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Apple Revolutionizing Retail
conq writes "BusinessWeek has an interesting blog entry on Apple's 'iPod Express table', where they streamline the sale of iPods in their store. From the article: 'But the best part was that the Apple Geniuses behind the table had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards, and Apple had worked out a totally wireless, paperless checkout process, called EasyPay. Once scanned, they advise you that the receipt will be in your inbox within an hour (since I'm already a registered Apple customer, they didn't even need to take my email or other information).'"
That I want to order one, and ship it too me? 1984 style!
I know it should but apple doesn't seem like the company that i would worrie about doing this.. they seem to do things right and treat their customers with respect..
Honestly i like the idea.. it seems like a great way of doing biz
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
Whoa! What next? Anticipatory purchasing?
"Here's your iPod yocto, we knew you were going to buy it when we announced it."
Let's count the days until some skunk claims Apple's EasyPay violates their patent, shall we?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
But the best part was that the Apple Geniuses behind the table had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards...
No, the best part is that I was sitting out front with my wifi sniffer gathering all that credit card data...
EasyPay, EasyGo?
I didn't get my patent through in time! Oh well, Bezos likely has something similar sitting somehwere on his shelf.
If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?
Do you have concerns
For your privacy
In this modern age
Of technology?
With corporations
Buying your souls?
Well push those worries in a deep dark hole!
Cause Apple's doin it, and they're okay
They'll treat your information right every day
Yeah, Apple's doin it, so it can't be wrong
And that's the end of my stupid song.
Apple had worked out a totally wireless, paperless checkout process, called EasyPay.
You know what's easy? I hand you money, you hand me the product and receipt. If you want my personal information, buy it. Wouldn't it be great if we all went back to that sort of system?
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Apple Stores seem to always get it right in general. I'm talking about the official Apple Stores here. For example, my partner had to get a minor problem fixed on his PowerBook. He showed up at the Genius Bar, they took it apart in front of us, fixed the problem, and we went on our way. They never once asked for a receipt or any other form of identification. No hassles at all, no proof of warranty, nothing.
Bradley Holt
I will say i've never been in a brick-and-mortar apple store (not one in my area), but is it really cumbersome enough trying to buy something from them that they need a specific 'express lane' for buying ipods?
Han shot first.
Exactly what we need, a quicker and even more painless way to add charges on our credit cards for stuff we don't really need. But of course the idea is sweet.
Cheers, Nostrada
So how secure is the encryption? I'm not sure I want my credit card number floating around in the clear, and while I imagine Apple did it right, the article mentions that he thinks this should be the future of all business transactions. I don't trust the local mom&pop bookstore to have their encryption together. On the other hand, if it's going to be some black-box solution that's actually set up right out of the box, it's kind of idiot proof, no?
The idea of having no reciept until I get home doesn't bother me, although what happens if they enter the email address wrong for new customers? A mis-type of the associate and all of a sudden you can't return your new toy if it doesn't work?
But I am sure the guy who cracks their wireless encryption will love it when he gets your email and other information... along with your credit card numbers.
But seriously, "all paperless" that can't be good. I might be old school but I like a papertrail when giving someone my money.
A friend got an iPod shuffle for a gift last week and decided he didn't want it.
The Apple store wouldn't accept the return. It was sealed, clearly hadn't been touched. But the store employees just said "Sorry, we don't accept on those things".
Which goes to show, even Apple doesn't want the shuffle.
Bars and restaurants mostly use wireless devices now for taking card payments. I don't know how secure the wireless actually is, but I'm sure it's being mandated by the credit card companies and at least some of the risk is mitigated by the fact that it's done at the table and you never lose sight of your credit card.
It's great to see that someone is finally doing it right!
The key to success is to make it extremely easy for your customers to do business with you. Get 'em in, get what they need, and check 'em out. Happy customers = high profits.
I am very impatient when it comes to poor customer service. I have walked across the street to another electronics store when some stupid clerk said "Uh, only one guy has the key to the hard drive cabinet, and he's not around right now."
See ya... taking my business elsewhere then.
I purchased a 4gb nano from the apple store here in San Diego (Fashion Valley). Quick, Easy, and paperless. Problem is that I never received a receipt via email. Be sure that they READ BACK your email address if you go this route.
Make it so someone picks one up, and is checked out and gone within a few minutes. Less time for them to be standing there thinking about the purchase, therefore more likely for them to make the buy on an impulse.
Pay no attention to that van across the street with the dish pointed at your store....
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards
A little off topic but...
