drewc1138
Apr 5, 03:12 PM
Some people are actually interested in marketing, and would love to have a centralized place to view how large companies are advertising on one of the largest mobile spaces in the world.
By all means, go back to playing Doodle Jump.
By all means, go back to playing Doodle Jump.
cyclotron451
May 4, 03:17 AM
but this was 2 decades ago, just as Mobile Telecoms was taking-off. We had the situation that we were profitable (enormously profitable) with just 100 customers - the other 50 million customers were an annoyance. Any expensive hardware that we introduced - transatlantic fibre cables, digital cross-connect switches etcetera paid for themselves very quickly and after that the revenue was just pure profit. The 'phone companies seem to have developed a liking for this 'free money' business model?
I have iPhones and Android, I chose Nexus One for the *real* open Google philosophy. It does WiFi tethering under 2.3.3, my operator Italian Vodafone seems to allow tethering under my 500MB/week for 3 Euros (2Gig for $17US/mo), although if I signed up today for the same deal I'd only be offered 250MB/week for 3 Euros - and my colleagues who have put an I-Vodafone GSM sim in an iPad report that it refuses to connect and demands an individual iPad exclusive data contract. $$$
I think in a few years internet connectivity will be seen as an essential worldwide civil right, and hopefully there will be a balanced debate about access costs and pluralistic supply options?
I have iPhones and Android, I chose Nexus One for the *real* open Google philosophy. It does WiFi tethering under 2.3.3, my operator Italian Vodafone seems to allow tethering under my 500MB/week for 3 Euros (2Gig for $17US/mo), although if I signed up today for the same deal I'd only be offered 250MB/week for 3 Euros - and my colleagues who have put an I-Vodafone GSM sim in an iPad report that it refuses to connect and demands an individual iPad exclusive data contract. $$$
I think in a few years internet connectivity will be seen as an essential worldwide civil right, and hopefully there will be a balanced debate about access costs and pluralistic supply options?
rroach3753
Sep 28, 12:00 PM
If I touch it on the southwest corner will it not work? ;)
Davowade
Apr 7, 01:15 AM
:eek: NICE!!! Man, I am green with jealous rage. Makes my 40D, kit lens, and 50 1.8 seem so, so pathetic.
Thanks. Sadly this all belongs to work, but it should team pretty well with my personal 550D.
Thanks. Sadly this all belongs to work, but it should team pretty well with my personal 550D.
kuwisdelu
Apr 8, 05:41 PM
I'd say 10.6 had a ton of new features; they just weren't in the UI.
penter
Dec 25, 02:20 PM
Yes they do. BUT not when it means a crap ass experience for the customer. Because that just results in returns, complaints etc. LTE right now is only in a handful of major cities and not even perfect coverage there.
As for the whole "but android" argument, Apple doesn't do things just because everyone else does. Which is why we still don't have blu-ray in their computers despite every other computer (including even some so called netbooks) having had blu-ray drives for at least the last year. We also don't have Flash in the iphone etc despite every other smart phone having Flash and every other announced tablet saying it would.
I don't buy the flash argument. Thats actually a pretty complicated subject...
But I see what you mean.
Now, can anyone please explain what the difference between 'true 4G' and LTE?
Is LTE something else entirely? Something that bridges the CDMA and GSM technologies, allowing CDMA phones to use chips, and chip-based phones to be compatible with CDMA networks?
I've wikipediaed the whole deal, but i don't really get it...
It seems like there are *two* kinds of LTE as well. Is that where the difference between true 4G and fake 4G lies? One is LTE, and the other is TRUE LTE?
And how can a carrier say it has 4G, if its not *really* 4G? is it just a glorified 3G system?
On a different note, Christmas is here... any news on the Verizon iPhone release?
Sry for so many questions
As for the whole "but android" argument, Apple doesn't do things just because everyone else does. Which is why we still don't have blu-ray in their computers despite every other computer (including even some so called netbooks) having had blu-ray drives for at least the last year. We also don't have Flash in the iphone etc despite every other smart phone having Flash and every other announced tablet saying it would.
I don't buy the flash argument. Thats actually a pretty complicated subject...
But I see what you mean.
Now, can anyone please explain what the difference between 'true 4G' and LTE?
