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AT&T Vs. Apple Store At the iPhone Launch
MBCook tips an article at Gizmodo that begins with a reader's experiences trying to buy an iPhone yesterday at an AT&T store and an Apple store. Many, but not all, of the comments on the post echo this reader's experience: Apple good, AT&T bad. "Day one revealed what all Apple aficionados fear. That AT&T, through the depths of its incompetence, could derail the iPhone."
Yeah, I too found the applause silly, but there were plenty of customers there that were getting into it, high fiving the staff on the way out the door and all.
Plus it helps build a festival atmosphere, which looks good for the reporters that are going to be there -- it just adds to the buzz for the next big release.
I just want to go in and to my business without the annoying hooplah, but I understand why they did it.
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I bought mine at the Tyson's Corner (VA) Apple Store. They did the applauding and high-fiving there too. At first I thought it was a little bit cheesy, but it was FUN and it got everyone in a good mood. The staff at that store really (appear to) enjoy working there. Their excitement is contageous and gets the customer excited about being there. You just don't get that at other computer or phone stores. That's why I keep going back there.
This is why Apple succeeds where others fail - they don't name their products "FIC Neo1973".
Sometimes people need something trivial to get excited about. Life isn't all peaches and cream for many people, and sometimes your goals in life seem way out of reach or way far into the future. It's nice to set yourself little manageable goals every now and then, and reward yourself with something nice occasionally. It can be comforting in a way to cheer for something/someone else, even if you have no official connection with them. It's very similar to how some people are hardcore hometown sports fans. It's a very common human thing to do, just now marketing departments are getting good at steering some of that enthusiasm away from stuff like professional sports and celebrities, and instead focusing it on companies and products.
Basically, it can be fun to be passionate about trivial things sometimes. Whether it's a football team, a rock band, a video game console, or a phone company, it lets you revel in some of the emotion and excitement that 8 hours of work and two hours of commuting each day doesn't let you use.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.