Just the type of technology we need to fall in the hands of corrupt employees. Because people using their camera phones to snatch people's credit card info wasn't enough.
... why don't they just hook up a wireless brain scanner at the door? That why by the time I've made my way to the counter or nearest agent, they've already charged and bagged the product I had planned to come in and buy. They could also hand me a map and directions to the next store I had on my agenda.
If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?
I guess this is not sooo different from how other online fronts of the regular retailers work. You can go to bestbuy.com and not only order something, but see if its in stock at the nearest store, plus have it ready to be picked up in no time. When you arrive at the store, they see the record on their machine, and you walk out with your item. The only difference with apple is that 1)the apple guy does the purchase for you in the store instead of you at home 2)your account info is not previously saved in one all-encompasing account.
Han shot first.
I have to admit, Apple has it so right when it comes to customer astonishment. Unlike a certain competitor that is located at a certain Pacific Northwest location, Apple listens to what people wants and delivers something even better than what was asked of them. Microsoft makes it one way and forces you to live by their standards. Sorry, but I have to go with Apple every time
"Hey Gary, why are we wearing bras on our heads?"
Apple Geniuses behind the table had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards
WOW! Re-vo-lu-tion! You mean like the ones waiters in Europe have been using for *ages*?
It's actually kind of nice because they do not take your credit card back to the register. They swipe it at your table and hand it back to you.
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
This isn't all that bright, on either party's side.
From the retailer perspective, a client can *always* claim to have never received the reciept, and that their invoice was deleted in the computer. Mistakes do happen, and no retailer in their right frame of mind would think that they will *never* lose an invoice.
Many retailers calculate nightly sales, etc, but do NOT include customer names in their nightly book-keeping reports. Regardless of the reality, customers do not trust computers to never, ever lose data (a bit of tounge in cheek here). A store can lose invoices, and still balance their books.. but where are you if you didn't receive your invoice (and it slipped your mind that it was being emailed to you).. and you need to return the unit 3 weeks later.. or a year later.. and perhaps the store doesn't even exist any more!
From the customer side, I have to say.. are you nuts? Buying something, with no proof of purchase?! Heck, you could even have problems getting out of the mall!
Wireless sniffer software: free as in speech
Pringles can: $1.59
parking spot downtown: $6/h
iPod: $100
Rest of my Christmas shopping: priceless.
> Once scanned, they advise you that the receipt will be in your inbox within an hour (since I'm already a registered Apple customer, they didn't even need to take my email or other information).
Since I'm not already a registered Apple customer, any clerktrooper asking me for my email, snail address, or any other data not required to complete the transaction when I try to purchase products gets the old Jedi Mind Trick: you place an appropriate number of Federal Reserve Notes (or other bits of nicely-decorated paper) in your hand, wave your hand in front of the clerk, and you say "You don't need to see my identification".
If it works, the clerktrooper realized they're more interested in the pretty paper in your hand than the toy - so you leave the paper behind and walk out with a shiny new toy.
If it doesn't work, you keep the pretty paper and leave a confused clerktrooper holding the toy.
It's a self-reinforcing system. The Empire demands that clerktroopers ask for identification -- but clerktroopers who follow orders and resist the Jedi Mind Trick ultimately find themselves scheduled for termination. The tighter the Imperial grip, the more sales slip through their fingers.
Restauranteurs, please take note!
I was in a brick and mortar Apple store during the cristmas rush. Alot of people were just coming in for iPods. So anyone who wanted an ipod went to the ipod kisok in the apple store and were taken care of there. I saw two Customer Reps at the time and they were working through customers very fast. The line was 6-8 people deep but I would swear the wait was under ten minutes for any given people.
Normally the Appple store in my area is fun to browse, wander thorugh and try things out. It was designed so people can browse without feeling crowded or harried. Converting one of the sidewall sections into a dedicated sales point for a high volume product makes perfect sense to me.
Because of the ipod specific section, the rest of the store retained its charm and usefulness, i.e. there wasn't a swarm of people all over the store asking "Where do we get ipods" interfering with people who wanted to buy other things (computers, cameras, software, etc etc).
Thought of another way: It was a clever form of crowd control to keep the store manageable.
Architectural plans are like computer source code with a couple of differences: You only compile once.
Sometimes it didn't work as well as advertised.
But yes, they're going to tweak it and use it anyway.
Was this present at all Apple Stores during the holiday season? I seem to have completely missed it.
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
I was out of the store with my iPod nano within minutes. When I got home my credit card reciept was already in my inbox.
