Terrible Launch for Tiger...

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I'm bummed about the launch of Tiger's operating system which was my first Apple event.



Well I thought it would be cool to line up early and see what these Apple releases were all about. I went to one of the two Atlanta retail stores and about 40-50 people showed up around 5:00 for a 6:00PM opening of the store.



I figured if you stood in line you would at least get a crack at the better promo items-they were giving away an iPod, PowerBook, iPod mini, iSight so the hardware was pretty decent and the odds were good being a smaller store. We probably has 60 people around the time the opened the store. I bet that at least we could buy Tiger for below retail given that Amazon is offering $30 off rebates.



Well they let us in and the sales staff was really friendly and clapped for everyone standing in line and they started passing out the cards which you scratched off to see what you won...and they passed out Tiger. Well bummer #1 was Tiger was given out at FULL MSRP. Then the 60 or so who had waited in line for an hour started scratching off the cards and no one won anything but a $0.99 iTunes song. Bummer #2. This is a way to reward customer loyalty. They give away MULTIPLE iTunes songs in soda promos now????



Not a great showing of loyalty by Apple. No T-shirts, nothing...



The Tiger demos were fairly impressive but I decided to order mine from Amazon and save some money. I guess I order my free $0.99 song now. Big Whoop.



I would have least stacked some of the "prize" cards in the first 50 or so cards so the most loyal users would have a chance. And I would have created a big discount on Tiger to help build word of mouth loyalty from the Mac faithful. It really seems like we should have just waited until later in the evening when the crowds had died down. Likely the PowerBook winner will walk into the store at 11PM when all excitement and crowds are no more...
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    It's not a rock concert it is an operating system.



    go install it and enjoy!1
  • Reply 2 of 22
    Ted,



    Don't you think people standing in line for an hour deserve something more than a $0.99 song?



    Don't you think Apple should offer a discount on Tiger fans if Amazon is offering a rebate?
  • Reply 3 of 22
    rhoqrhoq Posts: 190member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DifferentLee

    Don't you think people standing in line for an hour deserve something more than a $0.99 song?



    Don't you think Apple should offer a discount on Tiger fans if Amazon is offering a rebate?




    No and no. Sorry, but just because you took it upon yourself to stand in line for an hour doesn't mean that Apple owes you anything. It's not like they sent you an ivitation to stand in line with the promise of really cool prizes, if you do.



    What Amazon does has absolutely nothing to do with Apple. Apple rarely ever sells below their MSRP. Trust me when I say this - they are not too happy about Amazon's mail-in rebate.
  • Reply 4 of 22
    inakainaka Posts: 29member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DifferentLee

    Ted,



    Don't you think people standing in line for an hour deserve something more than a $0.99 song?



    Don't you think Apple should offer a discount on Tiger fans if Amazon is offering a rebate?




    Trust me, the idiots...err...I mean "fans" who are still sitting in line right now to see 'Revenge of the Sith' won't get a free DVD for waiting MONTHS in line, nor will they get a free or discounted ticket.



    All they will get is the chance to say they were the first to see this....well, they'll also probably get various eviction and collection notices, and maybe even a bad case of pneumonia...but hey, they were FIRST!
  • Reply 5 of 22
    jaredjared Posts: 639member
    I will admit, it would have been nice to get a t-shirt. I am sure they were giving them out at the Tiger Beer Bash at the Apple campus
  • Reply 6 of 22
    objra10objra10 Posts: 679member
    Since we don't have an Apple Store here, we went to the Apple Store in the CompUSA. I'll tell you what, it was a pretty cool party. They had a bunch of food, some demo's. Half the sales associates from CompUSA had face paint on (like a tiger). They gave away an iPod and an iPod mini, a bunch of pens, keylights, posters, mousepads, and some other stuff for free.



    It was a pretty cool party.
  • Reply 7 of 22
    Apple isn't going to put on anything special in the deep south. Try going to the San Francisco Apple Store next time - they'll probably have a fluffer working the lines the night before a big release.
  • Reply 8 of 22
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Loyalty Smoyalty





    I've dealt with Apple for years and their company culture has never changed. They are beyond a doubt the cheapest company I've ever seen that has had any modicum of success. It doesn't surprise me at all that you guys didn't get crapola for waiting in line.



