From having read the experiences of many people, I think Apple Stores will fall into any category other retail stores will fit. For example, the local Apple Store here has, by and large, very knowledgeable and helpful people. They, at least, are aware of VoiceOver and can talk about it. On the other hand, there is another Apple Store on the island that does not seem to have the same caliber staff. I would hope that, eventually, there would be someone on the staff of each store who would possess enough knowledge of VoiceOver and how it works on the Mac, the iPod and iPhone to help a potential customer make a buying decision or to assist with technical matters.
BTW, Rich, I know what you mean. Instant gratification and technology is a big vice of mine as well. I had to order my iPhone online when the announcement was made because I feared that by the time I'd get to the local store, they wouldn't have any left in stock.
Take Care John Panarese On Aug 5, 2009, at 10:12 AM, Richard Ring wrote:
Hello: My experience with my local Apple store was a mixed thing. Certainly, the employees I dealt with were friendly and extremely courteous. However, they were not as helpful as I might have liked. When my partner Sarah purchased an iPhone, I was not certain as to whether or not I wanted one. However, one week later, I decided to gofor it. I contacted my local AT&T store and was told that iPhones wereback ordered, and they could order one for me. But being in instant gratification mode, that wasn't going to satisfy my techno lust.Therefore, I called my local Apple store. I was informed that they hadthree 32 gig iPhones that were, if I remember, white. I asked if they could hold one for me if I furnished a credit card number. I was told that this practice was against Apple's policy. I certainly understood that, but my feeling was this. If I were going to pay for a cab to gothere, I didn't want to get there only to find that they had no iPhones. So, I pretty much decided I would put this project on hold. But techno lust is a difficult foe to vanquish. So around 5 PM I called the Applestore again. I was told they had received a "surprise" shipment ofiPhones, and that they had enough to guarantee that they'd have one for me by the time I got there. My partner, Sarah then contacted the store and asked if she would be able to upgrade her 16 gig iPhone to a 32 gig model by simply paying the difference. I should add that this all tookplace on June 26, so that made her iPhone a week old. They put her on hold for a while, and when they finally got back to her they told her that she could in fact do this. So, off we went to the Apple store. Now, when we got there, she told them what she had been given tounderstand over the phone regarding this upgrade. So, the employee wentaway for about ten minutes. When he returned, he said that no, theycouldn't do it because Sarah had purchased her iPhone online. Ok, so Ibought a 32 gig phone anyway. They didn't know how to turn on VoiceOver, but we were able to tell them. Finally, we asked them if we couldsimply swap sim cards between the two phones. We were told that thiswould not be possible, and to do so might result in the phones becoming inactive. Well, I've been dealing with sim card phones for nearly fouryears, and I kind of suspected that this was not correct. And, on the way home in the cab, we switched sim cards, and our phones have worked just fine ever since. Having said all that, I probably will buy a Mac from this store nextmonth. They told me that they had heard of Voice Over for the Mac, butthey really didn't know what it was. It will be fun to show them.Click on the link below to go to our homepage. http://www.icanworkthisthing.comManage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below.//www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover
Click on the link below to go to our homepage. http://www.icanworkthisthing.com Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceoverUsers can subscribe to this list by sending email to macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover