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Apple's Redesigned London Store Has Untethered iPhones (cnet.com)
Apple is putting a lot of faith into its customers' hands. The company is stopping the practice of tethering iPhones to demo desks. (It's a common practice, and pretty much everyone does it for their top smartphones). From a CNET report, which describes Apple's redesigned London store: Perhaps the most interesting feature of the store is that when it opens to the public at the weekend the devices won't be tethered to the tables as they were previously, and are in other stores around the world. Apple says this is to allow people to hold them properly, try cases on them and even see how they feel in your pocket. It's a bold move, especially given the lack of visible security in the building. We couldn't spot a single CCTV camera, although any phone taken out of the store will set off an alarm. If not returned, the phones will also be rendered unusable.
each and every iPhone has 3 camera on it
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
They're introducing the new Note 7 battery technology so the phones can be remote immolated if you carry them out.
...but what a fantastic source of free spare parts!
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We couldn't spot a single CCTV camera
That's the point -- In many stores you can't spot all of the cameras, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. The black dome that looks like it's hiding a camera might just be an empty dummy "camera".
This shouldn't be surprising, actually. The market for stolen iPhones has taken a serious hit, because of Apple's iTunes account locking policies. You steal my iPhone, I immediately lock you out of it. If I'm feeling particularly adventurous, I might even go to the trouble of tracking you down, maybe even with a police officer in tow. "Your" stolen device is not only now a brick... it's also a liability. Would-be thieves know this; they'll get at most a few hours of use out of any iPhone that they steal, and likely only a few minutes, if they set off alarms as they're stealing it from a store -- and worst case scenario, (for the thief, that is) they're also much more likely to get jail time for their crime.
Now, contrast that with a physical tether, which can be snipped quickly and easily with the right tool. No contest.
On the other hand, now actual potential buyers will get the sense that Apple actually wants them in the stores, wants them to feel comfortable... and of course, wants them to spend money. So for Apple, this probably all makes perfect sense.
Once the phone goes out of range of the store's WiFi, it turns itself into a brick.
Courage. /slow clap
Bravo Apple... Bravo
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
They could even do something like install an app that locks out the phone if its taken a certain distance away or maybe even something tied to a handshake with a specific Wifi point.
They're introducing the new Note 7 battery technology so the phones can be remote immolated if you carry them out.
What moderation is the intersection between "Funny" and "Flamebait, but in a funny way"?
Apple just removed tethering from the iPhone! Totally ridiculous! Next they'll remove ringers, vibration, and screens, and we'll just have a black slab of glassy smooth...
Damn.. That will probably look really fucking good... Shut up and take my money!
yeah, because london is such a cheap place to live in, you have to be extra wealthy to be able to afford an iphone. maybe you're also living in a reality distortion field, only of the "i'm such a poor victim, why do you call me racist scum"-variety?
Right. Maybe the statistics are racist as well. 12.4% of London residents are Muslim, with some areas at nearly 50%. 28% of London residents live in poverty.
In Soviet Russia, iPhone steals you.
Apple missed the opportunity to provide a new anti-theft feature, and make this store setup a demonstration of their
confidence in the new feature.
Why would they need a new one? There is already a perfect one build into all European phones, you report it stolen and it stops working.
Apple Store could keep constant track each phone's location using beacons. Once an iPhone leaves the table, a helpful employee could approach the shopper, ask if that is the model they wish to purchase, and then start the sales process. With enough beacons scattered, customers could be encouraged to bring a phone along while shopping for accessories. If this increases sales, Apple could afford to let a few bricks go out the door.
When shopping for a phone I want to know how it fits in my life, and in my pocket. Perhaps this is not an issue with most phones but if I'm going to choose between the different iPhone models, which are larger than most phones, then I want to make sure the phone fits in the leg pocket of my carpenter jeans comfortably. That seems reasonable, no? When shopping for a new wallet I'll want to make sure it fits in my pocket too. These are things that go in pockets, people are going to want to see if they want it in their pocket. If the phone is glued to the stand then I can't even get an idea of the most common selling points of a phone, it's size and weight.
I can imagine a lot of new phone sales are lost because people lose interest because they can't pick it up and hold it to their ear and not have a brick the size of a small automobile glued to the back, and a spring loaded tether that has enough force to lift that small automobile on the back of the phone from the floor to the magnetized stand. These people will likely still buy a phone, because people buy phones, but if the impulse is lost because of poor presentation then they lose out on selling their phone to that person. The small probability of someone walking out of the store successfully with a phone in their pocket may be worth the gain in future sales.
If I'm told I cannot see if a product that is designed to fit in a pocket does in fact fit in my pocket then I'll tend to shop elsewhere. I can imagine I'm not alone. I hope this trend spreads. I tend to avoid shops that at like I'm going to walk off with their products without paying for them. This is a sign of poor quality neighborhoods and perhaps even poor quality products, because the good stuff isn't generally sold in the bad parts of town.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Theft isn't the only reason Apple tethers their display phones to the tables; tethering also serves to prevent drop damage. I'd inadvertently discovered this during a visit to the local Apple store, after previously having pigged out on some greasy pizza from the mall's food court. Thanks to the security tether, the slippery wayward iPhone simply did a bungee jump out of my hand, rather than an impromptu "drop test" on Apple's slate/stone/some-sort-of-rocklike-substance floor.
Of course, after a drop or two, the demo iPhones will finally be an accurate representation of what the phone will look like if you use it without a protective case.
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DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I foresee a good market in mobile Faraday cages.
While I am honoured that they try this technology in London, really Liverpool is the ne plus ultra of the retailing world challenge.
They would need to replace all the phones every hour at the rate they will get scoused there.
Humorous signatures are over-rated.
Heh. I remember when visited a Walmart gas station for the first time, immediately after it had opened for business. There was a little notice printed on the front of the pump with a smiley face and friendly, jaunty font on a blue background saying "Pump before you pay! We trust you!"
Less than a month later and all of these notices were all covered up with large stickers, with a severe and non-nonsense font, white letters on a solid red background: "PREPAY INSIDE FIRST."
We should start a pool here. Put me down for seven weeks. (I figure it's a bit harder to escape on foot.)