Last week I received Apple eNews April 21. It said: "In just eight days--on Friday, April 29--you'll be able to purchase Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger at special "Tiger World Premiere" events at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Festivities--which include demos, workshops, and prizes--begin at 6:00 pm sharp.
We'd like everyone to see as many of the new features in Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" as possible. So on Friday, April 29--just 8 days from now--we'll be celebrating the availability of the newest version of Mac OS X with a special Tiger World Premiere event at every Apple Store. The Mac Geniuses at your local Apple Store will be out in force. Demonstrating Spotlight. Taking you for a spin around the Dashboard. Explaining the new capabilities of .Mac Sync. Setting up "Smart Folders." Showing you how you can chat in 3D with iChat AV 3. And much more." ---------------- It sounded pretty interesting, so I trolled along last night to Nedlands at the designated time with two of my daughters. I'm sorry to say that our experience was nothing like what was promised in Apple's advance publicity. Like none of the above like zilch man! Instead they had opted for the osmosis method of demonstration. This is where a potential customer with a pocket full of cash stands alone in front of a monitor and absorbs invisible Macca Waves. Zzzzzz! Its great no effort required by any staff. But I found it a bit embarrassing standing there not knowing if anything was actually getting through. They should have some sort of flashing light so you can tell when Macca Waves are radiating. We had a look at the other software on the rack and by 6.20pm the place was empty apart from us and the several counter staff. I made a small purchase and casually mentioned that I had been under the impression there would be a more vigorous promotion of the new product, supposedly to be assisted with some Apple sponsorship. They stared at me. They were perplexed. There was an Apple Australia rep on hand too, and he was perplexed. Naturally, I was perplexed too. My daughters were perplexed about why I had dragged them there. We were all perplexed together. -- Dr Paul R. Weaver http://www.livejournal.com/users/fremantlebiz/2004/
