New Aussie Apple Store launches in Melbourne, hands on with new iPods!

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Sunday, 14 September 2008

Page 1 of 4 ! Apple Australia’s third official Apple Store has finally opened, this time in the Chadstone Shopping Centre in suburban Melbourne, with hundreds of fans lined up to see, touch and feel everything Apple. As you might have expected, Apple laid the pizzazz on thick, with endless whoops and cheers, while giving us all the chance to see Apple’s latest and greatest! There we were, a dozen or so Melbourne based technology journalists, at a special 9am to 10am preview of Apple’s latest store opening yesterday. In a near kilometre long queue outside the store were hundreds of members of the public, probably wondering just who these people were getting their own private tour, and all patiently awaiting the 10am public opening, keenly awaiting the Apple store opening extravaganza. During those initial 60 minutes, I along with the other journalists were able to meet the Apple staff, ask questions, play with the new multi-coloured iPod nanos, the iPod classic and the new iPod Touch, check out the store from head to toe and even make a purchase should we have so desired, with some journalists doing exactly that. The store seemed twice the size of a “regular” shopping centre store, and even had two of those pull-down grills separated by a centre column, unlike the Sydney Chatswood store which was one big open shopfront. One of the journalists marvelled to me how big the store was and what Apple must have done to have secured such a big space, although clearly it’s not as big, nor multi-storied, like the Sydney CBD store. Nevertheless, there were several tables filled with iPods, iMacs, iPhones and plenty more, the “Genius Bar” at the back, and the walls filled with everything from iPod and iPhone accessories to notebook bags to software to hard drives and much more besides. There were no cash registers in sight, each of the staff was equipped with an industrial “Symbol” Windows Pocket PC device loaded with credit card and EFTPOS processing software, wirelessly connected to a receipt printer, although the offer to email you a receipt was made on the spot. A cash register, or at least, cash acceptance facility of some kind is hidden somewhere in the back of the store should you wish to pay with cash, but otherwise each staff member can process your sale or order right there and then, with Apple’s “retail experience” still honestly second-to-none. The 60 minutes passed pretty quickly, but in that time I took the chance to marvel at the ever thinning dimensions of the new iPod nanos and the iPod Touch, which are thinner than ever. So, what did I think after a bit of a hands-on play? Please read on to page 2... on page 3 you'll see what happened when the store opened... and on page 4 there's more.. with plenty of photos! << First page <   1 2 3 4 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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