What do you mean as in style over substance? As in it look's pretty for what it's worth? Sorry.
Apple Interview
- Thread starter MikeeyMon
- Start date
What do you mean as in style over substance? As in it look's pretty for what it's worth? Sorry.
Man of Honour
Possibly the habit of releasing products without certain features and dismissing them as unimportant before subsequently putting said features into a later version of the products and declaring them to be the best thing since loaves started coming pre-cut...
However contentiousness aside Apple do make some very good products, they tend to just work (certain notable exceptions apart) and they tend to look quite good while doing it - I just don't seem to get on very well with them for reasons unknown. I can acknowledge they're good at what they do but not want them myself.
As for the job at the Apple store, you may wish to speak to PardonTheWait as he worked as an Apple specialist for quite a while and may have some advice in case you want to try again.
It's shop work, you're a sales assistant on a low wage. No matter how well they manage to dress it with their uber seminars. Just like working in a clothes shop, it requires minimal knowledge. All you have to do is be overly and very falsely enthusiastic about your work and 'helping' customers.
Oh and Apple staff seem to have an issue with deodorant so it's best if you don't wear any.
Oh and Apple staff seem to have an issue with deodorant so it's best if you don't wear any.
Associate
- Joined
- 22 Jan 2006
- Posts
- 924
I used to work in the Arndale store and loved every minute of it. The job itself was alright, but it was the people there that made it for me. I miss them a great deal.
Would love to get a referral from you!
@semi-pro waster Do you mean, for example introducing the track pad later on in line etc? Like introducing 'addon's' for the product later on, to make you buy more?
Last edited:
Soldato
People buy them as fashion items not really knowing what they have but just happy to be owning one, where technology should really be bought on function not form.
MW
Well they're keen on good design but they also have a fair few good products - they only got into mobile phones relatively recently yet in the few years they've been involved just look at how much market share the iphone got.
Then again they effectively market themselves as selling premium products, their products aren't exactly badly made - just expensive....
The same has always been true of the super-thin PC laptops that people go swanning about with. I agree that Apple products probably have a higher percentage of posers but it's certainly not exclusively Apple.
As for the OP, don't be too disappointed. Apple tends to employ people based on an image rather than their technical grunt. Be thankful you don't have to wear a microphone headset whilst talking to one person at a demonstration table. Seeing that was enough to make me cringe and decide I would never want to work in Apple retail.
Man of Honour
I was thinking of the iPhone coming out without MMS in the first incarnation and everyone being told it wasn't necessary, then suddenly it's in the second generation (3G?) and it's brilliant... or no video recorder until the iPhone 4 and when introduced amazingly it's just the thing to revolutionise the phone market...
Or marketing an mp3 player as the "Shuffle" - as if the feature is in any way new or exciting. I don't know what features the original iPod had but the naming of one product Shuffle rather suggests that this feature wasn't present?
Got to have a certain amount of respect for the brazenness of their marketing. I actually don't dislike Apple products quite as much as this diatribe probably makes it look like but you did ask.
Why should technology only be bought on function and not form? They are fashion items, hence the premium price.
Soldato
because it deceives the point of buying technology if you don't need the function. if all you're after is form why not just buy the dummy display item off the shelf ?
I agree form affects everything we buy but there's a limit to how much you spend on form when the extra cost could be spent on function.
MW
Last edited:
Soldato
I have a lot of dealings with Apple staff due to my role in my company and they all seem to be a particular "type" of person. Generally nice people, who are a bit quirky, geeky, enthusiastic, obviously Apple-bummers and willing to sell their soul to Apple/The Devil (not mutually exclusive 
)
I couldn't do it personally, especially when I had to take an iPhone 4 back in, in the height of the "Antenna Gate" media frenzy and the guy helping me claimed to have never heard of any problems whatsoever.
"So you've not heard at all about the Antenna problems that are on pretty much every news medium and tech website out there?"
"No."
"Come on mate, I know you probably aren't allowed to comment on it, but don't fob me off saying you've never heard of it - its insulting!"
"No, I've never heard of it"
"They don't let you guys out of here much then?"
If you think thats bad, try doing business with Apple on a corporate level (them as a client). I could tell you so many stories of their business ethics and practices that have had me not knowing whether to laugh, rage or cry at times.
)I couldn't do it personally, especially when I had to take an iPhone 4 back in, in the height of the "Antenna Gate" media frenzy and the guy helping me claimed to have never heard of any problems whatsoever.
"So you've not heard at all about the Antenna problems that are on pretty much every news medium and tech website out there?"
"No."
"Come on mate, I know you probably aren't allowed to comment on it, but don't fob me off saying you've never heard of it - its insulting!"
"No, I've never heard of it"
"They don't let you guys out of here much then?"
If you think thats bad, try doing business with Apple on a corporate level (them as a client). I could tell you so many stories of their business ethics and practices that have had me not knowing whether to laugh, rage or cry at times.
That's not a good analogy though. If you buy the dummy display item it won't be able to do anything at all. You can still use an Apple product to do equivalent tasks that you can do with any other computing product on the market.
Surely function for functions sake is just as bad? Some people, and I'd argue people on this forum are probably guilty of this, buy technology which far and away surpasses their actual need - and could probably make do with much less powerful machines than they have.
Soldato
This is true, but for technology nothing stays too fast for long but form has an even shorter life span before the next model is released
MW
Soldato
The support systems for corporate customers are a bit suspect at the minute. The latest executive toy of choice at our place is the iPhone. If they break our network provider can't fix them, so we've got to book an appointment with the Genius bar and send someone on a errand to the blasted Trafford Centre. Factor in the time taken, and the mileage etc and it must be costing us at least £45 a time.
Fortunately they aren't deemed secure enough at my work for anyone to get them.. yet!
Soldato
Our usual smartphones have a dedicated APN that connects them onto the WAN so they can access the intranet and apply the usual security controls.
Apple being Apple won't allow these sort of shenanigans so our iPhones come in via the internet same as a retail iPhone. At least Apple provide some tools to configure the device meaning that we don't have to let iTunes anywhere near the network. They're also blocked from accessing the Wireless and the users are made to sign paperwork promising never to connect them to a corporate PC, and that any iTunes/App purchases arn't our problem.
iPads however are banned. Doesn't stop some senior managers using personal ones in meetings after which we get people trying to order them. One of my colleagues was heard uttering "Which part of NO do you not understand?" to a particularly assertive PA over the phone this afternoon.
Soldato
What have you dealed with? What practises? Would be interesting to find out
Problem is we're under NDA (as you'd expect from Apple), but an example is refusing to sign in the signing in book at reception because they don't want anyone to know they work with us (no doubt because what they use us for, they should be doing themselves).
Can't say much more, but thats probably the mildest example of the lot.
Associate
Just out of curiosity what did you have to talk about in the seminar/discussions?