The Apple has landed. At five o’clock on George Street today, Apple threw open the doors to its newest flagship store. I had the privilege of cabbing past, a few hours before the grand opening, and saw the Mac faithful in their droves — including several devotees that had travelled internationally for the occasion. It’s interesting to note the age spread of the top ten (21 to 72 years), and amazing that only three early arrivers were from Sydney — the majority had come from out of town.
My favourite piece of coverage comes from the Sydney Morning Herald, in an article — tongue-in-cheek, surely — that suggests Apple may have made a PR blunder by using “windows” in the building’s construction:
The Apple fans on the pavement are separated from the store proper by a window of glass slabs, 15 metres high. That makes them the largest plates of laminated glass in the world, Apple’s head of retail, Ron Johnson, says.
They form “one giant window” to Apple’s products, Johnson told a throng of journalists invited to inspect the the new store — seemingly unaware of the Microsoft brand name used in his analogy.
That’s not an analogy; he meant it literally is one giant window. Still, I’m sure the throng of journalists would have been seemingly unaware.
A free memorial t-shirt was not enough to entice me to the opening, and I suspect the rest of the store won’t do much for me either. Nonetheless: I, for one, welcome our Apple overlords, and will inevitably drop $20 on an iPod sock. Or something.
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