All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be
Nice advertisement for apple, but reality does not match your story. I went to the apple store near me the other day, and the employees were snobby and unhelpful. I watched a woman try to return a defective product, and then watched fascinated as the employee tried to claim there was absolutely no way the product was broken, because it was an apple product, and then tell her her problem was she needed 2 more products to make it work right. I intervened eventually, after seeing just how far the apple "genius" would take the scam.
...the busy holiday season aside, is it really that important to reduce to mere seconds the time it takes to purchase a high-tech high-sticker gadget by dispatching a platoon of wirelessly-networked sales associates? C'mon, are you rushing to catch a plane?
What makes sense for Avis at the airport doesn't necessarily work in all retail settings.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
What's next will be that software will come with your computer even if you don't need it or want it. You'll pay for it when you pay for the computer, even if you don't need it. Oh... wait, nevermind, Microsoft beat them to that one.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
I noticed a similar thing while "buying" an episode of Lost from iTunes recently. This does streamline checkout and decrease wait time in a physical store (not sure about the same benefits for iTunes). I don't think that's Apple's primary reason for doing it, however. I think the main benefit for Apple is elimination of the buyer's chance to reconsider the purchase.
Customers are buying expensive toys they don't really need. The last thing Apple wants is a bunch of customers deciding against the purchases while standing in line or while providing credit card info.
I was talking with the sales guy there and saw the hand held device.....it looked strangly WINDOWS. He told me that it was and they took a couple months before they could get the START button removed. Also the windows serial number sticker was removed off the back.
There is no hiding from it!
Ignored Since 1973
I have a problem with leaving the store without a receipt. E-mail isn't the most reliable medium ever, and a simple mistype in your e-mail address means you don't get the receipt for your product.
There are other ways of verifying purchase, but nothing beats having a paper receipt when returning/exchanging items. Especially if it's a gift for someone.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
So, you're most likely just trolling, but just in case...
What are you talking about? You're completely OT - we're talking about Apple's own retail stores that're owned by Apple themselves, and a slick system they put in place in those stores during the busy holiday season to make life easier for the people that chose to shop there. Do you care to elaborate on your statement?
...they get you with the warranty info.
There is no escape.
~
Are you serious? The answer is: lots.
Any high-end jeweller or fashion icon: Prada, Gucci, Victoria's Secret, etc.
Any high-end stereo maker: Bang & Olufsen, Denon, etc.
Any high-end car maker: BMW, Mercedes, Acura, LEXUS... hell, even Saturn
Seriously, Apple has always tried to create a 'high end' in personal computers; whether or not you think they were successful is a matter of opinion, but the brand recognition alone is definitely in the Top 10 Brands worldwide. Something to consider.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
The 12-for-a-penny music services like BMG and Columbia House were still not a terrible deal, back in the day. Even with the overpricing and handling fees of 'regular price' discs, after your contractual obligations were out of the way it still only worked out to $7 or $8 per CD.
The main drawback of the system, assuming you remembered to decline the club selection when you didn't want it each month, is the main drawback of iTunes Music Store and the like today: many popular acts are simply not available. Good luck finding The Beatles or Metallica anywhere but at your local brick-and-mortar CD store, for instance.
ifo Applestore has a different take on the iPod Express Concept.
Perhaps the most serious glitch was procedural-using e-mail to generate a receipt for the ordinary customer when checking them out with a portable device. Several customers reported being surprised at the requirement, and were reluctant to give out their e-mail addresses for fear of receiving unsolicited marketing e-mail or even spam. Hey, who wanted to admit that your e-mail address was "kickass@gmail.com"? In some cases customers requested a printed receipt, slowing down the otherwise prompt check-out, and in other cases the customer's ISP was blocking mail from Apple so no receipt was ever delivered. [I'll admit true Mac users are more likely to prefer skipping the paper and receiving an e-mail receipt, and probably have a secondary, "disposable" e-mail address.]
...
So while the concept was well-intentioned, and the staff worked hard to make it successful, the iPod Express needs some tweaking before its rolled out again.
At a store I went to. It looked like you had to purchase your iPod that way. Looking back, I would NEVER do this again. I never got my email receipt, and I don't want email receipts anyway. I want one printed up by them, in the store where I purchased the thing.
