Minding The (Apple) Store | Hacker News Reader

Minding The (Apple) Store

mondaynote.com

50 pointsdonmcc31 comments

>the no-pressure sales people (who aren’t on commission)

I'd like to talk about that for a second. Apple Store employees will be happy to brag to you that they aren't on commission to put you at ease, and it is technically true. However, there are a number of "metrics" that they are expected to live up to, which are basically percentages of attachments to sales, like extended warranties (whoops, I mean "AppleCare" which is definitely not an extended warranty and is something totally different), etc. The corporate doublespeak is that these are "goals" and certainly not quotas. Of course, they can call them whatever they like; employees who don't meet them get just as sacked either way.

At least that's how it was a few years ago. I don't know about more recently.

The point is, when one of these employees tells you that they're "not on commission", they're trying to give you the impression that they aren't under pressure to get you to buy stuff you don't want or need, and that's simply not true. The pressure is just a stick rather than a carrot.

> attachments to sales, like extended warranties (whoops, I mean "AppleCare"

This isn't exactly objective feedback (personal anecdote) but I've never been pressured to buy extended warranties, aka Apple Care, from an Apple store. They explain what Apple Care does and without sounding like my new purchase will explode before its utility expires.

Regarding the article - would installing anechoic panels underneath the tables result in a meaningful reduction of noise? If they want to preserve the look of the store, it would be the simplest solution.

>This isn't exactly objective feedback (personal anecdote) but I've never been pressured to buy extended warranties,

Well, there are two possible reasons for that. One is that a lot of Apple Store employees just aren't very good at keeping their attachment metrics up, or don't care enough about keeping the job to trade their soul for a paycheck.

The other is that a good salesperson can apply psychological pressure to you without your being able to tell that that's what they're doing. I may have used up my quota for mentioning Robert Cialdini's Influence: Science and Practice in HN comments, but seriously, everybody needs to read that book.

Acoustic simulation is a deficit in first-class CAD packages. By comparison, rendering has advanced to unbiased, real-time photorealism.[0][1][2]

[0] http://render.otoy.com/gallery.html

[1] http://www.chaosgroup.com/en/2/galleries.html?catID=8&pr...

[2] http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/rsaomx/cryengine-2-cryeng...

Those images are generated in real time!? And Octane only costs $99! I am utterly gobsmacked.

Acoustic simulation is a deficit in first-class CAD packages.

That's probably more of a feature than a bug since they have different purposes and different. That said, there are a variety of acoustics simulation (including auralization) software designed to be used with CAD packages, included EASE/EASERA, CATT Acousics, Bose Modeler, BASTIAN, SONarchitect and so on.

These packages aren't at a point where they can be used by non-acoustics experts which is probably why they aren't integrated directly into CAD software (although I remember reading once about an auralization package for AutoCAD, but I can't find it right now) due to limitations in the algorithms that might be ignored by folks that don't know acoustics.

I wish someone would make a 3D sound simulation plug-in for blender. http://www.blender.org

You could add "speaker" objects that produce sound, just like "lamp" objects currently produce light, and allow a "microphone" object to receive the sound waves. Microphones could be tested in multiple places of the model space.

Useful environment spaces and materials could be provided, such as cathedral, studio room, creeks and outdoors, etc.

A smell simulator would be nice too.

There was a TED talk recently exactly about that neglect:

http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_why_architects_need...

Most architect only use 2d drafting software like autocad, microstation and vectorworks where 'simulation' doesn't apply. There is a move to BIM based tools that would potentially be able to offer this dot of facility, however acoustic modelling of retail space is way down on the list of priorities and resultant design are highly likely to fall foul of value engineering.

Many Apple Stores are too crowded, noisy and smelly for me to feel comfortable. If I go to an Apple Store, for example for a Genius Bar appointment, I usually try to go during off-peaks hours, for example in the morning on a weekday. In most locations, Apple's options for improvement are probably limited, most Apple Stores are simply to successful and in spite of noise, smell etc., they are still more appealing than other stores where Apple products are sold.

I feel uncomfortable in the Apple Store because of the crowds and the noise and maybe a bit because of the sterility of the design, however, I feel the same way in most indoor shopping malls. In malls there's an added problem which is that the layout is confusing - there are often a lot of turns and intersections that all look similar. However, I'm not sure how much I can trust my own feelings here as a basis for the quality of a retail experience - lots of people CHOOSE to hang out at the mall. I think I might analogize this to the difference between introverts and extroverts. Extroverts gain energy from social situations while introverts expend energy. I suspect that there are a lot of people who find who find these crowded shopping experiences exhilarating and a lot of people who just find them exhausting.