Is LTE something else entirely? Something that bridges the CDMA and GSM technologies, allowing CDMA phones to use chips, and chip-based phones to be compatible with CDMA networks?
I've wikipediaed the whole deal, but i don't really get it...
It seems like there are *two* kinds of LTE as well. Is that where the difference between true 4G and fake 4G lies? One is LTE, and the other is TRUE LTE?
And how can a carrier say it has 4G, if its not *really* 4G? is it just a glorified 3G system?
On a different note, Christmas is here... any news on the Verizon iPhone release?
Sry for so many questions
*LTD*
Mar 9, 07:15 AM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)
I think we can all agree that this... heh... is rather unique and not made by Apple.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zfOFsCjCm-c/TNf0n3KqxGI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/5bac55lt2uk/dell-tablet-flip-small.jpg
LOL you got that right . . . http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/3879/34067841.jpg
I think we can all agree that this... heh... is rather unique and not made by Apple.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zfOFsCjCm-c/TNf0n3KqxGI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/5bac55lt2uk/dell-tablet-flip-small.jpg
LOL you got that right . . . http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/3879/34067841.jpg
drewc1138
Apr 5, 03:12 PM
Some people are actually interested in marketing, and would love to have a centralized place to view how large companies are advertising on one of the largest mobile spaces in the world.
By all means, go back to playing Doodle Jump.
By all means, go back to playing Doodle Jump.
8CoreWhore
Apr 20, 02:47 AM
Objective Vs. Subjective.
Both have to be considered.
Pros and cons of both OS's. (objective)
What you like, how the OS "feels", your computing approach, etc. (subjective)
Chocolate Vs. Vanilla = Subjective.
Which one happens to be colder. = Objective.
Both have to be considered.
Pros and cons of both OS's. (objective)
What you like, how the OS "feels", your computing approach, etc. (subjective)
Chocolate Vs. Vanilla = Subjective.
Which one happens to be colder. = Objective.
hulugu
May 5, 02:06 PM
...A doctor has no way of knowing the circumstances of somebody's homelife--and since there are tens of millions of homes I submit that there is no "One size fits all" to allow some outsider's judgement. He is no expert on firearms use or safety, absent being a "gunny" himself....
Maybe it's just my doctor, but they tend to ask what would otherwise be rude questions.
Do you smoke?
What did you have for dinner last night?
Have you had unprotected sex?
What drugs�legal or illegal�have you used in the past six months?
So, to me a question about firearms in the home seems perfectly within the scope of evaluating risks, and more probably, helping to provide information for parents.
...Both should be perfectly legal for the physician to ask about, but common sense and general courtesy would suggest that the physician should stick to more physiology related questioning.
I disagree, in the case of a farm, knowing this can help the doctor to ask about exposure to organophosphates or ringworm. The more information has, generally, the better the doctor's ability to assess care.
Doctors shouldn't ask these questions to be busybodies, but to make good decisions and provide care.
Maybe it's just my doctor, but they tend to ask what would otherwise be rude questions.
Do you smoke?
What did you have for dinner last night?
Have you had unprotected sex?
What drugs�legal or illegal�have you used in the past six months?
So, to me a question about firearms in the home seems perfectly within the scope of evaluating risks, and more probably, helping to provide information for parents.
...Both should be perfectly legal for the physician to ask about, but common sense and general courtesy would suggest that the physician should stick to more physiology related questioning.
I disagree, in the case of a farm, knowing this can help the doctor to ask about exposure to organophosphates or ringworm. The more information has, generally, the better the doctor's ability to assess care.
Doctors shouldn't ask these questions to be busybodies, but to make good decisions and provide care.
ariel
Sep 25, 11:15 AM
I need something more with more power than iPhoto, and would love to be able to batch edit, and Watermark (can Aperture even do this ? )
Yes Aperture can apply your watermark on export. You can do all sorts of bulk edits as well with the lift/stamp tool etc.
Yes Aperture can apply your watermark on export. You can do all sorts of bulk edits as well with the lift/stamp tool etc.
.jpg "love poems to a girlfriend")
p0intblank
Jan 12, 12:36 AM
I thought Steve Jobs did an EXCELLENT job at the keynote this week. It was probably his best one in a while. Maybe you just fail to recognize the good side of things?