Well, with Apple running a smooth retailing operation to accelerate the growth in iPod sales the numbers will exert pressure on music companines to finally make things available. As soon as the RIAA goons figure out that everyone they want to be in bed with has no real answers or competition for the iPod they'll have to give in. At the worst they'll still take a try or two at some horrendous marketing model which falls flat on its face, while delaying the inevitable.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
It took 2 days for me to get my receipt by using the express checkout at the Apple store. Not sure what took so long and it wasn't stuck in my spam filter. After buying the iPod from the store, I realized that I can add a personal touch to the iPod with engraving for the same price by buying it online. I didn't want to risk going back to the mall and spend 1 hour looking for a parking space with out a receipt to return the old one. Needless to say I still have the unopened iPod at my desk, because I am too lazy to go to the mall.
If the Apple store tells me the receipt is in the (e)mail, can I tell them their payment is in the (s)mail?
Call me old-fashioned, but an ink-signature should have no legal standing in an electronic universe...ink for paper, PKI for digital.
If you think imaginary property and real property are the same, when does your house become public domain?
But why the heck is it wireless. To be hacked easier by near passing script kiddies?
I did this for an iTunes GC. It was fast, I skipped past the huge lines, and I was done in 5 mins. The best shopping experince this season.
On a second note, the average slashdot reader might have no problem understanding what iPod Express is and that the receipt is supposed to be mailed to you, but not everybody knows what they were getting into. While I was in an Apple store before Christmas, I had the joy of listening to one of the Express employees trying to convince a skeptical customer that an emailed receipt for an in-store purchase is perfectly valid. The employee ended up disappearing briefly and returning with a paper receipt. Based on this Ars article, it looks like this is a common occurance.
I certainly hope they have their wireless system secured. Imagine someone outside the store intercepting all those credit card numbers as they get sent from the handheld gizmo to their network.
Apple revolutionizing retail by forcing stores to sell all their products at very specific (and high) prices, who needs competition!
Seriously, what other company could get away with this?
Most of 'em. I'm thinking of the video game industry, in particular. If you can find a place selling Nintendo DS for even a cent less than $129.99, I'd like to know about it.
I had other shopping to do in the Apple Store. I just asked the clerk if I could pay at the checkout counter. She happily said yes, handed me the shuffle, said thank-you, and moved onto the next customer.
Quick. Fast. Efficient. Very convenient.
BTW, at the Apple Store that I visited, the portable checkouts were able to print out receipts. The only thing they couldn't do was print out gift receipts.
This was the Chestnut Hill Mall in MA.
Clearly since the receipt is being mailed to my blackberry I won't be leaving the store without one...
Their newfangled system didn't work at the Apple store where I went. The guy with the credit card reader just stared at me, even after I asked him about product availability. Several staff members told me they were out of stock for a certain product, when in fact they were not out of stock (The guy behind me in line, who didn't talk to the floor staff, got the last one.. that sucked).
And there were still fairly large lines. It wasn't that there were a ton of people there.. the transactions were slow because the cashiers had to explain the email service, then type in the email (if applicable), etc.
It shouldn't bother me but it still irritates me when I read articles about apple "inventing" something else. This isn't even apple's fault, it's just the odd fanbase they have. I am not sure what's different here. You pay with a credit card and get no paper receipt. That's better? And wireless, how does that help the customer? For all I know my local walmart's card reader is wireless, who knows, who cares? Anyway in my state (and most others) it would be illegal to make a sale without a paper receipt with the return policy also give out.
I went Christmas shopping in the Apple Store in Palo Alto a few weeks, and an Apple guy pulled me out of line because I only had a couple of small things. No muss, no fuss, and I didn't spend more and 15 seconds in line; the whole checkout took **maybe** a minute, including him going and getting a bag for me.
"The chief enemy of creativity is 'good taste'" -Pablo Picasso
i'd rather have a paper reciept right there at the store
my receipt took exactly 30 days to get to my e-mail. Funny that it came the last day that I was allowed to return it.
You don't have to use the EasyPay - it's an option. If you want to pay w/ cash, or split tender, or use a discount(education, company, etc.), then wait at the register. If you wanna by an ipod cable, ipod, or 1 small item, use the EasyPay and get 5 minutes of your life back. As far as reciepts go, if you must have a paper copy, you gotta wait. Deal. Heck, any apple product is registered when sold, so the reciept is more useful for returns, but unneeded for service. And yeah, the units are Symbol's running Windows Mobile. Sick sad world, neh? They're also using a standalone encrypted wireless network.
Yaay! I pooed on your pants!
So how is this advantageous to shopping online? (Other than the obvious shipping time) Personally, one of the main reasons I shop online is to avoid dealing with the idiots that comprise 90% of the public sector.
This just in! 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the population.
Rent a car from Hertz.
Check out the ACLU use case for integrated CRM.
You gotta admit, this "EasyPay" is a better system then their originally planned system.
