Why are Apple Stores so dang fun to visit

I'm as big an Apple fan as the next guy, but I'll have to disagree with you on the whole "Apple Store Experience" thing.

They're crowded, fairly noisy, and there's no way to just browse anything except iPhone/iPod cases. If you want to buy something, it's usually easier to buy it with the iOS app and just go by and pick it up. Usually I'll avoid even that and pay a few bucks to have it shipped.

Barring a necessary Genius appointment, I steer clear of the Apple Store. Seen one, seen 'em all.

I'm not a fan of Apple Stores either. Just full of people doing nothing much in particular other than molesting the display models. My two experiences at the Genius Bar has lead me to believe that Apple employed morons who, despite me telling them exactly what the problem was and how it could be fixed, told me nothing but misinformation and both times encouraged me to buy something new (OS X Lion and an iPhone 4s respectively).

Saying that, the one I went to in New York during my short visit to the US was a very pleasant experience.

Darth.Titan said:

Seen one, seen 'em all.

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The one by me keeps changing, which is nice. Usually about once a year or so, they get something major done with the layout or flow, which is cool to see.

This store is a mall store, so it's long and narrow, with the Genius Bar along the far wall. I'd be surprised if that bar was more than 10ft wide, which limited the space to three customers at a time. In front of the Genius Bar was a big wood table, used for One-to-One training, which made the whole back of the store used to be a huge crowded mess.

Swung by there last night for a Genius Bar appointment and was surprised to see that they had put a new big wood table in the middle of the store, and had moved the One-to-One training there. No more kids play area. The Genius Bar is now using the old big training table for GB appointments (in addition to their original area). Looks like they can now handle 9 customers at a time, instead of 3. And with the training moved to the center of the store, the back of the store was way less crowded.

Neat to see big changes like that on a somewhat regular basis.

roadbloc said:

I'm not a fan of Apple Stores either. Just full of people doing nothing much in particular other than molesting the display models. My two experiences at the Genius Bar has lead me to believe that Apple employed morons who, despite me telling them exactly what the problem was and how it could be fixed, told me nothing but misinformation and both times encouraged me to buy something new (OS X Lion and an iPhone 4s respectively).

Saying that, the one I went to in New York during my short visit to the US was a very pleasant experience.

Click to expand...

Not that the US Apple Stores are anywhere close to perfect, but it seems like there are a lot more complaints about Apple Stores from folks in the UK -- especially regarding the employees over there.

I like them because you can play with everything and there's usually enough display items that you don't have to wait (or wait too long) to play with one.

not a fan of Apple stores..

The Apple stores are not fun in my experience. The only time I went to an Apple store was a few years ago while visiting Kansas City. I was with my sister to look at the iPads to see if we should combine our money and buy one for a relative's birthday.

There were a ridiculous amount of employees inside of this tiny store that had literally no customers in it and the moment we walked in several of them swarmed us asking if we were there to make a purchase. After I told them we were just looking they got into a large group in the middle of the room and talked while blocking half the store. We just walked out instead of trying to awkwardly push our way past the employees lol.

I don't care too much for them. For just about everything I can find better prices elsewhere.

When I was a kid I would have liked fooling around with the new Macs, iPads, &c. Now I could care less. The only diffence between them and what I already own or have used maybe some speed. They don't have the software I use nor my media so what's the point.

I don't need to ask them any questions since any questions I have would be above their pay grade. Just like any other retail staff at electronics stores. I have found that they often give incorrect information whether it is intentional or due to ignorance I cannot say.

I don't say the Applestore is a bad place to go. I just don't see anything special about it. If I want to pay high prices I can go to Best Buy for a better selection. I prefer Microcenter for a retail location they have good prices and much better selection.

The teenagers taking PhotoBooth pictures with their friends in the store gets really old...

I don't really like to go to the Apple Store for buying/looking/servicing products either. However some Apple Stores are pretty neat, and are worth checking out once, even if its for two minutes. And it's not because it's Apple. It's because they are cool enough that I'd walk in regardless of the store brand.



Like I said though, there's only some of them.
I won't walk into any ordinary Apple boutique in a mall though.