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Best Buy To Sell Mac mini In Stores?
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My mother is one of those "crazy mac evangelist" you hear about. Been using a mac since day one. She use to organize with others to visit stores selling macs and make sure they were up and running. About 5 or 6 years ago she worked on a project with Apple called Demo Days(I think that was the name). She was able to purchase a mac very cheap and got tons of free software in return for do a demo for the mac at best buy stores. She said most of the time the store mac was so messed up it was not usable. The store attitude was negative and the employees would sometimes stand around during the demos and argue with her saying macs are junk and can't do nothing. The non-Apple stores selling mac are not in the business of switching windows users to mac, they sell popular products to consumers. If Apple is to grow in market share(I don't mind them only having 2 percent, their making money, I have an excellent computer experience) and sell products thru other stores the need to advertise like they do with the ipod. "Hey there is one of those mac minis I been seeing on TV, it looks cool" I don't understand why Apple doesn't advertise macs with some infomation instead of some twirlly spinning music thing, only interested if I'm a mac user commercial.
To the user above who is wondering about discount. As with almost all other Apple products at BB, this one will be price protected. As it has been said on here before, computers are a low margin item and accessories are where they make the money.
The reason the PSP is pushed at BB is because number one, that is where they make money. Second, in the cases it comes to be useful (95% of the time) people are glad they bought it. Computers are the number one defective item and the service plan is what covers your ass after the 14 day return policy. The PSP nearly pays for itself at least one time in the three years you have it.
To the people who think they can do a better job marketing and running the mini at BB, I'm sure Apple and Best Buy would love to talk to you about running that for them as long as you can do it profitably.
The reason the PSP is pushed at BB is because number one, that is where they make money. Second, in the cases it comes to be useful (95% of the time) people are glad they bought it. Computers are the number one defective item and the service plan is what covers your ass after the 14 day return policy. The PSP nearly pays for itself at least one time in the three years you have it.
To the people who think they can do a better job marketing and running the mini at BB, I'm sure Apple and Best Buy would love to talk to you about running that for them as long as you can do it profitably.
I agree. I hooked up my dad's Mac mini (via DVI, not VGA) to an IBM P260 21" CRT. It's running 1280x960@100Hz and looks great.Yvan256 said:
We got them already in Canada's Best BUy Stores
Guess what ..I live in Calgary Canada and they are already for sale here at the Best BUy stores...
guess it is so true that Canada is way ahead in so many ways....lololol
of course with the exchange they are "more" to buy
Guess what ..I live in Calgary Canada and they are already for sale here at the Best BUy stores...
guess it is so true that Canada is way ahead in so many ways....lololol
of course with the exchange they are "more" to buy
I ordered a Mini in March, decided I didn't want to wait forever, and ordered a day-old one, factory sealed on e-Bay for $420. Is the Apple Store still experiencing a backorder on the Mini? If so, it might help them move product through other outlets, instead of having a bottleneck on their Web site.
Mac keyboard and mouse at Best Buy
Come to think of it...
Couldn't believe my eyes last night when the gal and I went down to Best Buy to pick up a keyboard to complement her 12" iBook G4 (paired with a 19" Dell LCD - don't ask) - and we came across Apple keyboards and mice for sale, alongside the typical Logitech and Microsoft stuff.
Keep in mind, though - of course, the Apple loot was high up on a shelf, without price tags or any explanation of why they were even there in the first place. Needless to say, we grabbed an Apple Keyboard and headed straight to the registers. FULLY expected the sale to fall through, with the typical puzzled comment along the lines of, "What are these doing here?"
The total came to $29, exactly the same as at Apple Stores worldwide. Joy.
By the way - this Best Buy is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A harbinger of things to come, I hope!
Come to think of it...
Couldn't believe my eyes last night when the gal and I went down to Best Buy to pick up a keyboard to complement her 12" iBook G4 (paired with a 19" Dell LCD - don't ask) - and we came across Apple keyboards and mice for sale, alongside the typical Logitech and Microsoft stuff.