Apple was originally planning on just setting up a bouncer in the front of the stores, who'd ask for your name and AppleID. If it wasn't on the list, you'd have to stay in line outside the store while others who've already given their information to Apple get to go in buy up the last of the iPods.
They hoped that having all kinds of people just lined up outside at all hours of the day would encourage more people to try to get in and browse around, like the Apple store actually was something Hip and Cool and not just "The Gap Store, but for Computers and gadgets".
Retail Different!
I'v got in front of me wireless DECT receipt printer + swipe card reader.
HOFT WESSEL HW 90195/DECT T20102
I'm now looking for the rest of HOFT WESSEL setup to learn how this stuff works. Unfortunatelly DECT encryption cant be cracked by a hippie with soldering iron and some FPGA experience.
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
Seriously, EVERYTHING,
A feature comic (the middle act; you're anywhere from 2-10 years into comedy) makes around $15-23k a year gross. They write off a donut, their mileage, their shaving cream they bought on the road, everything. 1099 baby.
The expense report is them reporting it to the IRS. The same purpose we have expense reports. (well, that and someone pays us back what we spent. Hooray for companies!)
It could be one of the toughest and loneliest existences out there, the road comic. 50 weeks a year moving from town to town. Playing shitty gigs too, if you're a middle comic. No real "oomph" perhaps. Maybe a Premium Blend credit getting you into an A club or two.
Put it this way: when Columbus, OH is considered a great gig (the Funny Bone) in your chosen industry, perhaps you've picked the wrong industry. OK if beer pong were an industry that would probably be based in Columbus, too. And technically LA is pretty nifty as well, and New York is different from the road comics too.
take a deep breath, Bitter. Relax. Don't get carried away.
I'm going to go mix a white russian. Telecommuting rules.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
Yeah, me too, but most Americans pay with credit cards these days. I prefer a paper trail too (cash) but most of my American customers live on debt. And if someone isn't who they say they are, guess who gets stuck with no merchandise and no money to pay for it. That's right... me, the merchant. What you are complaining about, ID theft, is what merchants call a chargeback. You, after much frustration and fighting, will eventually get your money back. I won't. You're complaining about the dangers of efficiency and convenience. IMO, you should be complaining about the dangers of an antiquated system of plastic cards and magnetic stripes that store important information in plain text.
Yeah, I'd be happy as a lark doing it your way if everyone who came into my store plonked down greenbacks instead of gold cards. But that isn't reality. If privacy is your concern, your problem isn't the retailer, it's Choicepoint. The privacy argument is between you and your card company. You did, after all, give them your SSN to get that credit line. As for offering you cash customers (people who like paper trails as much as I do) preferential treatment and discounts, I'd love to. However part of the Visa/Mastercard duopoly's merchant policy is explicit: no preferential treatment to cash customers or you loose your merchant account. And since that's 90% of my business, I can't afford to do that. Otherwise, I'd be giving all my cash customers a 2% discount and a fast pass to the front of the line. Maybe when the average American decides it really is better to save and spend rather than spend and pay interest, things could be different.
I'm not trying to be nasty here, but look at it from both sides for a minute and you'll see the problem is with the mediator (CC companies). Not providing a bulletproof paper trail from the shopper's end of the equation, yet expecting one from the merchant without any guarantees from the guy in the middle is a bit unfair and unrealistic.
If you want to take it on an extended backpacking trip, screw you because there's no user-changeable battery. Or you can shell out an additional $40 for a battery pack. (Batteries not included.)
Want to take songs off of it and put them on your other computer. Screw you again! You'll need to pay for 3rd party software to easily do that.
Why is it, when we are faced with a new(ish) technology, we believe we must throw out all the rules we've learned with previous technology.
And why is it, when faced with new technology, we somehow forget all the flaws in existing systems?
If I wanted someone's credit card number I could take a job as a waiter at a restaurant, a cash register clerk at a retail store, or a mailman. Or just pose as one for a few minutes. It's ridiculously easy to get someone else's credit card number if you want--no digital expertise required.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Where can I buy an Apple computer (Powermacs don't count) without paying for OS X?
Alamo Car Rental at LAX has had wireless check-in for fifteen years, and it works better than Apple's. The wearable printer is a bit nerdy, but you get out of there fast.
I went into the local Apple store to get an iPod for a present. There was a the iPod center, with oodles of iPods. There were the helpful employees. Helpfully helping (flirting) with two young girls. There I stood trying to get their attention. I knew what I wanted and just wanted to buy it. The two girls were just chatting it up talking about iPods and music and whatever.
