Are any apple employees smart?

[Nemisis]

I just took a trip to my local Apple store which isn't that far away, maybe 10-15 minutes. I intended to buy a cover or case for my ipod touch, which I didn't by the way cause they only had one kind and I didn't like it. That's not the point of my story though. While I'm there, I decide to ask and see if they are going to be supporting 64bit versions of windows vista with the release of leopard. I can tell right away by the guys reaction that he has no idea what I am even talking about. He says to hold on a minute while some other employee finishes talking to a customer and ask him. While I do that, he looks online at the Support Site on apple.com and he calls me over to the computer. He says that he typed in Windows Vista 64 bit support and that there was this thing called bonjour that I could download. I had no idea what that was, so I assumed it would help me out. I go back home, download it and figure out that he just had me download some program that I have no use for and that will not help me out with my ipod not working on my laptop. He didn't answer my question at all because he was stupid...My question is this: are all apple this stupid? Or did I just ask the wrong guy?

[derryquinn]

I just took a trip to my local Apple store which isn't that far away, maybe 10-15 minutes. I intended to buy a cover or case for my ipod touch, which I didn't by the way cause they only had one kind and I didn't like it. That's not the point of my story though. While I'm there, I decide to ask and see if they are going to be supporting 64bit versions of windows vista with the release of leopard. I can tell right away by the guys reaction that he has no idea what I am even talking about. He says to hold on a minute while some other employee finishes talking to a customer and ask him. While I do that, he looks online at the Support Site on apple.com and he calls me over to the computer. He says that he typed in Windows Vista 64 bit support and that there was this thing called bonjour that I could download. I had no idea what that was, so I assumed it would help me out. I go back home, download it and figure out that he just had me download some program that I have no use for and that will not help me out with my ipod not working on my laptop. He didn't answer my question at all because he was stupid...My question is this: are all apple this stupid? Or did I just ask the wrong guy?

Not all of them, but yeah, the guy near me is a complete retard.

[Patrickool93]

Well if your talking about the one in Legacy Village, they can be quite stupid, others are a lot smarter. The geniuses that walk away from the counter are the people to grab and speak to.

[mrkramer]

They are not all stupid, and most of the ones that I have talked to are fairly knowlegable about current products but they don't know a lot about future products even if they are alreardy announced, but possibly In this situation it would have been better to say bootcamp instead of leopard.

[j/k/Andy]

My question is this: are all apple this stupid? Or did I just ask the wrong guy?

Stupid, no, uninformed, yes, after all it's retail.

Even at the applecare bar, it's hard to find a genius.

[iTouch]

Stupid, no, uninformed, yes, after all it's retail.

Even at the applecare bar, it's hard to find a genius.

Agreed. But sometimes, they can be stupid and greedy when 800 Apple employees tried to cash in on the $100 iPhone credit when it was given to them for free.

[sananda]

Agreed. But sometimes, they can be stupid and greedy when 800 Apple employees tried to cash in on the $100 iPhone credit when it was given to them for free.

that was very silly of them and lost them their jobs.

[clevin]

I encountered 2 apple tech ppl, both are ok, nothing special, but not stupid neither.

[Brian513A]

you, my friend, are very biased. and rude. and extremely misunderstanding. maybe the guy was new. give him a break. it's a retail business. generally, the employees aren't told anything. customers usually hear about things before employees of a company do. just have a heart, man... geez.

[aft]

this is something that I have a huge issue with. It isn't just apple stores either it is most retailers. I can't tell you how many times I have heard employees giving out wrong information, just last week I heard an employee at best buy tell somebody that if they buy an iPod they could only sync with a Mac. During the same trip I had a questions about the number of HDMI inputs there were on a tv and it took 3 employees including a manager...i just wanted to see the back of the tv!!! Some level of technical knowledge should be required to work in these stores.

[Axl Rose]

Why are some of them called geniuses,they work at an apple store.... not to special....:confused:

[iMouse]

Yeah, the one "genius" that I talked to at Legacy Village was definately a text book Mac tech without a clue. I love how these people read a book, take a test, and immediately become qualified to answer questions about Apple products that they've obviously not used enough to understand.

I guess all of us hard-core Mac techs got better jobs cleaning rootkits out of Windows boxes and spending our spare time looking for vintage Macs on e-bay! :D

I bet if I asked if they still had 1.44 MB SuperDrives for my Mac IIsi, they'd probably try to sell me a DVD/RW drive...

