Apple Store Soho

  Apple Store Soho 
  Originally uploaded by fredwilson.

I hate to shop in stores. I love to shop online. That's not universal in our family. The Gotham Gal and Jessica and Emily can spend hours strolling from store to store. But not me.

There's really only one thing I'd rather buy in person than online, and that's anything in the Apple Store. Howard compared it to a religious experience in the first Wallstrip episode and to be honest, he wasn't far from the truth.

The minute you walk in you are greeted by pleasant young people with name tags who ask if they can help you. There is usually U2 or The Fray or Bob Marley playing loud enough that you can hear it but not too loud.

I told the young man named Patrick that I wanted to buy two Macbooks. One for the Gotham Gal and one to replace the old kitchen laptop. I told him I wanted them upgraded to the max ram.

He took care of it while I walked around the store playing with all kinds of fun stuff. I was out of there in less than ten minutes.

I had to come back an hour later to pick up the laptops because they did the RAM upgrade right then and there for me.

It's a great experience in every way. They are pleasant, knowledgeable, and fast. And there's ton of fun stuff to play with if you have to wait.

BTW - I now have four 512mb modules for the Apple MacBook. I don't need them. If you want them, send me an email. First come, first serve. I'll send them if you pay for the shipping.

UPDATE - The first response was a suggestion to give the memory to an open source project. Great suggestion and that's where its going.

Comments

[hello]

Fred,

Could you please donate the MacBook Pro memory modules to one of the open source software projects? Many of the projects in the open source community don't have the resources (people and/or equipment) they need, and Apple memory modules are *super* expensive.

The other opportunity would be to donate the memory modules to a computer lab at one of the public schools.

Of course, you'd also receive a tax write-off as well.

I could put together a list for you, if you'd be interested.

[MMG]

I too have some extra RAM (2x512mb) after upgrading my MacBook to 2gb. Would love to donate as well. Send me an email w/ your coordinates if u want 'em.

Cheers,

MMG
CEO, RapSpace.tv

[Chris Neumann]

Me three - been sitting on my desk for a while, not sure what to do with them. Can you maybe just make a post for where to send them?

[David Highnote]

Fred - Could you ask the Soho Apple Store to send some of those excessively helpful young employees down to their Clarendon store in Arlington, VA?

In that store, they all stand around talking to one another, and don't really go out of their way to help.

Personally, I do everything I can NOT to go to that store which is only a 15 minute walk or 3 minute drive from my home...

I'd love to have your experience in an Apple Store.

[howard Lindzon]

David,

I have to agree that the atmosphere has changed somewhat at the apple store. i think that is a great pick-up.

At the Biltmore store, i have become a bot of a stranger to the growing and changing staff.

It has gootent o busy and less clubby.

Good for the stock I guess.

[ted]

Upgrading memory in a mac is roughly equivalent to changing the SIM card in your cel phone, except Apple charges something like $50 for the privilege. Although, to be fair, the way I learned this was after asking a guy at the mac store what the memory upgrade entailed. If you can spare the cash like Fred it's not a huge deal, but for Mac n00bs like I was without beaucoup bucks, install the memory yourself, it's basic.

[Greg]

Ted is correct, installing your own memory is pretty simple and significantly cheaper. Though if you do it yourself, you should keep whatever original chip Apple shipped with your computer. If you've ever got a problem that requires service, Apple's first response will be to blame your 3rd party memory. It's best to reinstall the original Apple memory and verify that the problem still exists then have Apple look at the problem with their original memory setup.

[hello]

Fred, Chris, & MMG,

Thank you for the generosity! I'll send out e-mail to tech leads on several projects, and will contact you with the responses.

[Gerald Buckley]

Mr. Wilson, Curious to know how your podcast production is coming along. Finally get all the wrinkles out of the technology? Last I heard GarageBand was giving you some challenges...

[Steve P]

Without sounding like I'm being negative, a store is just a store, not a religious experience. Btu maybe this is because I'm in the NW (about 20 minutes from Microsoft campus!!!) I'm used to the Nordstrom approach to salesmanship.
Though the SoHo Apple store is my favorite Apple store. Mostly because I've fallen in love with NYC and because of their "theater" and a great training lady - and other staff.
It's very hard to balance staff behavior with customer expectations. Some customers just want to browse in peace and others value having a sales person approach immediately. It's tough if no one ever approaches you, but annoying if they all do. (since they don't know if someone else already has.
I think usually the stores hit the right balance. However I've also had times when I felt slightly ignored. So? It's up to me then to approach them. And if too many seem to approach? It's easy to just say you're just checking out the "Insanely Great" products!

[bobs]

Fred - what does one use a "kitchen Laptop" for :-)

[Rick]

The Apple stores out in Milwaukee is great.

Last time, there was a long line to check out. But via a credit card from the back of the line and sent my my email address.

I love how they intergrated their brand into their stores. I hope they teach cingular this concept.