So I got in the regular line and waited 20 minutes to buy my present.
Sometimes I wish I had tits.
And one more thing - Apple needs to do away with the grueling lighting in the store. Despite it being an open air part of the mall AND it being cold out, I was dripping sweat waiting in that line under those oppresive lights.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Right, how is this quicker exactly? The last time I paid for something with cash or credit card it only took about 40 seconds, the long big was waiting my turn.
Now, you're telling me that instead of having an extra teller on the counter, there's a guy with a handheld scanner who needs to get a copy of all my identification, and credit card. That would take hmm... about 5 minutes.
Next time, sure they'll have my details, but wait, won't there be a queue for that aswell.
It's been done already. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbisson/12619332/
chown -R us ~you/base
First, everyone has wireless sales now, from football stadiums to kiosks to McDonalds. So that's about as innovative as anything else Apple did in 2005. Did you think that Apple invented the hardware to do wireless sales? Hell no, they bought it off the shelf where the rest of the world did. (disclosure: I write wireless point of sale sw)
Second, if Microsoft did this there would be complaints that they didn't provide the paper receipt that they used to and that they were being Big Brotherish and keeping your information on file "acting like it was for your convenience but is really for a one world government run by MS."
I've noticed a number of comments stating concern about the security of wireless credit card verification, and I'd like to clarify on that. This is not at all uncommon, the devices operate on the cell (CDMA) network, not WiFi, and encorporate the same encryption that is used in land-line credit card processing. This is really no security issue. The only issue exists in the fact that you being identified by a credit card and an e-mail address which is something easily obtained. Some would argue that it's no more insecure than online transactions, but this doesn't require an account password, nor does it involve a shipping address. For that matter, it's no more insecure than any of your other credit card transactions. When was the last time someone checked your signature on the back of your card? It rarely happens, and in fact, these days many retailers don't even allow the clerk to handle your card in order to avoid liability.
Our greatest enemy is neither a single man, nor is it a nation, it is, as it has always been, our own greed.
That's just offensive, of course most Mac users aren't Alan Turing. Fool.
29 mpg. YMMV.
Pretty much every bank and online merchant today encrypts your session during financial transactions. You could run open WiFi, no transport security at all, and your CC info would still be safe unless you were e-mailing it in plain text...and now most Web mail providers use SSL as well.
WiFi security is more important for preventing bandwidth leeching and intrusion onto the computers of your network, than it is for keeping your Amazon online shopping session secure. Most people don't store their credit card numbers on their computer anyway, and installing and harvesting a keylogger is a much bigger pain in the ass than just sitting in your car and sniffing signal.
Your credit card number is far less secure in real life than it is online, WiFi or not.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
just iWalk your way to the Apple store, iSelect your iProduct and Voila! iPay and you can leave without even getting an iReceipt. just iPerfect :]
Yes, 200 years ago George Washington's personal information could've been intercepted when he wrote a letter to his friend. Sure, carbon copies were left in the trash. And yes, I can tap a POTS line pretty easy and listen in.
However, TODAY there is a huge difference: the data mining is becoming completely automatic. I could theoretically drop up a battery-powered box at the apple store behind a display, let it pluck thousands of credits cards out of the air while I get a blow job, then come back at the end of the day. Heck, I could wirelessly download the data, then instruct the box to erase itself. Hell, I could set this up on ONE OF THEIR DISPLAY COMPUTERS!
This is a huge problem now, and it will get even bigger. You don't have to panic, but if you don't worry about this a little bit you'll have to pay for it one way or another.. wasted time, lost money, spoiled credit report, etc.
We live in a world were billions of dollars can move with the click of a mouse and most information security is pathetic. Do the math, as they say...
Bought iPod 3 weeks ago. Still no receipt. Sales persons will get e-mail wrong in 50 percent of cases. This is useless. I wanted my paper receipt.
One of the earlier inventors of computer-type devices was Alan Turing. A homo. And most Mac users? Coincidence? I think not...
Is it just me, or have the trolls just stopped trying lately?
Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'You're making a scene.'
Its all about scale. A waitress can get maybe 20 cards in an 8 hour shift, a phish site can get hundreds in its 3 hour lifespan, and a WiFi listener could get thousands sitting undetected for a month inside a (Major Retailer).
My other car is a Popemobile
It may have been done before countless times, but it's just not innovation until Apple does it.
This is a step in one direction for retail. Similar to Walmart (et al) having self-checkout. It is a forward step, but a baby-step.
