LightSpeed1
Apr 13, 12:30 PM
Why not get a mini displayport straight to DVI cable? I never understood the use of an adapter. Maybe someone can shed some light?To be completely honest, I didn't look into such a cable. I knew about the adapter and assumed that was the only option.
schwell
Oct 22, 07:29 PM
Thanks. However, that site doesn't seem to update its information. Some of it dates back at least five years.
For example, I looked around my area, and most of the well known dead zones marked on the map were resolved a few years ago with new towers.
The site does update the information. Zoom in and click on the "deadspots" The date reported is shown. I clicked on 25 for Verizon and 25 for AT&T they were all reported in 2008 or 2009.
For example, I looked around my area, and most of the well known dead zones marked on the map were resolved a few years ago with new towers.
The site does update the information. Zoom in and click on the "deadspots" The date reported is shown. I clicked on 25 for Verizon and 25 for AT&T they were all reported in 2008 or 2009.
mrkramer
Nov 16, 08:25 AM
I'm sure that somewhere in their headquarters Apple keeps a build of OS X on AMD like they did with Intel. But Idon't think that anyone outside of Apple will see it at least for several years.
Dmac77
Oct 6, 03:21 PM
I honestly don't understand why people are always complaining about AT&T. I and no one else that I know has ever had an issue with AT&T in our area (Ann Arbor, MI). But everyone who has Verizon has issues.
We used to be on Verizon, and we would always get dropped calls. And my friends who are still on Verizon still drop calls all the time.
It's the same if I drive out into the middle of nowhere. (Which me as some friends did recently). I had 3G coverage in the middle of nowhere, but my friend on Verizon had no coverage at all.
And the funny thing is that according to the maps, Verizon is supposed to have better 3G coverage in my area which is total BS.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the crappy customer service from Verizon. Like the manager at a Verizon store telling my mom to ****** off and die, because she was pissed that there had been a service outage for over a week.
AT&T will bend over backwards for us though. The one time we had a problem (a day long outage) they prorated 25% of our bill for that month, without us even asking.
Don
We used to be on Verizon, and we would always get dropped calls. And my friends who are still on Verizon still drop calls all the time.
It's the same if I drive out into the middle of nowhere. (Which me as some friends did recently). I had 3G coverage in the middle of nowhere, but my friend on Verizon had no coverage at all.
And the funny thing is that according to the maps, Verizon is supposed to have better 3G coverage in my area which is total BS.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention the crappy customer service from Verizon. Like the manager at a Verizon store telling my mom to ****** off and die, because she was pissed that there had been a service outage for over a week.
AT&T will bend over backwards for us though. The one time we had a problem (a day long outage) they prorated 25% of our bill for that month, without us even asking.
Don
samcraig
May 3, 07:08 AM
Bingo, where are the options? This is the thing with the cache. Five bucks says people will be complaining about poor Location Services performance after the update.
5 bucks people will be complaining about something even if they THINK they are having worse performance while others will say they haven't been affected and others will say performance has improved.
In other words - it will be just like any other update/patch.
5 bucks people will be complaining about something even if they THINK they are having worse performance while others will say they haven't been affected and others will say performance has improved.
In other words - it will be just like any other update/patch.
Rodimus Prime
Aug 8, 10:03 AM
Plug-in hybrids put additional strain on the power grid, a strain it cannot currently handle on a large scale. So plugin electrics are not ready for large-scale adoption yet. If electric cars are to be the future, our power grid needs to be made much, much higher capacity AND a lot greener.
Lifestyle choices are always going to trump technology in terms of impact on the environment and saving fuel. If everyone made it a point to buy a more efficient car the next time they buy a vehicle, the impact would be truly staggering. If everyone bought a 10% more efficient car, the fuel savings would add up fast.
We can't rely on technology to pick up the slack and protect us from our own destructive lifestyles. We need to be proactive and make changes, even sacrifices. I admit I still love my sportscars, but they are the least of our worries - it's all the big SUV daily drivers and trucks that are killing us.
