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Look, I watched it happen to my wife's home town in the midwest. WalMart came in with a small store and sold below their cost (which is illegal, BTW), undercutting all of the family-owned stores in the downtown area. Nice, decent department stores and hardware stores that had been the backbone of the downtown area for dozens and dozens of years. Stores where people had worked entire careers or even generations of careers. Then, once WalMart got its foothold, they built a bigger store with more square footage and started putting even more small businesses out of business. Now those people that were making several dollars per hour above the minimum wage (plus benefits in many cases) were forced to seek new employment once their store closed. Some of them ended up at WalMart, without benefits, and living off of the taxpayer via welfare and taxpayer funded health care.

Too many of you think you are saving $1 when you go into a WalMart. You're not. You're just paying for it somewhere else.

Mark


All those great stores that overcharged people for decades and decades they are sorely missed. If they existed today they would still be charging higher prices than the walmart there. Nobody forced people to shop at Wal-mart.

Also I don't know where you got the idea that it is against the law to sell things below cost.

Every grocery store and retailer in the country does it on a regular basis.
 
Great news, Edith! Now we can get one of them new iPhones when we stop by wal-mart for our chewin' tobacky. Yee haw!
 
What an ignorant and condescending comment (I'm not even going to delve into the racial subtext of the statement).

Boy, some of these comments exemplify the worst stereotypes of an "Apple Fanboi".

Don't be an idiot, Eduardo, the only reason I picked Compton is because it is notoriously bad and has a reputation for being so.

Perhaps you would like to take up the issue with NWA, or Public Enemy, who helped highlight why it is known as such a crappy city. Or maybe Chris Rock, who parodied NWA by doing a video called 'Straight out of Low-Cash.'

There is no need to try and insert racism where none was intended.

Replace Compton with the crappy city of your choice if it will make you feel better. How about Fontana, which is poor and mostly white, commonly referred to as Fontucky for those who know which city in California I am referencing. I'll bet it's not as many as those who know about Compton.

Flagrant abuse of the race card doesn't help anyone.
 
All those great stores that overcharged people for decades and decades they are sorely missed. If they existed today they would still be charging higher prices than the walmart there. Nobody forced people to shop at Wal-mart.

Also I don't know where you got the idea that it is against the law to sell things below cost.

Every grocery store and retailer in the country does it on a regular basis.

Um, they didn't overcharge. The small stores just can't compete as they do not have the size or money to take on Walmart. Walmart is able to be cheaper via buying power (basically telling a manufacturer sell it to us cheaper and we'll buy more). A small store cannot just buy more cause they won't sell more (They don't have stores across the country for one).

As Walmart gets bigger, they get more able to do this, and less stores are able to compete and you have less competition for Walmart. And the fact that Walmart aggressively tries to put other stores out of business is the bad part (this is why you don't hear the same complaints for example about Target).

On top of that, I would actually say you can buy an inferior product just cuase it is at walmart. Walmart uses their buying power to also convince manufacturers to cheapen products for them so they can sell it cheaper (looks not so different on the outset but not made as well). Granted, I think an iphone is going to be an iphone no matter where you buy it (I doubt Apple would care about buying power more than image they would get by having a bunch of inferior product since their whole selling gimmick is based on quality). But other stuff like TVs and stuff, yeah, what appears to be the same model as another one sold at another store can be inferior as it will have cheaper components special for walmart.

While I don't outright boycott Walmart (as in I don't absolutely refuse to give them any money), I do try to avoid them and shop elsewhere.
 
Yeah Walmart is the evil one here.
Apple is the good guy.
They don't associate themselves with slave labor countries and companies.
SJ should be applauded for not stooping to cheap labor and unbearable working conditions provided by the assembly partners.

Good for Apple. F Walmart.
 
I wouldnt want to be at the store where someone gets SHOT over a phone.

I wouldn't want to shop at a store where I get stalked and then have my fingers ripped off as the thief rips the bag out of my hands.

there are mall shootings and such all around, not just at Walmarts and McDonalds
 
McDonald's doesn't move into a community, undercut all of the existing businesses by selling products at a loss UNTIL those existing businesses go out of business (taking the good, middle-income jobs with them), and then jacking the prices up when they have "control" of the town.

