Apple Store nobody at iMac's

It's sad. To me the iMac is the crown jewel in apples lineup. Though a lot of those that buy in a shop (not online) are impulsive buyers. People might pick up an iPad without thinking about it....less do that with a 3000$ machine

I don't get it....am I supposed to draw a conclusion from this?

It explains the lack of attention Apple puts in desktops and Jobs prediction that 90% of its Macs will be mobile eventually.

tom vilsack said:

Maybe my location (richmond...vancouver cdn) but been there twice since new Imacs came out and both times Im the only one looking at them...Today i went to see the 27"....there were 3 21" along one side of store, nobody looking...other side of store had table with 4 21" and 2 27" and once again not a soul looking...all people wanted to see,touch ect was Ipad this Ipad that...anyone else notice this at there local stores?

ps: yes i should have taken photo,but wasn't sure if apple would like.

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There's always a wait to get on an iMac at my Apple store (San Francisco). Though it's mostly just tourists trying to look up how to get to their damn hotel...

BornAgainMac said:

It explains the lack of attention Apple puts in desktops and Jobs prediction that 90% of its Macs will be mobile eventually.

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You shouldn't draw conclusions from anecdotal evidence...

tom vilsack said:

Maybe my location (richmond...vancouver cdn) but been there twice since new Imacs came out and both times Im the only one looking at them...Today i went to see the 27"....there were 3 21" along one side of store, nobody looking...other side of store had table with 4 21" and 2 27" and once again not a soul looking...all people wanted to see,touch ect was Ipad this Ipad that...anyone else notice this at there local stores?

ps: yes i should have taken photo,but wasn't sure if apple would like.

Click to expand...

As the proud owner on a new iMac I say their loss!

Yes .. this is generally true. Most people, generally Apple demographic customers don't give a rat @$$ about iMac, MacPro, or anything bigger than MBP/MBA. In contrary, iPhone and iPad all of a sudden become an complicated object. Like you said .. iPad this, iPad that. Can my iPad do that.. uh huh

Apple sells toys and they sell like hotcakes.

And yes, one should draw conclusion from this anecdotal phenomenon.

BornAgainMac said:

It explains the lack of attention Apple puts in desktops and Jobs prediction that 90% of its Macs will be mobile eventually.

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It has nothing to do with lack of attention. A lot of what many people need in a computing device can be done on a mobile device.

I just find it hard to speculate and nod my head based off of what people "discover" based on a very limited time in a store. I live in Tokyo and people are always looking at all of the devices when I go in there? So does that now counter what the OP wrote? No.

naktak said:

It has nothing to do with lack of attention. A lot of what many people need in a computing device can be done on a mobile device.

I just find it hard to speculate and nod my head based off of what people "discover" based on a very limited time in a store. I live in Tokyo and people are always looking at all of the devices when I go in there? So does that now counter what the OP wrote? No.

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If you have the time, you can go to an Apple Store, wait, observe and record of how many visitor would look on or ask about iPad, iPhone, or Macbook and compare ones who'd do the same for an iMac, Mac Mini or even MacPro in a full business day.

iSayuSay said:

If you have the time, you can go to an Apple Store, wait, observe and record of how many visitor would look on or ask about iPad, iPhone, or Macbook and compare ones who'd do the same for an iMac, Mac Mini or even MacPro in a full business day.

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Or I can use my time more wisely by doing the things that I want to do and let people on a forum make their proclamations based on their limited knowledge of Apple.

naktak said:

Or I can use my time more wisely by doing the things that I want to do and let people on a forum make their proclamations based on their limited knowledge of Apple.

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So would I. But it takes just a few seconds to admit how unpopular an iMac compared to an iPhone or iPad.

iMac, and Apple desktops generally draws much less attentions and sales. Plain and simple fact.

BornAgainMac said:

It explains the lack of attention Apple puts in desktops and Jobs prediction that 90% of its Macs will be mobile eventually.

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Actually it's an industry-wide trend towards more mobile and less desktop devices.



A total of 18 million Macs were sold in 2011 and this is the breakdown.

- 13.5 million Mac notebooks
- 4.6 million Mac desktops

Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/08/apple-mac-pro-made-in-us/

In countries like the Philippines the only iMacs on display are the 2011 models. While all the 2012 iMacs are pre-sold.

I would hazard a guess that my 4S is more powerful than a 486 back in 1997 at a fraction of the price.

Also consider the price of the iMac compared to the iPad. People can change tablets as fast they can change boyfriends.

Desktops will still be there but they would probably be more like the Mac mini than a Mac Pro.

For the life of me I still wonder why most PC makers still make giant towers at the value end of the market when most of those who buy fully assembled cheap PCs do not have the inclination nor the know how how to tinker with them.

I would understand the enthusiast-end where "airflow" is everything but that niche is like 1% of all desktop sales?

tom vilsack said:

No..it was just a observation...maybe it's my location? just seemed strange that the two times I've been there,nobody was at the Imac at all...just kinda thought with the new design people would wanna check them out.

As a long time computer user (mainly desktops) you can really see how the market is now completely going mobile.From smartphones (which i just consider tiny computers) to laptops and tablets,I'm guessing were seeing the last few years of the desktop computer.

Click to expand...

tom vilsack said:

No..it was just a observation...maybe it's my location? just seemed strange that the two times I've been there,nobody was at the Imac at all...just kinda thought with the new design people would wanna check them out.

As a long time computer user (mainly desktops) you can really see how the market is now completely going mobile.From smartphones (which i just consider tiny computers) to laptops and tablets,I'm guessing were seeing the last few years of the desktop computer.

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No doubt. I just don't see this as a negative thing ( and I'm not sure that I wold agree with "the last few years"). I would rather see my mother spend her well-earned money on an iPad than a desktop - because the desktop would be a waste of money comparatively.