Keep in mind, though - of course, the Apple loot was high up on a shelf, without price tags or any explanation of why they were even there in the first place. Needless to say, we grabbed an Apple Keyboard and headed straight to the registers. FULLY expected the sale to fall through, with the typical puzzled comment along the lines of, "What are these doing here?"
The total came to $29, exactly the same as at Apple Stores worldwide. Joy.
By the way - this Best Buy is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A harbinger of things to come, I hope!
looklost said:
Apple got this idea from Atari Corp., circa 1987/1988. After Atari acquired the Federated Group (the infamous Federated electronics stores of the West Coast - not affiliated with Federated Department Stores - whose spokesman was Mr. "Fred Rated", actor Shadow Stevens) as a way to sell the Atari ST computer line to rank-and-file consumers, the Company found the sales staff generally inadequate to pitch the ST line. Recognizing this, the Company recruited knowledgeable members of local Atari ST user's groups to supplant the existing staff. A lot of those same members became actual Federated staff, before the chain imploded (like Enron, Worldcom, and AOL, the Federated executive staff overstated their balance sheets prior to the sale and ripped off Atari) and shut down. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Apple set up their own retail stores instead of acquiring outright the Gateway Country store locations prior to their folding.
mcconnell said:
Just imagine how many of those Apple keyboards and mice will be sold to PC users once Apple switches to a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. Apple could quickly relegate Logitech and Microsoft offerings to the bargain bin just as the iPod has done to offerings from Diamond and Creative who had the MP3 market locked up to themselves previously. I see a big opportunity with Bluetooth equipped ergonomic keyboards by Apple...
Yvan256 said:
you are very right, but after using CRTs salvaged from dumpsters, then switching to an iMac, you can see my bias.
bbyrdhouse said:
Talk to the people who say market share doesn't matter.
Best Buy has no incentive to sell Apple software when:
1. Apple comprises maybe 3% of the computer market
2. Best Buy doesn't carry Macs. (Yet.)
i think that's great that best buy will start selling minis, and hopefully more apple stuff. i guess i'll have to go and check this out
I guess my only problem with selling the mini in places like Best Buy and Such is no keyboard mouse included.
But then again it might be a strength because at least you might get a sales person who suggests one at purchase time.
But then again it might be a strength because at least you might get a sales person who suggests one at purchase time.
I hope Best Buy sales personnel is at least trained on Mac software/technology to answer simple to somewhat advanced questions customers may have (If they start giving wrong info or guessing answers they don't know, some customers may feel they purchased items which do not meet expectations). The retail channel via Best Buy will give Mac extra retail presence; but, I am doubful of the quality of retail experience at Best Buy.
As one of the anecdoes, I was shopping for a flat panel LCD TV (from 20" to 30" range) and I found a nice LG 23" LCL at Best Buy and assked the sales personnel if that LCD will work with my local cable provider (CableVision). He said it does not work with regular cable and needs the digital cable. I am there looking at the demos showing the local channels (some with statics because of bad connection). I left BestBuy without buying anything and I went to Circuit City which gave me the correct info and lower price than BestBuy for the exactly same model. I bought it at Circuit City. That was a simple flat panel TV; I wander what it would be like if the item was a Mac (more complicated machine than a simple TV).
As one of the anecdoes, I was shopping for a flat panel LCD TV (from 20" to 30" range) and I found a nice LG 23" LCL at Best Buy and assked the sales personnel if that LCD will work with my local cable provider (CableVision). He said it does not work with regular cable and needs the digital cable. I am there looking at the demos showing the local channels (some with statics because of bad connection). I left BestBuy without buying anything and I went to Circuit City which gave me the correct info and lower price than BestBuy for the exactly same model. I bought it at Circuit City. That was a simple flat panel TV; I wander what it would be like if the item was a Mac (more complicated machine than a simple TV).
Mac now up and running in Ohio Best Buy
I work at the tech bench at a Best Buy in Ohio. I set up our Mac Mini last night. While I don't sell computers myself, I do know that 3 of our PC department assoc. are mac users. We have the apple pro keyboard and mouse with an LG LCD.
I work at the tech bench at a Best Buy in Ohio. I set up our Mac Mini last night. While I don't sell computers myself, I do know that 3 of our PC department assoc. are mac users. We have the apple pro keyboard and mouse with an LG LCD.
