Line Forms At Apple's Always-Open Manhattan Cube 445
SpectreBlofeld writes "According to EngadgetMobile, a line has formed in front of Apple's flagship Cube store in Manhattan. From the article: 'So word on the street (literally) is that a large number of people are queuing in line outside of Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City — keep in mind the Cube is open 24 hours a day. Our intrepid girl-on-the-scene reports that the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for, but some believe they're actually camping out for a 3G iPhone.' Prank, or mass hysteria?" I wonder if the crowd already has its own Flickr group set up -- if not, what are they waiting for on that front?
Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Informative)
It's usually better to wait for a while when a new product is released - that way someone else will have all problems.
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
OS X and commodity x86 architectures living together?
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but when we Apple fans do mass hysteria, it's in a hip, cool, stylish kinda way.
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Interesting)
And because there are realtively few models of mac it is generally fairly easy to find information on what order things come apart in (which is generally the biggest challange when working on laptops and similar IMO)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Take-Apart-Repair-Manuals-p-1-c-258.html [powerbookmedic.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Sometimes I think my users actually do use hammers to operate their computers. Or maybe the footprints on the outside give a clue..."What size shoe does your son wear?" Hmmm, and tell me again why you wonder how it just stopped working?
The Onion (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but it's mass hysteria with hipsters and threesomes with hot vegetarian girls protesting the war.
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:4, Funny)
Giant orgy (Score:4, Funny)
Jokes aside, an Engadget story on slasdot, about Apple, on a queue. I know Apple is worshiped here, but can it go lower than this?
Re:Giant orgy (Score:5, Funny)
Well that's obviously wrong. The line would be a hell of a lot longer than 60 deep for that.
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I assume that this is the funny part that got you modded up. From reading regular comments right here on Slashdot I have discovered that because I am a Mac user:
1. I am gay.
2. I have toy computer.
3. I only bought a Mac because I am under the influence of marketing forces.
4. I'm too stupid to be able to use anything else.
5. I am a shrill fanboy. Or fanbois. Whatever.
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Look, the fanboy persecution complex! (Score:3, Interesting)
Has anyone else noticed the similarity between Apple fanboys and Republican freepers?
Think about it:
Criticism of the (product or company | party or policy) is seen as personal attack.
Criticism of the fearless leader is seen as a personal attack.
Both groups consider themselves tiny voices of truth being attacked by a horde who constantly censors them.
Both groups employ talking poi
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There's no excuse for the trolls, but they tend to get modded down, so that doesn't change the OP's point.
Generally, anything critical of Apple has got modded down, when the same comments made with respect to other platforms wouldn't. Apple stories are the only one that I have to browse at -1 to follow the thread properly.
I have noticed this become less an issue since the release of the Iphone - possibly people are getting fed up of seeing story af
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Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:4, Funny)
"You" have too much money. Luckily, Apple is helping you with that.
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Interesting)
There's nothing stopping you from keeping a non-Apple product for longer than two years, you know. Hell, my Toshiba laptop must be at least 6 years old now.
See, buying something more expensive only saves you money in the long run if the cheaper one would need so much more maintenance or replacement that it wouldn't be cost-effective. But this isn't one of those situations. An HP, Dell, Toshiba, or any other competing laptop will last just as long as your MacBook (for hundreds of dollars less), and a Samsung, LG, Motorola, or any other competing phone will last just as long as your iPhone (for hundreds of dollars less).
There's nothing wrong with spending more money to get something flashy or cute or whatever, but don't pretend you're saving money this way.
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For example, you could've gotten a feature phone that does 95% of the same stuff as an iPhone for 15% of the price,
Except much of what the iPhone "does" in that sense is be really easy to use. The features themselves were relatively cheap to implement, but Apple spent a ton on interface design. If you can really find a feature-equivalent phone that is 95% as pleasant to use as the iPhone for 15% of the price of the iPhone, more power to you, but I doubt such a phone exists. I'd guess you're one of the people who pulls up the feature list and assumes that feature parity means value parity, which is really about as usefu
Time value of money and exponential improvement (Score:4, Interesting)
There's something cool called the "time value of money". There's also a unique property to the PC industry, which is a trend toward exponential improvement.
