iShater
Jul 28, 12:36 PM
I think the Volt is a success in terms of meeting it's intended design parameters. However, I think the whole notion of the all-electric car and plug-in hybrids are flawed due to our current infrastructure.
As long as we burn fossil fuels to get the electricity, the electric car is just sweeping the fossil fuel/pollution problem under the rug by putting the "dirty" side of power consumption out of sight (back at the power plant). Also, there's no way our current power generation infrastructure could support even a fraction of the population switching to electric cars. California already has rolling blackouts - if people stopped burning gas and switched to electrics, the problem would get drastically worse.
I think electric cars are a dead end for the present...At least until our entire power grid makes large-scale switches to alternative energy, and there is no timeline for that currently. Also, there is currently no guarantee that practical fuel-cell systems will ever be truly affordable or mass-producable. The current offerings are all extremely expensive, proof-of-concept vehicles with short useful lives.
We'd be better off with diesels or diesel hybrids. People don't want to admit it, but those are currently our best options IMO.
I really wish I didn't sound so cynical, but that's the picture as I understand it.
All very valid points. However, keep in mind that even how we get our power varies from state to state. Switching to electric vehicles does need to come hand in hand with a change on not only how we generate electricity, but also how we consume it.
As long as we burn fossil fuels to get the electricity, the electric car is just sweeping the fossil fuel/pollution problem under the rug by putting the "dirty" side of power consumption out of sight (back at the power plant). Also, there's no way our current power generation infrastructure could support even a fraction of the population switching to electric cars. California already has rolling blackouts - if people stopped burning gas and switched to electrics, the problem would get drastically worse.
I think electric cars are a dead end for the present...At least until our entire power grid makes large-scale switches to alternative energy, and there is no timeline for that currently. Also, there is currently no guarantee that practical fuel-cell systems will ever be truly affordable or mass-producable. The current offerings are all extremely expensive, proof-of-concept vehicles with short useful lives.
We'd be better off with diesels or diesel hybrids. People don't want to admit it, but those are currently our best options IMO.
I really wish I didn't sound so cynical, but that's the picture as I understand it.
All very valid points. However, keep in mind that even how we get our power varies from state to state. Switching to electric vehicles does need to come hand in hand with a change on not only how we generate electricity, but also how we consume it.
Xian Zhu Xuande
Jul 21, 10:02 AM
Well, if they treat their customers this way then what do they expect?
Imagine an icecream stand, selling icecream cones "revolutionarily" cylindrical in shape and everyone's icecream fell out the bottom. Then, they remedy this by going "ok, we'll give you all a small piece of paper to glue to the bottom that will sort of fix the problem."
The iPhone 4 works marvelously well. It is the most reliable iPhone I have ever owned, and the previous versions set a high standard to match. I am perfectly able to duplicate the issue (in my office, where the signal is poor) but as far as I can tell it has only resulted in one dropped call (while the 3GS dropped more due to holding a less reliable poor signal).
So if Apple truly had released a horrible product I could agree with you. Instead I'm simply left suspecting that you don't own the thing and are simply content to tell other people how the device works anyway.
Since a number of people have complained that calls have been dropped and download speeds have drastically reduced, your comment that it has not caused any fuss would appear to be inaccurate.
Unless you mean it has not caused you any fuss? You might want to edit your sig to improve the accurary that up if this is the case...
Nah, if I do anything with my signature it will be to remove it as it is rather silly to have it there in the first place. The whole issue is rather tiresome. I do not feel compelled to qualify my personal experience with the phone as mine, though, as by definition it is mine anyway. As for attenuation of the signal, I have indeed some extreme videos of major problems, and Apple has also said that there are a small subset of devices which seem to exhibit this problem strongly (or at least they've mentioned it a few times). There was a video of a person completely killing his connection by touching the side. That would be the mark of a defective device—one which should be exchanged. I haven't experienced anything above and beyond what I've experienced using a variety of phones ever since cell phones first hit the consumer market.
Imagine an icecream stand, selling icecream cones "revolutionarily" cylindrical in shape and everyone's icecream fell out the bottom. Then, they remedy this by going "ok, we'll give you all a small piece of paper to glue to the bottom that will sort of fix the problem."
