Fog of Theory

This post at FreeMacBlog got me thinking about Apple retail stores and some of their tactics. The post is titled "My Three Complaints about Apple Retail Stores" (don't worry, he's got Three Likes coming tomorrow) and, basically, says 1) those answering the phones don't know jack, 2) sales persons fail to treat each customer individually, instead resorting to the same "oh, you're thinking about switching? let me show you what a Mac can do" treatment, and 3) stores are in heavy tourist traffic areas that are simply obnoxious for locals.

First, he's noticing something that I had quite an issue with when I was working for Apple Retail: the astonishing amount of specialization. There are so many different roles in an Apple Store, from the phone center to Mac Specialist (sales floor) to the Genius Bar to the Studio to the custodial staff to the managers, etc. Obviously not everyone can know everything and a certain amount of specialization needs to happen. But anyone who is a first contact with customers--sales floor and phones--should have a broad spectrum of knowledge. Unfortunately, phone operators seem to serve more as a switchboard, even though there is no where to send a product knowledge questions, and Mac Specialists are encouraged to know precisely what it takes to sell a switcher with the full add-on package (AppleCare, .Mac, ProCare) and nothing more.

That's my second issue: Apple Stores are designed for switchers and iPod customers. As much as I love the Apple Store, there is no denying that nearly all products and services are designed for those who know little or nothing about Macs. The bigger issue is that customers reflect this. Very rarely do you see a customer looking at a Mac Pro who is interested in buying it, they are often just checking email (on a very big screen) and frequently need your help to do even that. The sales pitch isn't supposed to be too different than what FreeMacBlog states, but instead of "what are your needs" it becomes "what do you use your PC for?" And opening a conversation? Wait til you see someone who looks confused, walk up and say "hey, wanna see something cool?" Whereas, if you see someone who looks like they know what they're doing, they probably do, so leave them alone. That's not exactly the best way to treat your existing customers. Makes me wonder if there's a significant correlation between the level of Mac familiarity and Mac sales in the retail stores vs. online or through a specialized team (e.g. Apple Store business team not sales floor). That is, the more you know about a Mac, does that make you that much less likely to waltz into an Apple Store and buy a new Mac from some part-time college kid?

Regardless, it's a familiar retail trap. Apple is trying to attract new customers through the retail outlet, that's why stores are located in high tourist traffic areas and focus on the switcher. But the existing Mac fan (addict) is getting a raw deal, even though these are supposed to be such a fabulous resource. Lucky for Apple their product is so good that we keep coming back (and theirs nothing in the PC world to even begin to compare). Wouldn't it be nice, though, if there was a specific group at Apple Stores to focus on returning, experienced customers? Those that are familiar with the platform but have new needs or want to upgrade or take things to a different level? And it should be a complimentary service (not ProCare). I'm thinking of something along the same lines as the small business team some stores have, staffed with long-term, knowledgeable Mac Specialists. Let the green sales people have the Switchers.

Of course you all know by now that last night the always wacky, entertaining (to a point), and borderline out-of-his-mind Vincent was given the Auf-ing from yours and my favorite guilty pleasure, Project Runway. The show, by necessity of time constraint, tends to drop hints throughout as to the end results. Those designers that you don't see much of in an episode tend to be safe bets for moving on (think about how little we've actually paid attention to Uli). The winners either struggle and overcome (Michael's Pam Grier hotpants) or make a bold statement early on (Jeffrey's "I'm going to be the first with immunity to win a challenge") while those vieing for loser generally, well, just seem like losers. The wonderful moments are when things don't always go according to plan, such as when the bumbling Bradley barely finishes his seemingly awful dogwalking outfit but still manages to almost win.

Yet, those moments make one pause to think about the subjectivity of the whole enterprise. Take Jeffrey's winning dress from last night: Big Bird goes BoHo. It's not that I minded the dress, but I didn't feel it captured the spirit of "couture" that the challenge was about. Laura's dress was chastised for long sleeves on evening wear, what about the "come-on-in-we're-open" slit up to the navel in the front of Jeffrey's dress? End of the evening wear, perhaps.

But, in the end, I like the risks that Jeffrey takes. Who's to say if Jeffrey would be in at this point had original bad-boy Keith not got himself kicked out? Keith seemed to me a better version of what Jeffrey is doing now, edgy but more refined and with less deliberate contrariness. However, who knows if that was actually his own talent?

There are five contestants left. Kayne could have been eliminated long ago, but flies by on his stunning, sparkley mediocrity. That leaves Michael, Laura, Uli, and Jeffrey. All have a unique voice, but I fear Uli is too limited and that Laura and Jeffrey have too much to prove. In the end, we'll see some nice collections but it won't matter who makes the final three with Michael.

For more on PR, check out Ron Silliman's thoughtful (if unexpected!) post on the Third Season thus far.

Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law is like a simmering backyard jazz, a slow boil, junk rattled like the blues of Tom Waits, one of the film's lead actors. The ensemble--Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni--weave themselves together like a majestic chorus, improvising and riffing off of each other, until it all comes back in the end, they pack up the horns and go their separate ways.