If you save $1000 today, it's actually worth a lot more compounded over 5 years from now. Not to mention the value in more frequent hardware replacements in an industry where exponential improvement is the norm.
Given accepted rates of return on things like index funds (10%), you could spend $1000 every 2 years, instead of $2000 every 5 years... You would have two brand new machines during that time on the same budget and have a bunch left over at the end. The only thing you miss out on is the first two years of having a 50% superior machine, if we arbitrarily call your $2000 Mac (we'll go wild) "50% better" than the $1000 PC when it was brand new.
The neat thing is that if you spend $1000 every two years rather than $2100 every five years, those last three years, you would have a far superior machine.... so... for more than half of the 5 year life cycle, you would have vastly superior machine... of course it does involve delayed gratification.
OK, lets do the numbers. I can hear your ears turning red.... or perhaps your eyes are glazing over. I don't care. Keep reading.
Even assuming Macbooks hold their value better (lets use some numbers and assume the PC depreciates at exactly 40% per year and the mac at exactly 30% per year), your 2nd $1000 PC purchase would cost you $640 after the trade in of your 2 year old PC (which was then worth $360). Your initial $1000 savings is now also worth $1331, which you can spend on that PC. So you have a brand new computer in the second year and $691 in the bank. Two years later, you replace it again, getting a trade in and paying $640 for a machine 8 times (exponential for 4 years) faster than your original box. Again, your initial savings on the purchase means that you don't have to put down any money. Your $691 could now be valued at $836, so even after you THIRD purchase (8 times faster than the original), you still have $196 in the bank. Upon reaching the 5th year, you evaluate your position.
Your $2000 Macbook is worth about $340 since it's 5 years old (30% per year).
Your $1000 PC is actually your third one you got with the same money. It's currently worth $600 (40% per year). You also have $215 in the bank from the leftovers after the trade-ins and compounded interest.
Lets say your $2000 Mac was.. we'll go wild and say it's 50% "better" than the $1000 PC when it was brand new. Today, you have a 1 year old PC that's valued at about $600 and is generally about 6 times faster (presumably "better" in most ways) than your 5 year old Mac. You didn't spend any additional money during the entire process but you got a new PC every 2 years.
Now, this argument is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT for someone who considers "money is no object", since they will simply buy the best AND replace it yearly. But for someone on an obviously restricted budget, it's simply silly to argue that you're saving money. In fact, it's a lie.
If you want to argue that the PC is so infuriatingly poor that you simply can't use it during those first two years.... there is nothing I can say and you are entitled to that opinion.
But you wanted to make some sort of kooky economic argument.....
epic fail.
Of course, this all falls apart if you're the type who will spend your spare cash on lotto tickets rather than putting it in an interest bearing account as I've assumed above....
Which is also entirely possible.
Hey, anything is possible!
o.0
(_)
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I'm trying not to nitpick, but just go peruse your craigslist mac listings and you'll find that your numbers are completely off the mark. Macs hold their value exceedingly well. Dual G4 1.x machines still regularly command a $500-$700 price in Los Angeles, not to mention other markets. It is a sad fact. If you're going to go mac, you can do exactly what you're advocating with your PCs: Buy new, then every 2 years, sell b
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One year warranty, 90 days of free phone support. Also, in certain countries the law states that the warranty period is longer unless the manufacturer can prove the fault was caused by the user. And there are tons of Wintel/PC manufacturers who have similar warranty lengths.
With adult, real com
Re:Mass Hysteria (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:good computers (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, it must be tough to deal with such huge crowds.
