It Took Me 30 Minutes to Purchase a MacBook

On Friday morning I stopped by the Bethesda Row Apple Store in Bethesda, Maryland, to buy a MacBook. I reached the parking garage 1/2 block from the store at 9:55 am. When I put money in the parking meter, I had to decide whether I was going to be in the store 1/2 hour or one hour.

Foolishly, I thought I could walk into the store and purchase a MacBook in less than 30 minutes, so I dropped a single quarter into the parking meter. When I reached the store at 10 am, it was mobbed.

Upon entering the store, a friendly store employee showed me a stool near the front door and told me to sit and wait. That I did, for about 10 minutes. A friendly, but harried, salesperson came over to take my order. I knew exactly what I wanted. He committed my order to memory, which seemed a little unusual considering how frantic the store was. In that kind of environment, you're bound to forget something when you reach the stock room.

The salesperson apologized several times for the delay. I didn't have the heart to tell him that if he apologized less, the people waiting behind me wouldn't have to wait so long.

After returning to my car after the purchase, my parking meter had expired -- and I realized I forgot to order iWork. The store was just too franctic for me to be able to think clearly when I was making my order. The whole experience was un-Zen. I barely had a chance to reconnect delightfully with my inner child.

Before I left the store, I noticed on the monitor above the Genius Bar that there were no more free slots for the day. Is Apple a victim of its own success? You tell me.

Is one way to address this situation to expand the number of hours the stores are open? Uhm, yes.

I'd go one step further. Remove some of the merchandise on display. Those central tables in the miniscule Bethesda Row store -- those have got to go. They impede the sales transaction.

Phil Shapiro
The blogger is an adjunct professor of education and a technology commentator in the Washington DC-area. He can be reached at: philshapiroblogger@gmail.com

Prior blog postings -

YouTube Reaches a Billion Video Views per Day

After Lightning Strikes, One iMac Becomes Two

It Feels Like Freedom is Coming

Book Review - Google SketchUp for Dummmies

Comments

Excellent! The iWork apps are great, too.

cyclelogicpress

August 12, 2008

10:05 PM PT

I"m seriously considering going to OS X! I used to have an OS X PowerBook... man I loved that thing!

itomek