Chris204
Jan 10, 03:38 PM
I bet they won't be getting press passes again next year to CES.
AndroidfoLife
Apr 15, 10:28 PM
Google, Microsoft and Bush are Devils!
For the most part they all work together. Apple Google and Microsoft are all the devils they all work together to form a greater overarching monopoly. It all cost so much because they want it so.
For the most part they all work together. Apple Google and Microsoft are all the devils they all work together to form a greater overarching monopoly. It all cost so much because they want it so.
JayMysterio
Dec 8, 06:24 PM
The multiple games give you choices...but this game alone gives you no choice but to run and gun. If i wanted to Run and Gun and waste my life i'd go join the taliban and pray to Allah.
This game gives you very little choice and in that makes the game terrible.
And you said it yourself. Treyarch ruined the game for all the snipers. Great job!
Treyarch = morons and dip*****. Bring back Infinity War. Black Ops Blows.
Have you decided what type of game you want to play? Cause if you don't want to run & gun, go play some hardcore. I promise you, you and 7 others will sit & camp for 20 or 30 minutes and you should be in heaven. As far as the taliban thing, it's a free country knock yourself out.
There are four frikkin' gametypes, each with match types of their own. If you can't find a game you like, it's because you don't want to. Play hardcore, play pure without the killstreaks, play only with players who've prestiged. But really, there's only one way to play the game? There's a word called creativity, give it a try. You may change up your game style. Not everyone runs & guns, some camp, some die. Just grasp the idea you can't sit up in a clock tower all day and NOT expect to get shot back at.
The game gives you every choice in the world, the question is if it's the right choice. Some maps will allow you to camp and slow the game down, other maps won't have it. The game is far more fluid than others, because of it's unpredictability. Sometimes that works for you and it's great, other times it won't. It's a trade off. Will you have all day to camp as you seem to want to? Probably not, once a 'spawn flip' occurs and you find someone behind your camp site. Personally I like the non static spawn points, while the spawning often works against me, I don't hear to much about spawn camping. I personally like the rarer spawn camping.
No, I said Treyarch 'nerfed' sniping. Now if you want to snipe, it actually takes something called 'skill'. You want a one hit kill, it better be dead on in the forehead or back of skull. No more auto assist towards an expanded hit box. There are one hit kills, as you've probably done a headshot or two, but now they are truly difficult. Not the old Rainbow Six shots with the Barrett that grazed your boot and were instant deaths. Now when I play it's often that a sniper tries a few times. Near misses are just that now, near misses, not the instant kills because a bullet was in the same township of your guy.
As I said, Black Ops is an alternative, a choice. If you don't care for it, I'm pretty sure you can take it out of your xbox, and go play something else. I believe they make a new Cabela's hunting game where camping is an important part, very little running & gunning I assume. Otherwise more than enough people are playing MW1 & 2, and they will welcome you. There are also more than enough enjoying Black Ops, don't join them, ...they haven't missed you.
This game gives you very little choice and in that makes the game terrible.
And you said it yourself. Treyarch ruined the game for all the snipers. Great job!
Treyarch = morons and dip*****. Bring back Infinity War. Black Ops Blows.
Have you decided what type of game you want to play? Cause if you don't want to run & gun, go play some hardcore. I promise you, you and 7 others will sit & camp for 20 or 30 minutes and you should be in heaven. As far as the taliban thing, it's a free country knock yourself out.
There are four frikkin' gametypes, each with match types of their own. If you can't find a game you like, it's because you don't want to. Play hardcore, play pure without the killstreaks, play only with players who've prestiged. But really, there's only one way to play the game? There's a word called creativity, give it a try. You may change up your game style. Not everyone runs & guns, some camp, some die. Just grasp the idea you can't sit up in a clock tower all day and NOT expect to get shot back at.
The game gives you every choice in the world, the question is if it's the right choice. Some maps will allow you to camp and slow the game down, other maps won't have it. The game is far more fluid than others, because of it's unpredictability. Sometimes that works for you and it's great, other times it won't. It's a trade off. Will you have all day to camp as you seem to want to? Probably not, once a 'spawn flip' occurs and you find someone behind your camp site. Personally I like the non static spawn points, while the spawning often works against me, I don't hear to much about spawn camping. I personally like the rarer spawn camping.
