For all the pictures, check out
my web
gallery.
Okay, I admit it. I'm the kind of person who will stand in line for
stuff like this. I've seen quite a few midnight showings of movies
on their release day. In 2004 I stood in line to get a copy of Halo
2 for the Xbox at midnight. A couple of months ago, I stood in line
to to get an iPhone on its launch date. What's wrong with me (and
others who do the same thing)? Am I simply too impatient? Did I
have to be at the Oxmoor Mall for the grand opening of Louisville's
new Apple Store? I mean couldn't I go this weekend and avoid all
crowds?
Certainly. But that's not why we go.
Such activities are an event themselves, a pinpoint in one's
personal history that merges with the history of significant
cultural events. Standing in line with folks you don't know
personally, but with whom you obviously have much in common makes
for great conversation despite a lack of personal history. You can
look back and say, "I was there--there on the very first
day."
But I'll tell you, in spite of all the lines I've stood in, I've
never been to an event quite like the one last night. This was my
first Apple Store grand opening, but there were people there
wearing t-shirts from grand openings at other locales. We had been
promised that the first thousand of us would get a free t-shirt
commemorating the event. I got there about an hour before the doors
were to open, and there was already a line more than 100 yards
long. You really can't tell from the picture on the right, but we
are about a football field's length from the Apple Store. The line
ran from the store down to the end of Oxmoor Mall's east wing. Then
it zig-zagged through ropes set up for the occasion. Then it
zig-zagged a few loops more which is where I stood. Then, before
the doors even opened, the line went back down the wing again on
the other side another hundred yards. I would guess that there were
a couple thousand people there last night. I'm sure management at
the mall was thrilled about this new store. But the poor guy at the
cell phone kiosk in the middle of the wing looked anything but
thrilled. With hundreds of folks lined up on both sides of his
booth, he wasn't getting
any business. And since he was
not selling iPhones,
this crowd wasn't interested in what
he had to offer.
As I said, this was my first Apple Store grand opening, and
although I've been to other such events, I have to say that this
was the most energized crowd I've ever been part of at this kind of
thing. Everyone was excited, and occasionally people would burst
into cheers or applause at the other end of the wing and all of us
would join in--even if we didn't know exactly what it was for. The
shot on the left here isn't that great because the iPhone isn't
good at action shots. But at about ten minutes before the store
opened, all the employees--clad in lime-green t-shirts--ran out of
the store and started high-fiving all of us waiting to get in. They
ran all the way around the crowd, which would almost be like
running around a football field (although not quite as wide), and
some of them ran it twice. Not only were we, the customers, taking
pictures and video, so were many of the employees. They were like
cheerleaders and we were like participants in a pep rally. Later, I
would notice that as people in the store walked out with purchases,
there were Apple Store employees stationed at the door who would
cheer and applaud for them.
If there is indeed a "
cult of Mac," then such events serve as revival
services to stir up the faithful. It made this techno-disciple feel
connected to the larger body of devotees after feeling quite alone
at times over the last decade when many times I would be the sole
Mac user in a Windows environment. As I stood in line and looked at
the immense number of people who had gathered, I thought to myself,
"I never realized there were this many Mac users in Louisville."
For us Mac faithful, if the Apple Cupertino headquarters is Mecca,
then Apple Stores are the local mosques--holy ground if you will.
And this was our pilgrimage. After all those times strolling
through the aisles of software at the local office store and seeing
nothing but Windows programs, here was an entire wall of Macintosh
apps. Last night I looked at all the offerings, many I didn't even
know existed. For all supposed claims that the Mac is not a
business computer, I was surprised to see all the software geared
toward business: finance software, accounting and bookkeeping
packages, billing and receipt software.
The Apple store also had every one of the new iPod offerings that
had just been announced the day before. Amazing. In fact, the iPods
were definitely the focus of most of the displays in the store.
Something I didn't realize until I saw it up close--there are no
longer any
white iPods. Everything's metal now. For what
is being called the iPod Classic, one can choose between silver and
black, but the iPod's original all white front is now gone from
every model and line. Also, the new iPod nano which has
unfortunately been dubbed the "fatty" based on early pictures, did
not come across that way at all when it was in my hand. It takes
holding it to get it, and it's surprisingly smaller than I realized
it was simply from seeing the pictures. I don't think I would ever
be in the market for any iPod again because my iPhone meets that
function, but the new iPod nano's form factor would comfortably fit
in just about any pocket.
Finally, before I left, I took a moment to look around the store
and reflect upon the evening. The place was packed, and there were
still people waiting in line who probably would still be waiting in
another hour or so. What other company can pull off such devotion?
I mean first, the timing was right. The mall opens at 9 AM, but the
Apple Store didn't open its doors until 6PM--right about the time
everyone is leaving work. But think about it. When Victoria's
Secret or the Gap or even a Sony Style store opens in a mall, do
people turn out by the thousands? No. And realize that such
devotion is based on consumerism, a consumerism that's driven by
regularly introducing new products so as to convince you that what
you spent money on last time is now obsolete.
All of the sales people were extremely friendly. I didn't leave to
cheers (because I didn't purchase anything), but I did get my
t-shirt and friendly farewells from the Apple Store employees. One
of the workers, a young man in his twenties with bright red hair
said to me, "Isn't this great?!" He seemed just as enthusiastic
about being an employee as the rest of us felt about being
customers. I said, "Yeah. Hey, are there any grand opening specials
going on tonight?" I hadn't seen any indication of such, but often
stores such as Best Buy will offer tremendous sale price savings
for the entire week when a new store is opens. He smiled, and
without hesitation said, "No, really the free t-shirt is the
special tonight." Makes sense. There was a steady stream of people
to get in, and another steady stream of people walking out with
iPods, iPhones, and iMacs. Why on earth would they need to run
specials.
Cult of Mac, indeed.
But at least I got my t-shirt.
Don't forget to see all my pictures of the Apple Store Oxmoor Grand
Opening at my
web gallery.
Tags: Apple, Macintosh
