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Google Watchers Expect Company-Branded Stores This Year
9to5Google cites "an extremely reliable source" in reporting that "Google is in the process of building stand-alone retail stores in the U.S. and hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays in major metropolitan areas. The mission of the stores is to get new Google Nexus, Chrome, and especially upcoming products into the hands of prospective customers. Google feels right now that many potential customers need to get hands-on experience with its products before they are willing to purchase. Google competitors Apple and Microsoft both have retail outlets where customers can try before they buy."
So now Apple invented stores?
"It's a monopoly, it's a monopoly..." screech the Pro-Apple-Anti-Microsoft and Pro-Microsoft-Anti-Apple fanboys
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
No, but they have innovated with the concept of a store.
Hopefully Apple doesn't patent this invention. Let every small entrepreneur who wants to open up a location, and we could give Amazon a run for its money.
Just imagine, people shopping in person! You could try things out before buying them, and no need to wait (or pay) for shipping.
I think they're really on to something here.
No. Gateway invented their "Gateway Country" stores back in 2000. And since Apple copied Gateway (minus the cow motif), Google is copying a copy of a copy.
Ubuntu £inux is the next step in brand name stores. First they sell you a phone to create a monopoly and they force you to use their Ubuntu Only Linux Steam Client to play games. Then they restrict you from playing hit releases such as Aliens: Colonial Marines because they "don't work on Linux" and sell you World of Goo instead. Ubuntu is far more dangerous than google. Ubuntu has hijacked the PC industry and threatening long standing infrastructure. Microsoft is doing their best to prevent Ubuntu from becoming the first major monopoly in computing history but it isn't enough. Ubuntu may look free, but it is a lie! The cost to your productivity and soul is eternal.
Hardly, Gateway did this before Apple.
Apple, Microsoft, and Google walk into a mall:
Apple: I will seduce them with Jobsian user experiences!
Microsoft: I will bury them with my usual, cheap second-mover tactics!
Google: I will claim not to be evil, and send Androids to drink both Apple's and Microsoft's milkshakes.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
They innovated with the concept of a store with electronics made by them. There have been other stores before but none with branded electronics. To make the point of copying even more clear, Apple used innovative copper cables throughout the store to ensure proper electrical propagation to both light the space and power devices. They even had to innovate "plug receptacles" in the walls to better distribute the proprietary electrons from the miles of high-tech hipster copper cable! I'm sure we'll see Google stuffing the walls with copper cabling, flowing electrons, and even using those IP infringing electrons to transmit visible light into the space (Google's copying knows no bounds).
Oh, and a door. Google will probably use a door (I'll be here to tell you Google lovers I told you so when it comes true). Just like stealing the swipe to unlock they'll steal the open the door to enter.
Has Google ever done anything new? Doesn't seem like it. Tablet? Apple. Smart phone? Apple. MP3 player? Apple. First GUI? Apple. RAID? Apple. Internet? Apple. Moon rover? Apple. Fusion? Apple. Jesus? Apple.
I think my point is clear.
"So...."? Not "Did you mean"?
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
I seriously hope your sarcasm tags were stripped out by slashdot's html filter.
If not, I think you'll find that shops have existed for quite some time. You'll probably also find Google shops are a bit more colorful and, dare I say it, more fun than the Apple Store.
oh no, you didn't say that did you? the GW stores were a complete failure, bled more money than Bing. walking in to one of those was like walking in to a black hole... Apple has redefined what a store should be
Do or do not. There is no try. --Yoda
Looks to me that this is a phony account and journal spam (which, by the way is averaging over 250 adverts a day) is spilling over onto the front page..
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
The Sony Store? Or perhaps Bose? They opened in Maine back in 1993. That said, the Google Store won't be a success if they can't fix their supply chain issues.
The local Gateway store was this dingy place that actually had their computers set up on card tables. It's like they were planning for failure. You also couldn't buy anything there, just sit down at a computer and order it online.
If anything, I would say Sony did it first and Apple copied the "Sony Experience" or whatever the fuck it was called.
I went to Northgate Mall in Seattle three weeks ago looking to get either a Nexus 4 or a Samsung galaxy s3.
Samsung products were everywhere.