No, I said Treyarch 'nerfed' sniping. Now if you want to snipe, it actually takes something called 'skill'. You want a one hit kill, it better be dead on in the forehead or back of skull. No more auto assist towards an expanded hit box. There are one hit kills, as you've probably done a headshot or two, but now they are truly difficult. Not the old Rainbow Six shots with the Barrett that grazed your boot and were instant deaths. Now when I play it's often that a sniper tries a few times. Near misses are just that now, near misses, not the instant kills because a bullet was in the same township of your guy.
As I said, Black Ops is an alternative, a choice. If you don't care for it, I'm pretty sure you can take it out of your xbox, and go play something else. I believe they make a new Cabela's hunting game where camping is an important part, very little running & gunning I assume. Otherwise more than enough people are playing MW1 & 2, and they will welcome you. There are also more than enough enjoying Black Ops, don't join them, ...they haven't missed you.
Gugulino
Mar 24, 04:11 PM
Cheers! I wish Mac OS X a long and successful life! Keep going on�
Warbrain
Nov 23, 10:22 PM
I guess it's just me, but none of the deals seem to be that great. No store has anything that seems to be getting me all excited, so meh, I guess I can sleep in.
unlinked
May 4, 10:15 AM
You clearly don't know much about the medical world. Here's one link just to get things going:
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/physician-mobile-use-grows-45-percent
Oh, and here's the story about a hospital that just ordered 1800 iPads...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/04/20/ottawa-ipads-hospital374.html
The first link seems to be saying 4% of doctors read their email on an ipad. Do you think that really matches up with what the advertisement says, is that ground breaking?
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/physician-mobile-use-grows-45-percent
Oh, and here's the story about a hospital that just ordered 1800 iPads...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/04/20/ottawa-ipads-hospital374.html
The first link seems to be saying 4% of doctors read their email on an ipad. Do you think that really matches up with what the advertisement says, is that ground breaking?
Calidude
Apr 17, 08:10 AM
More to the point, where do you draw the line? Should every school curiculum include the struggles of Jews, Blacks, Native Americans, Chinese, Muslims, Hispanics, Christians, Women, etc... gonna be kinda tough to fit all that in. Or does your plan draw the line somewhere? I mean are gay people more important than Native Americans? In terms of history, whom do you believe got screwed over more and whose struggles should be taught in school?
If you were to walk onto the street and ask 100 people which group of people were persecuted the most out of blacks, Native Americans, Jews, women or gays, I'm pretty sure the majority of people would place gays last, out of those groups. Now a liberal state like New York, Hawaii or California may add gay history to their school programs, but don't expect to see it in the majority of the US States. It's simply not important to single out a persons sexuality to highlight their importance in history. Was Oppenheimer's religion put before his contributions to the bomb? I mean is there a little star next to his name with an annotation listing his religion?
Maybe its just me. But I simply don't care if someone was black, blue, brown, Jewish, the Egyptian god Ra, whatever... its the persons contributions, not their ethnicity, sexual pref or religious affiliation that define(d) them. Treat people equally, not with preference.
Well said.
Most people here really don't get that accomplishments aren't being promoted so much as the homosexuality of the historical figures.
If you were to walk onto the street and ask 100 people which group of people were persecuted the most out of blacks, Native Americans, Jews, women or gays, I'm pretty sure the majority of people would place gays last, out of those groups. Now a liberal state like New York, Hawaii or California may add gay history to their school programs, but don't expect to see it in the majority of the US States. It's simply not important to single out a persons sexuality to highlight their importance in history. Was Oppenheimer's religion put before his contributions to the bomb? I mean is there a little star next to his name with an annotation listing his religion?
Maybe its just me. But I simply don't care if someone was black, blue, brown, Jewish, the Egyptian god Ra, whatever... its the persons contributions, not their ethnicity, sexual pref or religious affiliation that define(d) them. Treat people equally, not with preference.
Well said.
Most people here really don't get that accomplishments aren't being promoted so much as the homosexuality of the historical figures.
Macnoviz
Oct 3, 01:48 PM
In other news, the pope today announced that he is Catholic. He also confesses to **** in the woods.