The iPhone 4 works marvelously well. It is the most reliable iPhone I have ever owned, and the previous versions set a high standard to match. I am perfectly able to duplicate the issue (in my office, where the signal is poor) but as far as I can tell it has only resulted in one dropped call (while the 3GS dropped more due to holding a less reliable poor signal).
So if Apple truly had released a horrible product I could agree with you. Instead I'm simply left suspecting that you don't own the thing and are simply content to tell other people how the device works anyway.
Since a number of people have complained that calls have been dropped and download speeds have drastically reduced, your comment that it has not caused any fuss would appear to be inaccurate.
Unless you mean it has not caused you any fuss? You might want to edit your sig to improve the accurary that up if this is the case...
Nah, if I do anything with my signature it will be to remove it as it is rather silly to have it there in the first place. The whole issue is rather tiresome. I do not feel compelled to qualify my personal experience with the phone as mine, though, as by definition it is mine anyway. As for attenuation of the signal, I have indeed some extreme videos of major problems, and Apple has also said that there are a small subset of devices which seem to exhibit this problem strongly (or at least they've mentioned it a few times). There was a video of a person completely killing his connection by touching the side. That would be the mark of a defective device—one which should be exchanged. I haven't experienced anything above and beyond what I've experienced using a variety of phones ever since cell phones first hit the consumer market.
patseguin
Aug 8, 08:24 AM
I hope this means that they have eliminated the pink cast (and other issues) in the 23" ACD.
AndroidfoLife
Apr 15, 10:08 PM
The iphone defined the real smart phone we know today.
And by that what do you mean. iPhones had little impact on phones like the BB Curve
And by that what do you mean. iPhones had little impact on phones like the BB Curve
Mackilroy
Mar 23, 10:28 AM
<interesting story snip>
Wow. If one of your neighbors stole it, they might be in for a surprise, eh?
Wow. If one of your neighbors stole it, they might be in for a surprise, eh?
Snowy_River
Nov 18, 05:32 PM
I don't see why AMD and Intel OSX laptops can't live together... We all see the windoze users have their choice of AMD or Intel, dual cores or single cores... why can't Apple/OSX?
As for the G5 ibook/powerbook, well judging by the way the G5 iMac was built, then frankly, I don't see why a G5 laptop could not of been built. The current line of iMacs practically IS a notebook on a vertical stand so they could of put it in a notebook form. Besides, how do we know the G5 iBook does not exist?
I mean besides from the fact that "unless Mr. Jobs says it exists, it does not exist" logic. :p
Come on folks, there has to be a LOT of stuff in the R&D labs of Apple that we will never know of or see because of a change of the Master Plan of Steve Jobs:
"Don't exist" is a reference to their production status. I think that we can be pretty sure that there has never been (and will never be) a G5 PowerBook or iBook in production. As to what they had in their labs, who knows. They may (and probably do) have OS X running on every type of processor that they can get their hands on, right now. They may have tablets and PDAs and Phones, oh my! But that's the territory for rumors and speculation, and that's not what we're about here... oh, wait... ;)
It may well be true that Apple could have produced a G5 PowerBook following the design model used for the iMac, but you'd end up with a PowerBook that was many inches thick (the current 17" C2D iMac is 6.8 inches thick), versus the previous G4 PowerBook, which was a mere 1 inch thick. It would never have sold in the quantities that would have justified producing it.
As for Intel and AMD together, sure, eventually, maybe. The reason that it would be a mistake at this point is that Apple has a relatively small market, and so it needs to keep a clean product line. Muddying the water of what Apple is offering would only hurt Apple sales, at this point.
As for the G5 ibook/powerbook, well judging by the way the G5 iMac was built, then frankly, I don't see why a G5 laptop could not of been built. The current line of iMacs practically IS a notebook on a vertical stand so they could of put it in a notebook form. Besides, how do we know the G5 iBook does not exist?