If you want a revolutionary step you would need to start a cash/currency replacement system using smart cards in a similar manner to what Japan had done. The key word here is replacement. Take five or ten years and eliminate cash in the entire country. Use anonymous smart cards that store up to $50 or $100 and are useful for small purchases (vending machines, etc.). Let people use credit/debit/check cards for larger purchases. The smart cards would have very short range wireless with upgradable firmware as well as strong encryption. A reader at an exit to a store could read your account info as well as the rfid of any carried merchandise and automagically charge you for purchase on exit. snail-mail or e-mail the receipt (along with receipt of credit for any rebates also automagically processed).
That would be revolutionary.
It's for more then iPods, it's to reduce the line and wait time. The store staff pull them out when they get about 4-5 people in each normal line and things start to backup. Two people can clear the line in minutes. Those who don't want to use a credit/debit card and simply stand in line waiting for the normal cashier.
Think of it like a portable credit/debit only form of purchase. Heck you don't even need to sign. They just bar-code scan the product, swipe your card and enter some basic info and off you go. Saw it in use personally in an Apple store and a friend bought a PowerMacG5, 23" Display, Office, and AppleCare. Fastest sale I've ever encountered! Even better then the self checkout lines in a supermarket.
You just alluded that cash is slower, and less safe than credit cards! In fact credit/debit is always slower than cash, and always will be. With this new wireless method, not only can someone steal your identity, now they don't even have to.
Remember, I can count out 8.50 in quarters faster than someone can ring up their credit 3 times with 2 authorization failures.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
...that at the Glendale Galleria Apple store there is a Mac store across the hall. Well, M.A.C, that is.
The meme police, They live inside of my head
the first thing i tried to do was to change a applecare contract contact information. for that, i had to write a snail mail letter. they couldn't do it over the phone, or otherwise. when i asked why, i was told that is was clearly spelled out in item #9 on my contract. well, i sent the letter and haven't heard anything in 6 months.
so yes, apple is willing to use any sort of high tech gimic to get your $$$, but when it comes to after sales support, forget it. you're back to snail mail.
The people behind the iPod Express shouldn't be geniuses but rather Mac Specialists.
When Visa/Mastercard did this, everyone flipped out and said it was a ridiculous, insecure, and pointless.
When Apple does it, it's brilliant and revolutionary.
Am I the only one missing something here?
I knew Steve Jobs posted here,but not as an AC! Go figure.
"You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo
I have spent some time in apple stores (with friends) and I can say with some certainty that I have never seen any real line to checkout. I live in DC, and the four or so stores that I know of are generally quiet. I was dragged along to the opening day launch of the ishuffle/MacMini, and the line was no longer than four deep. I thought it was funny that they had a velvet rope and sign stating a limit of 2 per customer as if they thought they were going to get crushed for inventory.
People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.
i forget the name of the grocery store, but they have been testing this for at least a year in germany.
You do realize that since you bought it with a credit card that your transaction is on file and not only can you return it with the card you bought it with, but you can go to the store (or email them) and get a brand new reciept don't you?
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Chuck Norris revolutionalized retail!
Some people have a way with words, others not have way.
I was in the Apple store a few weeks ago getting some repiar work done on my powerbook when a gentleman came to the bar beside me with his daughter's powerbook. Imagine if you will, a laptop screen that looks like someone used it for target practice with a BB gun. Cracked and shattered all over the screen with the only working spot of the screen being the upper left hand corner. To add insult to injury, the top part of the screen was actualy separated from the top part of the case like someone had tried to pry open the screen, and the rest of the case looked like it had seen better days. According to the customer, this was his daughter's powerbook, and she had just brought it home from college this past weekend when all of a sudden this "just happened". Of course, the cutomer didn't do it, and of course his daughter didn't either. It was just a spontanious destruction of the computer. When the customer was politely informed that user caused damage was not covered under waranty and was informed of the potential repair cost, the customer went ballistic. Not only did he proceede to bitch out the technician working, but then demanded to speak to a manager, and proceeded to bitch out the manager. In the end, they wound up calling security on the customer.
Some statistics of word usage in this discussion so far:
apple: 178
store: 113
ipod: 72
mac: 23
gay: 1
homo: 3
fag: 3
butt: 1
sex: 0
flamer: 0
ass: 5
cock: 2
penis: 2
pussy: 0
manly: 0
straight: 0
heterosexual: 0
This has been a public service announcement.
1. The Apple retail shop in Chicago uses this as a way to offer customers an 'opt out' of waiting in line, and you can buy anything, as long at its with a credit card.