The Time Machine (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:The Time Machine (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The Time Machine (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The Time Machine (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple... (Score:5, Funny)
http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/ [misterbg.org]
hth.
Coming soon! The iNull! (Score:5, Funny)
"Apple will change the way we look at nothingness as a society," said one industry insider. "This is game-changing. Everything you think you know about nothing is going to be swept away."
Mac enthusiasts are eager to be among the first to have an iNull, despite the inherent philosophical difficulties in "having" one. "I can't wait!" blurted one blogger, "Apple has once again shown how they 'think different'. In a world of gadgets, doodads and useless techno-gimmickry, they've brought forth something of unrivaled simplicity and elegance. Way to go!"
From a business perspective, the profit potential is limitless -- the iNull will have the lowest production cost of any Apple product to date, requiring no manufacturing, shipping, or inventory, although there will be a "significant" marketing campaign. Of the $499 price tag, Apple is expected to reap the lion's share as pure profit, with an unspecified percentage paid out as a licensing fee to the Sartre estate.
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The reason is marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The reason is marketing (Score:4, Interesting)
If there is technology you want that is in high demand you can probably find it in a smaller town.
It's back! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:It's back! (Score:5, Interesting)
I once visited the Apple campus at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino. There was a big open, quadrangular courtyard. Each side of the quadrangle had a huge banner, like 20 feet tall, displaying an Apple product: there was a iBook, a PowerBook, an iMac, and a Power Mac. The huge banners made me think of something the Soviets might have put up to glorify Stalin and Lenin at Red Square to celebrate the revolution. And certainly, Steve Jobs is a bit like Stalin or Kim Jong Il in creating a cult of personality, and you could argue that his product announcements are like the Communist Party rallies held in the USSR, China, or North Korea.
Obviously there are limits to such an analogy. I don't imagine Apple-manufactured tanks, made of polycarbonate and brushed alumninum rolling into Eastern Europe. And I don't imagine Apple getting the bomb, or starving millions of people to death, or locking PC users into re-education camps where they are taught how to use a mouse with a single button. Still, the way Jobs and Apple appeal to people is oddly similar to the way totalitarian regimes do.
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There, fixed that for you.
Re:It's back! (Score:5, Funny)
They never do, not until it's too late.
Re:It's back! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's back! (Score:5, Funny)
Apple and the French (Score:5, Funny)
The French invented the modern tank in WWI, based on an original idea by the British.
Apple invented the modern WIMP UI in 1981/82, based on an original design by Xerox.
The French didn't really improve their tank after WWI, and were totally taken by surprise by German tank warfare.
Apple didn't really improve their OS after the '80s, and were totally taken by surprise by Microsoft Windows 95.
Yeh, sounds right.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I know! Unbelievable isn't it? Especially when Mussolini is a much more appropriate comparison.
Re:It's back! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's back! (Score:5, Informative)
And verily, Our Lord Jobs Did Come Unto Them (Score:5, Funny)
And then did the Lord Jobs hand out the Holy 3G iPhone unto the chosen who harkened unto him, and it was good.
Improv Everywhere? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Improv Everywhere? (Score:5, Informative)
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Funny... (Score:2)
Apple's newest product... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Apple's newest product... (Score:5, Funny)
damn, I'm still in the "Indy" line (Score:3, Funny)
Vindicated finally!!! (Score:4, Funny)
(Hint: This is tongue in cheek humour, you want to mod it funny not troll. Either that or there's nothing to see here, move along. The secret history of star wars says so, so it must be true).
Maybe they're British (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing that the British like more than moaning and queuing.
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Re:Maybe they're British (Score:5, Funny)
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Posts, barriers, and security on hand (Score:3, Interesting)
This looks like a marketing stunt. Note that posts, barriers, and security people for line control were all on hand for this "unexpected" event.
Apple probably isn't even paying them. All they'd have to do is send anonymous text messages for a few of their fanboys, er, customers.
