Day: December 26, 2011

Apple’s Grand Central public toilet distortion field

Apple’s Grand Central public toilet distortion field:

Trying to get a straight answer to one of life’s simplest questions

The facilities at the top of these stairs are off limits.

One of the great public services Apple (AAPL) offers in its flagship stores — besides free repairs at the Genius Bars — is bathrooms for its customers.

So when Apple was getting ready to open an enormous new store in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal — its fifth retail outlet in a city notorious for its lack of public facilities — I made a point of asking whether there were toilets in the store for customers.

Here are the answers I got:

[Funny.]
Source: FORTUNE: Apple 2.0

Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle)

Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle):

But let’s not forget that some people actually like shopping. Are the online stores for these devices fun or exciting or social? Do they live and grow and change or are they static warehouses?

The seeds of what we buy and how we buy it are being planted with these early versions of the devices. I wonder if we’re being cheated out of discovery, productivity and a bit of fun.

[I’d agree that shopping experiences and information are going to change in big ways. Consider, as an example, Apple’s in store app, that allows you to self service. Not for everyone, or all the time, but for quick grab and go, it’s cool. A nice way to evolve the retail experience. Now what if Apple takes another step and allows my store to work the same way? Your “iTunes” account becomes a payment gateway.]
Source: Seth’s Blog

IMHO what’s become wrong with most transactions is a lack of trust, which can be hard to develop with large corporations not represented by an individual. Finding ways to restore person to person trust is the real solution to a lot of problems.

As a further aside, it is a problem Apple should be considering. Steve was the face of Apple for a long time, and his passing proves to me that many people thought that when they bought an Apple computer they were buying it from Steve, true or not. Who are you buying it from today?