I mean besides from the fact that "unless Mr. Jobs says it exists, it does not exist" logic. :p
Come on folks, there has to be a LOT of stuff in the R&D labs of Apple that we will never know of or see because of a change of the Master Plan of Steve Jobs:
"Don't exist" is a reference to their production status. I think that we can be pretty sure that there has never been (and will never be) a G5 PowerBook or iBook in production. As to what they had in their labs, who knows. They may (and probably do) have OS X running on every type of processor that they can get their hands on, right now. They may have tablets and PDAs and Phones, oh my! But that's the territory for rumors and speculation, and that's not what we're about here... oh, wait... ;)
It may well be true that Apple could have produced a G5 PowerBook following the design model used for the iMac, but you'd end up with a PowerBook that was many inches thick (the current 17" C2D iMac is 6.8 inches thick), versus the previous G4 PowerBook, which was a mere 1 inch thick. It would never have sold in the quantities that would have justified producing it.
As for Intel and AMD together, sure, eventually, maybe. The reason that it would be a mistake at this point is that Apple has a relatively small market, and so it needs to keep a clean product line. Muddying the water of what Apple is offering would only hurt Apple sales, at this point.
Xian Zhu Xuande
Jul 21, 10:21 AM
Completely incorrect, I have always been an Apple customer. I just recently bought an i7 iMac and own a Macbook pro, an iPod touch and an iPhone 3G. I waited in line for the iPhone 4, and I absolutely love the thing to bits. It's the fastest, most awesome phone I've ever owned. But what annoys me is that you have to agree that this is the most serious problem relating to signal attenuation ever been seen. I mean yes, it has been blown out of proportion by the media but when you get down and actually test it out in different signal strength areas, you definitely notice it pretty severely.
But what annoys me the most, is Apple's "couldn't give a s***, let's point out other people's similar mistakes." Apple has never been like this before. Jobs may have saved the company but he's also going to ruin it with this attitude. Wozniak would have recalled the phones.
I'm quite familiar with the circumstance. Placing the antenna on the outside of the unit has changed the way attenuation of the phone's signal manifests. Apple probably failed to predict the way in which this was received. I agree completely with Gruber on this one, though: it is a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing. I have lost a call that I probably wouldn't have lost due to this issue, but at the same time, I have kept far more calls than I would have, in those poor signal areas, had I been using my 3GS. It is a tradeoff (a word Jobs was probably concerned to use) but one I feel is acceptable. That said, discussion of the issue is fine�it really is there�but discussion blowing it clear out of proportion is just mind numbing.
Now, on to your second line, you clearly don't understand PR and how a company Apple's size has to react with the media. They've certainly misstepped at times, but as they have chosen not to do a recall (reasonable, I feel, and it seems their customers are voting with their dollars that they agree) they have to back their decision to support the phone as is. Competitors have gone out of their way to target this issue and Apple has to respond. And it is fair, too. If Nokia is going to come out and say they don't have issues like this they should be prepared to have their products tested and the same goes for other companies. Apple's on the defense here and it has nothing to do with them not giving a ****.
"Jobs is going to ruin the company with this attitude," is hyperbole.
The Woz, as much as I love the guy, absolutely would not be capable of running a company like Apple (or one even remotely near as successful)�or how to resolve a PR issue. He's an engineer through and through. Not a businessman or any sort of social wizard.
LOL. Grow up. You sound paranoid: Everyone is out to get Apple.
Actually, the media does target Apple disproportionately, but it is not because they are haters. Apple is a large, successful company which people have passionate opinions about and that generates interest, page views, ratings, advertising revenue. So actually, that was right in one sense, wrong in another.
And there's something entertaining about the line, "LOL. Grow up."
But what annoys me the most, is Apple's "couldn't give a s***, let's point out other people's similar mistakes." Apple has never been like this before. Jobs may have saved the company but he's also going to ruin it with this attitude. Wozniak would have recalled the phones.
I'm quite familiar with the circumstance. Placing the antenna on the outside of the unit has changed the way attenuation of the phone's signal manifests. Apple probably failed to predict the way in which this was received. I agree completely with Gruber on this one, though: it is a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing. I have lost a call that I probably wouldn't have lost due to this issue, but at the same time, I have kept far more calls than I would have, in those poor signal areas, had I been using my 3GS. It is a tradeoff (a word Jobs was probably concerned to use) but one I feel is acceptable. That said, discussion of the issue is fine�it really is there�but discussion blowing it clear out of proportion is just mind numbing.
