Apple Store idea that will have PC users flying over to the Mac.

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 57
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    Another problem is that having an Apple Store INSIDE an Airport would limit their customers to people who are FLYING. For those who aren't flying, they wouldn't be able to shop at an Airport Apple Store, because Airports don't allow non-flying visitors to enter the terminals any longer. And even if they did, who would want to deal with the traffic and parking of an airport?



    Malls are the best place, they get lots of traffic and people at malls are there to SHOP, not to fly.



    Eh, this is such a bad idea, I can't believe anyone actually thought of it.
  • Reply 22 of 57
    [quote]Originally posted by Paul:

    <strong>why is this in os X and not GD? we have like 20 moderators....</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Good point. Moving...
  • Reply 23 of 57
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Ok, I think an actual Apple Store that sold computers inside an airport is a bad idea. However, let's talk about something they could do to get more exposure for the Mac. My parents actually sent e-mail from a web station in LAX while they were waiting on their flight. They had to pay a couple bucks to use it, but I think lots of travelers would probably pay a few dollars to surf around for a while.



    Apple should do this. Have a cyber station that has both a small cafe (perhaps they could even do a joint venture with a food service), and have all flat panel iMacs available for web usage. Line them up right by the window so you can look at them. Also, have something like a flight status either on the iMacs themselves or right around.





    Call it THE RDF?.
  • Reply 24 of 57
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    [quote]Originally posted by bunge:

    <strong>Starbucks went with someone else for in store wireless connectivity, I forgot which company because I don't go to Starbucks, but that would have been perfect for Apple.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    and

    [quote]Originally posted by Kickaha:

    <strong>Yup, and that company is now out of business. No more Starbuck's wireless. Which isn't that big a loss, really, since you *had* to be an MSN member to use it. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why have a service in the first place? Buy a cable modem/DSL, slap a Airport hub on that thing, and set up the DHCP server. It's not that complicated, and you certainly don't need a company to do this.



    They could bypass the middleman, and pocket the dough $$



    [ 07-24-2002: Message edited by: Ebby ]</p>
  • Reply 25 of 57
    [quote]Originally posted by drewprops:

    <strong>Agreed.

    People aren't going to buy anything but souvenirs at an airport.....and selling an iMac as a keychain just isn't going to happen.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The shopping mall in Gatwick Airport is larger than my city's entire airport.



    This idea might work... but not in the United States. Airports in Europe typically have enormous shopping concourses, because, amongst other reasons, there is the possibility of duty-free shopping.



    An Apple Store at Gatwick, Schippol, or Fiumicino might be a terrific idea.
  • Reply 26 of 57
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Michael is on track (good idea), but Eugene is right. Somewhere in the middle of those two probably lies a good idea.



    Kinda what TigerWoods99 says.



    Perhaps not a full-tilt Apple Store, where buying and lugging stuff out is the goal, but rather an Apple-centric Internet/e-mail cafe.



    A little mini Apple Store (same snazzy interior design: hard floors, white displays, cool posters/displays on the wall, etc.), but with banks of iMacs set up, hooked to the Internet.



    Maybe an iBook or two where people can sit on a couch, totally unencumbered by wires (a great advertisement for AirPort).



    Maybe a scaled-down screen in the back, playing loops of the "Switch" campaign as well as those little promo videos that accompany the release of new products (like the iMac one with Seal, Coppola, etc.).



    One check-out/cash counter (where people pay their surfing fee). Then a bunch of iMacs (how many would depend upon the particular airport, location, traveler frequency, etc....anywhere from 5-20? I don't know).



    But THAT would be a very cool idea. Eugene, nearly everytime I go to pick up a buddy from an airport, something gets delayed or messed up and I usually seem to have anywhere from an extra 30-90 minutes to kill.



    Instead of sitting there, chewing gum and reading Time magazine, I'd pay a little bit to go surf the Web and stuff.



    Planes and flights are delayed or rescheduled ALL THE TIME (especially post-9/11) and people are required to get to airports insanely early these days. Lots of times they do, only to find out the check-in/security procedure went MUCH quicker than expected, and now they're stuck with an hour or so to kill.