    You want freebies and stuff you gotta roll with Microsoft.
  • Reply 9 of 22
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    They just delivered you Tiger, what more do you want? Holy fuck. I saw the lineup at my reseller, and I went to the strip joint 3 blocks a way, had a beer and lap dance to kill off the time.



    I did get a free "spotlight" key chain, but I would have preferred the free song. But I wasn't expecting anything, so I appreciated it.
  • Reply 10 of 22
    Man,



    You guys are some jaded folks judging from your answers.



    Why should we go to Apple's launch party if we can get the software cheaper from Amazon?



    Where's the value proposition?
  • Reply 11 of 22
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    There are lots of reasons to go to the Apple store, just not for price. I assume you do all your shopping at Wallmart, because everything is cheaper there - why bother going anywhere else?
  • Reply 12 of 22
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    and I went to the strip joint 3 blocks a way, had a beer and lap dance to kill off the time.











    DrifferentLee- Hey I feel you sometimes the effort to wait in line isn't worth it. T-Shirts would have been cool for everyone. It's adverstising.



    But you just have to understand that Apple has some company pathologies that need treatment. Seriously. Forgive them because they know not what they do.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    Don't get me wrong I love going to the Apple store. I just thought after standing in line we would be given more than an iTunes song. I guess I will just scale back my expectations.



    The Apple retail stores are very cool in my opinion. They are well-lit, minimalist in design in a convenient way, and are very contemporary. I have always found the sales staff to be superb. I've yet to meet one that is not also a sharp photographer, videographer, musician, programmer, designer, or recording engineer on the side.
  • Reply 14 of 22
    21122112 Posts: 36member
    (Flame deleted by moderator - JL)
  • Reply 15 of 22
    That's really uncalled for 2112.
  • Reply 16 of 22
    hardheadhardhead Posts: 644member
    DL, don't let the naysayers get ya down.



    I agree that the goodies (if any...) are probably going to go to the four or five "main" market areas.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    mokimoki Posts: 551member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Loyalty Smoyalty





    I've dealt with Apple for years and their company culture has never changed. They are beyond a doubt the cheapest company I've ever seen that has had any modicum of success. It doesn't surprise me at all that you guys didn't get crapola for waiting in line.



    You want freebies and stuff you gotta roll with Microsoft.




    Clearly you've never been to an Apple beer bash
  • Reply 18 of 22
    I went to the Tiger release party at the Apple store at Fashion Valley in San Diego, CA. I waited in line at 5 o'clock with the rest of us nerds and got in only to find out a couple of things. First, this bastard that was standing about 10 people in front of me won the PowerBook. Damn him. I don't even think he knew what he'd won when everybody started clapping, judging by the look on his face... Second, I won a 10% discount off the purchase of Tiger if I bought it that night. I thought to myself, "Awesome, I can use this in combination with the student discount I already have coming to me...". So I get up to the register, the guy there scans in a copy of Tiger, and says, "That'll be $129". I said, "No, I'd like to get the student discount please." Guess what? "Sorry, we're not offering any discounts tonight. Only online." Bleh! Well screw that. I went home and immediately purchased it online from the Apple store. It should be coming this Wednesday. Did they really believe that I was going to spend $129 on a product I can get for $69 with the only difference being the inconvenience of having to wait a few days? Oh well....
  • Reply 19 of 22
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    I always wondered why they put the Apple Store in Fashion Valley and not in Horton Plaza. Downtown San Diego is a much better choice then friggen way out towards Qualcomm Stadium.



    I was a squid stationed in San Diego for 4 years, lived on a 40-foot sailboat in Mission Bay next to Sea World. Oh yeah life sucked back then.
  • Reply 20 of 22
    I'm at SDSU, so the distance works out in my favor. Downtown is about 20 minutes Fashion Valley is 10. Of course, we actually have an Apple store on campus, but it's part of the bookstore and not a "fully fledged" Apple store. Either way, they didn't have a release party...
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