Quote:
Originally Posted by =X=
Yes because retail stores and online stores didn't exist before Apple.
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Of course they existed - that's the point - but nobody was doing it well. Pre App Store, if you wanted to buy software online your choice was either shareware through Kagi, Tucows or something similarly amateurish, or full-blown, full-priced software direct from e.g. Adobe or Microsoft, who might - just might - allow you to download something, but mostly wanted to ship you a disc through the mail. The App Store made buying software online a simple two-click frictionless transaction, delivered directly to your device. Cheap too.
As for the retail stores, show me one computer manufacturer who has any kind of high street presence to compare with Apple Stores. Where I live, a computer store is likely to be a glorified warehouse on the fringes of a windswept 'retail park'- badly lit, badly stocked, poorly staffed, with few of the machines running anything but a demo program. Apple stores may not be perfect but at least all the hardware is plugged in, working and accessible (though you may have to wait your turn) both well stocked and well staffed, and by and large pleasant places to be - even if all you want to do is check your email on the free wifi...
Pete