Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Blue Yeti ·
July 13, 2012 at 10:15pm
Rob Long learns something from the people who work at the Apple Store: when you go on break, always take off your T-shirt and ID badge.
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Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
I like your impression of young people with their (and I mean my...) uptalk inflection. "It's like a legal thing?"
Enjoyed this episode. In fact, I've been thinking of using automatic e-mail responses over the weekend so that when Peter Robinson e-mails me asking me to work on the site on a Saturday evening, he gets a notice that I'm "away from my desk until Monday." ;-)
May '10
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Another masterly 3 minutes, Rob.
The one time I entered an Apple store, it was that glitzy one in NYC next to the entrance to Central Park, the one with the glass cube entrance at street level and glass (maybe I should call them "crystal") stairs leading down to the store proper.
It was all meant to convey a sense of entering an alternate world of pristine high-tech magic, and it would have conveyed that sense beautifully except someone had tracked in some dog doo and smeared it all down the steps.
There's a metaphor there, I think, but working out exactly what it means I will leave as an exercise for the reader.
Edited on July 13, 2012 at 10:57pmApr '12
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Rob makes you hear the voice and conjure up the face of one of the Gen Hipster. They do not need a union, they have it all down pat. Sad day for Steve Jobs.
Jan '11
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Well, to be fair ... everyone ... I mean, everyone ... secretly thinks they're working at the patent office.
May '12
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
I've never been to the Apple Store. I just double-checked, and there aren't any in Alaska.
But I wouldn't wait two hours for help with my phone. And I wouldn't bother anyone on their break. Especially those guys. I read a tech article recently about their working conditions. They're not paid all that well, and they actually have a demanding, high pressure job. If I were starting out in tech, I'd consider working there as a resume enhancer, but move on after a year or two. Of course I'm too old now. You probably won't find any older workers there. They'd have a much better chance at McDonald's.
Also I checked, and it turns out you can make an appointment beforehand.
Jan '11
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Apple seems to sell fine products and their customers seem quite satisfied and loyal. I haven't used an Apple product since maybe 1994, Somehow their marketing has me equating Apple with intuitive design and ease of use. So why do they need geniuses and how come the volume results in a two hour wait?
Nov '10
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
I completely get it...I work in a service industry and in order to have a moments peace I either have lunch in my office with the door shut and my head phones on (listening to ricochet podcasts of course) or I eat out wearing a hat and sunglasses and hoping no one notices. Sometimes you just have to disconnect from the workplace. It can, after all, be a rather unforgiving environment. That being said to not acknowledge the customer later when back on the clock - thats unforgivable. Lousy hipsters...
Edited on July 14, 2012 at 7:21amApr '11
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
I used to work with a guy who had a part-time job as an assembler for Home Depot: he put together the wheelbarrows and barbecues and stuff for display and for customers who didn't want to do the assembly themselves. He had no idea about the rest of the store outside his little shop in the back.
Since the men's room was across the aisle from his workroom, and since he wasn't allowed to take off the orange vest, he'd lurk behind the door, peering out, waiting for the aisle to clear of customers before he'd dash across to the gents.
Jan '11
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
They need 'Geniuses' because Apple's products are inherently complex devices—no matter how easy they are to use—and complex devices fail. And when they fail, not everyone who owns one will be competent to fix it.
That being said, if they charged the same twenty-nine bucks for a consult at the genius bar as they do for a call to tech support, the line wouldn't hardly ever be two hours long.
Edited on July 14, 2012 at 10:48amAug '10
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Diane Ellis, Ed.: I like your impression of young people with their (and I mean my...) uptalk inflection. "It's like a legal thing?"
Enjoyed this episode. In fact, I've been thinking of using automatic e-mail responses over the weekend so that when Peter Robinson e-mails me asking me to work on the site on a Saturday evening, he gets a notice that I'm "away from my desk until Monday." ;-) · 15 hours ago
Diane - to rally convey it, shouldn't you add "like," and some sort of punctuation to indicate the uptalk?
"I'm - like away - from desk until Monday morning.√"
Aug '10
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
My wife (who is a magnet for tech problems) has had to deal with Apple Geniuses several times. It's easier to see your internist on a Friday afternoon without an appointment.
It's clear to me there is a business opportunity for some savvy tech folks to offer up third-party help for the more common, easy to remedy Apple problems. Something akin to the Minute Clinic in the local pharmacy.
I'd pay $30 hour to avoid the absurd waits at the Apple Store.
Feb '11
Re: Martini Shot: Genius Bar
Oh good. An opportunity to kvetch about uptalk - which is a real word, I have learned.
Yes, it sounds like a question. But when I ask a young person what he (or more often she) is studying and get "psychology?" it doesn't sound so much like "Is that OK with you?" but rather "Do you know what that is, old guy?"