The problem with the US is out transportation system was never laid out for a good mass transit. We have massive urban sprawl and no real way solve that problem. Add in the fact that rail systems were never designed into the system so retrofitting them is will be very costly and very difficult to do.
As for the mass eletric cars I think you pass over my point about how most of them will be charged at night during off peak hours which means for the most part the grid can take a a huge number of them before we will start having a real issue.
We need something to replace the use of gas. Hybrids I will say are a great thing to bridge between our combustion engine and what ever is next. Things like the volt I think are the best examples of the bridge because we just need to replace the power generator and that is fairly easy to do compared to having to figure out some other type of engine to move the car. We have electric motors that we can advance for moving.
Reducing our usage of fuel I would argue is a dead end tech. All it will do is delay the problem but not solve it. Hybrids bridge us to the solution.
Lifestyle choices are always going to trump technology in terms of impact on the environment and saving fuel. If everyone made it a point to buy a more efficient car the next time they buy a vehicle, the impact would be truly staggering. If everyone bought a 10% more efficient car, the fuel savings would add up fast.
We can't rely on technology to pick up the slack and protect us from our own destructive lifestyles. We need to be proactive and make changes, even sacrifices. I admit I still love my sportscars, but they are the least of our worries - it's all the big SUV daily drivers and trucks that are killing us.
The problem with the US is out transportation system was never laid out for a good mass transit. We have massive urban sprawl and no real way solve that problem. Add in the fact that rail systems were never designed into the system so retrofitting them is will be very costly and very difficult to do.
As for the mass eletric cars I think you pass over my point about how most of them will be charged at night during off peak hours which means for the most part the grid can take a a huge number of them before we will start having a real issue.
We need something to replace the use of gas. Hybrids I will say are a great thing to bridge between our combustion engine and what ever is next. Things like the volt I think are the best examples of the bridge because we just need to replace the power generator and that is fairly easy to do compared to having to figure out some other type of engine to move the car. We have electric motors that we can advance for moving.
Reducing our usage of fuel I would argue is a dead end tech. All it will do is delay the problem but not solve it. Hybrids bridge us to the solution.
Fearless Leader
Jan 14, 04:14 PM
The first bit was funny for this teenage, but this was nothing for a "Journalist" to be doing.
davepoint
Aug 9, 12:31 PM
This has been a continual problem with the 23". With decent color management you can "fix" the cast by changing the RGB values sent to the monitor in an effort to counterbalance the pink. This has limitations, however, and tends to impact the overall consistency of color reproduction.
Most color-savvy companies will agree that the 20" and especially the 30" are more suited to color-managed workflows. Hopefully this new generation fixes that.
The pink cast etc are the main things holding me back, and even if they are 'really' fixed with this revision there's still the dodginess of whether or not you're getting a new or old revision. I suppose if you buy direct from the apple store that would be less of an issue but then it's a hassle if you need to return it etc
Most color-savvy companies will agree that the 20" and especially the 30" are more suited to color-managed workflows. Hopefully this new generation fixes that.
The pink cast etc are the main things holding me back, and even if they are 'really' fixed with this revision there's still the dodginess of whether or not you're getting a new or old revision. I suppose if you buy direct from the apple store that would be less of an issue but then it's a hassle if you need to return it etc
drsmithy
Oct 5, 02:33 AM
It'd be pretty easy to check actually, and really quite legal. The part of Mac OS X that actually implements SMP is the kernel, which is part of Darwin. You can install Darwin without fear of repurcusions, on your toaster, if you want.
Isn't the version of Darwin underpinning OS X/Intel no longer Open Source ?
Isn't the version of Darwin underpinning OS X/Intel no longer Open Source ?
SmileyBlast!
Apr 29, 03:12 PM
Nope.
That iCal is kinda annoying.
That iCal is kinda annoying.
idanchez
Apr 15, 05:21 PM
Good Day Forum,
I work in manufacturing engineering...
Looking at these pictures i think it is possible to produce an iPhone like this using CNC machining...
However i am not sure what to think about dock connecter port :confused: ... The image shows it having 90 deg corners which is quite difficult to achieve using a CNC milling machine... This would require some sort of laser cutting manufacturing proces... which they probably used...