I use a local authorized Apple repair shop for warranty work rather than use the Genius Bar, if it's at all possible (i.e. if it's for a Mac). I can show up at the shop at 9am with no "appointment" necessary. A friendly receptionist offers me a cup of coffee while they write up the repair ticket, and then I go on my way. I can then come back later and pick up the computer at my leisure.

Way easier for me than the mall store, and I support a local business. Good for everyone.

I wish all the authorized repair shops were like that - the last time I used one, it took them 2 weeks (literally) to repair my machine. I had a similar repair later when we got our first Apple Store - and Apple fixed it for free and completed the repair within an hour. That one experience sold me on the Apple Store.

I'm glad to hear there's still some life in the authorized Apple repair network, though.

Architecture is not like software or consumer hardware -- you can't remove big ugly "things" (like a roof) and simply design and engineer around them. You can only take minimalism so far.

Visually displeasing roofs serve a core purpose -- sound absorption, ventilation, heating, air conditioning, security, smoke detection, and fire prevention. With an all glass roof and glass walls, that store must be like a giant echo chamber, not to mention really smelly and stuffy after a full day of foot traffic. Really surprising oversight by everyone involved, or a classic case of "launchpad chicken" like mentioned in the article.

I think Apple's "design-first" philosophy works great in some circumstances. They spend millions of dollars [1] on lasers to poke holes in aluminum so light will shine through, all for the beauty of a seamless surface. Unfortunately their building design needs some check and balances

[1] - http://gizmodo.com/5856402/how-apples-supply-chain-dominance...

Fortunately, most of the research I have read says that consumers don't look up, so acoustic foam on the ceiling might be a good option.

Really? I picked up a Macbook Air from that store today, and while I was waiting for the Apple employee to come with my computer, I just stared at the ceiling. It really is gorgeous. The natural sunlight flooding the place is also lovely (lights are one thing that universally suck, and I'm surprised I don't meet more designers ranting about it. 99% of buildings have shitty indoor lighting)

But yes, the sound level was very unpleasant.

Specifically, I read an internal eye-tracking study for a major retailer that found that consumers don't look up when searching for something specific, so all the over-head signage the retailer had just purchased was essentially useless.

> I think Apple's "design-first" philosophy works great in some circumstances.

Isn't "ensuring functionality is complete /and/ beautiful" the sorta corner piece of design? I mean, it sounds like you're describing 'design' here as aesthetics, and saying Apple's problem is that they went for pretty, while ignoring function. The latter part is true, but the real problem here is that it's not well designed. And had Apple's "design-first" philosophy been followed ... this whole thing might not have happened.

It should be duly noted that the "Italian stone hand-picked by Jobs himself" is not your ordinary Italian stone; not to be outclassed by the Geniuses at the bar, it can even recite the Divine Comedy backwards or sing an aria from the Rigoletto if circumstances demand.

(back to Xcode...)

Or now might be a good time to a short break from coding...

Reference:

http://www.ifoapplestore.com/2009/10/28/impressive-stone-flo...

I'm reminded of the cover of that book, The Design of Everyday Things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_Things

Looking at the photo of the store, the top halves of the two side walls seem to be flat and empty. Maybe they could put some nice-looking sound-absorbing materials on those walls?

"maybe they could put some nice-looking sound-absorbing materials on those walls?"

Perhaps they have some leftover material now that the iPod socks are EOL :)

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/26/apple-removes-ipod...

Tiny datapoint as a former Apple retail employee: you quickly learn to adapt to the din and can filter out most of the chaos.

Customers walking in experience a punishing wall of noise and flesh, but most employees can socially read the room and communicate without trouble.

It's good that there are workarounds for employees, but that doesn't affect the long-term effects of prolonged loud noise exposure on the person's hearing. If I was an employee in that store I would think very hard about trying to transfer to another one.

This is a trend lately. The hip new restaurants are all echo chambers. They don't have any sound absorbing features at all.

Carpeting the floor will likely solve their noise problem.

"Launchpad Chicken". Is it really considered shameful to save a spaceship from disaster?

I don't actually think it's a NASA phrase - I think it's coined by Jean-Louis Gassée (ex-Apple, of BeOS fame).

Gassée's hypothetical NASA example (he talks about a moon launch) is actually pretty bad. What you really need is a scenario where the potential problems are not catastrophic, but incredibly inconvenient.

> I think it's coined by Jean-Louis Gassée (ex-Apple, of BeOS fame).

(and author of the article being commented upon)

Apple Wank Wank Wank Wank... Story, no.

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