Mark

Neither does WalMart. I'm not really a big fan, but it is simply *not* the case that they sold products at a loss, drove businesses out of business, and then raised prices. Feel free to provide any evidence that this happens, or stop repeating the lie.

Walmart does usually undercut local prices, of course, but they do so by efficiencies and economies of scale. WM *also* makes many more products available in rural areas than were ever available there before.

There are a decent number of studies that look at WM's impact on local economies, but (if you discount studies done by the AFL-CIO) by and large they show little real impact. And it's not like the wages paid at Kroger are much better than WM wages, either.

Some people also have a false view of what thing were like before WM came to rural communities - the "higher-wage paying" local retailers affected by WM typically had very limited hours (closing at 5 or 6), very little product selection, and had prices 40-50% higher than WM prices (or prices that could be found in a larger community) since they were, literally, the only game in town.
 
Great news, Edith! Now we can get one of them new iPhones when we stop by wal-mart for our chewin' tobacky. Yee haw!

Okay, Jackoff... oops, I mean jakill. Post your city and state. I dare you. So I can judge the area you're in to see if YOU are (status) "worthy" enough of owning one. What if -- as an example to prove a point -- I were to pick on the entire city of Buffalo. Or the blue collar working steel town of Pittsburgh. "Ew, now those nasty poor Buffalo people will be using MY elite smartphone. Gross." What would say? Or does it just break down to yearly income, geographical region be damned. No, no. Actually, there ARE rich people who may act "uncooth" to you. So that can't be it.

Chewing tobacco, seriously? Would you like to mention the rich Southern gentlemen who lived in grand Savannah mansions and chewed chewing tobacco, all while their slaves picked cotton in the fields?

So where it's going to end w/ you? Do Dollar Store customers fall under your category of people not worthy to scrape the gum off the bottom of your shoe?

G.D., it's people like you that make me want to give up on humanity. Hmm, so let's see? Just exactly what is your elite hierarchy as Apple products go?

I guess iPods are consider the runts of the litter and heck, SOMEBODY has to keep buying them to keep Apple stock up, so that's okay. What else? Well, certainly not MacBooks and/or iMacs. So I guess that puts it on the HIGH end of the have and have-not scales. So I guess in all your arrogance, you put the iPhone 4 in the middle of the sliding scale. The cut-off point. Oh, let those low-life "hillbillies" have their iPhone 3Gs. They're for poor people; like you drop a previous top-end piece of technology like it's a hot potato, just because something newer and better has been released.

God, I sooo wish I had an electric car so I could thumb my nose down at the "hillbilly" who still drives an uncooth, filthy gas car so I could put you in your place.
 
This is really entertaining to read comments of hardcore Apple fanboys on VERY high horses
 
This is really entertaining to read comments of hardcore Apple fanboys on VERY high horses

Yep. They expect Apple stock to rise and certain products to be bought off the sweat of the backs of everyday joes, but there's a certain gated-off community for the creme-de-la-creme products. Gotta maintain status first. Like that BBC sitcom 'Keeping Up Appearances' w/ Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced: Bouquet).

My brother, a top executive at TD Canada Trust makes well over $100,000/year. Surprisingly, live in a 1940's 2 bedroom, 1 bath house and for some bizarre reason, seems content driving around in a $15,000 car that he still make monthly payments on, even though he can more than afford to buy it outright. Same goes for the house.

He shops at Walmart. Because it's near-by, it's fairly convenient (if you don't mind the lineups) and seems content w/ groceries they carry or the DVD he buys. Needs a TV, doesn't really do much more than go into Walmart, look at the wall of various TVs by size and make, looks at the one that gives the best picture in his eyes and buys it drives it home in his average new car [yes, this is a dig to the PP who liked Walmart carrying the iPhone 4 to a Mercedez Benz in a Compton used car lot, tyvm].

So while I have scraped to put away a little money from each paycheque to save for my Apple products that take over a year to accumulate, he could buy them all, w/ all the bells and whistles, mind you all in one day and not have it even make a dent in his bank account. I ask him why doesn't. He's says he's not interested. His TD-issued Blackberry Bold and run-of-the-mill netbook is enough for him.