[tdhurst]

Nemisis-

I used to work at the Apple Store as a Mac Specialist. You'd be surprised how little technical training Apple gives its employees. It's really not the retail people's jobs to know the answers to relatively obscure (and yes, your question about 64 bit support would be obscure compared to most questions we get asked) inquiries such as yours.

That being said, most of us knew answers to questions like that simply by reading tech specs, checking self-tutorials and other Apple supplied quizzes. Problem was, we were usually too busy showing a Windows user how to reset an iPod or researching some crazy compatibility issue (e.g. Will ClarisWorks work on my G5? or WordPerfect is what I have used forever, why doesn't it open in Pages) or HAVING TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO PLAY "STUMP THE APPLE GUY" every damn time they were in.

If you want answers to questions such as that, you're best served going online.

A Mac Specialist job is to explain to people how to use Macs, not bone up on knowledge that will only help .1% of customers.

[iMouse]

You call a question like that "obscure"?! I know PC techs that know how to come up with a better answer than to download Bonjour! Bonjour isn't even anywhere near the Boot Camp/Leopard/Windows 64-bit compatibility realm! So next time my Mac decides to render pages slowly in Safari, I should buy a new power supply...right? Hey, more power can't hurt!


...please. That's a horrible answer from someone who should be at least a little in the know about Macs and Windows compatibility. I probably would have given him a break even if he was close...

Going online to find somewhat correct answers for the customer should be the Apple Geniuses job, not give the customer a completely bogus answer because they didn't have time to look or even have a clue what they were looking for. Ask someone else if you don't know...bogus answers help no-one.

[Drumjim85]

they're about as smart as the people at guitar center.... :rolleyes:

[tdhurst]

You call a question like that "obscure"?! I know PC techs that know how to come up with a better answer than to download Bonjour! Bonjour isn't even anywhere near the Boot Camp/Leopard/Windows 64-bit compatibility realm! So next time my Mac decides to render pages slowly in Safari, I should buy a new power supply...right? Hey, more power can't hurt!


...please. That's a horrible answer from someone who should be at least a little in the know about Macs and Windows compatibility. I probably would have given him a break even if he was close...

Going online to find somewhat correct answers for the customer should be the Apple Geniuses job, not give the customer a completely bogus answer because they didn't have time to look or even have a clue what they were looking for. Ask someone else if you don't know...bogus answers help no-one.

Notice I said "relatively obscure."

Glad that you know PC techs who have better answers. Last I check, Mac Specialists are nowhere NEAR PC techs. They are salespeople, not tech support.

If you want to get a tougher question answer, go find a genius. The regular mac specialists receive about a tenth as much training.

[Nemisis]

You call a question like that "obscure"?! I know PC techs that know how to come up with a better answer than to download Bonjour! Bonjour isn't even anywhere near the Boot Camp/Leopard/Windows 64-bit compatibility realm! So next time my Mac decides to render pages slowly in Safari, I should buy a new power supply...right? Hey, more power can't hurt!


...please. That's a horrible answer from someone who should be at least a little in the know about Macs and Windows compatibility. I probably would have given him a break even if he was close...

Going online to find somewhat correct answers for the customer should be the Apple Geniuses job, not give the customer a completely bogus answer because they didn't have time to look or even have a clue what they were looking for. Ask someone else if you don't know...bogus answers help no-one.
Exactly. The answer that man gave me had nothing to do with the question. All he did was found a topic that had to do with windows 64 bit, and told me to do that. He could have at least told me he didn't know, or asked another person instead of trying to make it appear that he knew when, in actuality, he had no clue.

[Drumjim85]

Exactly. The answer that man gave me had nothing to do with the question. All he did was found a topic that had to do with windows 64 bit, and told me to do that. He could have at least told me he didn't know, or asked another person instead of trying to make it appear that he knew when, in actuality, he had no clue.

The phrase "I don't know" is very under rated...

[sananda]

The phrase "I don't know" is very under rated...

very true.

[Agent Smith]

Exactly. The answer that man gave me had nothing to do with the question. All he did was found a topic that had to do with windows 64 bit, and told me to do that. He could have at least told me he didn't know, or asked another person instead of trying to make it appear that he knew when, in actuality, he had no clue.

I would agree that a simple, "I'm not sure, let me try to find out for you" would have been a better response, but to suggest stupidity on the part of Apple or its employees is painting them with quite a large brush. You need to remember that the retail stores are geared more towards the consumer market, and that the vast majority of the consumer market Apple is targeting will probably not be concerned with 64 bit compatibility. If Apple thought this to be a priority, I'm sure they would be running ads extoling the ability of the iMac to run 64 bit windows apps in those PC vs. Mac ads.:rolleyes:

The point is this: the name "specialist" or "genius" is a designation that Apple gives their retail employees, not the employees themselves. Second, as a consumer oriented retail store, I would not expect them to know the answer to a question dealing with Windows compatibility on such, and yes it is, a relatively obscure question. Personally, I would do my own research into the question by turning to a computer forum where experienced Mac users frequent. But that's just me...