The only place I could find a Nexus 4 was the Tmobile store, and yes, what tipped me to the Nexus was trying it out.
There was an unaffiliated tablet/phone store elsewhere in the mall that had a Nexus 7 and maybe a 10, but you had to look hard for them.
It still seems weird that you would need to open a whole store as opposed to striking deals for retail space for your stuff, though.
So now Apple invented stores?
No. But if Apple (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft) didn't have stores, do you still think Google would see them as necessary?
I doubt it.
If I can't find what I'm looking for in 0.254 seconds, I'm out of that store again.
Bert
Spoiled brat
Who bets that there are ads in the store
Apple didn't copy Gateway, it copied Bang & Olufsen. B&O was doing prestige electronics boutiques in the 90's and still has them. Apple steals its design philosophy from much the same sources. It is straight Scandinavian design...uninspired at that. It's also ironic when you consider the reason behind the form originated from an inability to afford anything more.
It's gotten pretty bad when people frequently have trouble telling the rabid fan posts from the jokes.
They are like the kid who cheats in class by looking over the smart kid's shoulder. First it was Yahoo!, then it was Keyhole, Android, YouTube (until they bought them) they tried to copy Facebook, Office, etc...
I think you need to keep up. Apple copied the mp3 player; microsoft copied the console; Facebook copied the phone; Amazon copied the tablet. etc etc. Maybe its not copying at all, but large mega-corporations entering related established markets with near monopoly status, and high barriers of entry [lots and lots of cash], and sometimes its works out really well product.
I wonder whether Apple has patented the idea?
If not, they really should have. As you have pointed out this another instance of Google flagrantly copying an Apple innovation. Release the lawyers!
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/patents-apple-store/
If Apple (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft) didn't have stores, do you still think Google would see them as necessary?
I doubt it.
I'm disagree, the need to showcase your *brand* has become more important than electronics themselves, and what better way to showcase the products than having a dedicated shop.
Google sees self-driving cars in 3-5 years; Washington, insurers not so sure:
You walk into the store, which unexplainably changes its facade for every random holiday far after the novelty has worn off.
You go up to a sale person and tell him you want to buy a Television and before he can respond, you get 3 other sales people from other stores that jump in front and shove ads in your hands. You stare, dumbfounded, at the sale person and he says, "did you mean Telephones?" and then shows you 6 phones, none of which are what you wanted. And then he shows you 10 other boxes of phones that are basically the same phone.
And then he brags that there are 50 thousand other phones that match what you asked for back in the storeroom.
Then he smiles and asks you if you're feeling lucky. This is strangely arousing.
Google has a very small product line - it's hard to see how they can fill a store, unless they're going to be carrying a lot of "partner" (competitor's) Android phones. And, at this point in time, most of those partners are probably not that comfortable in their relationship with Google.
#DeleteChrome
So now Apple invented stores?
No, the iStore.... and they locked your wallet when you walked in.
--
I Drank what?
Google is a search service. They provide a lot of useful information. I wonder if I should go there seeking anything and everything? I ask Google for things of all sorts not the least of which is how to hack my nexus 4 and nexus 7 devices. I wonder, then if I should go to those brick and mortar sites for the same sort of service? :)
Perhaps this is my clever way of wondering if Google isn't exceeding itself a bit too much. I can see Google "guiding" the Android user experience with their own, ostensibly non-competing devices and I was prepared to let it slide. But the idea that they would open a brick and mortar shop? To sell something? I'm a little confused.
On one hand, I would be more inclined to buy Google devices from local Google stores than I would to buy them online. But that's just me. This all leaves me curious... and maybe a little suspicious.
Although I've been using eBay for 13 years I'm getting really sick of them fucking with the layout and search engine every 6 months to the point where it's now no longer user-friendly but user-hostile. I've managed to stave off some of the shit they're trying to force on us (like oversized 'thumbnails' that are so large you can only see 3 or 4 items in a list of up to 200 on your screen) by some greasemonkey scripts but it's a never-ending fight against their retarded programmers who seem to keep tweaking things just to justify their wages (which should be frozen for their detrimental impact to the UI of the site).
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
"an extremely reliable source" - sounds like teenager chatter to me
Hopefully Apple doesn't patent this invention.