    There is NOTHING wrong or silly about an Apple-based Internet cafe at major airports.



    Small, simple, clean. Cash register, some iMacs, movies in the back, literature laying around, Apple's homepage set as the default opening page on the browser, one employee to both answer questions about Macs and run the cash register. Two AT MOST.



    I dig the idea. Best one I've heard here in quite a while, actually!
  • Reply 27 of 57
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Sorry, couldn't resist...



    Gee, I've never mocked up a building/store before!







    Please bear in mind I'm not an architect, engineer, builder, construction designer, etc., and therefore know NOTHING about the things these people would know about.



    Just throwing an idea out for our collective amusement, so don't waste time/energy breaking my balls over ceiling height, floorspace, etc. because I don't claim to know about that aspect of things. Nor do I REALLY care. It is what it is.












    [ 07-25-2002: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>
  • Reply 28 of 57
    sizzle chestsizzle chest Posts: 1,133member
    More comfy stools!
  • Reply 29 of 57
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Some details/info/explanations:



    1. Overall, the look would definitely be patterned after the Apple retail stores. Only a smaller, scaled-down version. No big window displays needed.



    2. Hardwood floor, matching tables, white walls, big displays of Apple stuff on the walls (just like the retail stores).



    3. Movie screen in back shows a combination of all the "Switch" ads AND those little 10-15 minute promo spots shown at Macworld when a new product is unveiled. Randomly mixed together, jumbled around and looped continually. Again, just like the Apple retail stores. A bench placed in front of the screen for people to wait their turn or for the friends/family member(s) of someone on a Mac to wait while they're using it.



    4. Browsers are set to open to Apple's home page. Or maybe the online Apple store?



    5. No Combo or SuperDrive iMacs. Go cheap with the low-end CD-RW models, since these are just surfing/e-mail stations. No need for DVD playback or certainly not SuperDrive usage.



    6. No speakers needed. Not a music listening station (plus, 10 people blaring away at once would get REALLY obnoxious)



    7. Cashier stand doubles as a info/literature kiosk, with pamphlets and brochures of the latest Apple stuff readily available and in plentiful amounts to hand out to the curious, or potential customers.



    8. Unlike the retail stores (which are obvious as to what they are, plus most people going to them know what they are in the first place and know WHY they're going there), these would probably have to incorporate a name to let the average, non-Mac using traveler know what this place is or what it's about (hence the silly "iStation" moniker). WE, the faithful/loyal, all know what a store that has two white Apple logos on it is, but a great many others wouldn't. So they'd have to call it "Apple something or other...". Personally, since this IS an Internet-oriented thing, I'd really push for the "i" usage. iBar, iCafe, iStation, iSurf, etc. Whatever.



    Looking at it, the store could probably stand to get much skinnier and smaller (lengthwise).



    And yes, sizzlechest, more comfy stools



    Didn't want to take the time to draw padding, arms, backs, etc. The stools could be much nicer.



    [ 07-25-2002: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>
  • Reply 30 of 57
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    [quote]Originally posted by pscates:

    <strong>6. No speakers needed. Not a music listening station (plus, 10 people blaring away at once would get REALLY obnoxious)</strong><hr></blockquote>



    There may be a way around this. At a nearby Fry's, they use parabolic dishes to reflect sound directly to a specific area. I could stand 3 feet from someone listening to a heavy metal CD and not know it. If I go to Fry's, I will try to take a snapshot. :cool:
  • Reply 31 of 57
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    That's probably getting a bit involved



    I say no speakers (except for the tinny built-in one so you can hear beeps/clicks), OR simply have headphones plugged-in at each iMac.



    Again though, not really looking to encourage someone to come in and stick in his Train CD and sit there only listening to music and hogging the machine. It's more for surfing, checking e-mail, etc.



    Plus, the headphones would probably get swiped/stolen on a constant, ongoing basis.
  • Reply 32 of 57
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    LOL



    Headphones that electrocute the user if they are not plugged into a Mac... <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 33 of 57
    Here is my vision of an Apple Airport Store.



