Why I Left Apple Retail

By popagandhi | Published: 29 September, 2006

Because in Singapore, the average consumer:

* Thinks just because he’s “spending so much money” on an iPod, it’s ridiculous it doesn’t come with a speaker. Like a Bose SoundDock. Because all music players on the market give free high end speakers, right?

* Wants to buy a MacBook, delete OS X and install Windows on it.

* Is about 10 years old, wants her daddy to buy her a pretty MacBook but then only run Windows just so that she can play Maple Story.

* Has been spoiled by Sim Lim Square, has never cultivated the practice of paying for software, such that they cannot fathom how the price of a machine does not include the price of Photoshop, and Microsoft Office, and Final Cut Pro. “You mean… Final Cut Pro costs as much as the machine? It should be free mah.”

* Wants to manhandle every accessory in the store, regardless of the state of its packaging, not only to get a sense of how it fits. No, they will secretly open the packaging of 5 of the same product, in different colours, pick the one that they like best, then… not buy it.

* Might be very rich Indonesian housewives buying a 1GB iPod nano for her 6 year old kid, takes out a $1000 bill to pay for it… and is appalled there isn’t a discount.

* Comes in with a techie friend who advises them on their purchasing options, and snorts at everything you say. “Oh, what do you mean there’s software on the Mac. Oh Ess Ex (credit here to “vickiho”:http://www.vickiho.com/blog/ for her astute observations on our Mac Evangelists — who, since she’s going to get some hits from here, might as well remember to “pimp me”:http://www.vickiho.com/blog/2006/09/pimped/#comment-1938 :P) is backward and incompatible with the majority of software. Better buy a Fujitsu Tablet. Oh Ess Ex don’t even have WinZip or Norton lor. You can see how jialat it is.”

I may also have lost the plot somewhere and I haven’t stopped being upset at Apple.. for a number of reasons. Of course, I’ve had my share of fun, made an amazing number of industry contacts while on the job, sold a helluva Macs and made as many friends. You can try to change the world but you can’t even start to change Singapore. I can’t pirate software, install pirated Windows, or give you free copies of industry standard software to people who probably don’t even pay for their other operating system. 3 years, on and off, is quite enough. So I left, and now I’ve only got 3 jobs: full time student, freelance journalist, and… something else. (By all accounts I should be very rich, but I’m not, and I think vintage cameras may have something to do with it..) As I’ve overheard my mother half complaining half bragging (in that very Chinese mother-ish way) says, “my daughter ah… people complain don’t have job. She just sit home kiao kar also have so many. Too many.”

possibly related

macZOT! / Now That You Have Your Mac / Some N73 Tips / Google Calling / MacHeist /
This entry was posted in tech. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
  • Welcome to the mainstream, I guess. We used to gripe about being a misunderstood minority, but price -accessible iPods and iBooks/MacBook made them common place enough.

    But no one seems to know the secret handshake anymore; I exaggerate of course, but knowing smiles used to be exchanged by mac users in public; now they look right through you...

    That souless look is probably a side effect of surfing with IE; if they find Safari, tabbed browsing remains elusive as its not turned on by default - what is Apple thinking of?

    While we're at it, a simple guidesheet for switchers would have helped so much. And acknowledging shareware that compliments the experience e.g. Quicksilver, would open eyes to 3rd party software.

    These days, though, if a potential switcher is intent on pc comparisons, defying everything they hear, I do tell them they are better off with a pc. Ironically that helps them decide on a mac, for some reason!
  • I don't know why locals think Windows is so bloody great. Unless they do a lot of online gaming. Even then there are games like DOFUS that support Mac OSX.

    Windows may be more "compatible" to run most things with, but it also comes along with a chockload of bullshit for you to deal with. I simply don't understand why anyone would still insist on using it when they get fucked over by it time and again.

    And about the discounts, OMFG, there is no such thing called "cheap and good". Mac is good, so it doesn't come cheap. Quality price for quality products.

    I think all those anal customers you mentioned should just go shoot themselves.
  • Oh, how I feel your pain.

    We got a mac book pro here at work, for use as a floating laptop for us programmers, and to use for browser compatibility testing. The minute someone mentioned, "blah blah and we'll put windows on it, because that's what everyone knows" I rolled my eyes and walked away... back to my own powerbook.

    At least they were talking about running parallels, and not completely wiping it. But still... *sigh*.
  • popagandhi
    I'm not saying that at all!