The story is slight. Three down on their luck guys in New Orleans find themselves in prison. None of them meant to do anything too wrong, but none of them is entirely good either. Their ambiguous character and shady past is how Jarmusch keeps us on edge. The interactions between the characters and with their environment--gritty New Orleans or the murky swamps after escaping prison--create the story. In prison, they are robbed of their environment, forcing them to come to terms with other human beings and their own potential humanity.

When the guys escape from jail, the keep running even though no one seems to be chasing them. There is no need for authority when the Waits and Lurie characters are, essentially, running from themselves and everyone around them at all times. In the end, nothing gets resolved, the characters seem largely the same--if more sober--as when we started. The brilliance of this film is in capturing the journey, not a destination. When three lives halt, they get moving again. Down By Law collects those genuine moments between individuals that go nowhere but somehow find themselves on the road.

Apple made a few announcements this morning. For the iMacs there is a new 24" model with up to a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and the line's budget entry 17" model now starts at only $999. Also announced were processor upgrades for the Mac Mini line of desktops, replacing the 1.5 GHz Core Solo with a 1.66 GHz Core Duo in the bottom-of-the-line ($599) system and popping the $799 system from the 1.66 Duo to a 1.83 GHz Core Duo. (see the Press Release for the official announcement)

Frankly, this is a solid, win-all-around announcement. There is something for everyone here. The stunningly big and powerful iMac satisfies those looking for stunningly big and powerful in the iMac, all-in-one package (most users of the iMac and those who are stuck in the middle between iMac and Mac Pro). For students and first Mac owners, the cheaper introductory iMac has to be looking good. And finally, the "more power" Mac Mini line just givers all those looking to buy a Mac Mini more for the dollar. The only concern is with the high-end iMac being $1999, given the lack of customization and upgradeability, will consumers leap for the Mac Pro? Or, as I would like to see, will Apple make the iMac a more flexible, upgradeable desktop?

With these announcements and a special event happening next Tuesday, September 12, all manner of speculation is already taking place. Obviously, these announcements make any Mac-related announcements on Tuesday very improbable. It seems they made the announcement today to get the Mac part out of the way...or to set up something.

We know that the theme of the event is "It's Showtime!", most probably meaning that movie downloads (and I'm assuming they are for purchase, not rental) are eminent. As I've talked this through with others, though, the major missing component is how to make movie downloads practical for most consumers. The media is useless unless it has a hardware interface that is simple, intuitive, and familiar. Think about the iPod model; not only do you have to provide the media, but you have to provide a way to use it. I don't think Apple is banking on the "true" video iPod as average consumers don't want to watch a film on a tiny screen, or even their computer screen; they like to watch a television from the couch. This is why the existing movie download services are unsuccessful: they have no corresponding hardware solution outside the computer. What Apple has to solve is how to port video to the television.

Many have speculated about a new Airport Express with Video Streaming. I think that's the easy answer. What I'm looking for is a dedicated media center box, one that functions as a wireless hub itself, but that also has a hard drive and a simple interface, like Front Row, for controlling media on the television and downloading content from iTunes. An iPod dock would be built in with the same restrictions as multiple computers and iPods (i.e. cannot transfer back and forth unless iPod is "owned" by the box). A SuperDrive may be built in to allow for burning DVD's and/or watching traditional DVDs. By functioning as the wireless router, all local computers (Mac and PC) would be able to stream content through to the media center.

There are any number of problems, besides it being absolutely impossible to predict Apple's direction. The primary problem with downloadable video itself is storage space. The Mac Mini still only has a 60 or 80gb hard drive, barely more than an iPod and certainly not large enough for a video library. There has to be a solution to the storage problem, either a large, dedicated hard disk, or burnable movies for physical storage. With Leopard coming in the spring and requiring double the current disk (at least) for Time Machine, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple has been working on innovative storage solutions that will start rolling out with the movie downloads.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Oh yeah, iPods? There will be something announced, metal-Nanos or bulletproof Shuffles or something. But seriously, who cares about the iPod upgrade when we're looking at a potential home media revolution?

I did grow up in the Eighties, so allow me this brief rant:

Michael Bay is perpetuating crimes on all humanity, as witnessed here in the new rendering of Megatron.

A huge part of the appeal of Transformers was their logical representation of Earthly vehicles. If I remember correctly, they chose these forms in order to fit in after landing on Earth, they were a survival mechanism of sorts. They also became instantly familiar to those watching the show and playing with the toys. These were actual cars and trucks and planes and assorted other creatures and mechanical contraptions. Transformers were a direct link to our society. The leader of the heros, Optimus Prime, was a semi-truck, he represents the movement of goods and the proper functioning of society. The leader of the bad guys, Megatron, was initially a pistol, a gun, the symbol of violence and death. Now he's completely alien, a foreign object. If anything, he should be weapon representing terrorism. That would at least be in the spirit of the project.