The silent lock switch and the volume button show the corners having a radius of about 0.5mm... this is achieved using a 1mm cutter.
Though this may look like renders... it is still possible to generate a product like this...
If you look closely to all of Apples product... they pay EXTREME :rolleyes: attention to DETAIL... This does not look like something apple would produce.
The "bevel" at the back.... is a No No for apple... they like to make it look smooth and shell like all over...
However i could be wrong... :(
Many Thanks for you time.
:cool: :apple:
I can generate an iPod Touch first generation using CAD and save the file as a 3D file and upload this to photoshop to render and add text and texture...
I work in manufacturing engineering...
Looking at these pictures i think it is possible to produce an iPhone like this using CNC machining...
However i am not sure what to think about dock connecter port :confused: ... The image shows it having 90 deg corners which is quite difficult to achieve using a CNC milling machine... This would require some sort of laser cutting manufacturing proces... which they probably used...
The silent lock switch and the volume button show the corners having a radius of about 0.5mm... this is achieved using a 1mm cutter.
Though this may look like renders... it is still possible to generate a product like this...
If you look closely to all of Apples product... they pay EXTREME :rolleyes: attention to DETAIL... This does not look like something apple would produce.
The "bevel" at the back.... is a No No for apple... they like to make it look smooth and shell like all over...
However i could be wrong... :(
Many Thanks for you time.
:cool: :apple:
I can generate an iPod Touch first generation using CAD and save the file as a 3D file and upload this to photoshop to render and add text and texture...
bedifferent
Apr 29, 05:58 PM
For the love of god get rid of the faux leather.
I generally agree with the overall consesus. The attempt to bridge OS X and iOS GUI's are disappointing. It's not so much one thing in particular but the culmination of terribly implemented GUI nuances.
The grey Finder and Mail sidebar icons are more confusing, as was the grey iTunes X icons that were quickly remedied with an iTunes.rsrc file to add the previous color icons. ICal would benefit from a black/grey leather with more grain/definition, as would Address Book. Finder windows have about the same UI as L/SL, and I'm not into the latest iOS scroll bars (too thick, I preferred the thinner scroll bars). The depressed/non-depressed buttons seem misplaced. The blue standard system folders seem even more inconsistent comparatively (and they have been around since 10.5) and I loathe the icons for iTunes/App Store/Safari (which is really outdated).
Overall, instead of Apple [finally] producing an OS X with a unified GUI, nothing seems consistent. Either add flare and color or don't.
OS X Lion needs Lithium, it's becoming schizophrenic!
I generally agree with the overall consesus. The attempt to bridge OS X and iOS GUI's are disappointing. It's not so much one thing in particular but the culmination of terribly implemented GUI nuances.
The grey Finder and Mail sidebar icons are more confusing, as was the grey iTunes X icons that were quickly remedied with an iTunes.rsrc file to add the previous color icons. ICal would benefit from a black/grey leather with more grain/definition, as would Address Book. Finder windows have about the same UI as L/SL, and I'm not into the latest iOS scroll bars (too thick, I preferred the thinner scroll bars). The depressed/non-depressed buttons seem misplaced. The blue standard system folders seem even more inconsistent comparatively (and they have been around since 10.5) and I loathe the icons for iTunes/App Store/Safari (which is really outdated).
Overall, instead of Apple [finally] producing an OS X with a unified GUI, nothing seems consistent. Either add flare and color or don't.
OS X Lion needs Lithium, it's becoming schizophrenic!
JP89Hornet
Apr 5, 03:42 PM
BTW it's free...
haha, april fools, you're paying for the access to the app store and we're still making money off of it!
apple you funny!
haha, april fools, you're paying for the access to the app store and we're still making money off of it!
apple you funny!
bruinsrme
Oct 6, 11:35 AM
It was a good message until they stated "Before you pick a phone, pick a network." That would be valid in an iPhone-less world. They would still be selling us phones based on a spinning CGI rendering of a phone's outer shell. "Look! A plastic candy bar! You like candy, don't you? Then you'll love our rectangular phone! Brand new features like rounded edges and three colors!"
