Steve Jobs Thought Genius Bar Was 'Idiotic' Idea at First, Said 'It'll Never Work'

[lunarworks]

I love the Genius Bar. The replaced my logic board on my MBP in less than 24 hours, and will even help with something as simple as "I lost a tiny screw when replacing my HDD, do you have any spares?"


Also, regarding Steve Jobs hating it at first: There's this wonderful thing called "being able to change your position based on facts and evidence." Jobs did that many times in many areas. But many people here wouldn't understand it.

 

[ericwn]

This. How you think Steve got those personable people? Just train personable people to do a flow chart like all the people we call for outsourced tech support! Just like Geek Squad. They're not geeks. They're salesmen that upsell Monster cables when you can use the cheap one from monoprice or c2g.

There is not a single Genius working with a flowchart or checklist in front of them, at least in the couple Stores I visited.

 

[Risco]

Store design was so much better back then.

 

[ackmondual]

The Genius Bar is full of dumbasses. He was right

Alternative marketing suggests somebody should open up a Dumbasses Bar, full of geniuses

If I ever need tech support then that's a hardware failure of product. Especially with Apple. You don't need to be a "genius" to offer tech support for any Apple product. The major selling point of Apple software is that "it just works" and the extreme simplification means that anyone should be able to figure out the issue on their own quite easily.

Genius Bar is a convoluted marketing gimmick for simple requests. Merging instructors and tech staff is just an obstacle for those who know exactly what they need. If I need to return a product I know is faulty, I have to make an appointment and then wait in line because someone wants to know how to open a photo in Preview. Then I have to explain the problem, someone has to ask me a lot of dumb questions to reach the same conclusion and then I get a result.

Alternatively go into another store, walk up to customer service and get a replacement or refund in couple of minutes. They may not have the superficial branding gimmick but they sure get to the point faster.

Did you jiggle the cable? Did you restart your computer?

One guy who called Dell tech support did appreciate how the rep he spoke with was able to accommodate his higher knowledge of IT, and was able to tell him stuff like "open device manager", "ping your system", etc., as opposed to hand holding him through 20 minutes of steps, read off of some script.

 

[chandanshetty01]

Yeah.. because steve jobs things majority of the people are dumb... yes they are...

 

[zen]

Tim Cook should watch that video. See how it's all connected Tim? See how the rich variety of products appeal to a wide range of users and customers?

Absolutely this. Watching that video, I was actually excited - and had to remind myself this was 16 years ago. Home - Education - Pro. Hardware AND software for all categories. Amazing.

How far the Apple has fallen...

 

[Tech198]

haha.. The Geek Bar... I think I can relate to this one

Although Apple are helpful today, They still read off a script like just everyone else does....Stuff I've run into are : Apple: "Have you done this?" Customer: "Yes", "Well, do it again, then phone me back and we'll proceed"

Customer: "I've reset this 20 times. and u want me to do this again just to comply with the rules? Can't we just skip that part"

For me, times have not changed that much.. They still play by the rules. But they are helpful

 

[tttbagh]

When I'm bored I just go to a "Genius Bar" and they HAVE to chat with me. hahaha ...I'm kidding, but I know there must be someone doing that on a regular basis.

 

[J InTech82]

The exact reason Apple Stores were needed and a brilliant strategy.

Exactly. It was a pretty funny day when Monster Cable came in to give us training on their brand new consumer line (we were actually the pilot store) and the owner/president of Monster wanted to buy a 17" Apple Studio Display (Graphite) and asked who the stores Mac guy was. Everyone tried to push to shove to pretend they were the Mac Guy but he didn't buy it. I told him I was and that I would be more than happy to help. He even thanked me for not pushing CompUSA's extended warranty because he knew how great Apple products hold up.

Another time, when the iMac was first out with FireWire, I would bring my DV camera to the store and show the customers how you could easily make home movies with iMovie. It wasn't until months later when an Apple Rep came in to do the same thing I was doing lol