mark nottingham

The genius bar reminded me of the switch to mac spoof http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchback/

http://www.ubergeek.tv/rss/

+1 When I can actually get to the bar to ask a question that ANYONE working in the store should be able to answer I inevitably get an answer like, “I don’t know” or “I’ve never heard of that, are you sure?”. The questions that provoked those responses? “Is there an adapter available for DVI to VGA?” (I was pretty sure just wanted to confirm, and yup I got one in the box of my dual head ATI card). “Is there anything being done about the heat issue on the 12” TiBook?” Never heard of that problem? All they had to do was go touch the display model or read an review in MacWorld.

I don’t know if there is an increased amount of people traffic at the Genius bar based on my own recent experiences or if it is statistically true.

Anyways, having an tech service for their products is a very good idea. However, I think Apple’s is a physically poorly placed one.

Whoever did the interior design, I suspect, did not take into account that most people who will be at the Genius bar will not be in the best of moods. I would think that this effects the retail portion of their store greatly.

How about creating a special lounge and seating area, and one on one spaces with the tech specialists? Also what about a numbering system to make those who arrive less antsy that they’re noticed. Really simple ideas that I think would improve the health of the retail stores.

Personal pet peeve at Genius Bar: Apple customer fanatics being too friendly. Just like on an uncomfortable and over booked airplane trip, the experience of dealing with any technical service is usually aggravating. Having a really chatty passenger doesn’t help the situation either. If passengers do not want to be talked to, it should be quite apparent that they do not want to be talked to.

Have just visited the Apple stores at Soho and at Pasadena. Loved the genius bar, availability of machines for checking email etc, variety of software, instore education with rows of comfortable seats and being able to take in my laptop to hookup to the airport network, no charge, no problem. If we had such stores in Sydney Australia many more would buy Apple machines.

the genius bar is a wonderful idea that happens to be terribly applied. in the bay area, it’s virtually impossible to reserve a time on the day you’d like to bring in your mac, and one is not able to make a future appointment unless you have a procard, which costs $99. apparently, being able to make a future appointment is an ‘extra service’…which is completely ludicrous. let me suggest what ‘extra service’ might be: if someone took a look at your mac then and there. now that’s extra service. i’m a longtime mac user and i have to say that i’m completely dissatisfied at what i consider to be declining quality in order to create something that looks beautiful from a design point of view.