I don't disagree that there is a trend towards mobile devices. What I do disagree with is when people suggest that Apple isn't "paying attention" to desktops and focusing more on "toys". They are giving due attention to how people can/will experience computing devices in the future.

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iSayuSay said:

So would I. But it takes just a few seconds to admit how unpopular an iMac compared to an iPhone or iPad.

iMac, and Apple desktops generally draws much less attentions and sales. Plain and simple fact.

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I don't need to admit anything because I already know it. You seem to be misunderstanding me. I'm not saying that iMacs are less popular than iPhones or iPads. I just don't think that means Apple is not paying attention to desktops.

naktak said:

....

I don't need to admit anything because I already know it. You seem to be misunderstanding me. I'm not saying that iMacs are less popular than iPhones or iPads. I just don't think that means Apple is not paying attention to desktops.

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If you're looking at OP's post, he was implying that [customers] don't pay as much attention to Apple desktop (in this case, iMac) anymore. Desktop section on many Apple Store would be as silent as grave compared to the one with iPad, iPhone or Macbook.

Obviously, Apple still leaves a bit of attention to iMac by releasing the new thinner, lighter design. The worrying part is less and less people buying it.

I don't know about you, but if I have to choose, I'd rather have an iMac and no iPad in my home/office than the other way around. Because beside being portable, iMac can do anything iPad/Macbook can .. and better.

iSayuSay said:

If you're looking at OP's post, he was implying that [customers] don't pay as much attention to Apple desktop (in this case, iMac) anymore. Desktop section on many Apple Store would be as silent as grave compared to the one with iPad, iPhone or Macbook.

Obviously, Apple still leaves a bit of attention to iMac by releasing the new thinner, lighter design. The worrying part is less and less people buying it.

I don't know about you, but if I have to choose, I'd rather have an iMac and no iPad in my home/office than the other way around.

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If you look at my original response to his post - what conclusion am I supposed to draw from that? I already know that people are moving more towards mobile devices so other than that ....

Like I said before, I don't think the move to mobile devices is a bad thing. It may be bad for YOU. But for my mother, my sister, and my niece - the iPhone/iPad is more value for money for what they would do on any computing device. And I like the fact that I can conveniently stay connected with them even when they aren't home. As long as I can still do what I need to do on these devices, then I don't care if it's a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

And, lastly, you CAN choose whether you want one or the other. The hypothetical situation of whether you HAD TO choose one or the other is exactly that - hypothetical.

Are you surprised that the average consumer don't need nor want a desktop computer nowadays? It doesn't matter if it's from Apple, HP, Dell or whatever, it's just not something people want.

I personally don't really need an late 2012 27" iMac, I'd be fine doing my work in photoshop on a rMBP hooked up with a 27" thunderbolt display but then again I don't need the mobility either (got an iPad for that) so I went with the iMac instead. It was also a lot cheaper.

I'd say that in 10 years there won't be any desktop computers made for the consumer market.

From my experience, the only people who look at iMacs in most of the Apple stores in London appear to be teenage girls taking photos on photo booth and uploading them to Facebook.
Incredibly annoying when they chose to do it on the only 27" 2012 iMac 3 days before mine was delivered. Probably a good thing, it made using mine for the first time that much sweeter I suppose.
Bah humbug.

I personally stopped finding the iMacs interesting after 2006.

MacBook sales were down 6% during the 5 week holiday season. Total PC sales were down 11%.

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-holiday-macbook-sales-down-6-in-2012-pcs-down-11

Casual users are relying more on tablets and phones as their main and only device. This is just the beginning. But for many people, if they are only checking their email and surfing the web, a tablet is really all they need. I can't imagine what the computer industry will look like in 10 or 20 years.

tom vilsack said:

Maybe my location (richmond...vancouver cdn) but been there twice since new Imacs came out and both times Im the only one looking at them...Today i went to see the 27"....there were 3 21" along one side of store, nobody looking...other side of store had table with 4 21" and 2 27" and once again not a soul looking...all people wanted to see,touch ect was Ipad this Ipad that...anyone else notice this at there local stores?

ps: yes i should have taken photo,but wasn't sure if apple would like.

Click to expand...

Well, there isn't that much to look at, is there? If I wanted to buy one, I know the OS, I know the screen sizes, all the specs that I might want to know, what ports there are... I know exactly what it will do for me if I buy one. Very little need to look at it.

On the other hand, if I wanted to buy an iPad, I would want to look at an iPad mini, iPad 2 and a new iPad in real life, check if the mini is too small or the iPad too large, check how much difference the retina display makes, all things where I would really have to look at three different products closely.

Kinda wish nobody went to the store wanted an imac so then I could just go to the store and get one but thats not the case they keep selling out every time they get a shipment

tom vilsack said:

No..it was just a observation...maybe it's my location? just seemed strange that the two times I've been there,nobody was at the Imac at all...just kinda thought with the new design people would wanna check them out.

As a long time computer user (mainly desktops) you can really see how the market is now completely going mobile.From smartphones (which i just consider tiny computers) to laptops and tablets,I'm guessing were seeing the last few years of the desktop computer.

Click to expand...

I think the current design isn't very eye-catching and they've gone with the same general design/form-factor for a while now. They should go with a completely new design next revision and they'd catch a lot more eyes.

The AlBooks and the MBP have the -generally- same lid-thingy, right? I have one of them in my house and people just pass there eyes over it, while, with the iMac G4, people stare and goggle at it, ask what it is and compliment it - it was the same at school when we had to make posters in computers class.(

Computers class is such a push-over - ''learning'' how to use word and scratch - honestly LOL. I wish we'd do real things, like python or C++ or Graphical design but there's only about 2 or 3 people in my class that could handle that stuff.