Apple changed the game. The device should now be the focus. The service should be an afterthought in the background.
Why would anyone by something as expensive as an iPhone if the coverage is not as good As another carrier or existan at all? Yeah I want to pay $90 a month for a phone that doesn't work well in the area I spent most of my time in.
Apple changed the game. The device should now be the focus. The service should be an afterthought in the background.
Why would anyone by something as expensive as an iPhone if the coverage is not as good As another carrier or existan at all? Yeah I want to pay $90 a month for a phone that doesn't work well in the area I spent most of my time in.
bloodycape
Jul 26, 11:47 PM
http://www.groupereflect.net/IMG/jpg/image_blog5
I will say that is pretty funny but the odd thing is Apple's formart support isn't the best either, especially for video. If it had or gets divx support that is another story.
I will say that is pretty funny but the odd thing is Apple's formart support isn't the best either, especially for video. If it had or gets divx support that is another story.
andyblac
Aug 9, 11:58 AM
UK specs have been updated.
:), just ordered myself a Mac Pro 2.66 with 20" ACD. shipping on the 15th August :D
:), just ordered myself a Mac Pro 2.66 with 20" ACD. shipping on the 15th August :D
Cutwolf
Mar 17, 11:37 AM
So either this guy is a troll, which is against the TOS, and he should be banned.
Or he's advocating breaking the law, which is (presumably) against the TOS, and he should be banned.
Go go gadget mods!
bunch of haters. In a society where our own government is the biggest crook of all , you all have the nerve to jump down this guy's throat because of someone else's mistake!?!?
"In a society where the government is the biggest crook of all (and not to mention mind controls us through iPads which are embedded with the latest mind control tech), why would anyone get mad at someone for being a crook?!"
Sensical and logical. I am in love with you.
Plus, if you have ever been to a best buy, employees jump on and off registers all the time without logging off first. They will never know which employee did it.
That makes it ok?
also consider that this was this guy's karma coming back to him. He did good and now he is getting rewarded.
There are no rules to karma, obviously, but I don't think anyone would say that a burglar who breaks into a house and doesn't get caught was being rewarded for something he did previously. This is similar, albeit on a smaller scale.
Plus if this cashier is dumb enough to mistake $230 for $500 plus tax then does Best Buy really want him working register and relying on customer honesty to save his job?
Which is more ethical and legal -- ignoring the mistake because it worked out in your benefit, or correcting his mistake and then simply letting a manager know about the mistake the cashier made?
Or he's advocating breaking the law, which is (presumably) against the TOS, and he should be banned.
Go go gadget mods!
bunch of haters. In a society where our own government is the biggest crook of all , you all have the nerve to jump down this guy's throat because of someone else's mistake!?!?
"In a society where the government is the biggest crook of all (and not to mention mind controls us through iPads which are embedded with the latest mind control tech), why would anyone get mad at someone for being a crook?!"
Sensical and logical. I am in love with you.
Plus, if you have ever been to a best buy, employees jump on and off registers all the time without logging off first. They will never know which employee did it.
That makes it ok?
also consider that this was this guy's karma coming back to him. He did good and now he is getting rewarded.
There are no rules to karma, obviously, but I don't think anyone would say that a burglar who breaks into a house and doesn't get caught was being rewarded for something he did previously. This is similar, albeit on a smaller scale.
Plus if this cashier is dumb enough to mistake $230 for $500 plus tax then does Best Buy really want him working register and relying on customer honesty to save his job?
Which is more ethical and legal -- ignoring the mistake because it worked out in your benefit, or correcting his mistake and then simply letting a manager know about the mistake the cashier made?
Patrick J
Apr 29, 04:26 PM
I wish they would keep the slider buttons. I really really liked them :/
Don't you think they were really unintuitive? It works on a touch screen. Not on a OSX device.
Don't you think they were really unintuitive? It works on a touch screen. Not on a OSX device.
