[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by MikeFromHC

You can only do that with a very high margin item, a fair number of believers in a brand name, and enough money to prevent clones. Apple managed this by selling sizzle.

So, just so everyone knows, the last Apple product I bought personally, or for a member of my household, was an Apple ][+, and that was at least a decade before the current crop of university kids were born. So, I'm no Mac-head.

Originally Posted by MikeFromHC

You can usually find one or two examples of this in any business. It did happen and failed in the electronics industry. ComputerLand was a good example. Knowledgeable staff backed by even more knowledgeable technicians.

But computers became a commodity and that business plan failed.

But selling consumer electronics IS all about the sizzle: having stock on the shelves, and, in Apple's case, working devices on display. An Apple laptop computer is no more sexy than a Toshiba Windows 7 but at an Apple store I get to poke, prod and question ... at Joe's Computers, the specific Toshiba model I want is in a box behind a locked glass door.

Originally Posted by MikeFromHC

I would guess that the Apple stores have a high turnover in sales or that those employees are not that sharp.

Good retail folk are hard to find but they do exist. I expect Apple has its share. I've chatted with polite knowledgeable Applefolk as well as some pretty unpleasant twits. That's pretty much my experience at Best Buy, btw.

Originally Posted by MikeFromHC

It's the same reason why you rarely get good support on any product. By the time a good support person requires the needed knowledge and experience they have asked "Is it turned on" and found a "no" answer a billion times. They get bored and either move to a higher tier or become independent consultants.

Only the new guys and the dolts are left behind.

I simply don't believe it has to be that bleak. I firmly believe there is room for an order of magnitude better experience in retail consumer electronics.

Closer to home, I have to say, again, that Amazon did not get to be the giant in this industry by constantly pissing customers off. They built their business under the directive: To be the most customer centric retailer on the planet, or words to that effect, and, by and large, they have achieved it (and continue to achieve that daily -- that's the most important part).

The bookchains aren't being put out of business by Amazon; they are being put out of business by decades of their own bad business decisions and failure to delight their customers as their customers needs and desires have changed.