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Apple Retail Ends Genius Training in Cupertino, Moves to In-Store Web Seminars
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As someone who works in education this is not a good sign of things to come. Webinars and e-learning certainly have their place and can be great if live and able to interact with learners and educators that would be great distances away.
However when it comes to learning physical applications such as trade based or engineering there really is no substitute for hands on experience. Knowing the feel of a machine. For example just getting used to the resistance of the screws and how much force can be applied to them. A virtual guide can't give you that feedback.
However when it comes to learning physical applications such as trade based or engineering there really is no substitute for hands on experience. Knowing the feel of a machine. For example just getting used to the resistance of the screws and how much force can be applied to them. A virtual guide can't give you that feedback.
Wouldn't bother me if Apple started to migrate to ARM processors... it actually might make their Computers exciting again. Apple market share is so small and like many say, "iToys" is what Apple is about...makes sense when you think about it. Mac's will stay imo but not on Intel.
Desktops yes. Notebooks, due to the huge profit margin, they will just replace them instead of repair. Apple is going full consumer where you just replace .
Hopefully this is just a temporary measure if not very stupid idea. Nothing beats real learning by repairing physical devices and sending new employees to the Headquarters was a nice thing.
But I guess this is what you get when you're company is run by business first people. The service quality will for sure go down and for a lot of people the shop experience was a huge reason why they stuck with Apple, dealing with real humans will always beat dealing with web based automation software and the like.
For shame apple for shame
Ifixit is awesome and I'm so thankful for the stuff they are doing but a lot of people watching the videos need to understand 2 assumptions: 1. The repairs are done by absolute masters of their job 2. No video can tell you how fragile or non fragile that stuff is and that's exactly why Ifixit is giving out their scores if a device has a lower score than 4 I wouldn't even bother trying out that stuff by myself.
It would scare me to no end if a genius' first experience would be repairing my device..You don't let a novice doctor do surgery on you for good reason.
But I guess this is what you get when you're company is run by business first people. The service quality will for sure go down and for a lot of people the shop experience was a huge reason why they stuck with Apple, dealing with real humans will always beat dealing with web based automation software and the like.
For shame apple for shame
Ifixit is awesome and I'm so thankful for the stuff they are doing but a lot of people watching the videos need to understand 2 assumptions: 1. The repairs are done by absolute masters of their job 2. No video can tell you how fragile or non fragile that stuff is and that's exactly why Ifixit is giving out their scores if a device has a lower score than 4 I wouldn't even bother trying out that stuff by myself.
It would scare me to no end if a genius' first experience would be repairing my device..You don't let a novice doctor do surgery on you for good reason.
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Gone are the days when Apple Stores were new and you could just walk in without an appointment and get an amazing amount of help with nearly any problem imaginable. Now we reflect on the amount of money paid to Ms. Ahrendts to refresh the Apple retail experience. No doubt she is doing SOMETHING, but from our consumer perspective, it is not abundantly clear WHAT she is doing. Genius-level Technical Support is not a part of her experience portfolio, so no surprises there. Regardless, it is clear Apple is more focused on beauty and the sales-pitch rather than emphasizing the "genius" in the support experience. If their products didn't break down or otherwise need a lot of support, it wouldn't matter. But support is a necessary evil that no company should skimp on. Funny we should be saying this about Apple, which traditionally has had the best customer support ratings in the industry. "Comparatively" Apple may still be at the top, but when we don't compare with other companies, we see there are improvements to be made even at Apple. I don't see "video training" for Geniuses making them a better Genius than a face-to-face training session.
As someone who worked in a similar position for another company in the UK I can tell you first hand this kind of training sucks for this kind of work. Sure, video seminars have their merit but for any kind of technical training - I didn't find it working for me.
I think the Genius Bar experience in store will suffer for this.
I think the Genius Bar experience in store will suffer for this.
I wasn't sure what to make of this. Thankfully the balanced, reasonable people on the forum have helped me conclude this is bad news.
Just like everything else.
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By increasing R&D spending?
http://time.com/4339940/apple-rd-research-development/
Edit: As a couple of you missed the point - that link wasn't supposed to be proof Apple is innovating.
I meant to show Tim Cook clearly isn't just "bean counting" - if he was, why on Earth would he allow such an increase? He could have bought Netflix and made a ton of analysts happy!
What happened to "try and prove your theory wrong, then you'll know it's true"? Most Apple is "d00med" theories fall apart or contradict themselves under a small amount of investigation.
Just like everything else.
[doublepost=1489138026][/doublepost]
By increasing R&D spending?
http://time.com/4339940/apple-rd-research-development/
Edit: As a couple of you missed the point - that link wasn't supposed to be proof Apple is innovating.
I meant to show Tim Cook clearly isn't just "bean counting" - if he was, why on Earth would he allow such an increase? He could have bought Netflix and made a ton of analysts happy!
