Comments on: Apple at Best Buy

By: PXLated

PXLated — Mon, 14 May 2007 04:40:54 +0000

There have been other web reports that actual Apple employees are manning the Macs in BBY stores, kind of like the old CompUSA stores within a store.
That’s the only way it will work. BBY has blown it every time they’ve been allowed to carry Apple products in the past without exception.
I remember BBY trying to get Macs on their website, their argument to Apple was the website would be product agnostic and there weren’t any BBY employees (clerks) to hose it up or provide bad support/advice. Apple still refused.

By: DBL

DBL — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:24:52 +0000

Oh yeah, there is one silver lining on this cloud. The Macs were dirty. This means that there has already been plenty of interest in trying them out.

By: DBL

DBL — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:21:16 +0000

Yeah it’s not a great idea to engage with commenters adversarially over trivialities. Besides the fact that it doesn’t make a great impression, it’s a massive waste of time.

A non-trivial point: I’m afraid from your description of what’s happening at Best Buy is a sign that this retail expansion is mishandled and that we are in danger of slipping into the bad old days of Mac retail, in which not only were Macs neglected alongside PCs, shoved in corners, not well-represented, etc., but there were *numerous* reports of people being steered *away* from the Mac by clueless salespeople. “Oh that one? That’s a Mac. They’re incompatible. You don’t want that.” This is the kind of retail partner Apple most certainly does *not* need.

IMO, if Apple could not have arranged a contract whereby the Mac would get its own separate display area and at least one salesperson trained in dealing with it, then they should not have done this deal at all.

That was the whole genius of the Apple stores in the first place. I fail to see the benefit of going back to putting the Mac in front of salespeople who ‘don’t get it’ merely providing them with an opportunity to point at it and say, ‘Bad.’

By: Steve Borsch

Steve Borsch — Sat, 12 May 2007 20:25:38 +0000

Chrisxcr: I’m entitled since it’s my blog. I also have these cardinal rules: stand by your words; don’t say anything online that I wouldn’t have the balls to say to someone’s face; use my real name.

I also see that I broke a blogger cardinal rule: Don’t Feed the Trolls. I’m going to stop now.

By: grammar nazi sympathizer sympathizer

grammar nazi sympathizer sympathizer — Sat, 12 May 2007 19:40:49 +0000

Steve Borsch:

How about you just quit while you’re behind. What difference would it make if grammar nazi used his real name or not? Why does his comment entitle you to be a sarcastic jerk?

By: Steve Borsch

Steve Borsch — Sat, 12 May 2007 14:38:01 +0000

“it would be better to graciously accept the editorial advice and fix the problem.”

Let me clue you in on how to “graciously” point out misspellings, flaws in grammar and so forth:

1) Send someone an email. Don’t do it publically. I often send email on glaring errors on a site but I send it to the webmaster directly.

2) Don’t hide behind anonymity. It invites sarcastic responses and people not taking the criticism well.

By: grammar nazi sympathizer

grammar nazi sympathizer — Sat, 12 May 2007 07:40:08 +0000

Steve Borsch:

Instead of posting a sarcastic response to grammar nazi, it would be better to graciously accept the editorial advice and fix the problem.

By: Steve Borsch

Steve Borsch — Sat, 12 May 2007 06:24:37 +0000

grammar nazi:

Appreciate you pointing that out. I’m married to an English major and have yet to achieve grammar perfection (as she points out often) so if you would, please point me to your blog or writings so I can be awed by your unrivaled mastery of the language.

By: grammar nazi

grammar nazi — Sat, 12 May 2007 05:38:05 +0000

Thanks for the review (and warning), but for the love of all that is holy:

The plural for Mac is “Macs.” There is no apostrophe. Same for MacBook (“MacBooks”).

By: Earl Thirling

Earl Thirling — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:21:05 +0000

When oh when will Apple learn. Stay out of those damn big box stores. They always end up getting hosed over. It’s happened over and over again. You’d think they would have learned their lesson with Sears.