I was actually thinking that this is pretty smart. It will help people realize that they can use their existing monitor with a Mac mini. And using the cheaper LG display is better than using a $1000 Apple display. Just imagine how people would react if they saw the new Apple computer for $500 and thought that they HAD to have a $1000 Apple display to use with it. By using an LG display, it helps reduce the perception of being overly proprietary.djits88 said:
Every time I even mention Apple at the local Reston or Dulles Town Center Best Buy stores, the computer
department staff balks and falls back into their same old ill informed
notions that Macs just don't sell.
Before Best Buy takes another crack at offering Apple products, they
should require to staff to attend Apple Certified product training
AND show the Mac mini in it's best application as an ADD ON CPU,
so that their hard core gaming staff can see what OSX has to offer
and properly inform their customers with full knowledge of their options,
including education discounts and corporate/government sales incentives.
department staff balks and falls back into their same old ill informed
notions that Macs just don't sell.
Before Best Buy takes another crack at offering Apple products, they
should require to staff to attend Apple Certified product training
AND show the Mac mini in it's best application as an ADD ON CPU,
so that their hard core gaming staff can see what OSX has to offer
and properly inform their customers with full knowledge of their options,
including education discounts and corporate/government sales incentives.
The Best Buy in my town put out the sales tags for the Mac Mini's last week and an employee said that they already had 3 in stock, but they couldn't sell any until that had setup the display units.
I can't wait to go into Best Buy posing as a regular consumer and ask them questions they won't be able to answer truthfully, and ask them to compare Mac OS and Windows...
holy crap, some of this is nuts. first off, i work at Best Buy (temporarily) in the pc department and i am excited as hell about the mac minis coming in. we have one that we are setting up with a 21.3" Samsung LCD and in the couple minutes we were testing it, it looks great. i took the crappy training but i'd rather do the hands on approach like most everyone would. some people here are complaining about employees won't know everything about the machines, OS X, and how to do everything in the operating system to show the benefits of a mac. that's completely true. i'm also sure that if i asked everyone of you to give me a tour of Solaris, Knoppix, BSD, Windows Server 2003 and NetWare you'd have no trouble at all doing so (<--Note: This is sarcasm) the truth is most people hang on to their operating systems of choice for life and haven't gotten enough hands on use on the multitude that are out there to give good apples-to-apples comparisons. btw, if anyone here wants to give me that feature filled tour of Solaris compared to OS X and IRIX let me know.
i am a windows user but i want to take another spin at a mac, one that isn't really expensive (c'mon guys you know that apples 'good' computers are a little salty, even if it's worth it) and the mini looks like a great option for me. but most people who come in to BB want a computer like their XXXX (sister, son, brother, uncle, friend, niece. etc.) have because they've used it and it's familiar to them. it's normally a windows-based machine because 95% of the world is using windows at the moment and they've used it before. change apparently is the enemy for a lot of people, even if you show the benefits people will still go with what they know.
i'm hoping the minis do well, i'm hoping the exposure in the stores helps employees and customers learn about macs. i'm not saying one is better than the other, that's a matter for windows and mac fanboys to argue about on the internet; or for someone looking to make a computer purchase educating themselves as to which operating system fits their needs and will do whatever crap they need it to do. that's all a computer is for anyways.
i am a windows user but i want to take another spin at a mac, one that isn't really expensive (c'mon guys you know that apples 'good' computers are a little salty, even if it's worth it) and the mini looks like a great option for me. but most people who come in to BB want a computer like their XXXX (sister, son, brother, uncle, friend, niece. etc.) have because they've used it and it's familiar to them. it's normally a windows-based machine because 95% of the world is using windows at the moment and they've used it before. change apparently is the enemy for a lot of people, even if you show the benefits people will still go with what they know.
i'm hoping the minis do well, i'm hoping the exposure in the stores helps employees and customers learn about macs. i'm not saying one is better than the other, that's a matter for windows and mac fanboys to argue about on the internet; or for someone looking to make a computer purchase educating themselves as to which operating system fits their needs and will do whatever crap they need it to do. that's all a computer is for anyways.