Apple raises retail stakes against Microsoft Apple plans to refurbish 100 of its retail stores this year, just as Microsoft prepares its first tentative moves into the bricks-and-mortar sector. Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail, is reported to have said the Cupertino computer consumer-electronics trend-setter will buff up its retail spaces by adding …
What are they going to sell?
Zunes - they have one model (Apple has 4)
PCS - they have zero models (Apple has 5-8)
Mice and Keyboards - excellent selection (Apple sucks)
Monitors - they have zero models (Apple has 3)
X Boxes - great (Apple has zero)
Phones - oh no. No products.
Software - puleeze. No one goes to a store to fondle software. Just ask Egghead.
The only thing I ever bought that was Microsoft branded was an optical mouse (when they were new and exciting). It still works perfectly having been thrown all over the place.
Now if they sell simple hardware like that, and dump all this silly software stuff I'm sure they will do well.
P.S.
But keep it simple, no X boxes
helpdesk be in store? and will they be able tell me how to connect an Xbox to an airport express (802.11g model) wirelessly? It will do it when its plugged into the Airport via an ethernet cable, but not over the wireless adapters. The net says no dice, MS web site is strangely silent on the issue. Anyone want to buy a wireless adapter for a 360? I told the missus (it's hers, I don't game) she should have bought a PS3. Both the PSPs connect to the airport seamlessly.
MS standards compliant? don't make laff.
This is another non-story. When Apple has actually done this, then there's news.
Guess the author of this article didn't read the earlier Register story about how Apple store sales are off almost 20% year to year, and that their SEC filings shows significant exposure to lease cancellation charges if they close a store. There's a quantitative fact for you.
Sounds like the usual PR bluff and bluster, uncritically reported as news.
Microsoft home entertainment, as in PC and XBox and 50" high-resolution monitor is a very strong offering, along with excellent integration to Netflix. Great stuff for retail. Talk to Sony about whether these products mean anything.
New Zune is outstanding. Plus they can show a huge range of vendors offering netbooks to workstations, all at a small fraction of the price of Apple gear, with longer warranties, Blu-Ray, etc.
The Apple notebooks are a generation back in terms of features, in most cases.
I think you miss the point of apple...... i think the notebooks they offer are fantastic and although more expensive, keep their value and are more stable. I mean you dont moan that a mercedes brand new is more expensive than a ford, even though they essentially do the same thing. also what features are a generation back?
apples pros are:-
strong stable reliable hardware and software with great customer services, when i phoned the uk helpline i got through to the us with a guy speaking clear english and was very helpful.
compared to ms's helpline where i got through to a guy in india struggling to speak english and was just reading off of a screen.
apples cons:-
price
become an apple user before slating the systems! i have to use both MS and Apple and can say that i think that apple are a better overall offering
apple stores empty? where do you live?
i go past 3 regularly and they're always full and i can't get to play on the macs/ipod touch's. i do admit that a lot of kids are pratting about on the ipods though.....and the staff are the smugest i've ever met.....still got to be a better experience than a microsoft store though...
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DAYTON, OH—Confusion and awkwardness are still being felt after a boisterous guffaw intended to convey sarcastic dismissal of a comment was incorrectly interpreted as a positive response by the very person who was being mocked Tuesday. "My laughter led the speaker to infer that I was expressing approval and delight at his statement, and he therefore came away believing that I was supporting said statement when I was in fact ridiculing it," Clayton Obermeyer said of his remarks to coworker Derek Havers. "However, despite my heartfelt desire to puncture the arrogance of the speaker, an unfortunate opposite reaction seems to have taken hold." Obermeyer said he was really looking forward to attempting to explain the nature of sarcasm to Havers, because he was just so sure that the absolute genius would completely grasp every last word without the slightest little bit of trouble whatsoever.
but they need to get it right from the start. If their store doesn't come out swinging, it will get a poor reputation. They should consider the following:
-Work with some OEM to co-brand the most stable and well supported windows desktop and laptop platforms at 4 different price/performance points each.
-Have technology demonstrations or labs. They could have the MS surface there, a virtual server based lab for small buisness demos, I dont care what anyone thinks, its faster and cheaper to deploy a windows environment then to deply EQUIVALENT functionality on linux. Think Small Buisness Server....show me how you can install and deply a fully integrated LDAP/Kerberous/Sendmail/Samba/Sharepoint like frontend..etc...etc server in 2 or 3 hours.....and they had better be integrated....and any shmoe had better be able to use it off the shelf.....oh, right ,cant be done.
Have in-house support, via the apple model, IE only support MS labled product. Or better yet, have MS "Idiot savants" ;P That can work with both MS, OSX and Linux, can easily explain basic networking for the simple minded, and show how to make them all interact. And yes resolve issues on all OSs. Hell, they should even be proficient enough to teach someone how to integrate a home stereo into the mix......how to set the time on that old VCR.... Costly personel for sure.
Regular giveaways, upgrade and migration assistance, xbox lan parties, free electronics recycling (brings people in), They could have all the venders which sell Win Moble phones with displays.
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