    Hmm, the hokkiens have this saying, 'boh hee hae ah ho". I think that could very well apply to me right now, so i'll either settle for 'girls' or 'hot'. =)
  • GASP. Are you saying I'm a whore for hits? But fine, you get bumped to be next in line for pimping. (That is, if you want the sort of people who read my blog...Some are girls, some are geeks, some are hot—but none are combinations of any, unfortunately.)
  • Glennsan
    I also left Apple retail after a mostly fun 3 years. The worst part I ran into was not only the rude customers who demanded a discount because they had purchased an Apple computer in the past but the iPoders who wouldn't even open the instruction manual but would bring their iPod back because it was broken. They had a look of disbelief when I told them there was no way to copy music from their cd's right to the iPod without using a computer. Apple leadership and retail instruction guidance left me wondering just what were they thinking at times. Seemed like they had an excellent opportunity to grow the business if they would change their thought process and be less elitist. I also needed a job that paid more then the just above minimum wage which is what I was getting.
  • popagandhi
    Looks like the "MacSurfer":http://www.macsurfer.com/ crowd has surfed on in. /prepares for influx
  • oh no, you're frightening me from my "dream career" in retail. :)
  • popagandhi
    Hahah. Once, while snooping around another Apple store, I heard an employee being asked the question: "So, what's the main difference between the iBook G4 and the new MacBook?"

    The employee blinked and said, "The MacBook has a camera."

    Apparently, the Intel chip inside wasn't as important. Man, maybe we should all just buy online.
  • Professor Nerdlinger
    I've had my share of snotty glares and stuck-up noses from Apple Store employees and uber geniuses as a customer, too.

    Two weeks ago at the Genius Bar, I was asked why not replace my PBook15 with a new MB Pro. I replied that I had a number of key customers who simply do not allow cameras inside their buildings, and I needed a laptop I could take on sales and engineering calls with me.

    Man, I wish I had a photo of that smarmy smirk, the pseudo-double-take and that look of unbelievability. I wanted to slap the little boy and send him to his room without TV. It simply wasn't possible in his mind that companies had IP to protect and perhaps didn't want prototypes or specifications photographed.

    So, about 20 minutes later, he declares that the built-in mic on my PBook is shot and permanently stuck in a noisy feedback loop - but my warranty has expired. I asked him politely if he had a schematic of that section, so I could go at it with a solder iron and fix the thing. Yes, he has schematics but sorry, he can't show them to me, they're proprietary IP.

    I laughed all the way out of the building!
  • popagandhi
    Kevin, I did relax about it eventually, towards the end. I simply came to conclude that the Asian experience and expectations of technology is so vastly... different. To be fair I do also think that the Apple retail scene here is unable to offer them any convincing reasons to change their minds. As someone who wasn't interested in the sales figures or the commission at the end of the month, it was becoming painful to be part of that set up.

    sitenoise: "”... full time student, freelance journalist, and… something else. (By all accounts I should be very rich …)”

    That doesn’t add up unless that ‘something else’ is … really something."

    It's not that 'something else', it's the second bit that is really something. Getting paid in foreign currency = same rate as your local publications x 3. Okay sorry, will cheer you up next time.

    Jace: I have a few extra ones, I've never put them up. Want one? Heh.
  • Adri, this sounds very much like the average Indian shopper. :)

    Colin, my new MacBook Pro didn't come with stickers. I feel cheated!
  • @lth: well, to be honest, i have a fair collection of macs, and one lone ibm laptop. with every mac, or apple product, you get at least two stickers... i have a collection of those too. so i did stick one on my ibm. its rather common to see me working side-by-side on a powerbook (i'm a linux/ppc person) and an ibm.
  • Ash
    Does that something else have to do with the new office? =)
  • sitenoise
    "... full time student, freelance journalist, and… something else. (By all accounts I should be very rich ...)"

    That doesn't add up unless that 'something else' is ... really something.

    Singapore doesn't suck, well ... maybe it does, I don't know.
    Apple doesn't suck, well .... from time to time, mostly from expectation.

    The world and everybody on it sux from time to time. I hate everybody and everyting. All you can do is keep your helmet on and stay in the game.

    Everybody is more attractive when they're happy.

    I hate that too.

    I'm in a really bad mood and I count on you to delight me. This encounter has not cheered me up.
  • LTH
    "Wants to buy a MacBook, delete OS X and install Windows on it."

    I'm not sure which is more sad; the above or sticking an Apple sticker prominently on a black-coloured laptop so that it looks like a MacBook from afar.
  • Respects. Having helped various Americans and Singaporeans with their Macs (training, servicing, purchasing), I can concur that both have different expectations when it comes to computing. While we can't expect them to simply abandon their familiar home in Windows, the motivation to use a Mac comes mostly through self-discovery. Kinda like a religion, it's better self-realized than forced down the throat. In any case there's already a critical mass of Apple consumers, especially on my campus. I'd just relax if I were you. Let them use technology as they wish; we can't and shouldn't dictate how they should use it.
blog comments powered by Disqus