Restaurants and clubs do this all the time. It's not so surprising or ingenious. It is kind of a bitch, though.
We are giving out water
21–30 of 112 posts
Re: We are giving out water
#22Is it really, really so bad to wait a couple days or weeks longer to get your precious fucking iPhone? I hate queuing in general, but this is the kind of line-waiting that literally makes no sense at all to me.
You hit on the key word right there in your 1st sentence: precious. It's precious to some people. Goes beyond rational or objective value. Gets into emotional experiences, and heck even just having fun, getting a thrill, the excitement. That's why they feel they cannot wait, or choose not to wait. There's also precious in the Gollum sense: "What has the nasty Bagginses done with my preciouses?"
In most of my friends who are interested in the iPhone, it's mostly just impatience.
Re: We are giving out water
#23Yeah. This is why I don't buy anything that I can't get from Amazon. Step 1: find product Step 2: click "2-day one click" Step 3: the product arrives at my house
Ironically, apple is actually one of the few companies out there that has licensed one click purchasing from Amazon. (everyone waiting in line, btw, could have chosen to just have their phone shipped to them)
Re: We are giving out water
#24Is it really, really so bad to wait a couple days or weeks longer to get your precious fucking iPhone? I hate queuing in general, but this is the kind of line-waiting that literally makes no sense at all to me.
You see the same sort of thing and worse in new game console launches and (big) movie release dates. People camp out for days sometimes. A few hours is nothing , these Apple fans are either line-n00bs or flat out moderates compared to those. Also remember that some of these may be developers, so getting it before their customers could be very important to their bank account.
Back when I was younger, I'd camp out with friends because it was part of the experience. I mean, sure I was excited and eager, but camping out and getting home at 2AM and playing something nobody's played before until noon the next day with your close friends was great fun.
I'd argue the inherently social component available in game consoles makes it (potentially; depends on the person or group of people) a little different from the phones, which are purely personal.
Re: We are giving out water
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apart from the developers, does it hint at a certain emptiness in those people's lives?
Whatever man. That's an unfair and negative value judgment. Everyone's identity comes from somewhere. For some people it's from being part of the elite Geek crowd. For other people it's their sports team winning. For other people it's their business making millions of dollars.
Just trying to understand. I could understand if the queuing was fun, but as that doesn't seem to be the case?
Yes, for 10 hours queuing, you get to be cooler than everybody else for 10 minutes, until the rest of the world has received their iPhones in the mail?
Re: We are giving out water
#26Apple loves this stuff. I was in an Apple store a few weeks ago to buy a gift. Aside from the "Genius" Bar, there were five employees helping customers and another two employees fiddling with boxes and displays. There were seven or eight customers ahead of me impatiently waiting to be served. There was a lot of ostentatious yawning, foot-tapping, and watch-checking. In the ten minutes I stayed, the employees on the f…
That isn't policy. It's in-and-out at any of the NYC stores, and the one in Rosedale, Minnesota.
Except for days like today it's the same at the Apple store in Atlanta, GA. Super fast service.
Re: We are giving out water
#27How is this any different from any other high demand product?
In many similar situations people don't have reservations. Guaranteeing they receive a product requires them to be one of the first people through the door when the store opens. Taking reservations may have created the false impression that one could show up later in the day without the need to wait in a long line. The other difference I can think of is that in similar situations the manufacturer and the retailer are…
Clearly the point is to guarantee you a phone on the first day. :-)
Re: We are giving out water
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apart from the developers, does it hint at a certain emptiness in those people's lives?
Whatever man. That's an unfair and negative value judgment. Everyone's identity comes from somewhere. For some people it's from being part of the elite Geek crowd. For other people it's their sports team winning. For other people it's their business making millions of dollars.
And it's a sad thing when someone's identity hinges upon his being part of the elite, his sports team winning or making lots of money. Those are things to enjoy, surely - but if they get to be cornerstones of your personality, it's time for a reality check.
Sure, that is the way life is for many people, but ... to think that Apple intentionally makes thousands of humans waste hours of their life doing something they hate. A company that is not inherently evil would strive to make the consumer experience joyful and uplifting. But this ... reducing humans to masochistic consumer zombies with large bladders instead of brains - it's a waste of life.
Re: We are giving out water
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whatever man. That's an unfair and negative value judgment. Everyone's identity comes from somewhere. For some people it's from being part of the elite Geek crowd. For other people it's their sports team winning. For other people it's their business making millions of dollars.
And it's a sad thing when someone's identity hinges upon his being part of the elite, his sports team winning or making lots of money. Those are things to enjoy, surely - but if they get to be cornerstones of your personality, it's time for a reality check. Sure, that is the way life is for many people, but ... to think that Apple intentionally makes thousands of humans waste hours of their life doing something they…
It's just as sad when your identity hinges upon thinking you're not part of social groups you've imagined. But "masochistic consumer zombies with large bladders instead of brains" is RAD hyperbole. My 12 year old self just wrote that on my trapper keeper with a sharpie next to the A inside of a circle.
Re: We are giving out water
#30There's also something to be said about how the more effort you spend attaining something, the more valuable it becomes (e.g. the psychology behind hazing in fraternities).
So Apple gets free marketing AND increased loyalty. Hurray.