No really, I expect quite a number of those things, but then at the end one more thing that nobody expects, not a phone, not another iPod, but something radically different. Just like the games at the last Stevenote, only bigger, something that will make you go Huh? :eek: Wtf ? :confused: Wow ! :) Now where's that credit card? :D
No really, I expect quite a number of those things, but then at the end one more thing that nobody expects, not a phone, not another iPod, but something radically different. Just like the games at the last Stevenote, only bigger, something that will make you go Huh? :eek: Wtf ? :confused: Wow ! :) Now where's that credit card? :D
dont24
Nov 24, 11:50 AM
if i buy .mac today, will the 360 days start now or when my brother actually inserts the disk and creates a name etc
It starts whenever your bro activates it. Not from the date of purshase.
It starts whenever your bro activates it. Not from the date of purshase.
Geckotek
Jan 1, 02:22 AM
My understanding is that AT&T is pretty far along in its upgrade from HPSA (3G) network to HPSA+ (faster 3G). They're doing this to maximize their existing investment in their infrastructure, and they should be able to employ LTE a little faster than Verizon has been, since LTE is a more streamlined upgrade from HPSA+. They claim that this is best for customers long-term, because when LTE (4G) coverage gives out, users can fall back on widespread HPSA+ coverage with similar performance. Whereas with Verizon, when you move out of an area with 4G coverage, you notice a HUGE drop in speed going to their ancient EV-DO technology.
Unless AT&T finally starts to upgrade their 2G network to HSPA or HSPA+, you're wrong. And Verizon's EV-DO network is still pretty speedy. It may be somewhat slower than AT&T's HSPA, but not as bad as people describe it in this forum.
Also, there is no difference what so ever in AT&T's deployment of LTE and Verizon's. LTE may have come from the same group that developed past GSM tech, but it is an entirely new tech and still requires new switches for both AT&T and Verizon. So no, AT&T will not be able to get LTE up faster than Verizon (except for the fact that AT&T will only cover part of their network if they continue their current pattern.)
Oh, and how is EV-DO ancient exactly? The current version is only about 2 years older than AT&T's WCDMA network.
FYI, I was getting about 500Kbps earlier today on my iPhone 4 here in Dallas. Not exactly lightning fast. Best I've ever seen is 3.12 Mbps and that was in a single test and wouldn't run that high consistently.
Unless AT&T finally starts to upgrade their 2G network to HSPA or HSPA+, you're wrong. And Verizon's EV-DO network is still pretty speedy. It may be somewhat slower than AT&T's HSPA, but not as bad as people describe it in this forum.
Also, there is no difference what so ever in AT&T's deployment of LTE and Verizon's. LTE may have come from the same group that developed past GSM tech, but it is an entirely new tech and still requires new switches for both AT&T and Verizon. So no, AT&T will not be able to get LTE up faster than Verizon (except for the fact that AT&T will only cover part of their network if they continue their current pattern.)
Oh, and how is EV-DO ancient exactly? The current version is only about 2 years older than AT&T's WCDMA network.
FYI, I was getting about 500Kbps earlier today on my iPhone 4 here in Dallas. Not exactly lightning fast. Best I've ever seen is 3.12 Mbps and that was in a single test and wouldn't run that high consistently.
Choppaface
Oct 4, 09:45 PM
Apple needs to start working on a new business model while the studios are still suing their customers and the TV boom is still on. If they dont they're going to be beaten overseas. Enough with the legal rhetoric damn it, evolve your business model or you'll lose.
Joshuarocks
Apr 8, 07:36 PM
I'm a current employee at Best Buy and thought I'd offer my two cents on a few issues.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
The only "Worst Buy" I am against is the one in Owings Mills, MD where they discriminated against me just because of a small disability. Pending a court case with corporate on this matter.. and I used to work for them back in 2005 and left them on a great note. Eligible for re-hire.. then tried to go back to them(Owings Mills) and the manager was very disrespectful and also discriminatory.
I plan to have that store shut down permanently.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
The only "Worst Buy" I am against is the one in Owings Mills, MD where they discriminated against me just because of a small disability. Pending a court case with corporate on this matter.. and I used to work for them back in 2005 and left them on a great note. Eligible for re-hire.. then tried to go back to them(Owings Mills) and the manager was very disrespectful and also discriminatory.
I plan to have that store shut down permanently.