Well, that was weird...

[sbisson]

I have just been clapped into the Regent Street Apple Store by the entire staff. A very odd experience indeed.

I decided to go along to the UK public launch of Tiger, and arranged to meet codepope and spride in the queue. As codepope had been there since 4.30 he had a good spot near the front of the queue, so I joined him.

At 18:00 on the dot, they opened up the door of the store, and the crowd began to flood in. The whole staff was there, on the stairs and around the entrance, applauding the first 100 or so to come in. Ranks of black clad Steve clones, in their shiny new Tiger t-shirts. It was like being part of a cult - the cult of Macintosh.

It was quite fun, really, once I got over the embarrassment...

Comments

[megadog.livejournal.com]

Were there a whole load of superficially-attractive-looking people there offering to give you "stress-tests" using strange pale blue E-meters? Must admit, the more I see of Macheads the more it looks like $cientology to me. Hell, we're really talking about domestic appliances here. Do people worship at the Church of Dyson? Are Hotpoint or Hoover-owners looked down upon for their choice of home appliances? Do true believers issue fatwahs against owners of inferior brands? Is there an Electrolux-store to which disciples make yearly pilgrimages to worship, slack-jawed at the latest offerings? Genuflect, ye minions, at the one-and-only shrine of Smeg, where technology and style are brought together in unique harmony.

[ajshepherd.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think Linux-heads are worse. But that kind of thing is all very very very sad.
It's just an operating system!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Speaking as one who has recently been seduced by the White side of the Force (to the extent of buying Charlie's old iMac) but is still primarily a PC user, I have to agree. It's very pretty and works pretty well, but I'm not gonna upgrade because 10.3 is working pretty well and I don't want to piss around learning another version when it appears to be doing most of the things I want.

[ajshepherd.livejournal.com]

Oh, I shall probably upgrade, but I'm waiting to see if the basic spec of the iMac gets upgraded first. Quite fancy a 20" G5 iMac, but if the rumours about the basic memory spec, video and hard drive being upgraded are going to happen this year, then I'll wait for that.
At home, I use a G4 iMac.
At work, I use a PC running Windows 2000, and I administer about a dozen PCs running Linux.
So I see lots of different angles!

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Ia, ia ftagn!

'tis one of the many-angled ones.

Cue Zenith!

[nmg.livejournal.com]

The diehard Linux-heads are more the hairshirt-wearing type than the can-clutching type, but otherwise I agree...

[adela-terrell.livejournal.com]

Err, Smeg does have more of an effect on me than apple... I will have that pink fridge, one day it will be mine etc.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Smeg have nice stuff, but Neff is better for ovens, and AEG for fridges.

[megadog.livejournal.com]

True cooker-zealots only worship at the shrine of Aga.

[adela-terrell.livejournal.com]

I know, I just covet the large, pink, retro fridge. Sad isn't it.

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

is that from Smeg's (in)famous MA range?

[adela-terrell.livejournal.com]

The big retro 50's style fridges? I'm not sure the name of the range I just want!

So...

[etriganuk.livejournal.com]

It wasn't actually you then?

Self-aggrandisement or what?

Re: So...

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely "what", where "what" is hyperbole used for dramatic and (possibly) amusing effect.

[spikeiowa.livejournal.com]

I was almost tricked into going to the Apple store today. But I realized just in time...

[tanais.livejournal.com]

I bought an iMac 17 at the San Francisco store on the day... It was coincidence I happened to be in San Fran on the day but it was weird being applauded as we walked in. I got a card for a free iTune song but gave it away...

The steve clone tee shirts are a bit much I must admit but y'know what bothered me most was all of the staff members were wearing an iPod, or a iPod Shuffle, or toting a camera they sell... Its kinda like Disneyland meets PC Retail...

The Sales Guy didn't like me saying "Oh this looks like Konfabulator"

Nice maqchine I got though. Good price. $999. Plus Tiger for $9.99 if I want it...

Do I want it?