[LethalWolfe]

As others have said, they are retail employees. They are trained to sell stuff and answer relatively basic/common consumer questions. Anything beyond that is a bonus. If you go to a movie store do you expect the people behind the counter to be complete film buffs? Should the people at the chain sporting goods store to be be able to talk about the finer points mountain biking gear? Do you think people working at Dairy Queen know much about ice cream beyond how to properly dispense it from the machine?

The typical retail employee turnover is measured in months. No company is gonna invest a lot of time and money training grunts that most likely won't be working for them anymore in 8 months. Yeah, they may get the occasional "mac geek" high school or college kid that sticks around longer working part time, but pretty much anyone out of school that knows a lot about computers can, and will, get a better job than working at an Apple Store.


Lethal

[Nemisis]

I'm just saying, since he had no idea, why answer if he didn't have an idea?

Second, as a consumer oriented retail store, I would not expect them to know the answer to a question dealing with Windows compatibility on such, and yes it is, a relatively obscure question.
He did answer the question; he answered the question with a very wrong answer.

If you go to a movie store do you expect the people behind the counter to be complete film buffs? Should the people at the chain sporting goods store to be be able to talk about the finer points mountain biking gear? Do you think people working at Dairy Queen know much about ice cream beyond how to properly dispense it from the machine?
If I ask a person behind the counter of a movie store, for example, when some movie is going to be released, I don't expect them to give me a totally wrong answer just because he doesn't know; I do expect him, however, to answer with the best of his knowledge or get help with the question. If it is an "I'm sorry, I cannot answer that," that is fine.

If I ask a person at a dairy queen what the content of sugar is in the ice cream or something, I do not expect that person to give me some bogus answer just because he doesn't know. I'd prefer a much more simple answer: "I don't know, sorry."

My point is that he didn't even bother to read up on the article a bit. He just saw that it had Windows vista 64bit in the title, and chose that article.

[savar]

Not all of them...just the ones that work in the retail stores.

[asxtb]

Sorry for the stupid question but... How does Leopard supporting 64bit Vista relate to an iPod working with a laptop? Is there something I'm missing? :confused:

[tdhurst]

Sorry for the stupid question but... How does Leopard supporting 64bit Vista relate to an iPod working with a laptop? Is there something I'm missing? :confused:

I was trying to explain that most questions asked of Apple Store employees are of the mundane type. That's all.

I DO agree with the OP, if the retail employee didn't know the answer, he should have just said so. His response was ridiculous.

As another poster said, "I don't know" is a perfectly acceptable answer for someone working in a retail position.

[gkarris]

While I'm there, I decide to ask and see if they are going to be supporting 64bit versions of windows vista with the release of leopard. I can tell right away by the guys reaction that he has no idea what I am even talking about...

Sorry for the stupid question but... How does Leopard supporting 64bit Vista relate to an iPod working with a laptop? Is there something I'm missing? :confused:


I would have to side with the employee. I have no idea what this even means. Seems to me like you are trying to run 64-Bit Vista under Leopard...

[tdhurst]

I would have to side with the employee. I have no idea what this even means. Seems to me like you are trying to run 64-Bit Vista under Leopard...

Well, he was asking that. He wants to know, whether via boot camp (preferably boot camp, I bet) or Parallels, whether 64 bit versions of Vista are supported.

I will argue it's not even a Mac related question though. I'd much rather have apple employees know be able to teach someone how to use iMovie rather than them knowing about Windows compatibility.

[bogman12]

Well if they're smart, they should be doing much better things than working at a consumer retail store.

[Hitch]

I just took a trip to my local Apple store which isn't that far away, maybe 10-15 minutes. I intended to buy a cover or case for my ipod touch, which I didn't by the way cause they only had one kind and I didn't like it. That's not the point of my story though. While I'm there, I decide to ask and see if they are going to be supporting 64bit versions of windows vista with the release of leopard. I can tell right away by the guys reaction that he has no idea what I am even talking about. He says to hold on a minute while some other employee finishes talking to a customer and ask him. While I do that, he looks online at the Support Site on apple.com and he calls me over to the computer. He says that he typed in Windows Vista 64 bit support and that there was this thing called bonjour that I could download. I had no idea what that was, so I assumed it would help me out. I go back home, download it and figure out that he just had me download some program that I have no use for and that will not help me out with my ipod not working on my laptop. He didn't answer my question at all because he was stupid...My question is this: are all apple this stupid? Or did I just ask the wrong guy?

