eMac in Apple Stores...?

[blakespot]

My guess is that the eMac will _not_ appear in Apple Stores across the country. It is an edu-only unit and Apple does not want it competing with the iMac. Can anyone confirm its absence from the stores (I've got two locally but haven't been into one in a while)?


blakespot

 

[menoinjun]

I was wondering the same thing. I work at CompUSA, and it is possible that we could carry the eMac, but I doubt it. It's not in our system yet, so I can't tell.

We do sell the edu version of Office XP, so it is theoretically possible that we could sell the eMac to customers who can prove that they are students.

-Pete

 

[blakespot]

Part of my point was that I don't believe Apple wants it seen among its other machines. Does not want to confuse the market, so to speak. The iMac-corner of the product quadrant is getting a little cramped...


blakespot

(Tho personally, I would absolutely go after an eMac if I were in the market for an oldschool iMac / new iMac / eMac. Everyone knows a student or educator somewhere who could work the purchase for them.)

 

[Hemingray]

I can almost guarantee that the eMac will not be seen in the Apple retail stores. If it's targeted for education, that's just where it will go; not to the general public. If it's not available in the general Apple.com Store, that should be a big flag right there.

 

[jelloshotsrule]

the only issue i have with following suit and saying it won't be in the apple stores is that it's kind of hard to expect people, even educational people, to just buy a computer (or a bunch of them) without ever physically seeing/using them. especially one that is totally new and unlike any other before it.

it's still possible by all means, but i would think apple would have to provide SOME way for folks to see it and get some hands on testing..

 

[Macmaniac]

Some ideas

Apple might place a few eMacs in stores to allow hands on testing for educators, but you could only see it by request only(showing a school id) then they would wheel a cart out with an eMac on it. Sounds to complicated, they should have a few in stores for tryouts but they should have a notice saying that these are for education only. Or they could do in school demostrations through a local Mac rep.

 

[jelloshotsrule]

the in school demonstrations sounds good, but it just sounds a bit too directed at whichever schools they decide to do it for.. they obviously can't go to all of them, or even a lot of them. the best bet is to get the word out and then see who comes to them. if they have say, 2, in each store, they could pretty easily make sure people know they're educational and/or do the cart thing... maybe in a different, more apple stylish way, but the same basic idea of showing them the emacs based on specific, educational request.

 

[Hemingray]

FYI, I went into my local Apple Store today, and looked around. Saw the awesome HD 23", but no eMac. I walked over to the closest salesperson.

Me: "So, are they going to display the eMacs here in the retail stores?"
Salesman: "Nope, only in the educational section of the online Apple.com store."
Me: "That's what I thought. Thanks! "

So there you have it... told ya so!

 

[mc68k]

Apple

All this censorship of the eMac seems a little ridiculous. I personally think that Apple could make a killing with these new Macs, but they're choosing to shoot themselves in the foot instead.

Besides their "e" prefix, what makes these Macs so exclusive for the educational market? Apple has cornered itself into a niche market, when in fact the consumer market that bought the original iMacs might want a CRT AIO vs. an LCD AIO. Apple is shielding the eMac's more more expensive counterpart— I don't like their strategy.