Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

611–620 of 729 posts

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

#611

Post by yreg »

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…

When has this happened?

I don't have an Apple Store in my country, but last time I bought Watch in Tokyo and an iPhone in NYC, I told them I know exactly what I want and the transaction was super quick.

In NYC I was even impressed by it, because I just talked to the sales rep for the tiniest bit and a colleague came over and inconspicuously handed her a box with the phone mid-walk. I haven't noticed how she (the sales rep) signaled for it. It almost felt like buying drugs.

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

#612

Post by midoridensha »

lolinder wrote: post #499
gnicholas wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems unintuitive, but the fastest way to get an iPhone when you're standing in a store may be to pull out your phone and make a purchase on the website. This won't always be the case (I've never been told I needed an appointment to buy an iPhone, and I've bought them at several different Apple Stores over the years), but if you run into an intransigent employee, give this a try. At the very least, the employees s…

> At the very least, the employees should be trained to tell people about the in-store pickup option. If they were going to train employees to tell customers about that, they could also just... let their employees ring someone up without an appointment. It would take exactly as much time as explaining the work around would, and would be even less likely to leave a bad taste in a customer's mouth.

It's also much less likely to result in an upsell or selling additional merchandise. Why would they want to lose that opportunity?

Leaving a bad taste in a customer's mouth isn't a problem. Just look at the comments here from people exactly like that: they went somewhere else, and then bought the exact same thing. Sure, they're griping about it, but who cares? Apple still got their money for the item, and they freed up room in the Apple Store for another customer who might be more amenable to up-selling.

Why should Apple care about pissing off customers with this kind of treatment? It's not like they're going to buy an Android Phone or Samsung watch or whatever. They're going to buy the Apple product they have their heart set on, no matter how poorly they're treated by employees at the Apple store. So exactly what incentive does Apple have to make their shopping experience more efficient and hassle-free?

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

#613

Post by gizajob »

jerojero wrote: post #485
gizajob wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's not exactly perfect because I was in the mood to simply buy a basic Air, until I was pretty well talked out of it by sales staff, so instead of an easy £1099 in the till, in their attempt to turn that into £2500, they got £0. That isn't good business. Also, the tedium of nowadays knowing that all the products will be bumped in spec in 9-12 months means that instead of excitement, buyer's remorse has alread…

I wonder how representative you are of the average consumer though? I imagine their pricing structure works well to upsell people on average, which is why they have maintained it for long. Also, why would someone like you even go to the store; I had no issues whatsoever buying a macbook from their website. No reps, no nothing, I set my specs and clicked buy and a few days later had my product. I think most people wit…

"Also, why would someone like you even go to the store;"

Errrr, because I'm out shopping? And the store is located in a shopping centre amongst other stores where I'm buying things. I fully realise I can buy online, but I can buy vinyl records, sofas, groceries and shoes online, yet I'm often in the mood to walk in somewhere where they have those things available for sale and buy one. It can actually be quicker and easier.

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

#614

Post by RoyalHenOil »

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.

But tons and tons of stores cater to customers seeking guidance through their purchases, yet if you show up knowing exactly what you want, they are only all too happy to take the easy sale.

I always excessively research big purchases, and so I have never in my life walked into a store like this without already knowing what I want. For example, walk into a sewing machine shop ready to buy without asking for any demonstrations, and see how almost giddy the staff get about it. Salespeople and shop owners often tell me how much they appreciate the rare customer who comes in ready to buy; it means more sales for less work.

It seems weird to turn those customers away instead of perceiving the sale as an unexpected-but-welcome freebie like 99.9% of other retailers do.

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

#615

Post by harpua1 »

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #189
evandale wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. I know that for a fact because I got one on the release date. They were pretty hard to find when they came out. Apple was late to the game with smartwatches and didn't do a single thing to convince people to wear them.

> The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. And it was seen as a toy for geeks and software developers who think t-shirts are an acceptable office attire despite being the most watch-like of the smartwatches. I would never have gone to the office wearing a moto360. People would have given me funny looks all day. Meanwhile you can wear an Apple Watch with your suit and everyone finds that acceptable.

Username fits. You're right. Remember this is the same crowd that thought the iPhone wouldn't sell. Some things never change!

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

#616

Post by saiya-jin »

blowski wrote: post #601
luma wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Its nothing new either, luxury brands (eyewear, purses, cars, whatever) have discovered this decades if not century ago, why do you think people actually buy say Versace suits?

And I disagree HN crowd 'looked through' this, the amount of tribalism and emotional irrationality that almost any Apple-related topic here brings is probably unparalleled.

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

#617

Post by realharo »

jachee wrote: post #583
bemmu wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also tried replacing my monitors with a Quest 2. While the idea of not needing space for monitors and have your setup anywhere with you is cool, the resolution just wasn't there yet.

Yeah, this is where the Vision Pro has most of my interest and excitement. The reported[0][1] 3400PPI resolution on the thing is going to be next-level. My main use-case for it will be as a productivity device, and everything else will be a bonus. [0] https://www.tomsguide.com/news/apple-vision-pro-display-spec... [1] https://spectrum.ieee.org/apple-vision-pro

What matters for direct comparison with physical monitors is the PPI of the virtual "monitors", not of the tiny screens in the headset.

If you have roughly 4K per eye in the headset that renders everything you see, then you can't expect the virtual equivalent of a 4K monitor that only takes up a part of your vision.

Lower PPI virtual screens should be usable, but the text may still look bad on those when you can't do things like subpixel antialiasing (macOS on 27" 1440p also suffers from this). Especially if you need to render small text at an angle. If you only work with fairly large text or with pictures/video, that would probably be fine.

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

#618

Post by foldr »

unreal37 wrote: post #300
foldr wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Recently, I wanted to buy a new Phone. […] I don’t say this to challenge your story, but I found it completely straightforward to buy an iPhone in an Apple Store recently (in London).

I personally have had the experience of having to talk to two people (with a third person required to fetch the product from the back room) at an Apple store in Toronto. You stand there waiting on the side for 10 minutes while the gopher finishes with a couple of other customers.

Referring to Apple Store employees as 'gophers' seems unnecessarily disparaging. I think I had to wait for a bit too, but I don't buy phones that often, so I didn't think much of it.

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

#619

Post by Jarmsy »

threeseed wrote: post #453
nomel wrote: post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone that has tried the Vision Pro has said the eye and hand tracking is flawless. Context of the interaction is important. I've seen this mentioned with selecting, but not with doing something like picking up a 3d object. I don't recall seeing this use in any of the release footage.

There are plenty of WWDC videos around with specific details on Hand Tracking e.g. https://youtu.be/zNFpAQb9hAg?t=908

It's notable that despite the claimed joint tracking, the only actual hand interaction shown in that video is knocking something over, not any real dextrous handling requiring precise finger motion. I get the impression they made a deliberate decision not to include any 3d handling in the launch demos because it's just not good, whereas 'look and click/swipe' works well.

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

#620

Post by globular-toast »

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…

It sounds like Apple is deeply upset that companies like Ferrari get to invite people to buy their products while theirs are just mass-produced, made in China consumables that anyone can buy.
Post reply on HN