Now, on to your second line, you clearly don't understand PR and how a company Apple's size has to react with the media. They've certainly misstepped at times, but as they have chosen not to do a recall (reasonable, I feel, and it seems their customers are voting with their dollars that they agree) they have to back their decision to support the phone as is. Competitors have gone out of their way to target this issue and Apple has to respond. And it is fair, too. If Nokia is going to come out and say they don't have issues like this they should be prepared to have their products tested and the same goes for other companies. Apple's on the defense here and it has nothing to do with them not giving a ****.
"Jobs is going to ruin the company with this attitude," is hyperbole.
The Woz, as much as I love the guy, absolutely would not be capable of running a company like Apple (or one even remotely near as successful)�or how to resolve a PR issue. He's an engineer through and through. Not a businessman or any sort of social wizard.
LOL. Grow up. You sound paranoid: Everyone is out to get Apple.
Actually, the media does target Apple disproportionately, but it is not because they are haters. Apple is a large, successful company which people have passionate opinions about and that generates interest, page views, ratings, advertising revenue. So actually, that was right in one sense, wrong in another.
And there's something entertaining about the line, "LOL. Grow up."
ju5tin81
Sep 12, 07:26 AM
The main thing is... (For me anyway) is the ability to burn a film to DVD....
It'll be hard to make an impulse purchase on a new film, that I can only watch on my Mac, or, until I spend a few hundred quid buying a new iPod or wireless streaming gizmo for my telly... (Something I'd prefer not to do)
Can we please burn them so we can watch films on normal DVD players!
Just like iTunes does with CD's. (Don't mind if there is a restriction on numbers that can be burnt etc. Only gonna do it once.)
Also, aren't laptop HD's gonna need to grow up to accomodate all this media? A desktop, easy, get an external, but I'd like me (New MacBook) laptop to be attachment free!
It'll be hard to make an impulse purchase on a new film, that I can only watch on my Mac, or, until I spend a few hundred quid buying a new iPod or wireless streaming gizmo for my telly... (Something I'd prefer not to do)
Can we please burn them so we can watch films on normal DVD players!
Just like iTunes does with CD's. (Don't mind if there is a restriction on numbers that can be burnt etc. Only gonna do it once.)
Also, aren't laptop HD's gonna need to grow up to accomodate all this media? A desktop, easy, get an external, but I'd like me (New MacBook) laptop to be attachment free!
Jetson
Oct 12, 10:15 AM
The reason I posted my concern about the scratches on the 5G iPod is because I'm a longtime Apple customer. I was one of the first to buy the iPod when it came to market. I love Apple products.
However, Apple has responded to this scratch issue very poorly. Apple won't even acknowledge that there is a problem, blaming scratches on customer abuse.
Well when you start blaming the customers, then you are definitely on the wrong road. Customers who are not enamored of Apple (don't own a Mac) will switch to the Zune. If you can't understand the basics of how the market operates, then I can see why you are taking potshots.
SavMan hasn't provided any reference or link to support his claim, true or not, physics or not. His claims are anecdotal. Second, whatever the cause of the proliferation of scratches which have generated many, many complaints, denying that scratches exist is foolish, indeed stupid.
If Apple wants to keep its iPod cash cow, I sincerely hope that they address the scratch issue. There is serious competition on the horizon (Zune) and you can't take the customer for granted anymore.
However, Apple has responded to this scratch issue very poorly. Apple won't even acknowledge that there is a problem, blaming scratches on customer abuse.
Well when you start blaming the customers, then you are definitely on the wrong road. Customers who are not enamored of Apple (don't own a Mac) will switch to the Zune. If you can't understand the basics of how the market operates, then I can see why you are taking potshots.
SavMan hasn't provided any reference or link to support his claim, true or not, physics or not. His claims are anecdotal. Second, whatever the cause of the proliferation of scratches which have generated many, many complaints, denying that scratches exist is foolish, indeed stupid.