HE is the salt of the Earth. He is a Walmart shopper. If he bought into the hype of Apple-is-for-the nouveau riche, he'd be a perfect candidate. Neither am I. I want a simple to use electronic device that innovative and another caveat is good build quality (I give the iPhone points on excellent build compared to the Droid Incredible).
 
Usually I just bite my tongue, but ...

Why is Walmart hyphenated in the title to this article? The company changed to non-hyphenated several years ago, not to mention that it is not hyphenated in the article ... just several commenters. :rolleyes:

CalebF: Get off your high horse.

Mark Booth, Mystikal et al: Buyers at a local metro Atlanta Apple store were robbed shortly after they left the store.
 
More negative votes than positive? Really? Are the negative voters such elitists that you can't handle Wal-Mart selling the iPhone? Geez...
 
On top of that, I would actually say you can buy an inferior product just cuase it is at walmart. Walmart uses their buying power to also convince manufacturers to cheapen products for them so they can sell it cheaper (looks not so different on the outset but not made as well). Granted, I think an iphone is going to be an iphone no matter where you buy it (I doubt Apple would care about buying power more than image they would get by having a bunch of inferior product since their whole selling gimmick is based on quality). But other stuff like TVs and stuff, yeah, what appears to be the same model as another one sold at another store can be inferior as it will have cheaper components special for walmart.

This is absurd and not true. While Walmart may have the clout to get manufacturers to make special models and editions of their products, they are unique products, not the same as another product with cheaper parts in it for walmart. You are just making that up.
 
The state of Washington (USA) has to pay out millions of dollars a year for Wallmart employees that don't make enough and need food stamp assistance. Once this stops I will THINK about buying things from them. Until then, no way. Pay better, livable wages first.

No one is forcing people to work at Walmart for those wages. That's the beauty of freemarkets. If they want better pay, they are just as free as anyone else to better themselves. How about Washington stop paying out assistance? Thus making people work harder to pull themselves up, instead of being content making what they make at Walmart and subsidized by government assistance.
 
Online Ordering

If I order online, does it come to my house on the 24th? Because what I saw was that it will ship when stock is "available"?

All arguments aside, I would really like to know! Or does NOBODY really know the answer to that question?
 


The company did not carry the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G during the previous product cycle, and so it is unclear if it will be offering the 8 GB iPhone 3GS during this cycle.

I'm an associate that works in the Wireless Center at a Walmart in SW Missouri. Actually we did sell the 8 GB 3G, and we sold far more of them than the 3GS. Different stores carried different models. We had the 3G and the 16 GB 3GS in B&W.

Now to everyone else: Sure some, maybe most associates at Walmart don't know about or even care about anything other than getting their paycheck and going home. I'm sure that somedays we all feel like that. But if you were to call or come into my store and talk to me or a couple of others that work in the dept. we'll be able to tell you everything that you probably already know about the iphone line or any phone on AT&T, T-Moblie, or Verizon that we carry (and then some). Why... because 1) it's my job and 2) because I enjoy working with people and getting them the phone that they want and 3) I love :apple:

As for my store, we'll be getting the iphone4, but probably just the 16 GB. (I doubt we would sell no more than 1 or 2 of the 32 GB anyways if we did carry it) We'll carry the 3GS as well but with all the new features of the 4 I think that I'll be able to sell more of them than the 3GS (mainly because of the retina display, which I now want on my MBP. That would be AWESOME)

Why do I work there? I'm a recent college grad with a degree in Media Communications, I've worked at sporting events, concerts, and even the 2008 Olympics. (BTW, the Beijing Apple Store is sweet, even if I couldn't read half the stuff in there) But the job market is in the crapper, and I've got a wife and a baby girl that I have to take care of. Would I take a job along the lines of my education, in a heart beat. But until that comes along I'm working at a place that pays the bills, gives me great insurance for health care, and a discount on most everything that I need for a daily basis.

:end rant
 
If I order online, does it come to my house on the 24th? Because what I saw was that it will ship when stock is "available"?

All arguments aside, I would really like to know! Or does NOBODY really know the answer to that question?