I could write much more about the Transformers and their meaning, but I'll save it for another time. Don't get me wrong, I am still looking forward to this movie (a first for a Bay flick), but my hopes are severely diminished. Perhaps they shouldn't have been that high in the first place.

Seems I link to stereogum almost every day, but they consistently give me things to think about (even if this did come out of Rolling Stone); I figure our mentalities regarding music must be somewhat similar.

Point is, they note the interview with Andre Benjamin (nee 3000) of Outkast explaining how a Hives Show Inspired "Hey Ya!". You see, if he had never seen the Hives live, in concert, being their crazy Swedish rockstar selves, then we would never have gotten the "best song of the twenty-first century" (as implied by RS and AB, and agreed upon, so far, by myself). That seems fitting. Rock built itself on the Blues; Hip-Hop is finding a future in the Garage.

The Future of Book Publishing comes courtesy of 2blowhards' Michael Blowhard nearly three years ago. He yesterday posted some new thoughts on people's imaginary impressions of the publishing industry and relinked this article today. I remember reading this back then, so it's a bit of nostalgia for me as well as a great article that anyone who loves books should read.

Listen to Michael, and all the Blowhards in fact, as they are older and know more than you.

Apple,

Putting your video advertisements on the front page of your website is not a good idea. It makes your front page cumbersome and difficult, especially when you are the Safari homepage and I have multiple applications open. The system delay is not satisfying.

Now, I've mentioned my thoughts on the older ads. I like the new ones much better. Here's why:

In the new ads, the PC initiates the conversation and/or the topic--he is injured, curious about the photobook, and dressed in costume--thus more closely relating to the majority of computer users. When Mac talked before, it sounded like he was being pompous. Now he sounds more laid back, truly like a friend of PC rather than a smartass kid. This is due, in part, to the fact that he always responds to PC rather than tells PC without prompting.

Furthermore, Mac is just doing his thing in these commercials rather than seemingly trying to make a point. PC is left to get confused and act irrationally. The suggestion I made in the previous post was that the two should switch roles. While not a complete role reversal, I'm satisfied with where they have gone. PC (and his double, the common user) is no longer frustrated because Mac is showing off, but is frustrated because he is a PC. That, Apple, is the point.

Now get the video off your front page.

I discovered this last week, somehow (maybe Chicagoist), and it has been sitting in a couple of Firefox tabs all weekend. Apparently there is a whole underground world laying beneath the skyscrapers and tourist feet of Chicago's Loop. Admittedly I can't get very far, or anywhere, from where I work, but the simple fact that a vast underground walkway traverses the city is, well, neat. Neat, perhaps, because it reminds me of the steam-tunnels of Grinnell, said to run throughout the campus in much the same way, and because it reminds me of a Superman cartoon episode that I've never successfully gotten out of my head, where a hundred-year-old civilization exists beneath Metropolis.

If you're interested in exploring, Mark Spiegl's Chicago Pedway Map shows the layout and Gaper's Block comes up with the tour.

What is amazing about Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times--besides the star of the film writing, directing, scoring, singing, dancing, acting, and probably doing half the other crew positions, something we can hardly imagine in today's Hollywood--is the combination of physical comedy, sharp wit, and the intellectual commentary inspired by Chaplin's reading in Marxist theory.
So often lost in his modern reputation as the "Little Tramp," Chaplin was interested in making people think as much as making people laugh.

I once had a professor who liked to speak of Chaplin in the same breath as the Russian filmmaker and theorist Eisenstein, after watching Modern Times I understand. Unlike other standout Chaplin films--The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator, for example--the comic scenes and the imagery (Eisenstein's montage) of Modern Times strikes a perfect balance to create a full, completely realized work of art.

Without getting to academic, simply consider the lasting pictures of the film. There's the Tramp in the gears of the machine, the giant clock opening, the sheep turning into men coming out of the subway, along with the endearing comic moments on the assembly line, over bread in the jail, on roller skates in the department store, and the classic non-sense song in the cafe. These are essential to each other in the same way that man is essential to the mechanics of the assembly line. That's Chaplin's point.

But sometimes the machines and the men break down. The obvious machine in the film is the assembly line of the factory with the massive gears the little Tramp takes for a ride. However, the real machine is modern society. This is encapsulated in the most powerful image of the film where the Tramp, fresh out of jail, picks up a flag that falls of the back of a truck. As he walks down the middle of the street waving it at the truck, as if to say "Hey, you dropped this," a march of striking workers marches around the corner behind him and adopts his flag waving as the parade leader, completely unknown to the Tramp.

This image sums up the project of Modern Times. Chaplin's Tramp has just suffered a nervous breakdown (the man breaking down), landing him in jail. After getting out he's unwillingly run through the machinery of the proletariat and, when the police get involved, it becomes all-out Marxist commentary. But since the Tramp is oblivious, he is just a cog after all, we can sit back, watch the action, laugh a little, and think a bit while enjoying this marvel of a film.