If Apple wants to keep its iPod cash cow, I sincerely hope that they address the scratch issue. There is serious competition on the horizon (Zune) and you can't take the customer for granted anymore.
toke lahti
Jan 15, 06:20 PM
Now what would really get me interested is a flat screen that displays truly black blacks.
I also waited for ACD with led backlight.
So which comes first ADC with led or xraid with sata disks?
And what year?
I also waited for ACD with led backlight.
So which comes first ADC with led or xraid with sata disks?
And what year?
Joshuarocks
Apr 8, 07:36 PM
I'm a current employee at Best Buy and thought I'd offer my two cents on a few issues.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
The only "Worst Buy" I am against is the one in Owings Mills, MD where they discriminated against me just because of a small disability. Pending a court case with corporate on this matter.. and I used to work for them back in 2005 and left them on a great note. Eligible for re-hire.. then tried to go back to them(Owings Mills) and the manager was very disrespectful and also discriminatory.
I plan to have that store shut down permanently.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
The only "Worst Buy" I am against is the one in Owings Mills, MD where they discriminated against me just because of a small disability. Pending a court case with corporate on this matter.. and I used to work for them back in 2005 and left them on a great note. Eligible for re-hire.. then tried to go back to them(Owings Mills) and the manager was very disrespectful and also discriminatory.
I plan to have that store shut down permanently.
airforce1
May 2, 12:23 PM
Exactly.
If the people claiming this is a non issue are serious then they should all email Steve and tell him to stop addressing it.
I think the problem here is that many on this board cannot distinguish between trolls blindly trying to stir stuff up on an Apple forum and non-trolls discussing a legitimate issue. People need to learn how to separate the two and ignore the trolls if they try to pile onto an unfavorable discussion of Apple on a particular issue.
yes and many of these trolls spend most of their time on apple forums with pro apple views, even bias, as Jobbs said the Tech community failed to educate everyone on what he failed to provide evidence for to show they DID NOT violate privacy laws.
Im sure apple knew they have to pay a fine, now they will just pretend with so called tech trolls on forums that they fixed this, its not over you see, when congress demands a standard on collecting data and to what extent and who then we will see all the data sheets apple is hiding from me and you, until then you and i both could be called trolls for just posting anything here, thats a opinion and propaganda (lie) though
If the people claiming this is a non issue are serious then they should all email Steve and tell him to stop addressing it.
I think the problem here is that many on this board cannot distinguish between trolls blindly trying to stir stuff up on an Apple forum and non-trolls discussing a legitimate issue. People need to learn how to separate the two and ignore the trolls if they try to pile onto an unfavorable discussion of Apple on a particular issue.
yes and many of these trolls spend most of their time on apple forums with pro apple views, even bias, as Jobbs said the Tech community failed to educate everyone on what he failed to provide evidence for to show they DID NOT violate privacy laws.
Im sure apple knew they have to pay a fine, now they will just pretend with so called tech trolls on forums that they fixed this, its not over you see, when congress demands a standard on collecting data and to what extent and who then we will see all the data sheets apple is hiding from me and you, until then you and i both could be called trolls for just posting anything here, thats a opinion and propaganda (lie) though
xterm
Sep 12, 08:26 AM
checkout this xml file, and the domain its hosted on... there are lots of other references to other xml files within which also work.
http://movies.apple.com/moviesxml/h/index.xml
http://movies.apple.com/moviesxml/h/index.xml
Uragon
Nov 17, 11:23 AM
I think Digitimes always comes out with an exaggerated news to cover-up for something new....ahem.. that is completely different
synth3tik
Jan 10, 05:17 PM
Thats something that should stay at the hackers convention. not CES and most definitely not MWSF.
holmesf
Apr 30, 05:02 AM
No, it'll happen whether we like it or not....
Nope, it won't happen at all. There is too big of a market for people who write and rely on custom software. I don't disagree that the friendly face of the OS will continue to get dumbed down. The backend, however, will remain just as open and customizable. Go look at any University and you'll find that in the CS dept a huge portion of the professors and their students use Mac OS X. Restrict this market and you drive away future developers. It would be suicidal.