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This looks like a marketing stunt. Note that posts, barriers, and security people for line control were all on hand for this "unexpected" event.
Re:Posts, barriers, and security on hand (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing to see here... (Score:2, Insightful)
What's worse? (Score:5, Interesting)
OR
That this story gets media attention at all and has anti-macheads all in a sweat shouting "sheeple!" and trying to put various political/religious/fanboi spins on the story?
In other news... (Score:2, Funny)
Meanwhile, at the Sony Style Store... (Score:5, Funny)
Brand name computer stores are the outlet for those too weak to resist the urge to make impulse purchases in excess of a month's income. The fact Apple has been able to capitalize on this trend so well speaks to the fetishistic appeal of those shiny laptops and the absence of any real value in their products. Convinced the worth of something that is not even there, people are literally waiting in line to buy nothing.
Truly, they are the dead.
M
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How is a laptop or computer capable of running all three major OSes "absent of value"? How is an iPod?
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Pre tax, that's $3,609 monthly earnings.
Subtract 30% for federal, state and local, that's around $2,526.
The shinier the Mac, the higher above that number it goes. They make the cheapest models black for a reason.
M
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I'm concerned about stability (its not going to break), weight (not too heavy), size (not too big), that the keyboard is comfortab
Obligatory Borg Comment (Score:5, Funny)
Line was for old iPhones (Score:2, Informative)
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0&fp=483570bb44e45a71&ei=Suo1SMbdJY3q_AG6kIGnCw&url=http%3A//dvice.com/archives/2008/05/mystery_lineup.php&cid=0&usg=AFrqEzdpLsANqWrm6zwUT10e-6PmeMbnHg
The Jungle (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, that scene depicted people with absolutely no disposable income desperate to get their money back in their own hands, whereas--minus the hysteria--this scene depicts people desperate to put their money into someone else's hands. How far we've come.
Apple marketers must be laughing (Score:5, Funny)
They got a shipment of iPhones in (link) (Score:5, Informative)
"By the time we got there, the lineup was gone, but a couple of helpful Apple blueshirts told us what was what: It turns out that the lineup wasn't for the widely -- and wildly -- rumored 3G iPhone. The store got a shipment of current iPhones this morning, apparently a rare occurrence these days, and when word got out, some touchscreen-hungry folks got in line to snatch up the few that came in."
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Here's why (Score:4, Informative)
Move along nothing to see here... (Score:3, Funny)
So idiots line up at an Apple store, what else is new? How is this News?
Re:Ah, the wonderful, screaming world of retail. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that's up for debate, and really, this is most likely a social prank, not a mass gathering to encourage Apple to speed up production of the i[newest-product-name-goes-here].
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I was referring mostly to your "they deserve the marketshare" statement...
Re:Ah, the wonderful, screaming world of retail. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Ah, the wonderful, screaming world of retail. (Score:5, Insightful)
That Apple employee did NOT care about your stupid canned lecture about Free Software(tm).
They didn't demonstrate setting up dual-booting with Windows, not because there's a vast corporate conspiracy against Free Software(tm), but because the display was already set up with all the steps laid out, and the employee wasn't going to spend 3 hours of a workday setting up Free Software(tm) for the sole purpose of demonstrating software that works the same with any 2nd OS.
The employees didn't like you, not because they're part of a vast corporate conspiracy against Free Software(tm), but because you went to an Apple store for the sole purpose of harassing employees about information you could have obtained much more easily with Google, JUST so you could give an absolutely retarded canned lecture about Free Software(tm) to an employee who didn't give a shit at all.
They kicked you out because you were acting like an obnoxious prick, not because you were asking too much about free software and/or you were embarrassing them with your superior knowledge of software and/or they were ignorant or forbidden to tell what they knew. In the future, just shut the fuck up, 'kay?
