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Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#601

Post by blowski »

luma wrote: post #565
CydeWeys wrote: post #561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a miserable experience! Meanwhile I had the opposite experience in a Google Store recently. I picked a phone case off the shelf in 10s, told the nearest employee I wanted to buy it, and he immediately whipped out a credit card scanner and I bought it right there in 30s. Didn't even need to go to the checkout counter or anything. It probably helps that that store is less crowded than the Apple store, but their tr…

There's gotta be a lesson here: if your customer is ready to hand you money, best you just go ahead and take it without further delay.

It’s a brave commenter who tries telling Apple they’re doing retail wrong.

I’d guess Apple wants to avoid their shops feeling like a supermarket, to avoid commoditisation. They want it to be like buying a work of art, where each one is unique and special. You need a knowledgable curator to guide you.

I know that for us on HN it’s all bullshit, but it’s a very, very successful strategy.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#602

Post by alexdunmow »

pxc wrote: post #574
sleepybrett wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also probably because of the prescription lens inserts.

This problem (not Apple's fault) makes me pessimistic about the practicability of this process for people with high myopia. I've never ever been able to walk out of an optometry appointment with a pair of glasses. Could an Apple Store possibly be better than an eye doctor?

I only have normal subpar vision but I too have never been able to walk out of an optometry appointment with a pair of glasses. That's a thing? Optometrists keep prescription lens stock on hand?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#603

Post by bllguo »

magic_hamster wrote: post #542
Gigachad wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Apple is catering to the majority of consumers who don't arrive at the store with their exact purchase ready to go. They want to be guided and shown all the options. And if you are in the small % who don't want this. Either go to one of the other retail stores selling the product, or order it online for pickup or delivery.

You hit the nail on its head. This is HN where mostly everybody knows tech, geek out about specs and learn about devices ahead of time. But Apple sells to a general population that is far less knowledgeable and mostly lives by "new phone good". Either guidance or upsell Apple knows what they're doing. We are not the usual demographic in an apple store.

ill gladly bang the drum about how insulated the HN bubble is, but this opinion specifically is bizarre to me. why does this have to be one size fits all? when someone walks in and says "i know i want this, let me buy it" how is it unreasonable to expect Apple to realize that it can skip the default flow?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#604

Post by rmuratov »

vtbassmatt wrote: post #327
hghid wrote: post #197

Slightly tangential rant, but is anybody else becoming frustrated with the process of buying Apple products in Apple stores? For me, it started with the Apple Watch - I knew which one I wanted and was ready just to head down and buy one, but I was forced to sit through an entire "fitting" with patronising explanation on how to use the knob on the the side. Recently, I wanted to buy a new Phone. Again, I knew the one…

This was exactly my experience trying to buy an Apple Watch from the Apple Store just before the pandemic. I had done all the research ahead of time and knew exactly what I needed. “Do you have an appointment?” No. “Oh, it’ll be about 45 minutes before someone can help you.” But I know what I want and just need you to ring me up. “I’m sorry, 45 minutes.” Hands down the strangest retail interaction I’ve ever had. Frus…

Wait, you need an appointment to buy it?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#605

Post by stocknoob »

georgespencer wrote: post #360
hospitalJail wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is some blatant rhetoric. I cannot help but to call this out when I see it. > rank among the leading products in their categories by nearly any measure, from consumer satisfaction to performance benchmarks. When you say it generically like this, it has no meaning. Among? Top 50% You could say this about any company. Its marketing jargon from the best in the world at marketing. This is no different than when they…

> When you say it generically like this, it has no meaning. Among? Top 50% Here are two measures for you: 1) look at the last ten years of Consumer Reports smartphone rankings. How often is the latest iPhone ranked in the top 3? 2) look at the single core performance, battery life, and screen quality of the original 13" M1 MacBook Air. Now find me a laptop with commensurate performance at the same price point from th…

Don’t bother trying to convince people who think Apple’s product success is some marketing ploy that no one else has figured out how to replicate. Their worldview is the products are a priori inferior, so some magical reason must explain their success beyond the theory that people (repeatedly) buy products they like.