Don't be silly. You can't patent a store.
Apple trademarked their stores.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
As with many other things, the key differencee is that Apple did them well. (Scroll down to the last graph in the story for the best picture.) Believe me -- Google is hoping to copy Apple, not Gateway. Or Sony. Or Microsoft. If this is even happening at all.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
So now Apple invented stores?
That's a non sequitur. There's no way around it that Google (and Microsoft before them) are copying Apple by opening their own stores. The thing to keep it mind is that this isn't a knock against Google (or MS, but MS does get some justified ragging for so blatantly copying Apple).
I suspect (and hope!) these Google stores will have their own unique Google feel to them, and not seem like a bizarro Apple Store, like MS's stores are. And also not so bogglingly "me too!" in their choice of location.
Apple copied Gateway in opening company stores. The main difference here is that while Gateway's stores were a total failure, Apple's have been a phenomenal success. And importantly, they were (and are) unique. This is made all the more notable given the way Apple's foray into retail was universally panned by the pundits and opinionated bloggers.
MS's stores are absurd, and an obvious ploy to ape Apple in hopes of some of their "cool" rubbing off on them. It's not like you have to search far and wide for MS products the way you did (and still do, in some ways) Apple products. But Google is more like Apple at the moment, where you don't really have a place to fully grasp the hardware Google has to offer. Where can you try out a Chromebook? Where have you ever even seen a Chromebox? Or any Nexus other than a 7?
And support? The Genius Bar is a huge benefit for Apple customers. Google has nothing like it, and sorely needs it. But not just an Genius Bar clone like MS has done, but something new, unique, and suited for the products Google provides.
I don't know how successful in the "cool" category a Google store would be, but as long as it's not a complete rip-off of Apple's (or anyone else's) stores, this is at the very least an interesting idea, and could set the groundwork for future Google products (like Glass).
That's a surprisingly accurate and succinct summation of the three!
There have been other stores before but none with branded electronics.
RadioShack always offered their own branded items in their retail outlets. This has been done before, it's nothing new.
In other news, only 2 of the 15 stories on Slashdot's front page have anything to do with Apple, directly or obliquely. In this case, one is about an apple (fruit) store changing its name due to people calling it up thinking it's about Apple (technology). The other is this one, which is a rumor about Google following another of Apple's leads (and quite likely, very wisely so).
Not at first, no. But when the Nexus 27 smartphone is launched at Google I/O this year, the need for a full retail space will make more sense.
dont forget to buy your Apple iHandbasket for your upcoming trip to hell
COURT ROAD, Tottenham, Friday (NTN) — Internet advertising agency Google is opening its first retail store, selling the Internet-only Chromebook.
"We've put a lot of effort into making it feel welcoming, homely and, dare I say it, 'Googley'," said Arvind Desikan, head of consumer marketing. The revolutionary shopping experience leverages Google's famous abilities in customer service, having no staff. Customers seeking advice on a product can simply log in with their Google account to the in-store forum, where they and other customers can assist each other.
"People will be able to go in and have a play with the devices, so they can get a feel for what it's about and we can monitor their reaction." Persons seeking entry to the store must give their bank account name and glue an RFID tag to their forehead, so as to create a suitably decorous shopping environment, "just like in real life." Should they be discovered to be using a name the Google Identity algorithm considers unlikely, they will be ejected mid-purchase and their GMail and Android phone disabled, for their comfort and convenience.
The store is in Tottenham Court Road, occupying a corner of the Church of Scientology, so as to select for the valuable demographic of people who want shiny things and are willing to pay a hundred quid more than they would for an ordinary netbook that does more. A second store will be opened in Lakeside for customers of similar discernment.
The Google store still anticipates more customers than the Microsoft stores. Rumours of the purchase of a Windows phone somewhere in Britain are as yet unconfirmed, despite investigations by sceptics' organisations.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
I tried Weight Watchers and only lost 4 pounds over 4 weeks.
Now I'm on Google Watchers and I've gained 20 pounds in 2 weeks.
I was just puzzling this morning at the restaurant sign... how exactly I would order my hot pancake breakfast and coffee, or ice cream sundae, online? Tonight I read I can walk down the aisles at Google to find my search at the shopping mall. Is this what dementia feels like?
