms of marketing and improvements. That could mean dwindling public interest in the program.

Alternately -- or because of low interest -- Apple might also want to maximize the labor it gets out of retail staff. Workers running personal One to One sessions aren't free to talk to other customers or process sales, which can potentially impede business.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    Has anyone here ever used them or know anyone that has? Not that my experiences amount to much but I can't think of a single person that has used those sessions.
  • Reply 2 of 30
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    I have a source that rold me that they are just getting rid of the annual price and the lame ass requirement that you buy a computer to get it. Instead the data migration will be like $30 and you can buy packs of lessons, at what will work out to being way over the $99 you pay for a year
  • Reply 3 of 30
    sandorsandor Posts: 658member
    I know people who have has standing weekly sessions for a number of years.
  • Reply 4 of 30
    A full year for the price of one AAPL share? That's a pretty good deal.
  • Reply 5 of 30
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post



    Has anyone here ever used them or know anyone that has? Not that my experiences amount to much but I can't think of a single person that has used those sessions.



    I went to one free session once just to see what it was about, but there were people utterly new to computers and it made the class intolerable.

  • Reply 6 of 30
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post

     



    I went to one free session once just to see what it was about, but there were people utterly new to computers and it made the class intolerable.


    Then no it was not one to one.

  • Reply 7 of 30
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post

     

    Then no it was not one to one.




    I know.

  • Reply 8 of 30
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post



    Has anyone here ever used them or know anyone that has? Not that my experiences amount to much but I can't think of a single person that has used those sessions.



    When I go too the Apple store I see some old people in One to One sessions.

  • Reply 9 of 30
    My father has been going to one-to-one classes for more than 5 years (he's 77), firstly with a 3 year subscription when he bought a MacBook Pro then when that ran out he bought an iMac so he could qualify for another 3 years. He loves his weekly pilgrimage to the local Apple Store! And it saves me a ton of time problem solving over iChat screen Sharing!
  • Reply 10 of 30
    Keep cutting those corners, Apple. That's you end up with rounded rectangles¡ ;)
  • Reply 11 of 30
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post



    Keep cutting those corners, Apple. That's you end up with rounded rectangles¡ image

    but...but...that's when Samsung starts copying them!

  • Reply 12 of 30
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post



    Has anyone here ever used them or know anyone that has? Not that my experiences amount to much but I can't think of a single person that has used those sessions.

    Some years ago, when purchasing a MacBook for a daughter, we bought that for her, to ensure she could get help with some

    video-related & other issues...but no, i don't think she ever used it after all...but that was in the good old days when you could always 'intuit' your way through pretty much anything - not all of us are up to that, these days, and, if I were purchasing a new iMac, I might have purchased it for various iTunes, iPhotos, iCloud & Family Sharing issues I could do a better job of blundering through...but now, apparently not.

  • Reply 13 of 30
    midiacmidiac Posts: 23member
    Spamsandwich had attended one of the free workshops, which can be difficult for more seasoned users, as it IS intended for those brand new to the products and to provide a general perspective per topic. This is one of the reasons why the OneToOne membership was so valuable. Because you could reserve an hour at a time with a higher-educated/trained specialist to ask questions and go into deeper levels within the Apple Device or Software. Keep in mind a lot of the trainers you'd get are or have been professionals in the creative field, and if your received private training from them outside of Apple, the average price would be around $50/hr. So, $99 or a whole year of as many of these sessions you'd like to take advantage of . . . is a hell of a bargain. And so will be whatever new pricing structure they come up with, but a lot of people only go for 2-3 sessions, then you never see them again.

    Now, most of the general public thinks they know everything, especially the younger generation, and don't opt for the OneToOne membership, except those who are old and wise and honest enough to say "I don't know"... of course until they have to come into the genius bar(complaining the whole time), that something is wrong with their device, only to come to find they didn't know how to work it and should have done some research or homework on their own if not to take advantage of the SEVERAL resources Apple provides to learn about their product. Like, ever try going to Apple.com? LOTS of info on there. But nowhere to ask a specific question to a person, in front of them, being able to show them your files and system and interact in a One To One human basis.

    It's important to stay connected physically these days. Or we are all just headed for the Axiom with Wally and EVE.

    Time to wake up people, get real, look in the mirror, and realize education is a good thing and Apple does a VERY good job taking care of that, or modifying how they are doing things to make the system better. . . case in point, making Genius Bar reservations may become easier . . .Right?

    Hate and negativity waste way too much energy.
    Be grateful for the services these people provide. Where else do you see / experience ANYTHING like it? Seriously.
  • Reply 14 of 30
    I think now a days most people go to YouTube or search the web rather than go through the hassle of trekking your stuff to an Apple Store, unless you have just never used an Apple product before, or it is a brand new product like the Apple Watch. These sessions have there place, but I think when these were started Apple was no where near as prolific as they are now and people couldn't just ask a friend for help with their Mac. It is good to know that there are still sessions for people that want them, but I think the web is where people go first.
  • Reply 15 of 30
    "I know people who have has standing weekly sessions for a number of years."

    Impossible. The customer is only allowed to book one Personal Training sessions at a time. Unless an employee is booking multiple sessions, in which case they are looking to get in trouble.
  • Reply 16 of 30

    We have people from ages 8 to 99 who come in. As a Creative, I love my job, helping people realize things they never thought possible. I've helped people learn about Final Cut Pro X and have gone on to submit full length movies to festivals, to helping kids learn how to better use their computer for school, and middle aged business folks learn the ins and outs of our office suite and go on to make some pretty impressive documents. 

     

    If in fact they get rid of the service, it will be a sad day indeed. Many people will not be able to fully benefit from our amazing and brilliant people who not only know the software inside and out, but also have a passion fro teaching and do so just as good as ANY teacher out there. This of course is referring to Creatives. 

     

    We'll see soon enough if this pans out to be true or not. 

  • Reply 17 of 30
    ds10ds10 Posts: 5member
    I've used them many times to get basic instruction on Logic (because they do things differently from most of the audio editing tools) and Final Cut Pro, because I'm not a video guy.
  • Reply 18 of 30
    tenlytenly Posts: 710member
    This is just a way for Apple to save a bit of money while trying to stay relevant in an industry that has left them behind. If this doesn't prove Apple is doomed, I don't know what will!!! DOOM!!! /s
    /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s /s
  • Reply 19 of 30
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,294member
    The One on One was very popular with older people who didn't grow up with computers. Many times the questions could be quite basic, but more often (IME) people wanted to learn how to do *one specific thing,* whatever that thing was. "I want to make a newsletter" or "I want to share my photos with friends" or something like that.
  • Reply 20 of 30
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,146member

    ...it has been a huge help for this user, allowing economical assistance for individual sessions and then follow up project work under the open session, literally completing small projects that would have taken much longer...

     

    Additionally 'Creatives' have seemed interested in uses of the MacOS, most recently complimenting what was suggested as one of the most compelling client promo books they had ever seen created in the iPhoto software, as well as occasionally discovering tricks, tips or figuring workarounds (including iWeb) in fact helping the 'Creative'...

     

    Of course it is also probably a good loss leader, as it is tough to leave without buying something!

     

    I wish they would actually expand the program to include iBooks Author & Server...

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