Apple ships your product and has the carrier hold the product so that it should arrive on the 24th.
 
No one is forcing people to work at Walmart for those wages. That's the beauty of freemarkets. If they want better pay, they are just as free as anyone else to better themselves. How about Washington stop paying out assistance? Thus making people work harder to pull themselves up, instead of being content making what they make at Walmart and subsidized by government assistance.

I totally agree!

Below living standard wages, corporate sponsored classes teaching employees how to apply for government benefits to make up for their short fall in income. Terrible benefits, and lousy working conditions.

Costco is where I shop.

That is total and complete BS. Please prove it. (The Walmart part... I believe you when you say you shop at Costco :) )


I can agree with Apple wanting to put their products into as many hands as possible. I am curious to know if their is any data out there that shows exactly how many iPhones Wal-Mart has sold for Apple.

I would like to see that also.

I probably shouldn't post this... but I will ;)

Assuming someone didn't start the our record book over again since we started carrying the iPhones... ~175 3G's, ~100 3GS' (well over 20 since the price drop)
 
Apple ships your product and has the carrier hold the product so that it should arrive on the 24th.

Do you have this in writing anywhere? All I can find on Apple's website is that "You’ll get free shipping as soon as your iPhone is available." but that doesn't really make me think I'll get it ON the 24th.

If it was guaranteed on the 24th, why wouldn't everyone just do that instead of waiting in huge lines for hours???
 
Walmart FTW

I hate Walmart haters.

Walmart is no different than Target or Kmart. They just got bigger faster and 'won'. If Kmart or Target could have 5000 stores, they would do. You think apple is gonna say "We are reaching 50% of the smart phone market, we should stop selling phones, we dont want to get to big".

no one complains about Star Bucks 5000 stores.

Everyone just likes picking on the big dog. Exxon, Walmart.. and now Apple, your turn will come. Biggest = target on your back.

I hate the people who say WAlmart doesn't pay a living wage. First off their avg pay is like $10-13 hour, which is way above MIN WAGE. OH, what's min wage? That's the govt mandated MIN WAGE. Even if they paid that, that's legal. Stocking shelves and saying "welcome to walmart" isn't a $60K/yr job. And what about Mcdonalds, Target, Subway and 50000 other companies that actually pay min wage? Hello?
Next, why do people think everyone should have a 200K house and 2 new cars in the driveway? If you make min wage $20, a burger would cost $20 and everyone else would get the equal raise and the $20/hour employee would be in the same boat.

The reality is that everyone who earns above min wage is actually competing in a 'free market' for their salary and the employer chooses to pay more to get/keep you. If your at min wage, your at a price floor. If your making 60K/yr, its cuz of your skills and you have to EARN the 60K vs just being given min wage for being a warm body.

My next fav saying "Walmart makes billions, they should...."

Walmart's market capitalization is X billion (lets say 100 billion for argument). That means investors choose to hold the share at X value. For a company that has X billion invested in it, it has to return 10%, or say "10 billion/yr" or why else would people invest in it? U can earn 5% in a safe govt bond, so a business has to make more for the risk. People talk about "oh they make billions, so they should spend more $ on X". Well what about the investors? They are risking their money for a return. The employee is just there for a job, they dont own the company.

Companies exist for the investors, not for the employees to get rich. If u dont like it, open up your own company and pay everyone 400K/yr, and see how that goes. No one has a right to a job. People invested their own money to start these companies.

Also, when u see 78 yr old Bertha working at walmart as a greeter, who else would give her a job? She's able to work flexible hours and supplement her social security income. No one else would give her a job.
 
Do you have this in writing anywhere? All I can find on Apple's website is that "You’ll get free shipping as soon as your iPhone is available." but that doesn't really make me think I'll get it ON the 24th.

If it was guaranteed on the 24th, why wouldn't everyone just do that instead of waiting in huge lines for hours???

Apple does this for many products, and recently did so for Snow Leopard, iPhone 3gs and the iPad. I had them delivered to me same day as release with no problems at all.

I am thinking about reserving and going to the store for this one though. Haven't been on line since the 3g and I think I need some Apple hype:cool:
 
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