Blackberries and palm pilots were ready to take over the world in 2007, when Apple swooped in and hypnotized people to think a full screen, no-stylus touchscreen was a better design!

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#606

Post by suprfnk »

rubicon33 wrote: post #491
dahwolf wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I organized a trip to a VR center for the entire team at work. Everybody had fun, but more like going to a theme park. Nobody ever talked about it again or bought one, just zero interest. And these are tech people.

Many people even by their mid 20s begin to lose the ability to embrace or even enjoy paradigm shifts. Moving from flat gaming to fully immersive 3D gaming just doesn't do enough to budge the hardened neural pathways that have embraced 2D gaming over the years. It's a frankly common case of being "stuck in ones way". Will VR and AR be the future? Absolutely, and a large part of the current population will be left behi…

This is a pretty short-sighted take. VR just doesn't offer much of anything currently. Some games work well, but most games are pretty clunky. Office work isn't substantially improved. A big warm sweaty headset is not nice to have on your head for extended amounts of time.

There's a plethora of reasons why VR in its current state is little more than a gimmick.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#607

Post by basisword »

BoppreH wrote: post #175

I'm very confused by Apple's strategy. As an owner of the original HTC Vive headset, its word-of-mouth power was off the charts. It was a blast at parties, and many of my friends bought their own $700+ devices after trying it. Here's what won them over: - Being able to try it themselves with little preparation ("put this on your head, tighten it here, and click these buttons on the controller"). You could even use it…

>> I haven't seen a single demo where somebody picks a virtual object up.

Why do I need to do that? It’s a great demo but it’s not something I need to be able to do day to day. And that seems to be the strategy from Apple. Make it a useful device for daily tasks rather than a gaming specific device or a device for doing something “new”. If you’re paying $3500 it needs to be immediately useful.

Think about it, you’re trying to tell me Vive is great and their marketing strategy (word of mouth) was a huge success…I have never seen one in the wild and Occulus seems to be much more popular. In other words their strategy hasn’t worked so probably not a great idea for Apple to copy it.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#608

Post by Root_Denied »

p1esk wrote: post #596
isykt wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s clever. They’re essentially hacking your attention by taking advantage of the fact that you already signaled you have money and are willing to spend it. Getting you in the store and putting the hardware in front of you is the hardest part, and you did that yourself. This is why people on a budget go to the grocery store with a list. The physical experience is designed to sell you more , and Apple has the margins…

Really? That experience was so bad I’m not sure I will ever go to an Apple store again.

As long as you keep buying Apple products it won't matter.

You're not just supporting them with money, you help to reinforce the spread of their ecosystem and marketing by using the phone day to day.

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#609

Post by RoyalHenOil »

travisgriggs wrote: post #593
efitz wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s more than that; I suspect that they have pretty onerous internal store processes about inventory control and device transfer to minimize employee theft.

Or perhaps they know what Costco and Walmart and every other store knows: “Increased dwell time correlates to increased sales.” I suspect that waiting for the “Ferrari Experience” is a side show to the very real effect that the longer you spend in their stores, the higher affinity you will have for their products, during that visit or future visits.

Surely that only works if you have a pleasant experience and linger willingly. Then you develop positive associations with the store and the products.

If you have a negative experience from being forced to wait, then that's a different animal. How many of us relish the idea of visiting the DMV after previously experiencing long lines?

Re: Apple plans a slow, appointment-only rollout of Vision Pro

#610

Post by simiones »

p1esk wrote: post #495
rubicon33 wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people even by their mid 20s begin to lose the ability to embrace or even enjoy paradigm shifts. Moving from flat gaming to fully immersive 3D gaming just doesn't do enough to budge the hardened neural pathways that have embraced 2D gaming over the years. It's a frankly common case of being "stuck in ones way". Will VR and AR be the future? Absolutely, and a large part of the current population will be left behi…

Will VR and AR be the future? No one doubts that. The question is whether this particular product will be successful. That’s not clear yet.

Many people absolutely doubt that.

There is absolutely no reason to believe it so far - from all of my experience, both VR and AR are technically inferior to a screen in almost every way that actually matters, except for a short demo.

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