So the Apple store employee didn't have a clue if Leopard will support the 64 bit versions of Windows Vista and you didn't have a clue what Bonjour was, yet you call HIM stupid? I think the label applies to more than one.

So what if you downloaded Bonjour, it's not like it turned your computer into a turnip. As a consumer one has to know where to go for quetions to get more accurate answers, this is also a sign of intelligence.

[Nemisis]

I'm stupid because I never heard of Bonjour and I don't work at an Apple store? I don't think so. It was evident he had no idea what I was talking about or even what bonjour is and he is the one who works for apple. How am I suppose to know what bonjour is? I never heard of it before. I did download bonjour, found that it had nothing to do with my question and removed it. No big, I have no problem with that. I just don't see why he would have given me such a lame response.

My question wasn't whether vista will work with leopard or anything of the sort. I guess I didn't exactly state my question like I asked the guy in the store. I said how iPods do not work on 64 bit Versions of Vista. Then, I said, since leopard is going to be 64 bit, will they make the iPods work on 64 bit versions of Windows Vista. That's what I asked. I apologize if I didn't make that clear enough for you guys, but I made it clear enough for the employee who gave me an answer that had nothing to do with iPods.

[gkarris]

Well, he was asking that. He wants to know, whether via boot camp (preferably boot camp, I bet) or Parallels, whether 64 bit versions of Vista are supported.

I will argue it's not even a Mac related question though. I'd much rather have apple employees know be able to teach someone how to use iMovie rather than them knowing about Windows compatibility.

Oh, employee should have asked or got someone who knew.

My understanding of virtualization is that server virtualization copies the actual hardware, whereas the desktop virtualization programs (the ones I've tried) simply virtualize a "generic PC", so you have, say, a generic P4 under virtualization even though you may be running a Core 2 Duo...

So, running 64-bit Vista would depend on what Parallels or VMWare supports...

Should have had a bit more dialog to hash this out so that the employee can get the customer in the right direction.

[asxtb]

I was trying to explain that most questions asked of Apple Store employees are of the mundane type. That's all.

I DO agree with the OP, if the retail employee didn't know the answer, he should have just said so. His response was ridiculous.

As another poster said, "I don't know" is a perfectly acceptable answer for someone working in a retail position.
Sorry, I was referring to the OP. I didn't understand the connection between Leopard supporting Windows and an iPod not working.

I said how iPods do not work on 64 bit Versions of Vista. Then, I said, since leopard is going to be 64 bit, will they make the iPods work on 64 bit versions of Windows Vista. That's what I asked. I apologize if I didn't make that clear enough for you guys, but I made it clear enough for the employee who gave me an answer that had nothing to do with iPods.
And this answers my question. I didn't know iPods don't work with 64 bit Vista. :o

[tdhurst]

Well if they're smart, they should be doing much better things than working at a consumer retail store.

Some of us worked at apple retail because we loved the products and genuinely like helping people.

[LethalWolfe]

If I ask a person behind the counter of a movie store, for example, when some movie is going to be released, I don't expect them to give me a totally wrong answer just because he doesn't know; I do expect him, however, to answer with the best of his knowledge or get help with the question. If it is an "I'm sorry, I cannot answer that," that is fine.

If I ask a person at a dairy queen what the content of sugar is in the ice cream or something, I do not expect that person to give me some bogus answer just because he doesn't know. I'd prefer a much more simple answer: "I don't know, sorry."

yeah, 'cause those two questions are equivalent to asking about the following:
I said how iPods do not work on 64 bit Versions of Vista. Then, I said, since leopard is going to be 64 bit, will they make the iPods work on 64 bit versions of Windows Vista.
:rolleyes:

Should the employee have said "I don't know" as opposed to trying to wing it? Yes, but most people are afraid to say "I don't know" because they are afraid somebody like you will think they are an idiot.


Lethal

[tdhurst]

:rolleyes:

Should the employee have said "I don't know" as opposed to trying to wing it? Yes, but most people are afraid to say "I don't know" because they are afraid somebody like you will think they are an idiot.


Lethal

Agreed.

OP, what's worse: the fact he gave you the WRONG answer or that he didn't know the correct one?

[Mike Teezie]

And this thread is in the iPod touch forum because.......