2. As a victim of identity theft, those tinfoil-hats who worry about wi-fi snooping - a far greater threat is the clerk at the super-discount tech store (cough) COMPUSA (cough) who simply takes the credit card receipt for your newly-purchased stack of blank CDs and pulls it from his/her drawer at clock-out time, then writes down the number and (if they are sharp) even the 'security code' from the back of the card. Then, they purchase $9,600 in video equipment and downloadable software from Avid and Sony, and even if Visa is right on them, the purchases are complete before the victim arrives home to find a "we detected unusual activity on your account..." message on his answering machine. Lose sleep over the 9 months it will take to get that mess straightened out. Oh, and guess what - the US attorneys office won't prosecute, not will the state or local cops. Even the store dropped the thing. I couldn't even trick the Visa people into telling me where some of the contraband was shipped to (they set up an alternate ship-to adress, thanks to a stupid Visa service operator, which is how Visa ultimately had to admit that *I* had not bought all that software and hardware and was just trying to dodge paying) so I could ask the cops to pay the thief a visit. It never occurred to them that a Mac/Linux/OpenBSD guy would have no use at all for Windows video-editing software. Damages under $10k are not worth going after, apparently.
3. Apple does not compete in embedded systems like handheld credit-card processors, so it is no surprise their units don't run Mac OS. Yes, there are *nix/BSD strains that probably do, but I bet Apple just bought off-the-shelf system. Would it even make sense for them to develop a whole new line of products in an industry they don't even choose to compete in, just so they could use their own stuff? I think that would by way to 'not invented here' for them.
Tekserve/NYC did this 3-4 weeks ago, you get a paper receipt, and the only info they ask for is minimum needed for a return incase you lose the receipt.
little late apple
dreemkill.
its not about the fact that your individual details are any easier to snoop, its that once a method is found for snooping details it can drag in huge numbers of 'victims'. This makes the whole endeavour so much more appealing as a crime. You could never steal discarded carbon copies on such a scale. Theres also a much bigger opportunity for anonymity on the part of the attacker.
Brain(s): 0.0% user, 1.3% system, 0.1% nice, 98.6% idle
Here in Beijing, our local hot fish restaurant (it's quite big) has a wireless system too. It's more for the ordering than the paying though. All the waiters and waitresses have wifi pdas (Dell, iirc). Quite neat.
Max.
I purchased an iPod firewire cable thuswise during the holiday season. My local Apple store is always mobbed, even on the slowest shopping days, so a few days before xmas it was insane. I went with the nifty roving mobile scanner option, and as I was walking out the door, my phone buzzed with new email from Apple. All pretty rad, but they didn't give me a bag or physical receipt, so it looked for all the world like I was walking out with a small and thus easily shopliftable item, taking advantage of high traffic as cover. I wonder if shoplifters will get away with "i got it with the email receipt option, i swear!"
I wanted to get my sister a gift card... went in the front door of the Michigan Ave. store in Chicago, asked the first 'droid I encountered whether there was a checkout upstairs, and if so, whether the line would be shorter. (Um, yeah. I've bought stuff in "flagship" Apple stores before.) They asked what I was after, I told them, and was directed to the express table. About 2 minutes later I was out the door with the gift card, and I found the receipt in my mail (via my Treo) within about 5 minutes.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Without a signature retailers are on the hook if anyone protests a charge like this. They don't even have a valid shipping address to point to. All I have to do is walk in, buy the most expensive iPod, have the receipt sent to some fake email address and then call Visa once I get the bill and say I never bought the item. At most I'd get stuck with a $50 bill, but even then I could probably get that waived.
Well, it may be a troll, but there's always the anecdote about the Apple logo... it was a rainbow striped apple with a bite out of it, in homage to Turing, who killed himself with a poisoned apple because people did not accept his homosexuality. So there may indeed be a link :)
These are growing pains that any company in Apple's shoes would be having. Apple is doing the right thing and opening 2 more stores in Manhattan. One will be almost the same size as the current SoHo store and the other will be an even bigger flagship store.
I read a recent analyst estimate that Apple will probably grow it's retail chain to around 400 stores in a few years. Hopefully that will help meet the demand.
In the era of Chip and PIN cards, this is even more common, as you have to enter a PIN to validate your card (rather than signing the CC slip). So unless you want a long queue at the till (rarely located conveniently in restaurants - it's a staff functionality, not a customer one), you really need these wireless devices able to be taken to each table.
I work away from home most weeks, so eat out 3+ nights a week, and it's been *months* since I've seen anything else in a restaurant (other than tiny mom and pop ones, and even there, many of them have it).
The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's