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Ah, I wouldn't know ;) (Score:5, Funny)
You're also almost guaranteed to have the same moods at the same time. When you're in a mood to go see a movie, for example, so are you. I mean it's not like you're in a mood to watch the game, while you would rather talk about moving the furniture instead. No need to nod absentmindedly and go "uh-huh". Which is just as well, because you'd know it anyway. And when you're depressed, you can always cry on your own shoulder. (Come to think of it, more of the people on the Internet should be encouraged to use their own shoulder for that;)
And if you want to call yourself to dinner, but you're still at the last boss in a MMO raid... well, chances are you'll find a way to accomodate and understand yourself.
You can also save yourself not just the phone bill, but also the internet bill. You can just use Notepad as IRC, IM and pretty much any other text chat medium rolled in one. And you know you can accept any files or attachments. Heck, even if you sent yourself a virus, you had it already anyway.
Buying gifts for yourself is fun too. It takes all the guesswork out, and it's not like you'll buy yourself a tie you'll secretly hate but pretend to like so you don't offend yourself. Downside, it ruins the whole surprise big time. Plus side again, it'll probably be something both you and you can use, and you won't get into ownership disputes about it.
Romance tends to not work too well, though.
Twitter (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Ah, the wonderful, screaming world of retail. (Score:5, Interesting)
As far as the retail experience goes, coming from the gritty do-it-yourself-BestBuy-or-bust PC white/beige box world where I see computers as tools rather than post-modernist plastic sculptures to gawk at, I have to say I was rather pleasantly surprised. I half expected these guys (Geniuses?) to be no better than the ignorant, pushy pimply teenagers at BestBuy or the Gateway Country Stores (R.I.P.), but that was certainly not the case. I mean I didn't walk out of there with a hard on or anything like that, but Apple certainly has the "don't worry about anything, just give us your money and you'll be OK" approach completely figured out.
The thing that got my attention was the number of kids playing with the Macs on display, and the number of older people browsing around. I'm not sure what gives, but it's like the store atmosphere sort of encourages people to sit down, try things out and ask lots of questions. Inevitably I suppose this takes care of the other thing, which is to sell the boxes.
I can't say that I'm anything other than a die-hard Windows (with sprinklings of BSD and Linux) user, and I really wouldn't want or know what to do with a Mac. But at the expense of sounding a little fanboyish, the Apple store is very cool.
I think anyone with just a few working brain cells can figure out the real reasons for your lame little account of the terrible things suffered at the hands of these evil people. If I happened to be in the shoes of that ogre of a manager that "screamed" at you, I would have taken your picture and put up a website with an account of what really happened (one can only imagine your demeanor and shudder), along with a recommendation of how not to "evangelize" free software.
As always, you end up doing more harm than good - sockpuppets or not.
Re:Satanic verses. (Score:4, Funny)
Not a lot of historical documents from that time period have survived, so I'm curious about your hidden stash of medical records. I'm also curious about your apparent collection of criminal (or are they professional?) records establishing the prophet as a baby-raper.
The God you worship may not like baby-rapers, but does he know how to spell "seizure"? I don't really care about the answer; I just want to use this opportunity to be a condescending punk and point out that you're not only delusional, but also can't spell properly.
You may also want to review the rules of English capitalization.
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Heh. I have to say in fairness that full credit for spotting most of twitter's sockpuppets goes to Macthorpe [slashdot.org]. I just took the opening twitter gave me :)
I can't believe he would actually post a link to that, never mind doing it with one of his other accounts (in the third person, no less). I would have deleted it in embarrassment a long time ago. Well, I wouldn't have written it to begin with.
The usual YOU CANNOT TALK ABOUT
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But your mention of "a friend of mine got an invite for it" sounds strange. Normally when Improv Anywhere stages an event, the invitation makes no mention of what the event actually is. It just says something vague like "bring a green shirt and be prepared to walk alot" or whatever. Only once everyone is gathered do they explain the stunt. (This is intentionally done to prevent information leaks and to keep everyone genuinely surprised.) If you wa
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