Gently reply
In the University District in Seattle, there is a Sony store about a half block from an Apple establishment. Both in an upscale shopping center. The Sony store is dark and empty. There are TVs everywhere blabbing various videos.
The Apple store is crowded with people playing with all the little Gizmos. People are lined up in front of the Genious bar. They're walking out with product. Say what you will about Apple stuff, their retail stores have really shaken the industry.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays
Why would they care about being open for Earth Day? I know companies like to be 'green' nowadays but what is so special about opening on April 22?
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
This keeps in practice with their policy of never allowing any human contact with a Google employee.
and then give you a virus.
The Nexus devices sell in extremely small numbers, and mostly to computer nerds who decided to buy them before they even shipped, and who will almost certainly just order them online whenever they become available. That's the exact opposite of why you open a store.
The thing is, Apple Store does not look or feel like Gateway stores at all. Not in any way. And Apple Store was made to sell iPod and iPhone and iPad, not PC's like Gateway. And when the first Apple Store opened, people didn't say "wow, that is a copy of a Gateway store!" With Microsoft, the way they cloned Apple Store was disturbing, and Microsoft's stores are not even practical for them. They should have bought Blockbuster and had lower-end stores in lots of neighborhoods where their customers could transition from DVD to Xbox/PC.
I don't think anyone has a problem with Google opening a store. The issue is will they do stores that are truly designed for Google products, or will they just copy Apple Store? After seeing Microsoft copy Apple and Google copy Microsoft and Apple, it is hard not to be cynical. Many people expect we are just going to see another Apple Store clone from Google. A Google store should be much, much smaller, and have more of a science fair or Exploratorium vibe than Apple Store. If they do their own thing, that could really be spectacular, and everyone will benefit because we can go to the mall and there will be an additional modern store with modern products. But if they copy Apple Store that is just pissing in the pool. That just confuses people into thinking Google is another fake Apple, and makes the mall more generic. Hopefully, Google will take this seriously (almost no chance, I know) and create something really unique and special.
The Web originated on the Apple platform, not the Internet. The rest you have right.
In San Francisco there was a Sony store and a Microsoft store in the Metreon mall before Apple Store was even started, and neither made money. Apple put a store one block away and you can barely get in there because it is so full. That is because Apple really thought out what their customers want and need from a retail store and then they built it and iterated on it until it was better and better. Sony and Microsoft did not do that, they just built what were essentially advertisements you could walk into and be further advertised to, like a walk-in billboard. Microsoft's next step was not to learn from Apple and then create a unique Microsoft store that really serves the needs of Microsoft customers, but rather just to copy Apple Store. Same as how Vista was really made for Mac users at a time when Windows users wanted XP version 2.
So I'm very interested to see if Google really sweats the details and comes up with a unique store that serves the needs of their own customers, or whether they just copy Apple Store. If the former, they have a chance to have huge success. If the latter, then everybody will yawn. Consumer will just fucking yawn at the Google Store on their way past it to an Apple Store. If you don't do your own unique thing, there is no news. News is a very, very important part of marketing today, because the Internet is one big news feed. People have already seen the dog riding a skateboard. You have to come with something new to get their interest. Microsoft basically offered a cat riding a skateboard. No news. Hopefully, Google will surprise us and wow us with their new stores. If not, they should not bother.
RMS, waving his katana, will lead the HURD in the counter assault.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I may have been too subtle (or just unfunny, which is often the same thing). A Nexus 27 would take up a lot of space. Android phones are getting humorously large (Note II). 93 Escort Wagon was wondering how they would fill a store with so few products...
So, nothing?
Not really, walk into any high-end luxury store on the coasts and you would see the exact same concept in action. I rememberan article where it was Jobs or a high-level apple exec describing a coach store and how they wanted Apple to appeal to that crowd with the more personalized approach.
To be fair I love how Apple operates their stores even if I don't need that personal a relationship with a store. It is how stores should operate, including the healthy pay rates. Google stores are a welcome inclusion and I see no reason why they won't remain brand-agnostic simply because selling some core devices is a good exercise in marketing and offering a direct outlet to the public. At this point I'm surprised that Apple or Google hasn't just purchased a carrier.