What happened to "try and prove your theory wrong, then you'll know it's true"? Most Apple is "d00med" theories fall apart or contradict themselves under a small amount of investigation.
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Don't be fooled by R&D budgets.
My company spends £200 million a year on R&D, cause they have a main revenue stream that brings in so much money and they want no risks with that....(like iPhone) they are happy to throw money around into "R&D" so investors get excited. Investing in R&D does not mean new products......
case in example... http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sto...obal-scale-to-take-innovations-further-faster
R&D is a PR/Markerting dream
For years, Apple has sent new Genius hires to its Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino, or sometimes an auxiliary campus in Austin or Atlanta, to receive hands-on training for up to three weeks. Recently, however, Apple appears to have stopped offering these group-oriented trips, according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple's off-site Genius Training program has been replaced by an in-store, self-guided experience using company-provided reference materials, according to a source. The training now involves watching web-based seminars through the Apple Technical Learning Administration System, or ATLAS, another source said.
At its Cupertino headquarters, Apple had a small training facility with a mock Genius Bar and Macs set aside specifically for trainees to take apart and perform test repairs on. But with the switch to web-based seminars, Apple is allegedly providing "virtual take aparts" only now, with no physical hardware.
"This means that many customers who check their computers in for repair may have their device serviced by someone who has never physically worked on their model of computer before," said a person familiar with the matter.
A handful of Geniuses have shared photos of their training experience on social networks over the years, with one person calling it a "life-changing experience" and others echoing similar positivity. One source described it to us as a "rite of passage" and "a milestone in the career" of an Apple retail employee.Apple Store managers have been quietly informing new Genius hires of the changes in recent weeks. It is unclear if the off-site training is permanently discontinued, or if it could return to Infinite Loop or Apple's new campus in the future. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last year, we revealed a new Apple retail position called Technical Expert, which falls between Technical Specialist and Genius. These employees are able to provide mobile repairs, a task previously limited to Geniuses, and troubleshooting for software and products like the Apple Watch and Apple TV.
Article Link: Apple Retail Ends Genius Training in Cupertino, Moves to In-Store Web Seminars
the people working there are great. as for their knowledge its based on the average user, so if you are a power user, good chance you might tell the genius what is wrong
Maximize those margins Apple, surely you can squeeze a few dozen more millions out of that.
On the other hand, perhaps now going to an Apple Store will be less of a chore, never seen so many people "hang out" with Geniuses as if they're best buddies, which makes actual service completely secondary.
On the other hand, perhaps now going to an Apple Store will be less of a chore, never seen so many people "hang out" with Geniuses as if they're best buddies, which makes actual service completely secondary.
Very disappointing to see Apple moving away from hiring experienced technicians, towards training retail sales staff.
The training in Cupertino is life changing. I still keep in touch with my trainer, and some of the students in class.
My trainer provided real life examples examples of how she dealt with situations that come up in the course material. Working in groups to connect Airport Express =>Airport => Time Capsule with friendly competition and bragging rights for the winners, cannot be replaced with video "book learning".
Canada does not have a Depot service. All repairs are done in-store. Not unusual to have to replace everything except for the hard drive for a liquid damaged computer.
The training in Cupertino is life changing. I still keep in touch with my trainer, and some of the students in class.
My trainer provided real life examples examples of how she dealt with situations that come up in the course material. Working in groups to connect Airport Express =>Airport => Time Capsule with friendly competition and bragging rights for the winners, cannot be replaced with video "book learning".
Canada does not have a Depot service. All repairs are done in-store. Not unusual to have to replace everything except for the hard drive for a liquid damaged computer.
Hopefully it is temporary decision connected with relocation to another Campus.
I was wondering, because in Poland there are no Apple stores. Here we can see only official resellers with their services. Who teach those servicemen? I think they learn a lot from same movies...
I was wondering, because in Poland there are no Apple stores. Here we can see only official resellers with their services. Who teach those servicemen? I think they learn a lot from same movies...
Rapport? Restaurant servers, the driver on my bus route, my barber, my car guy, my landscaper, etc. all have rapport with me and other customers. None of these people learned being human by going to a class cross country -- or even cross town. Give me a break. Also we are talking about hourly wage employees that likely are working at the store while they get through school or as a jumping board. There are not long termer and Apple doesn't see them that way either. This is retail. So no, it doesn't make sense for Apple to spend $1K plus on each of them for training at a very remote location.
Exactly. In contrast to vintage IBM ThinkPads where virtually every component was a FRU (Field Replaceable Unit), Apple devices are pretty much at a state where nothing less than the entire device is a FRU. How much training does it take to run a few pre-canned diagnostic tools, a visual inspection checklist for physical damage, and slap a shipping label on a box?
I think this move says more about the repairability of FUTURE products.
