Don't forget the bar-code scanner too!
Oh, and the thing needs to be able to survive a fall from 5 feet down to the concrete tiles they have in most of their stores. 🙂
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Apple using Windows based Gear
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Oh, and the thing needs to be able to survive a fall from 5 feet down to the concrete tiles they have in most of their stores. 🙂
Not that I'm aware of.
I'm also not sure how you'd have the camera take a picture of just the SKU and not the serial number or other various bar codes on the product. With the EasyPay, the laser that comes out has a very focused scan area, so you can easily point it to the precise bar code you want scanned. 😕
That's pretty cool. Wonder if it'll work as quickly as the EasyPay? The whole "Line up as shown. Avoid Glare. Press and hold -- then release lightly" instructions on the screen seem kind of ominous!
Tilpots
macrumors 601
Probably not. Doesn't seem totally user friendly. But give it (and other Apps) some time and I'll bet it'll catch up quick.
That small business commercial is for small businesses who probably do not have a lot of customers. Apple has a lot of customers. Imagine how long the lines would be, especially around the holiday season, if the employees had to individually type in each and every credit card number. Sure, typing in numbers is fine if your store doesn't get too busy, but the way Apple Stores can sometimes be, that would slow things down a lot. Same goes for typing in barcode numbers. And another thing; the less somebody is looking at my credit card, the better. I don't want someone staring at my card number for a minute typing it in. Some people have excellent photographic memories. I'd rather hand it over, they swipe it, and hand it back to me without barely even looking at my card.
There's no irony here. The ad states how great the iPhone is for small business. Apple is not a small business. It may be a bit ironic once 3.0 comes out, but since rumor has it that Apple is working on their own device with 3.0, then it's no big deal.
It'll be cool to see if Apple goes with the camera or the laser scanner route!
With as fragile as the iPhones are, and as frequently as EasyPays get accidently dropped and kicked across the sales floor, I was curious if Apple was going to have a rubberized "sled" that they plug the iPhone into ... with a scanner on the top and a card reader on the bottom? And I guess it'd make more sense to use a touch than an iPhone.
Either way, it'll be cool to see. 🙂
TuffLuffJimmy
macrumors G3
It also costs more! Processors charge businesses with higher volumes more to authorize a transaction where the card# was manually entered vs. swiped.
Sesshi
macrumors G3
Fizzoid
macrumors 68020
Not to mention it wouldn't meet PCI compliance and the store would have to take the hit regarding any fraud. You've also got the issue with human error, having to type out the numbers.
I think you're over thinking this. Apple is just being pragmatic. They simply didn't make anything that would have the form factor and do what they wanted it to do. So they used an OEM to supply them the device they needed.
And do you think that the current POS system isn't "fine" with their customers? I know personally I could care less what POS system they use as long as it works I'm sure the same goes for just about everyone who shops at an Apple store too.
Would you also mock Apple for not using Apple branded glass in their store, or if their employees wore Nike brand shoes instead of Apple branded ones?
The router wasn't the point. It was a just an aside to let you know why I was there in the first place. There is a mention of that in the beginning.
As for the router. Yes, it is great. I have no complaints. It plugged in and worked perfectly with minimal changes to settings. The Airport Extreme definitely deserves its many positive reviews.
I'm interested in seeing how they deploy this also. I'd imagine that the device will need to be reinforced like you have stated. At least the flash memory isn't as prone to as many issues from shock like a standard hard drive is.
I believe you over thinking this. 🙄
The shoes and glass are clearly unrelated and extreme examples. However, using equipment with Microsoft's products is quite a bit different.
I'll agree with the others here that they were simply looking for an available solution, but I usually think of Apple as a company that thinks outside the box for things we want or need. They even do well at creating needs for new things. Why should this be any exception? Apple sets the bar high, we should keep them honest.
xlii
macrumors 68000
To the OP. This is not unusual at all. Intel for many years and maybe still does used Digital Equipment's VMS OS and Vax CPU servers to run their fab plants.
In the mid 70's I was setting up a mainframe (DEC, digital equipment corp) in an anachoic chamber to be fcc tesed. The president of Toyota Japan was touring. Tons of suits in there (my machine was the first in this brand new room) and here I was, in my teeshirt setting up the mainframe (yes, the only one doing real work in that room). So the President of Toyota turns to me and asks me, "Why are you using a Hewlett Packard computer to test your computer? Why don't you use your own?" The answer was that HP designed test equipment in those days and they wrote the FCC testing software which could only run on one of their minicomputers. Anyone remember minicomputers?
In the mid 70's I was setting up a mainframe (DEC, digital equipment corp) in an anachoic chamber to be fcc tesed. The president of Toyota Japan was touring. Tons of suits in there (my machine was the first in this brand new room) and here I was, in my teeshirt setting up the mainframe (yes, the only one doing real work in that room). So the President of Toyota turns to me and asks me, "Why are you using a Hewlett Packard computer to test your computer? Why don't you use your own?" The answer was that HP designed test equipment in those days and they wrote the FCC testing software which could only run on one of their minicomputers. Anyone remember minicomputers?
Nice example. Would you be referring to this...
http://www.computermuseum.org.uk/machines/hp_3000III.html
The whole concept of EasyPay is "outside the box" thinking (at least for a major US-based retailer).
To try and fault them for not having designed their system around a piece of Apple hardware that didn't exist four years ago (when EasyPay first rolled out) seems a little silly.
And until the 3.0 software update comes out, iPod touches/iPhones can't use external peripherals (like the laser scanner/mag-swipe readers that the Windows Mobile-based EasyPays use). That update is supposed to come out this summer, and an iPod-touch based EasyPay is slated to roll out a little later this year.
So what's the issue? 😕
No problem now. The tech mentioned in this thread amounts to the solution. It probably would have served me well to look up stuff a bit more, but I was reporting on my experience for the day. It wasn't an in depth look into a supposed Apple conspiracy consisting of clandestine usage of Microsoft operated technology.
I'm looking forward to these EasyPay based iPod Touch devices. It seems like a market that Apple may be able to make a nice dent in.
Maybe. Apple's pretty selective when it comes to the markets it chooses to compete in!
I definitely see iPod-touch based POS solutions (similar to EasyPay) being available to the public in the near future, but like the current Mac-based POS solutions, I think they're going to be offered by vendors other than Apple, Inc.