Nope, it won't happen at all. There is too big of a market for people who write and rely on custom software. I don't disagree that the friendly face of the OS will continue to get dumbed down. The backend, however, will remain just as open and customizable. Go look at any University and you'll find that in the CS dept a huge portion of the professors and their students use Mac OS X. Restrict this market and you drive away future developers. It would be suicidal.
maclaptop
Apr 15, 07:47 PM
http://images.macrumors.com/article/2011/04/15/171049-android_music_cloud_syncing.jpg
Image from Droid Life (http://www.droid-life.com/2011/03/07/google-music-syncing-to-the-cloud-working-on-android-2-3-3-roms/)
All Things Digital reports (http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110415/google-music-label-talks-going-backwards/)
Considering the source "All Things Digital", Apple's personal mouthpiece, it's no wonder it has a Pro-Apple bias.
Of course Google's going to have growing pains. It's new territory for them. They'll get it sorted out.
Image from Droid Life (http://www.droid-life.com/2011/03/07/google-music-syncing-to-the-cloud-working-on-android-2-3-3-roms/)
All Things Digital reports (http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110415/google-music-label-talks-going-backwards/)
Considering the source "All Things Digital", Apple's personal mouthpiece, it's no wonder it has a Pro-Apple bias.
Of course Google's going to have growing pains. It's new territory for them. They'll get it sorted out.
lostngone
Oct 29, 04:21 AM
You CAN'T abuse a BSD license. Have you read the BSD license? It sais basically "Do what you want with this software but don't sue the University of California" You can't seal BSD because it is free for everyone.
So you can run BSD UNIX on a generic PC or a wrist watch if you want. or you can even do whet Next did: Down load it and put it on your own hardware and sell it. Then Apple bought Next and we have OSX. Next got it for free and so can you or I. Apple can put the code on the web or take it off the web. The license only says to leave the U of C alone.
Are we talking about the FreeBSD license or the NetBSD license. The NetBSD license isn't free and that is what OSX is based off of and apple paid to use the license.
So you can run BSD UNIX on a generic PC or a wrist watch if you want. or you can even do whet Next did: Down load it and put it on your own hardware and sell it. Then Apple bought Next and we have OSX. Next got it for free and so can you or I. Apple can put the code on the web or take it off the web. The license only says to leave the U of C alone.
Are we talking about the FreeBSD license or the NetBSD license. The NetBSD license isn't free and that is what OSX is based off of and apple paid to use the license.
Chundles
Sep 12, 07:52 AM
Aussie iTMS just showing the "The Store is Busy" dialogue. No splash page, just a little box.
AMcBroom81
Apr 16, 01:07 AM
I want My next iPhone to look like this,
222383
222383
JTR7
Oct 23, 03:43 PM
I think you both...
That was directed more at True... But, thanks for the enlightenment.
Obviously, you can understand the confusion.
That was directed more at True... But, thanks for the enlightenment.
Obviously, you can understand the confusion.
SevenInchScrew
Nov 14, 03:00 AM
That's what's driving me mad at the moment.
I forgot one other thing, which is also driving me mad... the foot steps. For some reason, Treyarch decided to take basically all sound of footsteps out of the game. That makes "Ninja" a worthless perk now, as you don't need it to be silent. But, it also makes it much easier to get ridiculously stabbed in the back.
I've heard that foot steps, along with the spawn issues, are a couple of the main things being fixed in the first patch/update. I really hope so. The fact that they made it into the final release like this is mind-boggling, so a fix is the least they can do.
I forgot one other thing, which is also driving me mad... the foot steps. For some reason, Treyarch decided to take basically all sound of footsteps out of the game. That makes "Ninja" a worthless perk now, as you don't need it to be silent. But, it also makes it much easier to get ridiculously stabbed in the back.
I've heard that foot steps, along with the spawn issues, are a couple of the main things being fixed in the first patch/update. I really hope so. The fact that they made it into the final release like this is mind-boggling, so a fix is the least they can do.
princealfie
Nov 16, 02:35 PM
Perhaps we can choose between AMD and Intel? more options on the table.
dscuber9000
Mar 24, 07:34 PM
Downhill since Tiger.
Says a Windows user. :rolleyes:
Says a Windows user. :rolleyes:
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