    CLICK TO SEE INTERACTIVE LARGE VERSION

    <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/michael_m/AppleStore/Index.html"; target="_blank"></a>
  • Reply 34 of 57
    the idea of an apple store in a airport is a really great idea. Sure there probably wouldn't be that many purchases there. But if you sold some trinkets and crap with apple logos on it, people would buy that kind of stuff. But most importantly they would find out how cool apple computers are.



    All you would have to do is make sure that when you leave the apple store in the airport that they remember <a href="http://www.apple.com/store"; target="_blank">www.apple.com/store</a>
  • Reply 35 of 57
    Well, a couple of months ago Apple had a booth in both Copenhagen and Stockholm airports for a week or so. You could play around with different Macs and finally if you were flying to Stockholm (or Cph) you could take an iPod with you, even bring it home if you were to fly back again that same week.
  • Reply 36 of 57
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    This is still a terrible idea. First, airports are huge. It's not like there's one Starbucks or one magazine stand in each airport. these little shops dot the entire airport, from terminal to terminal, conveyor to conveyor. Putting one puny Apple websurfing station in a random terminal is not going to help.



    Apple's money is better spent with big posters and maybe a kiosk based set-up...have 6 or so eMacs/iMacs along the wall in sit-down booth set-ups or at a circular table. They would also have to go with special keyboards...spillproof ones.



    They would be completely unmanned and located throughout the different terminals.



    Even this doesn't sound like a good idea to me.



    Why an airport and not a mall? I don't get it. Give waiting husbands something to do while the wife runs up the credit card.
  • Reply 37 of 57
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    I would love if Apple had a store in one of the airports in NYC. Then when I go to US next year to buy myself a cheap Ti I would not have to set my feet on officially dirty uncultural US ground
  • Reply 38 of 57
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    Sorry guys, but Eugene is the voice of reason.



    It costs MEGABUCKS to rent space in a mall. The traffic is comprised of plenty of lookers and few true shoppers. A company has to sell a good bit of their product just to clear the monthly rent, employee expeneses, utility costs, insurance costs, marketing costs and other similar setup expenses. They have to do all that before they begin to clear profit.



    Now multiply the cost per foot of one of those mall stores by 2 or 3 or 5 (depending on location) and remove the "few true shoppers".



    A computer purchase is a CONSIDERED purchase, unless you're wealthy. As a businessman I will not gamble my company's fortunes gambling that one of my stores will be graced by a lot of foot traffic by well-off foreign dignitaries who just happen to want to drop $1600 before they run get onto a plane. That's a ridiculous proposition. INSANELY NOT GREAT in fact.



    What you have here is a Nifty Notion, that's all. Yes, you get a steady stream of people, but they're NOT shoppers. The most they'll buy is a t-shirt or an umbrella or some kind of chatchka. They're tired, they're frustrated, they're worried, they're rushed, they're frightened, they're here to meet a loved one, they're here for every possible reason in the world OTHER than to buy a computer. The few magic customers you'd get would be outweighed, as pointed out earlier, by inconsiderate boobs who have no regard for the store or its products. It would turn into a nasty mess in no time flat.



    The machines would get trashed. There would be theft....there's no way in Hell that I'm going to let somebody walk around the store with an iBook.



    Go ahead and redesign the current Apple Stores all you want, I think you're wasting your time.



    The spirit is right, the placement is wrong.



    I hate to be so negative, but this just isn't a good idea.



    D
  • Reply 39 of 57
    giaguaragiaguara Posts: 2,724member
    If buying an ibook at the airport i pay 20 % less for it than here I WOULD BUY IT!!!!



    anyway...



    i've seen email checking points only in zurich and london. in zurich it was a decent one (with laptop... pcs) .. in london... AAAAARGH!!! i could check only my hotmails!!! AAARGH..!!!



    <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> i'd love the mac surfing points.. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 40 of 57
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    No, just once will do.
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