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i dont see anything bad with this. I have found myself awkwardly "waiting" in a random area of the store for products to be taken from the back. I guess if i am awkwardly waiting in the designated iphone area, i would feel less awkward? maybe?

Thats my issue when there. The first time I bought a Mac in store I literally had to go to the register to purchase it, and now that they don't have that anymore, I had to ask a manager (who was the only free person there) about who the hell I talked to. It seems the apple store isn't made for people who know going in what they want, and its a little frustrating/annoying having no idea what to do when I want to buy a computer from a store.
 
pffft

Awe how cute. Just call to activate it or use itunes at home unless you don't have a comp or are in the mall or apple store by coincidence.
 
Thats my issue when there. The first time I bought a Mac in store I literally had to go to the register to purchase it, and now that they don't have that anymore, I had to ask a manager (who was the only free person there) about who the hell I talked to. It seems the apple store isn't made for people who know going in what they want, and its a little frustrating/annoying having no idea what to do when I want to buy a computer from a store.

Just buy a mac pro with the GTX 200 series graphics card with the highly accurate contrast and color cinema display with 4-8GB ram. Can't go wrong with mac pros.
 
This is why Apple is so well received. They know how to focus on their product and get it to the public is a well organized fashion.
 
a little warning

A little heads up, for anyone who wants to buy an Iphone (at least at the London Regent street store) you need way more ID than if you were to buy it at the o2 shop. You need ID (it has to be a full drivers licence, not a learners like mine, even though everyone else including my bank takes it) and utility bill that matches your home address (I'm a student and my bank account is still registered to my parents place). This also applies to business phones, you need link it to your business address if you want it for work.

They're using the same credit check system as other retailers, and for them all you need is your bank PIN number. I'm not complaining (I got mine the day after at the o2 shop after waiting 2.5 hours) but there were a lot of disappointed people. Don't be one of them!
 
Well, anything to help the little guy is appreciated by me. These zones are either little too late, or very early, as I said before. Hopefully they are here to help ease the pain of the next BIG release.
 
Apple, an iPhone company. To me, this just speaks to where apple is putting their focus, in the mobile space both laptop and cell phone. My opinion is eventually there will be a "Mac Zone" at the iPhone stores.:eek:
 
I see the benefit in having this, however given the limited amount of room that Apple Stores have already (not to mention the crowded spaces), it's going to make it more difficult to keep demonstrating Macs to customers.

iPhone area + AppleTV area + Quick Checkout area = not enough space for Mac sales.

on the contrary. now the iphones are in one area rather than scattered all around. which makes it easier to demonstrate the Macs because they aren't all being used to activate phones (which have to be plugged into itunes to unbrick them).

or at least that is what I have noticed in my local store since the area went up last week

also, there is no such thing as "quick checkout area". it is everywhere thanks to those ugly handheld things they have

was the original iPhone that I activated myself at home through iTunes. It was very simple and very quick, even porting my number from Sprint. I really wish Apple/AT&T hadn't axed this. I can understand it being overwhelming for most people,

that's not why they did it. they did it because ATT wanted their money. They feared and probably had some numbers to back it up that a fair number of folks were buying the phone, taking it home and unlocking it. cutting them out of their two years of service fees
 
Doesn't matter he's right.

No.

It's ten times more important that this happens than we placate Mr "wahh I wanna do it at home" because then are ten times as many customers who would buy then may encounter some difficulty or the other. As such, selling a phone to Joe Public that works as you walk out the store is key - better Apple does it and can show there and then it works as advertised; maybe not for you in particular, but for Apple, from a brand and customer satisfaction perspective. Which is why this is good business.

Some elitist "you shouldn't have an iPhone" attitude will make Apple ten times less money. Which is why you and "JabbaMac" don't work there.
 
I don't understand this. All i remember doing to activate my iphone was plug it into iTunes. No?

If you do this instore surely you'll just have to sync it over again with your computer when you get home. Or you'll never get any of your content synced?
 
I don't understand this. All i remember doing to activate my iphone was plug it into iTunes. No?

If you do this instore surely you'll just have to sync it over again with your computer when you get home. Or you'll never get any of your content synced?

ATT is requiring them to activate the phone service in store so they can be sure that no one that signs up isn't on ATT at least long enough to charge them an ETF. Which means that outside of new phones with new numbers, your old phone will be dead cause the service is now on a bricked handset inside the box. So at the store they pop open the package, hook the phone until a computer with itunes and unbrick it that way you can reset your voice mail and have a working phone when you walk out the door.

And when you did it with your first iphone back in the silver model days you also agreed to a new contract etc. or at least some folks did. others unlocked the phone and popped in their t-mobile sim and said screw ATT and the rules. those folks are why the new program is in place
 
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