BBEmployee
Apr 8, 02:42 PM
I'm a current employee at Best Buy and thought I'd offer my two cents on a few issues.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
iCrizzo
Apr 29, 05:01 PM
Apple listens to it's fans. Yay! XD
They do.. look at the iPad, they brought back the "lock" switch. :apple:
They do.. look at the iPad, they brought back the "lock" switch. :apple:
Gloor
Jan 15, 05:02 PM
It's not just the displays. The MacPro was still left a little short. Don't get me wrong, they are brilliant machines, my 2.8x8 is brilliant, but only 2GB RAM is a kick in the teeth for a Pro workstation.
Especially when this MacBookFart comes with 2GB as standard. Having said that Steve priority is purely creating products for the Disney store now.
Shame really.
Actually, you buy ram from OWC or Crucial and you are set. The price of MP is really good when compared to HP or Dell so I think the MP now is fantastic. What bothers me is the fact that they upgrade one thing but not the other that goes with it. (ACD) Do they really want us to get HP, Dell or other brilliant LCDs? I'll wait 2 more weeks and then will get MP with A display. Probably 30" HP
Especially when this MacBookFart comes with 2GB as standard. Having said that Steve priority is purely creating products for the Disney store now.
Shame really.
Actually, you buy ram from OWC or Crucial and you are set. The price of MP is really good when compared to HP or Dell so I think the MP now is fantastic. What bothers me is the fact that they upgrade one thing but not the other that goes with it. (ACD) Do they really want us to get HP, Dell or other brilliant LCDs? I'll wait 2 more weeks and then will get MP with A display. Probably 30" HP
bloodycape
Nov 16, 02:06 PM
gamers that want to switch to mac but wont because of intel, which is stupid. AMD fanboys hate intel also(there is a signifigant amount of these people). They still haven't realised that intel has taken the lead again.
I am an AMD fanboy who thinks intel makes great chips, so not every amd fanboy hates intel. Just look at my sig.
I am an AMD fanboy who thinks intel makes great chips, so not every amd fanboy hates intel. Just look at my sig.
TequilaBoobs
Jan 12, 08:45 AM
Wow, I just watched the keynote and my god this guy is hard to stand. I've watched previous keynotes and he never seemed this bad. The charisma he's displayed in the past has been replaced with smugness. He acted like the iPhone was the second coming of christ and we were so lucky that he existed to bring it upon us.
When really, this is probably the single worst keynote for Mac users that he has ever given. No hardware updates. No 10.5 preview. Not even iLife and iWork '07! Plus, very people I know are going to be interested in spending $600 + $60 a month or more to use this phone while plenty of us would love to spend $300 or $400 or even more on a full-screen video iPod. God, I wish this keynote was all some nightmare and in the real one Apple actually gave us something we wanted.
wow jamr u have big balls, coming to macrumors to call Steve Jobs an SOB. that's like going to a kkk rally and saying david duke is retarded. just be prepared to be flamed!
When really, this is probably the single worst keynote for Mac users that he has ever given. No hardware updates. No 10.5 preview. Not even iLife and iWork '07! Plus, very people I know are going to be interested in spending $600 + $60 a month or more to use this phone while plenty of us would love to spend $300 or $400 or even more on a full-screen video iPod. God, I wish this keynote was all some nightmare and in the real one Apple actually gave us something we wanted.
wow jamr u have big balls, coming to macrumors to call Steve Jobs an SOB. that's like going to a kkk rally and saying david duke is retarded. just be prepared to be flamed!
arn
Oct 2, 04:39 PM
The problem is that I don't see how it can be iTunes compatible without Apple's involvement. (See above post on Real Harmony). iTunes will only query ITMS for validating a DRMed file, not DoubleTwist or Amazon. Without iTunes things get a lot less compelling.
B
perhaps true... but depends on how it works. if it's just tied to an email address, if they can encode that same email address into the files, it would probably work. Alternatively, it could also mean that someone could come out with a non-iTunes media player that doesn't validate against a server.
arn
B
perhaps true... but depends on how it works. if it's just tied to an email address, if they can encode that same email address into the files, it would probably work. Alternatively, it could also mean that someone could come out with a non-iTunes media player that doesn't validate against a server.
arn
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